chrisgreen

Yes, they will bring the car back! Repatriation to the UK is very specifically stated as included in the Ts and Cs I posted above.

I have just gone back and looked at the Ts and Cs for All In. Your post above @SteveMcK is incorrect. All In breakdown cover IS THE SAME level as the regular £120 a year Škoda Assist and DOES include European coverage. Section 5 covers the European elements of the cover:

See follow-up post below.

Isn’t you car able to use the data connection from your phone via CarPlay/Android auto. Mine does?

Based on dealer/VWFS pricing, it is definitely a saving. Annual extended warranty is in the £200/250 a year range (I know this as I did it for several years back when I had my Rapid Spaceback), AA cover has gone up to £120 a year (just had the renewal for my Fabia on that), so over two years, that alone is nearly £750 if you do it separately, add in another £110 for two years of MOTs and we are up to £860 and that's before servicing. Also, I noticed there's no premium for paying monthly, so £38 a month to know everything is covered is very tempting. If Skoda is still offering it in 18 months when my Superb is out of both warranty and service plan, I would definitely buy into it.

Get Michelin EasyGrip snow chains. Rather than metal chains, these are tough nylon rope-based. They fit 18-inch wheels, and as they are a snug fit, clearance and wheel arch damage isn't a problem. I switched from metal chains to these 15 years ago and have bought them for every car since. I have a set of the correct 17-inch ones for my Superb in the boot at this very moment.

Yes, they are for driving with the window open a bit. Also stop rain from blowing or dripping in. Plus they look good on the car.

Some interior and exterior pics would be helpful, so we can get a better idea of what you have and haven't got. But, the immediate things to consider would be: Mudflaps Boot liner (essential for an estate) Boot nets Wind deflectors Short Right angle USB-C cable so you can charge your phone in the cubby in front of the gearstick with the cover closed) Interior mats (rubber for winter, carbet for summer) There are other accessories to consider like the comfort pack, which adds the Skoda universal headrest fitment and a range of plug-ins like a hanger, hooks and a tablet/phone holder. I find the coat hanger is extremely useful as I still have to wear people clothes occasionally for work and the odd social occasion). Also consider upgrading your boot lights and puddle lights. The factory fitted ones, while LED, are still a bit feeble. There are much brighter alternatives available from places like Kopaeck or, if you feel brave, AliExpress.

Although I have yet to pluck up the courage to try and remove the trim around the windscreen sensor, my belief is still that you should only need either 5E3035954 or 5E3035954E (still not clear on the parts difference), and this should just plug onto the loom in that area. I've been looking at some Russian sites where someone has done just such a retro fit on a Kodiaq that has the same setup as the Superb, and it seems to be both straightforward, and the power connector for the USB adapter is present.

SOLD

I’ll send you a DM to sort out details. Chris

Hi - yes, I still have them. Thanks Chris

Just replaced the battery in my Fabia as the previous one was knackered due to the low mileage the car does - went for a Bosch S5 005 - obviously, depends on the spec of your existing battery.

Evening all Many of you will have seen adverts all over social media of late promoting these 10-inch widescreen CarPlay/Android Auto display screens that are being marketed as a low-cost and neat way of adding modern connectivity to an older car, or to a car where it's difficult (or where you simply don't want to) replace the factory-fitted head unit. Well, I bought one. After shopping around, I actually found one on Amazon that in the end only ended up costing me £50, and it even doubles as a dash cam. Backstory: The Fabia II Combi I now have (which I inherited from my mum when she passed away earlier this year) originally came with a Swing radio. I retrofitted an Admumdsen+ to it (having already done the same retrofit on the Rapid Spaceback I owned at the time) not long after mum bought it, as this not only added nav, but also Bluetooth (I also retrofitted the genuine mic into the roof courtesy light cluster). Mostly because it's my mum's car and I don't want to do anything that might dmagae it or that can't be reversed later, I was reluctant to buy an aftermarket Android headunit. I was tempted by the RCD330, but trying to find a reasonably priced real one (there's a lot of crap clones out there) was proving to be too much ard work. So I decided to go down a different route. The CarPlay display comes with a choice of stick-on or windscreen mounts. I used the stick on mount, which very securely stuck to the top of the dash directly above the centre air vents (I cleaned the surface with an IPA wipe first and allowed to air dry). It's powered via a USB-C port, and a USB-C to 12v power cable is supplied. It does draw up to 3amps, so doesn't seem to play well with using a USB-C cable and a 12v accessory socket USB adapter (as these tend to only output up to 2.4amps per port). I've wired in a hidden 12v accessory socket behind the dashboard, piggybacking off the rear wiper fuse, with the power cable running straight out the back of the display and down the back of the dash below the windscreen. I've secured the hidden 12v socket and the excess cable in the void space at the end of the dashboard on the drivers side, next to the fuse box. The amount of visible cable is minimal (just over a foot coming from the back of the display and heading straiught to the gap between the end of the dash and the windscreen before disappearing from view). I also did one loop around the stand, to act as a stress support so that any pulling on the cable while I was pushing it down the back fo the dash (it's beyond the windscreen vents so not blocking or interfering with those) wouldn't tug on the display. Connection to the phone is very simple. After doing the initial connection via Bluetooth, the screen then sets up the CarPlay connection using Wi-Fi. Audio options are to either use the built in speakers on the CarPlay display (I wouldn't), connect the CarPlay display to the 3.5mm input socket on the Amundsen using the supplied 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable (too messy, can't hide the cable) or - and this is the option I went for - allow your phone to connect to the car's own bluetooth as normal, and connect to the CarPlay screen for display only. This works really well. While you still get full CarPlay control on the new display (including calls control), all the sound, as well as track data and caller data, goes to the Amundsen. You can see in the pic above that I've got Waze running on the CarPlay display, but the audio (and track info) from Apple Music are going via the Amundsen (but controllable from both the CarPlay screen as well as the Amundsen screen. And as mentioned earlier, on the back of the display is a 4k Dashcam (whether it really is 4K remains to be proven, but the camera output is clear and sharp, and copes well with low light. The height and angle of the camera can be adjusted independently of the angle of the screen. It also came supplied with a 64GB MicroSD card. A 1080P wired rear/reversing camera is also included. I decided not to fit this, but have kept it in case I change my mind in the future. Anyway - all in all - I highly recommend these screens if you want to add modern CarPlay/Android Auto capabilities to your Fabia, but don't want to do a full head unit replacement. The one I purchased (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHSDG63B) has now gone back up to £90 (£130 with a £40 discount voucher on the page. Worth keeping an eye on it (or shopping around on Amazon, eBay, AliExpress etc. for alternative models) in case it comes down again, as things often do on Amazon.

Battery update - finally got round to fitting the Bosch S5 005 on Saturday morning. Immediate difference, car no longer strugglingt to fire up on inignition. Gave it a few good motorway runs over the weekend to get some charge into it as well. Used Liqui Moly battery terminal grease (and gave the positive and negative terminals a clean up at the same time).

Small world, My dad worked for Lex for a while back in the 80s, before he moved on to become a fleet buyer for Budget Rent a Car. You probably stayed at the Barn Hotel in Ruislip. It closed down earlier this year. Currently hosuing asylum seekers ahead of being redeveloped into flats.

Fitted the Nightbreaker 220s on Saturday - has made a significant difference over what I believe were the factory Philips bulbs that I removed. Was driving on some very dark roads in Surrey on Saturday night, and had much better visibility.

I've already gone ahead and ordered the Nightbreaker 220s - they are coming at some point today, so we'll see how they perform. If they are not up to the job I'll definitely give he Philips ones a try.

Hi - alignment is fine and the car sailed through its MOT last month. The outer lenses are also - surprisingly - in tip top condition, no cloudiness or haze, no condensation inside. As for the opaque lens over the projector lamp fitting, it doesn't appear to have degraded, but no idea how or if it could be removed to do any work on it without separating the entire headlight (won't be doing that any time soon). Plenty of spare standard bulbs to hand and I keep a Lidl set in the boot, so emergency need is covered. TBH I have lost track of how old the bulbs are in the headlights currently, so it could be that they have simply degraded over time. But given the stock headlight bulbs in my Rapid were just as bad, I suspect it's more down to whatever bulbs are in there being rubbish and/or being impacted by this headlight design. Won't be doing any mods like fitting additional lights - the car was my mum's up until she died, so won't be messing with any significant modifications. The only things I've done to to it have been fitting a stick-on phone holder (so completely non-destructive and reversible) and one of those 10inch widescreen Carplay additional screens - got one very cheap during the Black Friday sale (again, stick on mount so non-destructive and reversible) and it not only looks very good and tidy in the car (barely any visible cable (about a foot, after which I've made it disappear behind the dash, running to a hidden 12v socket by the fuse box), it adds some much needed modern tech without having to swap out the factory Amundsen nav (which I actually retrofitted in place of the Swing radio when mum first bought the car). It also interoperates well with the Amundsen, as the phone connects to the carplay screen via wifi, and still connects to the Amundsen via bluetooth for audio and calls output.

Thanks

I don't know - there's three bulbs in the headlight. I know the one in the projetor bit on the outside edge is a H7 fitment, and the tiny one is a W5W. No idea of the size or spec of the remaining bulb alas, hence the question.

I've gone ahead and taken a punt on a pair of Nightbreaker 220 H7s to go in the so-called projector part of the headlamps. Arriving tomorrow (Wednesday). Hopefully they will make some difference. The other two bulbs in there, I know the tiny one is a W5W, but the one next to it, is that another H7 or a H4?

2012

Yeah, I don't think it's worth the cost or effort to try and do a HID conversion on a 12-year-old entry-level Fabia II. Similarly, not worth the risk of rendering the headlights illegal. Would be just my luck that I would get nicked for them. Am I likely to see any meaningful improvement if I swap these out for a set of, say, the latest Nightbreakers?

Was looking at the Nightbreakers. Seems the latest conventional ones are the Nightbreaker 220, which the Osram site suggests are not compatible with the car (which seems odd - available in the usual H4 and H7 varieties). Osram's bulb checker is saying the Nightbreaker 200 is as high as I can go. Doesn't sound right, wondering if the bulb checker just hasn't been updated. Anyone know?