Gerrycan

I did try lowering the seat and it did take my eyes below the level of the rear view mirror but I could not get a comfortable seat position and I felt like I was then peering over the steering wheel, bonnet and even the side windows. I'm sure I am exaggerating but I felt I looked like either one of those very short old dears you see driving or contrastingly the very young drivers (with baseball cap) who adopt the really low seating position and right back with arms at full stretch because it looks "cool" (apparently?) . It is a personal thing I know but I had to be comfortable for the longer driving sessions and that required the higher seat setting.

All Fabia sold in Aus have had turbo power so the mpi versions did not even occur to me although I would not have minded one if offered. My preference for a Fabia was mainly for the less tomb-like interior and the far better view of the outside world (especially for rear passengers). The Fabia would have been a nicer car to drive around viewing the British countryside in my opinion, and a damned sight easier to drive in town without having to duck my head around the Corsa's visual obstacles to safely negotiate city streets and traffic.

Five speed manual so the lowest power option. It was happiest at 65mph doing 65 mpg at peak torque 3k rpm. The 10 miles of 50 mph restrictions on the M20 and it was showing near 80 mpg returns. Quite remarkable really on basic 95 Ron with 10% ethanol.

We flew into Heathrow from Australia in late August and picked up our pre-arranged Vauxhall Corsa rental from Hertz at Heathrow It was the second cheapest option, the cheapest being a Picanto which I did not think would be quite large enough for our two sizable suitcases and carry-on luggage but they fitted in the Corsa comfortably. The Hertz guy offered to upgrade us to a more economical Toyota Hybrid, which I was quite keen to do until I realised he expected us to pay an extra 20 pounds a day for the privilege... so I declined. First impressions were not positive, Visibility from the driver's seat was not good, I was bobbing my head around the obstructions presented by the rear view mirror and the A pillars like a Cockatoo on a perch as we made our way out to the M25 during peak evening traffic. The 1.2L 3 pot engine seemed gutless and coarse under acceleration and the projected mileage on a full tank was only 422 miles, however by the time I had got to Essex the projected distance has risen to 495 miles despite having covered 60 miles, so at least it could be economical. Handling was average and the steering provided little feedback, the ride was comfortable enough most of the time but did not like sharp bumps and all the windows were like portholes compared to our Octavia wagon and Toyota Echo back home and awful for sight-seeing people like us. The lack of performance turned out to be my fault as both our owned cars have relatively sensitive throttles, the Toyota with little pedal travel and the Octavia pedal only needing to depressed to the point where the turbo cuts in and it takes on a life of its own. The Corsa just needed more and more throttle as the revs rose and then it could attain its official 13 second dash to 60 mph. The other thing for me to adjust to was that that kph displays increases a lot quicker than mph (doh!) . The engine still felt coarse when under any pressure but was ok when cruising However the car proved to be very economical achieving 60mpg overall and 65mpg on a run ( I stuck to all the speed limits which few others did) and even got about 40 mpg in peak time Outer London traffic. As there was no manual it took me a while to work out how to access and reset the trip meters but when I did I found that over the last 6500 miles the car had averaged 22mpg averaging 18 mph and I have no idea how they got that. I did a 30 mile return journey using the North Circular to Hampstead Heath with the return leg entering peak period traffic and averaged 60mpg at 21mph. The car had a fairly high level of accessories, including very necessary reversing cameras and front and rear sensors, which is ridiculous in a small town orientated car. The interface with my Android phone was absolutely seamless as soon as I plugged in, and the Google maps guidance brilliant...most of time, but sometimes 'she was well off her game' and I would get conflicting instructions from her and my wife acting as back up navigator which got hilarious at times. Overall, it did what we wanted at a reasonable price and with good economy. I would have preferred a Fabia 1.0tsi but that would have cost more than twice as much to rent.

While I can understand your attraction to the vrs with its versatility and performance I'd personally be uncomfortable getting a 2nd hand vehicle at my financial bleeding edge. I always like to have some reserves for unexpected issues. Might I suggest you try a 1.4tsi manual, it should be cheaper to buy, insure and tax. Based on my experience at a steady 65mph you should get 55 (+) mpg on the motorway. It is not as mature a drive as a VRS for sure but because it is relatively light it is surprisingly frisky. Whatever version you buy be aware that internal noise on less smooth roads is highly dependent on the tyres (manufacture and wear) fitted.

50k miles on the cross climate tyres is amazing in itself.

3rd and 4th are usually the smoothest changes so seems suspicious. I seem to remember there is a relatively simple 're-centering' procedure for the gear change linkages that could help. I would go back to the dealer and get them to execute it for you and and depending on results then you can make an on the spot decision to keep or return.

Seems good compared to what I paid my dealer in Australia.

It does not sound like the water pump to me, in my case the pump failure resulted in rising temperatures and intermittent coolant loss. Some one with an obd2 reader might be able to find some error codes to be able to better target the issue?

I have an older 1.4tsi so keep an eye on associated topics but cannot remember any previous issue like yours over the last 7 years. I had a water pump failure after 5 years ownership but even that is relatively rare with this petrol engine.

Unknown to myself and several others last week's local Parkrun was cancelled due to the Queen's sad demise so we ran our own impromptu event without marshalls....as you do. This week was a normal event with over 200 attendees and fine but cool weather. I woke up just 20 minutes before the event after a long pleasant get together with old friends the night before and had to run to the start as well. Getting a small improvement with each run so happy with that and the Parkrun is providing the incentive I need to get out while on holiday especially with all the socialising and touring driving we are doing. I am pleased to find that a couple of my great nephews and nieces are doing half and full marathons which, as previously mentioned, is way beyond my ambitions but it is great to see young folk active and not just stuck behind a screen as so many are.

Yes the A pillars are awkward as well but they are probably thicker on many modern cars because of crash and rollover requirements and may also contain parts of the side airbags?

A 71 reg 1.2l 3 cylinder NA 5 speed manual. I believe the new Vauxhall owners engine but no paper manual with the car so probably the least powerful and the cheapest I could rent that could take our two large suitcases. IMO makes the Fabia 1.0tsi as smooth as a Rolls and fast as a Lambo by comparison (I may exaggerate slightly). Does what we require but I would not recommend it other than it can be very economical if you try. Hate how the mirror cuts out an important part of the forward vision. I think the name Corsa was inspired by how the engine feels when you apply a bit of welly to the pedal at low and even high revs, very coarse.

A feature of every car less than 20 years old I have owned or rented. Current UK rental Vauxhall Corsa can do about 100 miles before fuel level starts to drop. Very economical when up to speed (averaging 4.9l/100 over the last 860 miles calculated from refuels) but the skins on rice puddings can rest safe in their bowls when a bit of power is actually needed

'anti-stall' is a feature of most cars in recent years in my experience. I can/could easily do what you describe with your 1.4tdi in our previous 1.9pd and our current 1.4tsi Octavia. The difference being the diesel idled at 900 rpm and petrol at 750. I only use the feature in the lower gears and on the flat and in traffic. I imagine it is not noticeable on those with auto transmissions. I have a 19 yo Echo which runs initially at 2+k rpm from cold, 'on choke', so I do not have to touch the throttle at all for the first kilometre, it is a problem keeping under the local urban 40kph speed limit

Rounding your figures a bit for ease of calculation I have said it costs one pound for 27 miles so you covered around 3294 miles on pure electric. The remaining 3084 miles on petrol cost 481 pounds so averaging fuel cost over that period at say one pound sixty pence litre I think that works out consumption at about 45mpg......unless I am doing something wrong? That is not bad but I was expecting a bit better in hybrid mode. Then again a lot better than a hybrid Cayenne. EDIT If you have the actual number of litres you put in then the consumption figures would be more accurate than my rough assumptions.

@J.R. you must have a natural talent for running to even attempt a half marathon after only 5 weeks of training at 50+. I can only dream of having half that ability! I last ran this particular parkrun on my last visit about 5 years ago and have lost about 3 minutes, which considering recent events is ok and I still got the oxytocin buzz A lot of hill walking with the wife and a couple of runs this week and the legs are aching, but in a good way.

A big THANK YOU to the volunteers at the Raphael Park Romford Parkrun. Great atmosphere and encouragement from them all the way round the circuit. My wife recorded part of my first run in ages and unsurprisingly I looked like I was struggling (I really was). Still I am happy that all the post covid/cold symptoms have finally been expunged and no real excuse not to get back into a more regular routine.

So one post is cheap batteries, death by everything and chocolate and the next post is battery was great for three years????

I don't think the batteries fitted by Skoda would be any worse than any other manufacturer in the price range? I am driving a hire Corsa with an overeager s/s in London rush hour traffic at the moment and can understand why people turn it off. It really cannot do the battery any good, and I am presuming it is considered suitable for purpose AGM or FMG?

Always a good idea to run your eye over the car's bits regularly and especially the battery before the cold weather but I think you are overselling the effects of hot weather on battery life. Living in Adelaide we regularly top 40 deg in summer and the bog standard battery in our non stop/start 1.4tsi lasted 5 years. Some Briskoda reports of AGM batteries failing after only two years and usually related to s/s in lots of heavy traffic. Also sealed for life batteries do not allow much opportunity or need for any sort of maintenance other than keeping the terminals clean.

How about that @mac11irl you got back into running before I did. Saw your comparisons between the family walk and run in "Chuckles" and had a laugh myself but at the least the walk does give you time to 'smell the roses' along the way. Believe me the years fly by when all of a sudden you are the one that cannot keep up with your kids on a run. Which is how it should be of course. Coming over to the UK in a few days time and have a couple of pairs of running things packed for resumption of running.

You might have to reassess its worth in the current 2nd hand market. The appreciated value may merit the repair cost?

No you wouldn't because I used the wrong terminology 😞. Sorry. This was nearly twenty years ago and the head mechanic at the dealers showed me the removed item which normally had a circular pattern of arms on the clutch body providing pressure to the clutch plates and two or three were broken. Really nice guy, we were on first name terms due to the number of issues the car had. Started with a bit of clutch juddering and then got a lot worse and then clutch slip occurred as I recall. Edit: Pressure plate was the description I was looking for 🤦‍♂️

I have always had manuals and once experienced similar symptoms on a Kia people mover where two or three of the pawls on the spring had broken. Fortunately it was replaced under warranty. I think the 1.4tsi manual group spring is of similar design so may be a possibility?