HeavyMetalRich

That's great, thanks Pete. I should maybe try Skodaparts.

If it is the tyre(s) causing the noise, you should be able to tell by running your hand along the inner edge of the rear tyres. The tread blocks will be worn down at the front edges, often called sawtoothing, and you'll feel that with your hand. If it's a different kind of deformation as suggested by @Jocko, you could still feel it with your hand but you'd be better to jack the car up with the handbrake off (chocked front wheels and in gear for all those H&S enthusiasts) and spin the wheel while watching the tyre. You'll see if it's out of shape. If it has that kind of deformation, you should get the tyre(s) changed as soon as you can. If you just find the "sawtoothing" there's no need to change the tyres if you can put up with the noise.

Nah the pipes have rusted and are seeping out PAS fluid. And absolutely, if they were just rusty I would be going for the rust killer. I will have to be doing that on the sills anyway.

At my Fabia's recent MoT, it was advised that the power steering pipes are damp where they sit in their bracket along the chassis rail. Having checked for availability with the closest parts supplier, I was told the pipes are discontinued and unavailable. My question for you cross referencing enthusiasts is; are the pipes the same or similar enough on the Mk2 Fabia and other 5J based vehicles or not? Thanks in advance.

Thinking about it now after your latest description, I had a bus that did the very same and it turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator on the end of the fuel rail had gone faulty. Another thing to check could be if you're "throttle body" and inlet manifold is all choked up with carbon deposits. A sticky throttle valve could cause your cutting out but I would think you'd have other running issues with that too. Anyway just a few more ideas to try.

You fitting a WC in there too?😂

Hello again, sorry to read that you're still having issues. It reads like whatever is at the root of the problem is active when the engine has warmed up. Do you get the glow plug light flashing or anything like that when it happens. I would be suspecting wiring myself, either the injector loom which can be broken or wiring to the crank sensor which can chafe through or get stretched/broken on the engine block I think. A VW specialist should be aware of these problems enough to investigate, they were common enough on all of the diesel engines of the time.

Checking all of the pads, slide pins, pistons and handbrakes levers (on the rears) are all nice and free along with the fluid change to see if that makes much of a difference to the braking feel is a great first step. You'd be amazed at how a little bit of stickage can remove feel. The standard brakes are pretty good when they're all in good working order.

Most of these seat belt/seat bolts have a healthy splodge of threadlock on them and it can make them very tight. That could be the issue.

The Monte Carlo editions have the very same pedal covers fitted as standard.

I am back in the fold. Just collected this an hour or so ago. 2.0 TDi.

I had the Scout in Quartz grey which was a lovely colour for the car. Didn't show dirt much but looked really good when clean. Shame they don't do it anymore but the new Graphite grey is alright. Most of the colours they do on the Karoq suit the car really well, however personally I'm not much of a fan of Meteor (primer) grey and I don't think the green is quite the right shade for the shape of the car. I think it could do with being darker, more like the Forest green of the Mk 1 Octavias and Fabias.

Yes just keep unscrewing, you might need to grip the screws with your fingers and pull them up a bit to get them to grip the lid plastic again to turn out though.

Yeah you don't have to use the wire if you don't need it, just cut it if it's built into the pad. But you might not see the wear wire on the car until you get the wheel off. It's pretty neat in to the caliper and will possibly only be on one side, most commonly the passenger side. The wires you see on both sides will most likely be the ABS sensor wires yes.

Agreed. Its completely normal.

You would be worth just sticking in a set of pads before any damage is done to the disc and then you have to spend even more money before you part with the car. Are you any use with mechanical jobs? Brake pads are relatively easy to change if you are able to use tools. That would fairly cut down on the cost of replacing them.

Unless you are doing other work, for example bearings, you won't need to undo the hub nuts. The small retaining screws for the discs will need a Torx head size 30 to undo.

Will you be considering adding a few more coats of paint to your new plates before you fit them?

From looking at your photos I would suggest you give cleaning the seals a try. Unless you can provide pics that show the cracking of the seal? I'm not suggesting they're not, I just can't see it from your pics. From what I can see, the cracking is actually just the algae dried out and cracked. Try wetting it and the cracks should disappear eventually. Let them have a good soaking and then it should clean off with the above mentioned procedure.

Have you checked in the owner's manual for the fuse layout? Are the front's still working? If they are I would give the connector to the rear light a look next.

There's no reason for the pipe to be shorter if you cut off the bad bit and join in a made up section, just add a little bit more to the piece you make to keep the length correct.

Looks like a knitting needle. It could have been used as a tool by a mechanic and left after doing work. I would say quite confidently it is not a part of the car.

They do have the unlock button in front of the gear lever but that would need power to operate. Another possibility for the OP is; seeing as the bumper is damaged, cut it off and get the bonnet open. You should be able to access a lot more with it out of the way.

Well done you for getting 20000 miles out of them!

Can you not fashion something to pull the bonnet release through the open window? @StevesTruck's aforementioned fencing wire or a decent length of 8/10mm metal pipe could do the job. Of course if there is a block on the door preventing the pulling of the lever then ignore all I've just said. It's been a few years since I had my Octavia and I can't quite remember the setup.