mark lanyon

Thank you.

I suppose this has been asked before but I'm new to this. Is Skoda planning to fit the TFT screen to the Superb soon? thanks Millie

I was in Fish Bros, Swindon yesterday (where they have a VRS diesel demon 'strator)). Chap there said that he expected this car eventually to have a DSG with paddles and a leather upholstery option. I'd buy one.

I have absolutely unqualified praise for Grey Gables. I've never bought a car there (because we got our Octavia 1 when we lived in London) but I'd certainly be happy to. They let me drive a VRS the other day without demurring. Any work that they've done for me has been done properly and to a perfectly reasonable price. They even did some work under VW warranty on faulty coils way after the warranty had expired. It was a bit disappointing that new front wheel bearings failed after 15000 miles but once again they replaced them pronto for free. They lend me or the wife a courtesy car which is great but, perhaps incredibly in this day and age, they let me take my car home and send the bill subsequently (which, I hasten to add, I pay at once). Perhaps not everyone gets this courtesy...I don't know. I note what was said about not being telephoned after buying a new car there. Surely that's great? I don't want to be rung up to find out if I'm happy or not (I think its a bit infantile to want to be). If there's a problem with the car (which given Skoda's reputation seems unusual) you'll say so at once. If you like the garage and the service you were given, you'll want to go back. QED. I'd like to change from my company BMW 320 to another Octavia next year. GG aren't a business dealership so I couldn't do a lease arrangement with them I gather. However, I might change to a personal purchase, rather than a company lease if the economics work out. M

I thought Reliant introduced the Ogle designed Scimitar as the first "sports estate" (actually it wasn't very, but Princess Anne had lots) in about 1969. Then there was the Lancia Beta GTE (?) in about 1974. markie

I failed miserably to send my first message this am. Can't seem to work out how this messaging system works (its mostly luck I got to this point). Does anyone know why one of the terminals in that little box of minor connections atop my dying battery has got signs of overheating to one of the terminals but not actual fusing? The flat fuse thingy needs replacing; its clearly damaged although still providing a connection. Also can anyone say how I can get to the pollen filter below the base of the windscreen without crushing my hand. Surely the plastic must detach in some way? Thanks in anticipation (although I'll probably fail again to post this...) M

This is a third time lucky attempt to put a message on your excellent website. And I'll probably fail again. We bought an estate 5 yrs ago and its just cracked the 100,000 mile mark without any major mishap. The battery finally showed signs of dying yesterday but that's fair enough. Its Sunday today and Half**ds were pretty useless. Still, will get another tomorrow from a good battery supplier in Cheltenham. Will take slave battery just in case. Unqualified recommendation for our garage, Gray Gables in Witney. Family run and very helpful/honest/inexpensive/efficient/trusting. So I'm going to chop in the BMW 320d touring for another L & K estate with DSG next year when the lease ends. The beamer's a good car but you don't get anything with it - its all extra. I still can't quite believe that, since I hadnt asked for a discount, I suggested that the salesman throw in a set of mats. "Oh we were going to do that anyway" he replied smoothly. I was impressed until I discovered that the "mats" are the rubbish ones supplied by the lease company with large grippers to hold them in place. Cheap or what? I shouldnt care really but I managed to get 26,500 miles before the FIRST oil change and 53K for the 2nd (which was consistent) but I refuse to believe (and it'd be hard to convince me) that this is good for the engine, particularly the timing chain. I would be reluctant to buy a car with this sort of record. Incidentally, does anyone know how much poser is safe for a DSG 'box with a 140bhp TDi? Is an extra 25 bhp and 30 lb/ft safe? They only seem to be rather little clutches...

I failed miserably to send my first message this am. Can't seem to work out how this messaging system works (its mostly luck I got to this point). Does anyone know why one of the terminals in that little box of minor connections atop my dying battery has got signs of overheating to one of the terminals but not actual fusing? The flat fuse thingy needs replacing; its clearly damaged although still providing a connection. Also can anyone say how I can get to the pollen filter below the base of the windscreen without crushing my hand. Surely the plastic must detach in some way? Thanks in anticipation (although I'll probably fail again to post this...) M

My first "broadcast" to the wide world of Briskoda. Fantastically informative (mostly!) site. I'm still slightly in awe of the web - its truly wondrous - yet I still shout at it when its slow or unresponsive. How much for granted we already take it. Ah well.... We have a Skoda estate as above. We love it and its always been chipped to 175 bhp - never been very happy with the map which S****chip (are we allowed to mention tradenames?) fitted and remapped and remapped on their rolling road until I was bored with them. I think ours was their first.... Its just cracked the 100K miles. I tend to do oil changing and basic maintenance myself and get my wonderful family-run garage Grey Gables (Witney, Oxon) to do the hard bits such as clutch master cylinder, wheel bearings and the normal failed VW coils. I have nothing but praise for them. They are the only garage I know of which lets you take your car away and sends the bill in the post. Not only trusting but charming really. I pay by cc over the phone as soon as I receive it as a pay off for their trust. Anyway, can anyone out there help with a battery problem. Wife came back last night to say the car was misbehaving and, from what she said, it sounded like the car went onto "get home" mode. Had a look and there was clearly a problem with slow cranking of starter motor. Took reading off terminals and only 10v (13v charging) neither of which is good enough but then it is 5 yrs old and I reckon thats a fair life. Put a slave battery across the terminals and all fine. So I'll buy a new battery... What I want to know, though, is what is the "shunt" on top of the battery all about? It seems to be a way of getting more connections direct from the live terminal without overloading the main terminal. Its got about 5 connections off it from fused connectors (plates of metal narrowing in the middle) and one of them, the only black one, has overheated and melted the plastic around it, as well as ruining the metal to metal connection, but not actually fused. I'm CONfused. Also does anyone know the best way of changing the pollen filter without crushing ones hand between the plastic at the base of the windscreen and the top of the bulkhead? I can't work out how it comes off - yet it surely must! And, finally (part one), why doesn't Haynes do a manual? That's probably enough from me - I may be overstaying my welcome here. Incidentally, sorry to go on, I'm probably alone in finding it hard to work out how to post a message on this website. I don't know whether this is going to appear in the correct forum or even appear at all. There seem to be several fora although I haven't yet worked out whether posting one message covers the whole lot. Here's hoping! Regards