SurreyJohn

It will only be annoying if you carry law breakers who don't belt up, if they refuse to wear seat belt, make them walk instead.

If you are only changing 2 then there is usual problem of mixing all season and summer, will behave differently in cold weather. Having said that, if there are old budget tyres, not going to be greatest grip anyway. Your comment about you like your driving seems to conflict with the idea of budget tyres, as budget tyres either do not last as long, or do not grip as well (simple economics, if cut costs, can't afford expensive compounds that are grippier and are more wear resistant). I would be inclined to move to all season tyres, as I wouldn't recommend lively driving on winding country roads, in cold and/or wet weather on budget summer tyres.

My honest opinion is neither. The iV hybrid required more frequent servicing, and unless those services are at very regular intervals, could be some stretched out gaps. Also unless you also get a full battery report that shows it is healthy, assume an expensive replacement might be required. You are looking at adding 6 years and taking mileage to near 250k. Probably should be thinking of needing average of £1k+ of replacement parts each year. The diesel is even older, 9 years old and a very high spec car, that means larger number of expensive to repair features are fitted. The more there is, the more that can potentially fail. There is also the general problem of the more rare the feature, the longer it often takes to source any spare parts. Having said that the engine should be reliable, although I wouldn't trust the gearbox if it may or may not have been serviced. If you do take the risk on cars like this, then make sure you have a fund of about £3000 sitting in easy access account, because at some stage, something expensive (maybe multiple things) are going to need repairing after failing. Might not happen immediately, but almost certainly will happen one day. Remember a repair isn't like a few pounds for a new headlight bulb, a matrix unit installed and fully calibrated is going to cost nearer £1000

In my experience, the configurator sometimes gets in a muddle where there are conflicting options, it depends how well tested the data used is tested. By downloading the brochure, it is much easier to say to a dealer, the brochure says x, and if not there, why didn't you say so, or offer a price adjustment. With the brochures, skip the first half with flashy pictures, and go to the section called options pricing, tends to be definitive of : not on spec, included, or optional at £x extra If you get maxx package, it is what is listed, plus also includes (or enhances) what you get with advanced package, and also includes everything in transport package. The vRS has it as standard, Sportline is £1700 extra as already has advanced and transport packages as standard, Edition it costs £3950 as you are buying the combined triple package, as none are standard https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/c72dfee1-ab36-40e0-b1be-9c99293156c2

If you use cabinet pre conditioning (which is basically turning heating on if cold, or running the a/c if hot) then it will use mains power if it is plugged in. If not plugged in then uses some of the battery. The basic idea is can get the car comfortable temperature before disconnecting so don't hammer the range by having lots of battery energy used to heat or cool the car initially, instead (after disconnecting) just using enough to maintain temperature when driving. However if you are on a smart tariff (cheap overnight EV tariff) then the home app tries to only use the cheap tariff, you need to switch from smart tariff to max charge now, if you want it to charge regardless of time of day. The max battery percentage can be set in e-manager on the car, it will default to 80%, but can be set higher to 100% (and from memory 90%). When Ohme reaches this (in smart charge mode) it will stop charging. Depending on your tariff (mine is 7 hours midnight to 7am) it will sometimes regulate the charge rate, and seems to have some behind the scenes interface with the electricity grid to avoid everyone turning on and off at same time, mine usually turns on between 00:04 and 00:06 rather than starting seconds after midnight. I once came home very late from a trip with battery down to low (something like 8%), and smart charge couldn't actually top it up fully by 7am, so smart charge wanted to restart charging after midnight (avoid the 17 hours daytime rate), so will do clever things. Of course can override it by using max charge if don't want to wait. Because of this talking to the grid, it sometimes seems that it is charging rather randomly, sometimes running at 7.4kw, sometimes much lower rate. So I suspect it is dependent on usage elsewhere. I now have an immersion heater timer and that heats hot water tank during cheap EV hours, so even I in a small way are affecting load on local electricity supply. I don't have Octopus, but I remember when I changed by electricity tariff (with Eon) to EV tariff, part of the change was moving to half hourly smart meter electricity instead of the the every 24 hours (I think regulator is pushing for this anyway), but of course as I was going to get different rates at different times of day this seemed logical. Don't see this as a problem if you are smart with your tariff choice. Hope this helps, there are basically three controls affecting the charging: the max battery percentage (which stops it when reached), the tariff chosen and what you have app set to achieve during cheap smart hours, and in the background the grid loading (which happens but you have no sight of it).

Remember the outside diameter (around 650mm) depends on the tyre tread depth. If tyre started with 7mm tread, still has 4mm, then it is 3mm less radius (or 6mm diameter). The effect it a part used tyre will fit in wheel well easier as slightly smaller diameter than brand new one. I used both 215/45 R18 and 205/60 R16 (with winter tyres) on my Arona. Same basic wheel size (and other VW group models like T-cross) None were easy to get in the well when new. Recently sold the Arona and will be advertising the winters soon (July & Aug during hot dry weather seemed wrong time to try and sell winters). .

Although not linear, if you added 17 / 41 litres of 91RON and 24 / 41 litres of 95RON then ended up with about 93.3 overall But you probably already had about (I am guessing here) 10 litres already in the tank, so overall would have been nearer 94RON (including existing and two top ups) But fuel is sold with specs quoted as a minimum, not an average, so chances are your 91 was actually 91 and a bit, and 95 was really 95 and a bit. As a one off I wouldn't worry, but if it really freaks you out, as soon as you have a few litres space in the tank add some high RON fuel, it will all get mixed up (and every time you go around a corner it will mix a bit as will slop around in the tank). It's not like you have accidentally stuck some diesel in there.

About 10 years time. The belts are now reinforced with a Kevlar like material, should last comfortably 12-15 years, and 200,000km. Possibly even longer

If the car has been recently serviced, why worry about a service plan at moment You could just as easily put £30-40 per month in a drawer at home, so that you have a pot of cash to pay for next service (or could set up standing order transfer to a deposit account). Ultimately all the plans are to benefit Škoda, and try and lock you in to their servicing and be profitable for them. However they jazz it up they haven't been created for you to get a bargain and save a fortune, they are gain for dealers. From memory no plan is comprehensive, there are always bits not included, and unless you do typical mileage, the parts that are due by the calendar (every 2 or 3 years), don't always coincide with those that are mileage based. So end up with bits of plan covering items not yet due, and others due but not in the plan. Rather restrictive if ideally you need part servicing at different times of the year.

With diesels the emissions requirements went up in series of temporary steps (hence euro6d temp etc). And the emissions equipment got more complicated and/or more sensitive over time to comply. A car that has done 15k miles per year, would almost certainly have done regular journeys long enough to allow it to get hot enough to clean itself (doing a regen). There is always a trade off, the engine might be better (providing it has been properly serviced), but other parts, suspension, brakes etc are likely to be closer to point they need changing. It's a case of getting down on knees and visually inspecting, and what full service history says has been done recently, and making a decision based on apparent condition. Ultimately when looking at 4-7 year old cars, there is no specific sweet spot, it's how well serviced and maintained it has been. Be wary of any delayed servicing etc

I don't know your tyre size, but it is worth noting that currently the latest Goodyear tyres are : (Summer) Eagle F1 asymmetric 6 or Efficient grip performance 2 (All year) vector 4 seasons gen 3 (Winter) Ultragrip performance 3 If you have asymmetric 3, they are either an odd size, and only available to old design, rather than latest version 6 So if they opt to replace them, I would check what version they currently fit, and based on what you say is your driving style, I don't think you need the sporty F1 tyres. If Goodyear are paying try and switch to one of the others in their range. If you are offered any brand then unless you can get latest versions try and get something else eg Michelin, Continental etc.

You will only have active shocks if you have top spec, or added DCC (dynamic chassis control) as an option. If you have mode button, try individual setting (on some versions can call this up in infotainment, car, settings too). If you can adjust suspension to sport, comfort etc then they are active. If not then you have standard shock absorbers

Cracking along the grooves suggests uneven loading, and excessive cornering forces, suggesting tyres were at incorrect pressure. The other possibility is they have been driven when very cold, when the rubber is very hard and brittle, and it has cracked. These are summer tyres and not really designed (although UK folk do use them at low temperatures). I have a winter tyre set, and my summers had no cracks after 7 years (because they are not used in cold weather), but I know people who leave summer tyres on all year and find surface cracks after 2-3 years. Of course in summer UV is strong, so I don't buy into theory that strong UV causes cracks, especially as I know others with winter tyres that also don't get cracks. My hunch is they only start to crack when brittle when cold, although once a crack is started it can expand.

Isn't it illegal to park on a 2 lane road, where there are double white lines. Your post appears to incriminate yourself.

Yes, change interval was standardised across Europe, previously UK had a 5 year change recommendation (and would have been 5 years when service record started), this changed July 2023 from memory. Think of pointless email as dealers pathetic efforts of a 5 year old birthday card, it is of no use other than reminding you it will hit 5th birthday. Now something like 12-15 years or about 130k miles. But it is now supposed to be checked for wear at the larger service intervals, and if visually appears to be splitting, worn, or glazed should be flagged for change. .

If you ask them to do an a/c service, tell them you would like the before and after gas readings, and if they ask why say so you can estimate when next one will be due. It will mean doing a proper service and regas (rather than quick top up or just checking pressure)

Not being over cautious, a 5 year old car, with 2 MOT fails (and fails that should be blatantly obvious that it was silly putting car in that condition) suggests previous owner skimped on basic maintenance. Possibly why it is having problems with sensors. The fact that it is needing multiple parts to the engine suggests some underlying problem. My gut feeling is previous owner has caused damage, and clogging by lots of short journeys, and then not done annual services, instead skimping servicing. So walk away. Wouldn't worry about rear brake pads, as changing them by 50k miles (or 5 years) is fairly normal.

Could be the key, especially if cannot lock car again. The key battery level might be enough to illuminate a red LED but not enough to transmit that correct key is in vehicle. Try replacing key battery with best battery you can buy (not one of those weak pound shop type batteries). If coming back tomorrow try second key, and if safe place, consider unlatching the bonnet as it will be pig to open if can't get into car to release it.

Somehow you have pulled it right out, it has locked, and the normal method of release (gently pull belt bit further to unlock the retractor) isn't possible. I don't know what type are fitted, but in the past some had a tiny lever catch that you could prise to manually release it, or wind pulley on (as if pulling belt, but with belt winding in backwards), which allowed spring to rewind it normally. But obviously got to remove trim to get to it. From memory, a cut or frayed belt, or non functioning seatbelt is an MOT failure, so going to have to fix it, or replace it

I think you are not thinking like an insurance risk analyst, they don't care if it passes a MOT, if it doesn't it will either be rectified, scrapped, or insurance will be invalidated. However if modifications to non standard are done to save money (eg cheaper tyre size) then they are going to be less happy by assuming the owner is not doing everything a normal person would to maintain the car to the default standard, so is a higher risk because don't know where else they might also be cutting corners or quietly making changes.

And effectively subsidised by us mere mortals who are expected to pay nearer list price. My charity funding doesn't include contributing to someone else's car, so count me out unless Škoda price the car fairly.

The VW group half year sales figures came out this week, and ŠKODA Karoq sales fell compared to 1H24. It is 5th most popular ŠKODA model 1st half 2025 sales by model Octavia 97,500 Kodiaq 64,800 Kamiq 64,100 Fabia 60,400 Karoq 52,200 Enyaq 38,700 Superb 36,600 Elroq 34,300 Scala 27,200 Kylak, 20,100 Kushaq 6,800 Salvia 6,700 Those lower names are Asia only models. Have to think the similar size Enyaq must be taking some sales from the 8 year old Karoq design. In UK just 3 run out Edition trim levels are now available to order new priced from £30,940 to £43,440 (list price) before adding options Another thing, is it appears 1-31 Aug if you chose Elroq instead, get extra £1500 guaranteed electric car contribution, there is the OVO electricity offer, and get choice of 0% APR or 6.4% with £2750 deposit contribution. Rather more offers than on a Karoq

There is nothing nowadays in ŠKODA range with a truly flat floor with seats folded. From memory certain versions of Honda Jazz has it (think they call them magic seats) A wild card might be Hyundai Inster 02, it is narrow for your country lanes, and in addition to back seats you can also fold front passenger seat flat to have extended load bay. Only has 4 seats, not a 5th but maybe that is not a requirement. .

As a (very) rough guide tyres have an ideal operating temperature which is a range of 20-25c wide (budget tyres have simpler compounds, because they are cheaper and ideal temperature range is nearer only 15c wide). They are still good few degrees outside it, but their grip falls off as get further from ideal. Euro summer tyres ideal is around 10-33c All seasons about -3 to +20c Euro Winters around -10 to +12c Nordic winter about -21 to +2c If you add at each end another 5-15c or so for the tapering towards poor then won't be far off in your thinking. But it should be fairly obvious that all seasons tend to be closest to UK and Ireland climate if you intend to keep the same tyres all year.

There are some weird things going on, and this isn't the first offer recently. Linking a thread recently where the nearly new price with its high interest cost more than brand new with low interest https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/533456-%C5%A1koda-ex-demonstrator-event-is-it-poor-value/ But have to remember, these offers generally apply to cars that they are stuck with, as no one else has yet wanted to buy them, they are the unsold and unwanted dregs of the inventory. I bet you won't find a big selection of unregistered vehicles sitting in their showroom for you to choose what suits you best and drive away within hours. The very fact that ŠKODA are involved as well as the dealer, suggests they are stuck in a dockside compound and no dealer wants to risk taking them unless they have a buyer (the spec is inconsistent with what most are prepared to pay for) And as you will see from thread above, appears they can make more money by selling a used car. So I wouldn't be surprised if offer vanishes if you don't want to part ex, or instead offer them a beat up second car in your family. They might pitch it as good deal (vs the recently increased list prices), but is it really, maybe it is good for them (otherwise why are they doing it), but is it sensible for you as well.