edbostan

I was buying some paint for my daughter's Ford Focus and asked how much a cam belt change was at a local Ford dealers and he said £700. On the phone another service agent was talking to a customer over her Ford Fiesta and he also said £700. Got it done at my local independent 'all makes' engineer for £300.

Dealer spark plug prices are ridiculous. I can get iridium tipped Bosch plugs for mine around £16 each from a local motor factors. Even the price of pollen/cabin air filter are through the roof at dealer prices. I replaced a like for like dealer fitted pollen filter for £18.

I have manual aircon and only use it when I needed it, and yes the dehumidifier function works when the heater is set to warm. As a footnote my sister has a similar aged Ford Focus and she never turned the aircon off but she had to have hers regassed before mine.

I have driven a Yeti courtesy car and my brother-in-laws Yeti. to be honest I have never considered the Roomster to be low. Previously I had a Fiat Multipla and never felt disadvantaged when I changed to the Roomster. My brother-in-law always wants to drive my Roomster if I let him.

There's is a new VW Caddy out in 2021 and the Caddy Life looks like a suitable replacement.

The glovebox light I have checked on my 63reg Roomster has no switch in the glovebox and the light stays on constantly until I lock the car with the remote. I have poked around to see if I can find a microswitch and I cannot find one and I have had the car since new. So to check, leave the glovebox lid open, step outside the car and lock using the remote and the light will extinguish.

Roomsters are a tardis. I have used mine for car boots, trips to council dump and continental travel.

One slides forward and one slides back. I checked the condition of the pollen filter on my Roomster which is similar and could I get the front to side forward and locate no way. The filter is only secured by the back clip.

Are those prices including VAT at 20%. Rather extortionate.

If I don't get 8 years out of a battery I feel cheated. Don't know what make my 7 years old Roomster has because it is wrapped in black felt but that still has 'lead in its pencil'. Best battery I had was an Exide which was factory fitted into my 1974 BL Mini. It was still going when I sold the Mini 10 years later.

Do you have to plug it in into the AUX socket?

What balances the crankshaft when 2 pots are working and the others are passengers?

£99 for plugs? Is that based on a V8? Many engines are 3-cylinder now although mine is a 4-pot. That £139 for aircon service is a rip-off as it was £79 up until recently for the older refrigerant.

I took my Roomster to a very reliable independent garage for a minor service of oil, filter change and a replacement pcv valve. The cost was reasonable and less than a Skoda dealer would charge. Next time is a major service which I am contemplating to allow the dealer to carry out because rightly or wrongly do they do a simple diagnostic check to confirm that all sensors and engine management settings are at optimum which perhaps an independent garage would not do?

Edd China of Wheeler Dealer fame advertisers Tetraclean which is a treatment to clean out engines and it was featured on one of the episodes. Whether it is effective or not, who knows.

My resistor pack has to be replaced as speed 1 has gone. It is recommended to disconnect the battery whilst doing so. Are there any problems caused by the disconnection of the battery?

Can you replicate the condition in lower gears and same engine rpm? For example, is it turbo or engine rpm related? Does the engine go into limp mode in third gear at same engine rpm?

Tyre fitters damage alloys. I kept mine pristine until I needed tyres after punctures. Different tyre fitters damaged the rims and a scratch along one of the spokes - sickening. I have not even curbed them after 7 years.

Mine is 7 years old and done 40k. The paint is like new and drives like new - its a keeper. For what you spend on repairs will be dwarfed by the £s you lose on depreciation if you buy a new model

I know perhaps that all options may not be fitted but I buy from stock. My Roomster 1.2 SE was in the dealers back yard still wrapped in the white protective sheeting but I bought and owned it a week later.

Cars have become like ink-jet printers. Dealers don't make money on the selling of the vehicle but recoup profits on the servicing costs. I use an independent now as they told me off for using a dealer when I had a PCV valve fitted. The independent uses VW parts and approved oil spec so is a no brainer. I replaced the pollen filter myself and the filter I took out was a bog standard paper element fitted by the dealer. From the local car spares the replacement cost £18. How can Skoda charge £35. Rip off.

I have not heard it on my sister-in-law's Fabia

With the driver's front seats pushed forward the measurement from the lip of the boot to the back of driver's seat is around 6ft or 183 cm so you could sleep in it if you are average height

My 63 reg 1.2tsi has done it since new but not on every start-up. Sometimes it does it and sometimes not. If the tensioner tightens with oil pressure then for the first few seconds before oil pressure has built up surely the chain is slack? I can't get my head around it. When it first happened I put it down to possibly tappet clatter but don't know.

I would stay with it. The Roomster is brilliant and mileage and age is nothing to worry about. Returning from Cornwall this weekend mainly the broken down vehicles being attended to by the breakdown services were the Audi's and BMW's while I soldiered pass with a smug look on my face.