Baxlin

Had a bit of a chuckle while I was in town this morning. Lots of vehicles queuing at the Shell station, with at one set/lane of pumps, the first car had paid and gone, but the 4x4 behind was still filling up. So the driver of a German car, with 3 points on his star if not on his licence, dives in from the road via the ‘out’ lane, jumping the queue, and starts filling up at the vacant pump. He was maybe showing initiative, but then he takes ages to fill, and holds everyone else up, then has to negotiate reversing out onto the road, into all the traffic that is either queuing, or trying to get past.

Noticed today that my long term mpg has dropped from 45 to 42 in the last couple of weeks. No scientific test, but it’s been 45-ish for ages. (1.4 TSi)

Difficulty removing dipstick? Be firm, just tell him to get out of his BMW! 😇

If you really want to find out if the paintwork is smooth, put your hand in a thin polythene bag, and gently wipe it on the paint.

Which I think is what I was alluding to about some not being ‘beauties’

But then the thread title refers to ‘our beauties’. And it appears that some aren’t, I guess.

And to me, as well. My regular method, if anyone’s interested, is hose on spray (not power wash) to soften the dirt, then two bucket method with cheapo shampoo (as it’s only to get the muck off) using several microfibre mitts, open hose off. Depending on what I did the last couple of times it was washed, I either use Meguiars’ Last Touch as a drying aid, or AG Aqua Wax. I have several soft microfibre towels for drying. The door and boot shuts are obviously done as well, as are under the bonnet ‘shuts’ etc. My favourite paste wax is G3 super paste, which I use several times a year. On the glass, it’s either AG Fast Glass or RainX, and AG custom wheel cleaner on the alloys, with AG instant tyre dressing on the tyre walls. I used to use Megs’ Endurance on the tyres, but the AG stuff is easier, and doesn’t splatter as much (maybe I was putting too much on?) I don’t have a dedicated wheel wax, but use the G3 occasionally (not spray on, because of the discs!) With this regime, my previous car won best in class at the VOC virtual show last year, which is good enough for me... You have a point, so why shave, your beard will grow back, why mow the lawn, it’ll only grow again. Why vacuum the carpets in the house, they’ll only need doing again soon. You get the drift. (mind you, my bachelor neighbour doesn’t do any of these...)

While he will ‘sit’ on pole, he only inherited it because of Bottas’ grid penalty, a real tough call for Bottas. I suppose he has the moral victory though, and no doubt Alfa will have noticed (as will Mercedes...)

I noticed while driving today that the time was incorrect on the (Amundsen) screen. I went into settings, and it was set for GPS adjustment, so I changed it to manual, and reset, no problem. Was this as a result of simply losing gps signal, and if so, will it happen every time, and presumably ‘catch up’ when the signal is picked up again? Thanks in advance

^^^. Disregard ‘last week’s debacle’ comment. 🤫

Hopefully next year’s regs will help sort F1 out. Currently, it seems they are aiming for processions, what with wide cars having aerodynamics that don’t allow close up following, and “it’s always been hard to overtake on this track” circuits. Last week’s debacle

Sorry, I didn’t know where the OP’s location (Fi) was...

Aren’t headlight washers obligatory with some types of headlights?

That seems fair, as he’s led a good few laps this year!

I just hope that the outcomes of the WDC and/or WCC aren’t decided by these (imo) meaningless points. Who got the fastest lap point? The safety car? But having said that, I’m pleased that Russell’s and Williams’ efforts on Saturday weren’t wasted.

It may arguably affect the future value, but I’d rather lose a bit on resale in order to have my choice during the years I have it. I usually keep a car for at least 3 years, so spreading the (only speculated, not definite, don’t forget) loss on resale over 3 years puts it in context. But as always, see my sig.🤫

I’m in a hard water area, and as advised above, if in direct sunlight I wash and dry a panel at a time. I use Megs’ Last Touch (bulk version of their Qwik Detailer) as a drying aid, and a few plush drying towels turned regularly. Mine isn’t ‘coated’, so I occasionally use AG Fast Wax instead of Last Touch, just to top up its wax protection. But I agree, water marks are a pain, and avoiding washing a hot car in direct sunlight is probably the best way of avoiding the problem.

As an aside, I wouldn’t want my satnav to record/keep my ‘home address’ as my actual home address.

Thanks. 👍 Yes, I’d noticed on the radio screen that various extra buttons/controls appear if your finger ‘hovers’ near the screen. I’ve not tried it on the camera screen though, as I’m usually too busy reversing... There’s so much I still don’t know about the car, even though I’ve avidly RTFM’d!

Waiting with bated breath for a reply to this... Edit: well I was, but I’ve just been out to my car to ‘have a play’ with the picture settings, because mine was the same as the OP’s first pic. But for some unknown reason, I got the full width picture, no black patch! Now why’s that, I’ve never seen it before. However, if you’ve seen my posts on other reversing camera threads, you’ll know my camera doesn’t always work, sometimes it’s a blank screen with the white car to the left. My car was registered in March 18 - I bought it this year - and I assume it’s not had any Amundsen updates, so that’s something I will explore, hopefully it might solve both annoyances. 🤫

You are correct. It’s so important to get it right fist time. (Yes, I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, and forgive me, but this was too good to pass up...) And yes, I did edit 😇

Thanks for this, very helpful. Can I just add a comment re the glovebox - when replacing it make sure the damping lever is fully extended, makes the job so much easier.

Did you manage to do the job?

Apologies, I didn’t note which forum this was in, and therefore which car it was, because the thread popped up on my default ‘unread posts’ selection (ie not a model-specific list), and looking at the OP’s detail on the left - model: Octavia Combi - I assumed the vehicle was an Octavia.

OK, mine is 2018 reg hatchback, so there may be differences. However, I had the same problem, but I managed to fit the camera without removing any more. I posted on member Wayland’s excellent ‘how-to’ thread. Hope this helps