sjabs101

Prefer the scientific side impact test to this method but at least real world. Airbags not deploying likely because the car was shunted sideways on impact as I was travelling approx 30mph at the time, so after initial impact the Superb was not in contact with the other car so no ongoing forces. The Superb easily recovered and pulled up without any drama - not pleasant seeing a large red object heading for your door though. A small or medium SUV would have been tossed on it's side - lots to like with traditional low slung cars like Superb and Octavia. The luckiest part other than no injuries was where the car was hit given it was moving at the time. A split second either side and the drive train/wheels etc would have taken the impact which would have severely impacted chances of a decent repair. Yes a it was a 'P Plater' Both rego and P plates both fell off in the impact.

My MY18 Superb 206tsi in not the prettiest condition. Superbs sure are built strong. Off the road for 10 weeks thanks to damage to the lower door sill that needed a few new bits and pieces replaced. Not exactly off the shelf parts hence the wait. Back to new condition now with perfect paint match/blend. Interestingly zero injuries to people or airbags. Everything on the damaged door (Drivers Side) still working - mirror - window up/down - door latching - door open & closing etc The other car was a Mitsubishi Lancer that was written off - the engine had shifted off its mounts and pretty much every front panel and guards badly deformed. Worst part was having to drive a new model Toyota Camry for 10 weeks (Insurance paid for that). Made my old 2004 Mazda6 feel modern.

Tint definitions across the ocean are not helping here. Actual regulations in NSW specify Visible Light minimum of 35% so tint that meets that spec is called 35% tint. UK regulations specify Visible Light minimum of 70% so your 30% tint is obviously a great deal lighter. UK definition makes more sense but we like to make simple things complex.

Tint looks darker with a solid background and time of day, it tends to look darker the sunnier it is for some reason. NSW allows 35% grade tint on front windows. Rear windows have 20% tint on top of the privacy glass which evens up the shading all round.

And for some obscure reason Australia gets a 5 year unlimited kilometre Skoda manufacturers warranty which mitigates the risk of DSG issues. VW drivers get 3 years for the same hardware and higher purchase prices. Skoda are relatively unknown here so warranty is one of the tools they use to entice us, with price being the main incentive.

Replacement for my Series 3 Octavia Liftback. Superb 2.0TSI 206kw 4WD DSG We can't select individual options in OZ so its all or nothing across 2 packs, comfort and tech. This has both packs plus panoramic sunroof. Ceramic window tint all round to keep the ultra-violet under control. Moon white because the summers are getting way too hot for the dark colours these days.

Not a problem. In typical Oz fashion, I ordered it online from the NRMA in NSW where it was $100 cheaper than the official distributor in Perth (Auto blackbox). It was then shipped to me direct from where else - the official distributor in Perth. So I paid $100 less for ordering from the east coast and they then had to freight it 3500km to me. Cheers

Excellent guide for the blackvue, mine is pretty much identical to your setup except I located the PowerMagic Pro in the glove box as I wanted the option to power down when required without pulling the plug from the camera. The dashcam paid for itself 2 weeks ago when a Toyota mini bus decided it needed to reverse when stationary at a red light. Luckily he stomped on the brakes after hearing me leaning very hard on the horn, so impact ended up being small, with just a small crack in the grille surround near the bonnet catch. Any harder it would have been an insurance job and he could have easily claimed I ran into the back of him and I was in the wrong. Once I pointed out that I had a dashcam running, it took that option away from him so it ended up amicably. In Australia, the rear car in a nose to tail accident is automatically in the wrong unless you can prove otherwise. I can imagine which way an insurer would usually tend to go without hard evidence the vehicle in front reversed from a stationary position at a red light - the reversing lights are very incriminating in this case, not to mention my indicated speed of 000kmh.

Sounds strangely familiar to a noise a fellow australian owner mentioned in a post on our local board. To quote "Mine has developed a weird rattle around 1700rpm which presents from the plastic seat belt adjuster on the drivers side. Dropped it off this morning for them to investigate – apparently it's a known issue and will be fixed today." Following day "Ok the weird rattling noise has been fixed – apparently a problem with the fuel lines." No idea how fuel lines cause this but given the lack of progress in UK this may possibly be related. Worth a try in any case. Cheers

Agree with not rushing, and check all areas of the car even less obvious ones. Mine came without the driver's foot rest pedal installed. Didn't notice it when picking up the car as I have never had to check if a car had all it's pedals.... Only noticed when I 'hoovered' after 1st week.

I rate vehicle purpose highly when deciding tech. My octy is city based, or when out of town sticks to motorways so the technology makes daily and longer drives safer and more comfortable. However I also like to visit more remote parts of Australia including desert tracks, and for that I take a modified 1998 Nissan Patrol where the technology is pretty much limited to the brain of the driver (Or lack of). More recent Toyotas and Nissans (and Jeeps, landrovers et-al) have been crammed with tech and computerised drive lines etc, which is why I have stuck with the low tech 'truck' build of the 98 model. When the nearest help can be anything from 400-1000km away the last thing you need is tech gremlins. So for me the tech has to match vehicle purpose and use.

Some handy tips thanks. In my case the original mounting was fairly even with almost no bubbles but once this thing heats up the bubbles appear. I will soon find out if the bubbles eventually break the seal as summer has a way to go yet. My motorway tag is bubble free (white adhesive) and sits next to the camera. Lucky the Blackvue has wifi to download videos so rarely need to remove it from bracket.

OK not 100% perfect but much better than it looks now. At most it had a couple of very tiny bubbles.

Another consideration for the folk in warmer climates is the rated temperature of the dashcam. I have the blackvue DR650 installed and found the unit too hot to remove from the bracket with bare hands after car had been parked outside for a couple of hours. Temp outside was around 40c mark so I measured body of the blackvue (thermal probe attached to my multimeter) and it went to 66c in short order. DR650 is rated to 70c before it shuts down and i thought that was overkill when buying. Looking at the adhesive mount from outside the windscreen, the adhesive now has many air bubbles trapped inside the mount - when installed it was perfectly even across the glass, so I am guessing the adhesive may become somewhat more fluid when heated. Adhesive pad is black which would not help - all our motorway tags have white adhesive tape, possibly for that reason. Having said that it shows no signs of detaching from the screen. Rear cam (liftback) is much cooler thanks to dark reflective tint installed. Muddies the video a bit though.

Some compressors draw quite a lot of current which is why they often fit them with alligator clips instead of standard plugs. It is certainly less convenient direct from the battery but gaining access to the 12 volt socket fuse is a bigger pita if it blows.