SurreyJohn

Not sure how long it has been there, but latest brochure (page 31) has a note on servicing, variable services now between 9000 and 20,000 miles upto 24 months, and as per attached quote is now for vehicles driven in an economical manner The flexible service regime is recommended for vehicles with a daily mileage of more than 25 miles where the vehicle is driven regularly and mainly at a constant speed with minimum vehicle and engine loading, minimal towing and driven in an economical manner. https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/43543ebe-b876-4be5-9692-5aa8d68b302b Looks like most mk4 owners are going to be on fixed services then as more than 25 miles daily during a lockdown is going to be difficult

Maybe in Estonia, but in UK there is a choice (full details page 32 of link) Fixed every 10,000 miles or every year Variable 9000-20,000 or upto 2 years https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/4fb122b2-e597-4ebe-a59f-53f971824299

@Greenie58 Just in case you haven’t found it, here is a link to the December Karoq brochure, the specs are in the tables https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/c63f4efb-a760-4a48-931f-baad88d42aa6

I understand your requirement, and preference but regarding weight penalty, the only 4x4 and non 4x4 in same spec is vRS TDi and the difference in weight is 120kg for hatch, or 99kg for estate (which is same as 4-5 bags of cement), not 50kg as you suggest. And your over a ton should be over 2 tons as only estate with 4x4 is now 2141 kg

Many of the new brochures (Dec 2020) for various models and specs now state low rolling resistance tyres (in the tables marked technical info towards end of brochure), although some are still tyre size without this qualifier It appears Skoda UK are changing over to these (possibly some sizes not yet available). These are basically eco summer tyres (they are harder), great for getting a marginally better mpg figure and slightly lower CO2 figure at +23c (the WLTP test temperature). Unfortunately the mean temperature in UK is nowhere near +23c These eco summer (low rolling resistance as Skoda UK call them) are hard and poor in the wet below about +10c (it is a lower temp in dry), and completely useless in cold rain, sleet, slush, snow etc. So are unsuitable for all year use in UK, where many months of wet weather below +10c exist Does @nickcoll need the 4wd system (and just look at the extra weight in the brochure, in those technical tables, its like adding a few bags of cement and carrying it around all year), or do you simply need different tyres to what Skoda UK will supply (my recommendation for all year use is Goodyear Vector 4season Generation3 or Continental all season contact)

If the car has been doing 30-35k per year, would expect a service to show up on the complete record about every 7 months. Check they were done. MOT checker says it passed at 90k miles in June. Good sign, but as a general rule if fails with multiple important items and needs fixing to pass, suggests skimped care. You should probably allow £1-1.5k in your budget for full service and replacement of something in next few months, if you are happy with that then could be car for you

It is also worth enquiring about availability of lease extensions (although might not be able to get accurate rate until last 3 months. One spin off of Covid is that many were unable to change vehicles during first lockdown, so many 6 and 12 month extension deals became available (but are unadvertised, so you need to ask your current provider) If you like your current car and spec, might also be worth enquiring regarding how much they will sell it to you for. Bank loan rates are very cheap currently so financing and keeping it for 3-6 years may be a better economic option.

A sticking pedal and the clutch lining are in different parts of the vehicle If the pedal has been sticking, it could be causing clutch to drag and wear, therefore wear might be a direct consequence of the faulty pedal. Send email to dealer repairing the car to keep any worn parts, so they can show you. (You own the parts anyway), if they dispose of anything then virtually impossible to argue as evidence is all destroyed

Whilst there could be another fault (which you would need the auto electrician to identify), I am in the dying battery camp. The clue to me was started fine after a charge, the references to only 10v. Not sure about the grinding but possibly slow release of something if electrical relay is being sluggish due to lower voltage. If the garage tested the battery, did they do it in a warm workshop, or out in the cold, if something is dying in cold, might not show in warm If the battery is 8 years old, may as we’ll change it, as probably going to have to do it sometime in next few months anyway. A continuously strong batter and voltage might solve problems anyway.

@ExpatmanIf it helps you decide, I had a Yeti SE 1.2 DSG (standard 17 inch wheels) for 2 years on a PCH, but now have an Arona, which I have had for 2.5 years. The Kamiq (which was my ideal size) didn’t exist then, but is basically same car underneath. The suspension settings might be slightly different but hope this helps anyway. Arona came with 215/45 R18 wheels with Pirelli P7 summer tyres, and the ride was lot firmer than the Yeti. It is fine on good surfaces, but this combination is a bit crashy on poor patched up tarmac. I discovered the P7 tyres are useless in cold weather, on cold mornings they were solid (bit like those old 1920s trucks with solid rubber wheels) until they had warmed up bit after mile or two. I looked at all season tyres in 215/45 R18 (very limited in 2019, and expensive), but then decided to get winter wheels So I ordered Borbet Y rims with 205/60 R16 Goodyear Ultragrip 9+ winter tyres (cheaper than the all seasons in the obscure size). These rims fit with original bolts and no spacers. Thus can give you a comparison of running 16 inch vs 18 inch (the outside tyre circumference is virtually identical). Quite simply the 16 inch is way better on poorly maintained tarmac. Possibly a slight part is due to softer compound of the winter tyres. Actually the winter tyres are so good, I have been able to drive on winding country roads in recent icy weather as if it is a warm dry summers day. Grip is that good, and winter tyres more than happy at +15c To be honest, if I had a choice from new, I would pick the 16 inch wheel, and fit it with best all season tyres (my choice would be Goodyear vector 4season Generation 3 or Continental all season contact). The bigger 17 and 18 inch wheels might look more flashy, and allow slightly better turning feedback at steering wheel in a spirited drive, but unless you local road surface is as smooth as a billiard table, the less comfortable ride isn’t worth it (especially if someone in your family has ailing bones). One final piece of advice, some specs now come with low rolling resistance tyres, these are eco tyres to improve mpg, at the WLTP test temperature of +23c. These eco summer tyres are hard and useless in cold rain / sleet / slush / snow. Change them for softer all season tyres if you want comfort.

If you report the faults within first 30 days, and Skoda is unable to fix them (and dealer not booking in car for a while is not fixing), then should be able to reject without questions. There is also the vehicle not as advertised, if a feature is not there, then the sale contract is not 100% fulfilled. The normal practice in these situations is to offer you a price reduction as you are effectively getting substandard item. You do not have to accept this offer, or could counter-offer with something like £1000 off or rejection still takes place. No one else can place a value on how you value a particular feature. As a general rule, beyond the 30 days, dealer has to be given a chance to rectify the problem (one chance, can’t keep having a go at it), if they can’t fix it (and a partial fix is not meeting the rectification criteria), then can still reject, but would be expected to pay for usage for time you used it. (As example if you had it 3 months, paying the equivalent of 3 months contract hire PCH rate would be reasonable, being asked to take big loss to cover a potential resale margin isn’t, a realistic deduction is bit of a grey area), so won’t get 100% of your money back. If you do reject, not obliged to get a replacement from same dealer (even if they offer you a deal), you are totally at liberty to take your returned cash and buy something from elsewhere, even another car brand. Don’t worry about the dealer ending up with a rejected car, or moaning about inconvenience or losing money, not your problem, they have their own contract with Skoda where they can get remedies.

if you change type, then cars coding needs to know that it is dealing with something different, so yes. The type may be printed on it, but car has no way of asking the battery, so needs manually coding

The selling dealer is responsible, as others have said, will probably try and wriggle out of it, but it’s their problem as a professional. I would also put the inspector on notice (write to them, quoting their reference) stating that a balancing machine shows deformed, asking for their deformation threshold parameter, as they said they weren’t. There is a difference between not visually deformed, and no deformation at all. I suspect you are going to have to be very precise in your choice of words Good Luck

Summer tyres, good wet grip at +20c (and higher) Completely useless in cold rain, slush and snow There are very few areas of UK where the latest summer tyres are sensible choice anymore, as since the introduction of all seasons (now best choice for majority of UK), the summer versions seem to have been respecified to give a good mpg at WLTP test temperature of +23c so nowhere near as good as tyres from a few years ago in wet below +10c Of course if you are keen driver, in warmer months, then put these on in the summer.

There are various things that stop it from working, are you unconsciously doing any of them : slightly moving steering wheel, using partial rather than full footbrake when stopped etc. If want to check it, try turning off everything (including electric mirror switch to off instead of heating), in the recent cold weather unlikely to cut in unless you do big journey

I have Goodyear ultragrip 9+ winters on one car (205/60 R16). In the recent weather (cold rain, sleet, frost, including ice patches) they have gripped the road like it’s a dry summer day The tread pattern (the slightly curves V shapes) looks similar to the all season vector4 season Generation 3. When I bought them (Autumn 1999) there was not much choice in the standard wheel size 215/45 R18 and the limited choice of all seasons cost more than set of 16 inch wheels with winter tyres. To be honest if it wasn’t for the apparent waste of new tyres the car has come with, it has become clear to me that summer tyres are now generally pointless in UK, and latest all season are much better if you don’t intend to change wheels twice a year in UK

Is the battery fully charged ? I assume (might be wrong) that it only allows electric heaters when there is sufficient charge. I am guessing if anyone is only doing minimal journeys during lockdown then need to plug it in to charge (especially if using heating thus drawing down battery before each short journey). Are you able to check charge level via app I don’t have an iv so guessing a bit here

For reasons that I can’t understand, SE spec has low rolling resistance tyres, but SE-L doesn’t (see brochure page 28). SE-L normally has 17 inch wheels, with 18 inch as a hefty £830-£930 option (yes over £200 per wheel !) https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/fec3158f-9dc3-4b41-8d0a-c5faad85f1f5

Slightly surprised that the Goodyear Efficient Grip performance is Knobbly. I thought it was a summer tyre, but it is a fuel saving tyre (which tends to mean it is harder). I suspect like all eco style summer tyres it is far too hard at current low temperatures which is why it is noisy. You appear to previously used cross climates (which are fairly quiet). I’m afraid it is simply choice of tyre which is great at +23c (WLTP test temperature), but not designed for all year use in UK. Simple rule don’t use summer tyres in cold weather, they grip poorly (especially in cold rain and sleet) and are hard and noisy. I suspect either the road surfaces, or temperature or tyre brand was different, when you did test drive, and that was main differences in noise, not the size.

If it is just a top up then as per handbook, can top up with any multi grade oil. If you want to try and run it for 2 years with same oil (not a great idea if it was that low that it needs a whole quart, (0.6 litre) as it would have over used existing oil) If you need more than small quantity look for VW508 spec (easily obtainable, and usually in long list on back of container), Castrol Edge available at BP garages can be bought with that spec, probably many others eg Total Quartz

There are also non start/stop version for sale which did not have the AGM battery program. It is possible that some of the negative comments were using the older non compatible version, or the non automatic version (which doesn’t stop so could over-charge). The CT5 version (which does both AGM and standard batteries) should be ok. I have the time to go version and found it very easy to use, as green LEDs light up as stages done. There are full instructions on which way to connect it. There were also alternative leads to permanently connect a plug in socket rather than use the croc clips.

If 5 minutes of running meant it was ok, suggests it is marginal. My hunch is a good charge up would be ok for now, rather than changing the battery. Without getting into a physics lesson, batteries do not hold charge as long when cold. In addition when you start a cold engine, the oil is colder, and thus not as viscous. Hence why in old days drivers used to be taught to dip clutch on start up in cold weather to lower the load being cranked (nowadays newer cars have a clutch interlock so need to press clutch anyway). 5 minutes of engine running will not really be enough to bring battery upto a good level of charge, probably need 15 minutes minimum (and that is with minimal electrical load, no wipers, electric window heaters, and lights off). if can't really drive it decent amount, then a good automatic battery charger (eg ctek) would be good to recharge it fully. Regarding coding, if the battery is a straight like for like swap, and the old one was just a bit weak, (rather than knackered), then shouldn't need to code anything as you are not telling it anything different is fitted.

One advantage of servicing every 12-14k miles, is it is a good interval to rotate the tyres (but will need to ask for this to be done as an extra). Will even out the tyre wear

I think some of the Bridgestone weather control A005 range is available in run flat, but might be the older style, not the more recent evo version Also some Pirelli Cinturato All season tyres have the seal inside I used to live in Surrey and as snow is rare, either of these might be suitable (if correct size is available), we have A005s on our second car, and their ability to deal with cold rain is outstanding, however only snow has been more of a dusting (than serious snow) and they were good. I'm not familiar with Pirelli all seasons so can't comment on how they perform.

It will depend on the dampness of where it has been stored Should dry out after a few days if you keep it in a well ventilated garage, not a lot you can do if you choose to park it outside apart from try and park it with lights facing the sun (obviously the sun is weaker in winter and air not as dry)