SurreyJohn

This is correct, but then your current situation of 2 tyres with lots of tread, and 2 worn tyres will also cause the similar effect. Whilst not ideal, 2 good summer tyres and 2 all seasons, (all with decent tread depth) are probably safer than having 2 tyres close to minimum legal tread especially in wet. No one is going to recommend mixing, but plenty of tyre establishments (and garages) seem to be happy to fit an assortment of tyres, its not that hard to find cars with 4 unrelated tyres. Chasing profit is clearly more important for them.

The 1 litre petrol is suprisingly good. It is a lot easier when linked to the 7 speed DSG, however your location shows as London and you might find the manual rather hard work. The engine is very free revving and if you are driving in London traffic with quick spurts between closely spaced traffic lights (and speed bumps), you might find you are up and down gears in quick sequence. Not such a problem if you live where there are open roads. However if you live in a hilly area, or regularly load the car up with people or goods, probably want to go up an engine size. I would avoid early 1.5 petrol manuals, (although they should have had software changes by now, but this needs checking)

@PaulCanning There have been some very good and informative replies to this thread I notice you have specified a 4x4. What you might not realise is a 2wd version with winter tyres will keep going if it snows, but your 4wd on factory tyres won’t get up the first hill it gets to (you will simply spin 4 wheels so probably slide sideways). Be interesting to know why you want 4x4 and factory fit summer tyres for all year use. As most people would save the cost of the 4x4 and get all seasons instead. I just wish they were an option on UK spec cars. Here is a video of all season tyre choice (with a comparison to a summer tyre and a winter tyre) https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2020-Tyre-Reviews-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

In recent years, has been a tendency to fit cars with low profile summer tyres (which have longtitudanal grooves). Any summer tyre marked as Eco is likely to have an harder compound, so even worse in cold weather. These are great on summer days, but rubbish on colder days at dealing with cold rain, muddy field run off, slush, snow etc. It is basic physics and chemistry, rubber compounds become harder at low temperatures, and at higher temperatures become soft and sticky. Tyres have a mix of compounds to suit a temperature range, but can’t defy laws of physics and make a tyre that works perfectly at both a cold winter night (say -15c) and a hot summer day (say +35c) as optimum temperature range is nearer 30c max (lower on budget tyres with simpler compounds) It is generally agreed that winter tyres are better than summer tyres below +7c (recently shown to be nearer +9c in wet, +5c in dry, the +7 being an average). Winter tyres are good upto about +15c, but they get softer and wear quicker in very hot weather so not suitable for all year. All seasons are a relatively new concept (were rare 5 years ago), work better to about -5c (so useful for frosty mornings). They tend to have treads that are better at displacing rain, and sipes for snow. The downside is not as good as summer tyres over about 25c. (but UK has many more days (and nights) below +7c than days over 25c Full winter tyres are better for steep hills and in snow, during the winter as the treads are designed for it. As changing tyres onto rims is not easy, most winter tyres are fitted on a duplicate set of rims, often with a smaller rim diameter and a deeper tyre, as grip is more important than all out speed in winter.

Thought the following would be useful SE-L and Monte Carlo spec have 215/45 R18 89V tyres, not a common size For all season can get : Vredestein Quatrac Pro Continental all season contact Maxxis AP3 .....and that’s it (although older Quatrac 5 and AP2 might still be available at moment) being rare size, likely to cost £500-600 for set of 4 all season tyres For SE spec wheels with 205/55 R17 91V lots of choice For S spec wheels with 205/60 R17 92H also plenty of choice and lot cheaper than the 18 inch versions For those who live in the mountains, or where there are very steep hills. You may prefer to swap to dedicated winter set of wheels/tyres. Any of the above sizes are valid, as are 16 inch wheels with 195/60 R16 or 205/60 R16 Unlike the bigger cars, Karoq etc with 5 x 112mm wheel bolts, the Kamiq uses the small car size of 5 x100mm bolt, so if getting new rims make sure they are this size. Offset ET varies slightly by rim but is between 35-40 so ideally anything in this range is suitable. Hope this is useful, as these questions always come up this time of year

Just looked up 225/40 R18 price (but I haven’t searched around) The Evergreen was showing as £73 (and 7 days to order), the crossclimate as £108 Less of a difference than I expected, and I’m not sure why anyone would choose to stock a relatively expensive obscure budget tyre. Don’t think he knows much about tyres even if good at fixing other things.

New brochure dated 15 September 2020 https://az749841.vo.msecnd.net/sitesengb/alv1/fa095026-4a69-4db9-b830-036872f5d214/SKODA_FABIA_Brochure_15SEP2020.54bd885defd4364ccee72e30dd690aba.pdf Looks like emission of DSG is 6d step2, but the manuals are only at older step 1 the 110 engines only from stock, now only 95 engines which only have max torque of 160 so 20% less

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If the Citigo is axed , but the VW e-Up and Seat Mii continue then clearly someone has decided what each brand will have. Clearly Skoda don't want to sell small cars anymore, does make me wonder if a replacement for current Fabia will actually be sold, or if that will also quietly disappear

Skoda don’t make tyres, but you have managed to highlight that over time tyre manufacturers have increased speed rating. If no one is making the lower speed rated ones anymore then have to use a higher speed rating for the size. If you go shopping in a supermarket, and if trolley is big instead of smaller, doesn’t mean you have to fill it. Same concept, don’t have to drive at the highest speed just because excessive maximum exists.

It happens sometimes on country roads with trees at certain times of year. The sensor is by the mirror facing outwards through windscreen. Basically you are driving in and out of shadows, so light level keeps changing. No difference to driving under lots of bridges or short tunnels. It is of course an auto tunnel light so is doing what it’s supposed to do. Doesn’t mean the trees have been properly trimmed though, so maybe blame road maintenance rather than the car My solution is simply to turn the lights off manually if I get a really bad section, then put it back to auto afterwards.

There have been others that have had leaks fairly early on, but they are normally changed under warranty. Potentially it could be a manufacturing fault, but not clear why it was not detected at MOT (or a service) which is normally done before the warranty runs out (I'm aware of MOT extension, but if warranty was running out, would be normal to get a service or inspection and any rectification work), maybe you were unlucky and didn't get noticed in time. Driving on almost smooth roads could have resulted in very little vertical travel, so any wear has been concentrated in one part of the shaft. Mileage is not going to be good indicator of wear unfortunately because it isn't related to how many bumps and ripples you went over. Difficult call, could try and ask Skoda for a contribution (might not get, but if don't ask, wont get anything) but that will be against franchised dealer charge rates, or try and save some money and find a good VW group independent. Why not get quotes both routes initially to see which is most likely to save you money. £1200 seems high price for parts and doing a job that is basically undoing a few bolts to slot in replacement

Complain, get them to get the correct cross climate in and expect them to swap them, as they said matching tyre Apart from anything else, the others are all seasons, the EU728 is a summer tyre (they make an all season, its EU719) Evergreen are a budget tyre made in China by Shangdong Jinyu Tire Co I would look at your invoice, how much did they charge, depending on size the crossclimates could be £90 upto about £160 so you might have to pay the difference from the budget summer tyre they fitted

There is no direct replacement for the short, spacious roomster Possibly the Ford Tourneo Courier, but not same size (not the similar named tourneo connect, which may cause confusion) The Peugeot Rifter appears or Citroen Berlingo seem to be a possible alternative. Nothing in VW Group. Size wise the Nissan NV200 could just about be there, but again not as cheap as a Roomster. These days replacement choice is very limited

I thought the electric Citigo was made in the VW factory at Bratislava, Slovakia The problem is they never geared up to make enough, rumour has it that VW had to suspend orders in Germany as waiting list has grown to 16 months. (There are various electric incentives that make it about €10k) Quite simply could have sold 10 times the Citigo-Mii-Eup if they had tooled the factory to build enough, but they didn’t so they are losing sales to other manufacturers (and losing second car sales from other VW group models)

Wonder how these will be when weather gets colder, many Eco brands seem to have harder compound than normal summer tyres, so don’t like cold rain or winter temperatures as not really designed for all season use. Hopefully the Op will update everyone in few months

Your choice may be dictated by size required. I would go for the newest design (Alpin 6 or TS860 etc), but for some sizes have to have the older lower numbered design, so you might want to avoid the older design. Last winter I got Goodyear Ultragrip 9+ (which came out summer 2019) and have been very pleased with these. I ordered them from Germany as it was cheaper (even with the shipping), Also heard good things about Vredestein Wintrac Pro if you need another alternative for your required size.

Have Bridgestone A005 weather control on our roomster. Have had them nearly 2 years. They are brilliant in Autumn, as they grip really well in cold rain, sleet, muddy field run off etc. Much better than summer tyres in slushy snow, and icy puddles etc. Seem to wear very well as ours still have loads of tread. The only downside is slightly more noisy on poor surfaces than some other brands

In some cases the tyre manufacturers drop the lower speed rating from their range so have to move to higher speed letter. Easier (especially for stock) to have one tyre in the size that can cover all speeds, than make 2 or 3 speed variants of each size

Correct Do you get messages on top of infotainment screen, offering details if you touch the message bar. If so see how many you can get, I’m upto 6 different reasons for start-stop

Leasing can be cheaper as shown, especially if you stick to standard spec, and search out good deals. However many of the best deals are on cars or specs that are about to get replaced However it regularly becomes more expensive if you add lots of options, do higher mileages than agreed, or your expiry date doesn’t work for a good replacement deal. Many a person has done a lease or PCP and struggled to find a replacement at the end at a price or spec they like, so savings get negated when you average it over the lease plus next 3 years. Most people wouldn’t say paying nearly £30k over 6 years at £5k per year is cheap (especially when car was £27k new).

When someone uses word Acceptable rather than good or brilliant etc. then not sure how negative the comment is trying to be

Ours will be 8 years old in a month. Bought it 6 months old (had been used by someone at dealership), so have had it over 7 years. Now done 39700 miles At the beginning of year would have said never given any problems, tyres had been changed, and routine servicing, but no failures. Since then it has caused problems, needed to get new battery as kept needing recharging. Tailgate wouldn’t open (and rear wiper playing up) diagnosed as degraded wiring so needed new wiring loom in tailgate (with hindsight this may have been affecting the battery). Hopefully now it is fixed will carry on for a while. Still very useful car.

A lot will depend on how they are stored Light, temperature variation etc all affect it The simple answer if you want to ensure that you do not get old stock, is to specify a tyre that only came out within last year. Might cost bit more, but you get latest technology.

I would also suggest the Michelin cross climate+ SUV Maybe the Continental all season contact (rating is marginally noisier) or Vredestein Quatrac Pro as alternatives in your obscure size. I would suggest that summer tyres are to be avoided (unless you change to winter set), not because of snow/ice, but because of cold rain. It is generally known that winter tyres work better below +7c but most people don’t realise the summer tyres are worse below 9-10c in wet, and 4-5c in dry (with the +7c being average). In UK the all seasons deal much better with cold rain, field run off, muddy autumn puddles etc. So if you are tending towards summer tyres because only get a handful of snowy days, you are forgetting all the wet days below +10c