mu7

That's my point, you'd be in a worse position, not having the option to walk away, had you used alternative finance.

The banks also won't let you dump a dodgy car on them and walk away Silver lining.

On the ending PCP early point, it's just a hire purchase agreement. You have specific rights under statute (so it doesn't matter what the contract says, unless it improves your position.) The important bits are... http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/99 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/100 An entry on your credit record should just show "settled", the same as if you bought the car outright with an early repayment. The final payment counts towards the 50%, so it's not enough just to hit say 18 out of 36 months.

Not good, but glad to hear no injuries!

If the final payment is set too high, you'll have no equity but you'll have paid less over the term than you should have, If it's too low you'll have equity, but have paid too much each month. You pay either way for a new vehicle, it's just whether the cash is tied up in the old car or still in your pocket. There are a few ways to lose out though... Damage the car or run at excess mileage. Or just not getting the right trade in price if you do have equity, remember you can sell it to someone else for cash and settle the finance if you prefer.

Mine just sits there too, no movement. Certainly an odd thing to call 'characteristic' Good luck.

Stalling should be a bit tricky for you

I didn't get a start-stop rapid, but my previous citigo behaved exactly this way. Stall - clutch down - start. Seems to be an undocumented feature of these engines. Once you know it does it, it makes stalling a lot easier to recover from.

Parking sen No climate control information, I know some of the pioneer headunits do it, and it makes sense on a car with CC and no display for it, but I can't see the benefit in this car.

The same black/aluminium combo as the other spaceback, or the same finish as in mine? Is it a spaceback thing?

I suppose it depends on the dealer, will they match this? "Huge £1500 Deposit Contribution on any Rapid or Rapid Spaceback" "The Rapid and Rapid Spaceback available now with a stunning 0% APR and a massive £1500 deposit contribution! We'll also include 3 years fixed price servicing for just £99." http://www.simpsonsskoda.co.uk/new-car-offers/rapid-finance/

That's odd, in my liftback, the steering wheel inserts are the same as the aluminium dash.

I would agree the elegance alloys are a little conservative, but the car is meant to be somewhat understated. I do hugely prefer the brushed aluminium (look) inserts in the elegance, over the gloss ones on other models. They don't reflect, show finger prints, scratches or dust The armrest could be a lot better, it's thing I now instinctively throw out of the way when leaving a long motorway run.

It is the correct part. I've had to do this research myself and in the end just had to take a gamble and order it, the information out there isn't much. It's not a standard double din, the headunits are almost the same size but an odd shape. There are two "swing" fascias out there. The old one is probably the reason your dealer is confused. This is the part you need. But you probably have this... Which when you take it off will look like the attachment below and you'll need to order that first part.

After turning the ignition off, pull the right stalk down (as per single wipe). Wipers go up and stay up, so you can get at them.

Is the demister functioning correctly (and efficiently)? If there is a small break in any of the conductors it can cause interference with the radio.

I reminded myself in some heavy rain today. The setting you can alter via VCDS changes the slow and fast wipe, so when you stop, it's drops down to a slow periodic wipe, returning to normal when you move off.

Yes, did this on mine. There are a lot of options that don't do anything but this particular tweak works.

AC draws current, so the engine has to keep up. If it's off because it's too cold outside, a lower idle speed makes sense. Heating is just a by product of the engine running. You could argue it should increase when it's freezing outside to get up to temperature sooner (and clear the windows faster!) but if there is less load on it when idle, it may as well relax a bit and save some fuel. As a side note, I've got climate control, I guess it behaves the same way as the manual system. I leave AC on, but it doesn't mean the system is running if it's decided it's not warm enough outside.

The manual has many secrets

Last year I had someone kick a large dent into the rear passenger panel (3 door) on my citigo, you could still see the dirty footprint when I found it. £200 to fix and respray. I know it was one of the of the then neighbour's drunk guests (who liked to fight in the street at 5am as a hobby) but the police did nothing useful. It's a frustrating experience, I would still report it even if it goes nowhere. If someone is making a habit of it, they may get caught later doing it to someone else. Had a fun car park experience in my Rapid too. Drove in and parked, was really heavy rain so I sat in my car to see if it would ease. A woman ran up to the car next to me, protecting her hair as if she might die if it got wet, threw open her door and hit mine as she jumped in. She hadn't realised I was there until I got out and gave her the dirtiest look I could. Luckily no damage when I checked it and she drove away looking rather sheepish. If/when I move home, I'm getting off road parking, away from other people!

The early Rapids got pretty bad reviews critiquing the low spec, interiors, hard suspension etc. Skoda tweaked them (a bit) then started pushing the discounts on new ones. I would guess the two things combined didn't do the one's already on the road any favours in terms of depreciation. On the 0% PCP deal you're probably fine. You have to settle it one way or the other at the end. If it's worth more than the guaranteed future value, great, part-ex it or buy it out. If it's worth less, give it back and walk away, it's their problem. Cash (or a bank loan) would be a different story as you can't just walk away. If they promised you'd have lots of equity at the end though, that would be a bit naughty. Hopefully there will be something in a sport assuming it's in good condition, but I wouldn't guess it would be huge. I got an 1.2 TSI elegance at £13979 on the 0% deal (with a few options), after 42 months I've got a GFV of £5631.30, which is just over 40%. I suspect a 36 month deal would be 42 or 43%? There are a few other factors which make a difference, the interest free element (against a bank loan) does save a lot of money. The servicing offer is another £500 you don't have to pay for over the term. I think just looking at the total amount paid over the three years is the only way to see if it was worth it. Tax, insurance, fuel efficiency, and the unknown costs of keeping a used one going? There is value in a warranty too.

I did this DIY, it's not hard. You need a replacement fascia/trim. If you take the swing one off you'll understand Everything pretty much just worked. The only thing that appeared to be a hassle and I didn't bother with was re-wiring the microphone (already connected to existing BT module) to the new headunit for voice commands. Figured I'd never use them and haven't missed it. Works well with MFSW and parking sensors, the sat nav on the maxidot is good too. See: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lotus-gt/8434595499/in/photostream/ Mine was an 'L' version. It's just newer hardware.

To understand the design, ask yourself the following question, in a German accent: "Why would you want to open the windows in the rain?"

It's on a ratchet of some sort, you bring it down, then up again into the position you want and it 'locks'.