SeaGoat

Crazy that this fuel often costs less than 97 RON at mainstream gas stations - WTF?

Can't say I have ever heard of DriveTec. I last bought four litres of Castrol Edge Titanium FST 5W-40 from Tesco at a crazy low price.

You want advice on how to "adjust the odometer"?

For what it is worth, I regularly see an oil temperature around 95°C when the engine reaches a steady temperature. On a VERY few occasions I have seen 100°C. On a long run (e.g. 30 miles or more) I never see the temperature fall below 90°C. Over a five year period I have averaged a shade under 40 MPG based on litres purchased and miles covered - I am happy with that :).

I have certainly read that one should never put in more than 3.6 litres of oil (presumably up to the top of the hatched area?) but I have also seen comments that it is safe to put in 3.9 Litres - WHAT? I have never seen or read anything to explain why overfilling might be harmful - however - personally I would never fill to above the top of the hatched area. There appear to be endless "tales" about the VW Twincharger engine - there probably are on other vehicles as well - I can't say that I have conducted any sort of a study of "popular wisdom from the armchair"

I have just received an improbable email purporting to come from Audi, it goes along the following lines: followed by loadsa waffle explaining why I was lucky enough unexpectedly to win these amazing prizes. All I need to do is send an email to [email protected] with my personal details. Yeah, sure . . . an Audi Q7, right . . .

I happened to mention to a garage owner this afternoon that the Mk.II Skoda Fabia vRS seems to have a reputation as an oil burner. His response was "Yes, it's a VW, they all burn oil; Audis have a notice on the windscreen advising the owner to check the oil level weekly." Since I know nobody who owns an Audi I have no idea whether this is true or not and I didn't think that a Mother's Day get together was the right time to get into a long discussion. However, it was interesting that this was his immediate response.

I can't comment on the oil consumption question because I (fortunately) don't suffer from it. However, I would have to say that you are incredibly lucky with a MPG figure in the high 40s on mostly motorway driving. For complicated personal reasons I have just completed a trip over a few days from Bristol to London to Carlisle and back to Bristol, mostly on Motorways and have managed an average overall of a shade over 44 MPG (with a depressing number of 50 MPH average speed limits. I tend to stick to the speed limit on the rare occasions when I don't get caught up in crawling traffic. Over a number of years and over 50k miles I aveage almost exactly 40 MPG.

Am I correct in understanding that you ran for some 37k miles on the original set of plugs and then had a failure on cylinder 3 after 23k miles with replacement NGKs? I have done about 50k miles and have had the plugs changed once in that time - for Densos. Sadly my water pump failed a while back and getting that replaced cost a fortune. When I booked in my car for the water pump I specifically asked for all parts removed to be placed in the boot - they weren't and when I complained I was told that they had forgotten! To be honest, I believe that these cars are somewhat "fussy" but that would be much less of a problem if the workshop mechanics were competent and the service desk staff were less complacent.

I have a Mk II Fabia vRS with a CTHE engine. I do a mixture of motorway, city and country driving. I have done over 45k miles. My "true" average MPG is 40 based on litres in and miles covered. I have real doubts about anyone who claims significantly more than that.

I am not greatly impressed by the reception reliability of my Fabia vRS Swing radio either. I did at one stage try fitting a significantly longer aerial and it was no better - possibly worse? I gave up on that because I was concerned that it might "strain" the base - reading a post above about water ingress, that was probably a good move! For what it is worse, at one time I had a (cheap) dual USB adapter in the cigarette socket and that DEFINITELY affected the radio output. For the most part I use a memory card to listen to music, I only really listen to BBC Radio 4 occasionally. Good luck :)

The code "EDGE15" is eligible on selected Castrol oils for 24 hours only. Castrol Edge Titanium: 5W-30 LL - with code "EDGE15" is £25.46 saving £31.30 5W-40 FST - with code "EDGE15" is £26.30 saving £30.47 0w-30 FST - with code "EDGE15" is £34.99 saving £26.51

I'm not sure that this would be anything more than a "nuisance" to the DVSA unless people reporting a "serious defect" could call on either personal experience or a detailed understanding of the issue.

The opening post on this thread says that "The oil capacity is exactly 3.6 litres, you should NEVER overfill.". I seem to recall reading somewhere here that people do actually put in 3.9 litres of oil. Why is this not a problem and what exactly would be the result of overfilling the oil? Just curious . . .

Thanks for that, any particular brand? As to dismantling, I have been advised to replace the rear disks (and pads). I will not be doing that, a tame garage will. However, as a general policy I would like to keep the calliper housing looking clean(er). Thanks anyhow and I will certainly pass on your sensible comments to the garage.

Many, many years ago I used to use "Gunk" to clean my motorcycle engine. I want to clean up my disk calipers - what is the best way to do it? I am aware that it is essential that I should not contaminate my disks or pads.

If there are, I haven't found one, after trying four. I know of one VERY good independent - but I am reluctant to let them near my Mk. 2 Fabia vRS CTHE twincharger - YET!

From past experience, posts that name and shame get deleted. Aside from that, I haven't yet encountered a Skoda Approved Dealership that I would ever recommend. I will still return to a Far Eastern manufacturer for my next car.

I can't really argue with the suggestion that I was ripped off. However, I haven't really "worked on" any car for a VERY long time and I am not in much of a position to argue. I will run the figures by Skoda H.O. but I doubt that that will make a blind bit of difference. Next car for me will come from somewhere in the Far East again.

Incidentally, the "Skoda Dealer" quoted me £250 to change the rear disks and pads (strangely enough, not in writing?) I will use that as a baseline for independent quotes.

The final bill with VAT, including the 50k / five year service (£202.80) and brake fluid replacement (£78) comes to £1,129 The parts used to replace the water pump (and sundries) were: 03C115561H Oil filter 03C121004J Water pump (220.18) 03C121665 Seal ring 03C145933A Ribbed belt 03C260849A Ribbed belt B000750M3 Brake fluid G013A8JM1 Coolant x 2 G052164M2 Cleaner N90813202 Screw N91096901 Screw * 3 They charged me labour charge of £156 to determine the fault and £748 to fix it! Do I feel ripped off? YES. Do I blame Skoda / VAG? Not really, no. I blame the outrageous cost of labour at a manufacturer's approved dealership. E&OE

Next MOT is due sometime in March or April 2019.

Thanks. How do I get to the "Skoda fixed price service and maintenance site" for the Fabia vRS? I haven't been able to find it on Google - various dealership sites confuse the issue.

Do you mean £150 (trade) for four disks and pads? I don't know what they are quoting, I will ask when I pick up the car - eventually! I will bear in mind your comment on changing the brake fluid, good point :) Why Brembos? Surely this would mean disks, calipers and pads. In view of my driving style I am not really interested in any "upgrade" However, thanks for the suggestion ;) I have attached two (very low quality) photos captured from a video the garage have sent me for comment.

I have a 2013 vRS (CTHE). It is currently having the water pump and associated bits replaced and is getting a service (one month early). The garage has just 'phoned to advise me that the rear brake disks are rusted and will in due course need to be replaced, along with the pads. They said that the fronts are OK - probably - I don't know that they even looked to be honest. They were incredibly vague about what exactly was wrong with the disks and what the implications were but said that they were only calling with an "advisory". I told them not to do anything , because I will get my local, friendly independent garage to do the work when they do the MOT. I am interested to know: How much rear disks and pads are likely to cost to supply and fit? Would it make sense to get the fronts done at the same time and if so, how much is that likely to cost? Any recommendations as to suitable replacement pads - I definitely don't drive like a teenage, boy racer hooligan, I stick rigidly to speed limits. What you would imagine the service guy meant when he said that the disks were rusted (or corroded, I can't recall exactly what he said)? Going out this morning I walked past a 2nd hand car showroom where they sell exclusively Mercedes and BMW cars. As I passed I happened to notice that almost all the cars had patches of rust on the disks; I know that if I don't use my car for a few days I also get patches of rust on the disks. Is my local Skoda Authorised dealer "fishing" for extra chargeable work?