Warrior193

I would expect a reasonable life to be at least 4 to 5 years, I would not expect the hotel battery in a hybrid vehicle to have a shorter life than an ICE. A lot depends of how the battery is treated - no lead-acid battery likes deep discharges or persistent undercharging. Have you been told why your battery does not appear to be charging properly?

I assume that you are aware that at 11.6 volts your battery is more than 50% discharged - even with regular recharging, the life of that battery will be drastically shortened.

Happy New Year Rob, great that your move is completed now - that's real RD country, no problem with noisy neighbours eh? Is that a bach on your property too?

Hello John, welcome to the forum.

Hi Matt, you probably have MIB2, if you post a pic. of the infotainment head unit, the system can be identified.

The price quoted for the timing belt is outrageous! - cam belt kit GSF129VG0990 for my MY16 1.4TSI was priced at £98.42 when I had mine changed (at 6 years) in October 2021.

Hi, did the message actually read 'stop/start error' - or 'stop/start unavailable' ?

Hello Morten, welcome to the forum. How is the ride now with the lower pressures? It is normal to slightly increase tyre pressures for winter tyres - although the dealer settings were probably a bit too high. I believe that you have to lift the rubber bellows protecting the shocks from the bottom to reveal if the transport blocks have been correctly removed.

That removal of halogens in 2023 is a reference to the energy use in mains-operated lighting - not based on life of lamps fitted to vehicles.

The 'crunch' means add more glycol 😄

Hi Oz, personally, I'd go for the higher spec/lower price Passat. I would guess that rear seat legroom of the Passat is at least as much as the Octavia, and I'm fine with mine.

A small pan on the hob is also an option.

Hello Doug, welcome to the forum. Blue exhaust smoke, especially when opening the throttle after a downhill run, will usually be oil burning - this can be from faulty valve-seals, worn valve guides or worn piston rings. What engine and how many miles? Is oil being consumed - and how much?

Get it carefully visually inspected at 5 years and consider replacing at 6 - again depending on inspection.

Hello Sanju, I suggest getting the electrical connections for the throttle control checked. Are you aware throttle control is fly by wire?

There can be a small gain made by using 98 or 99 RON fuel - I usually see a few MPGs more when used, which I think balances the increased cost.

From 2015, the 1.4 is quoted as 150PS (about 148 BHP) But I believe some have seen higher figures (stock) on a Dyno.

I guess only time will tell - but I'm not convinced the 1.5 TSI COD engine is an improvement on the 1.4.

Pretty amazing that you get almost as many horses as a small-block V8 from the 80s. When I was young and starting out in motorsport, turbo-charged, DOHC, 16-valve, fuel-injected engines were really exotic machines.

If you had access to a decent charger, it would be useful to give the old battery a full charge and then a load test - failing that, as TWM says, new battery time. Batteries can last longer than 5 or 6 years, but they do lead a pretty hard life.

Hello Sanju, is your transmission manual or DSG? I would suggest if manual gears, it is not the auto stop-start shutting down the engine - but something breaking electrical contact from the jolt caused by the hump. If you have manual gearbox, am I right in thinking your engine restarts when you push down the clutch pedal?

I had my cambelt replaced at six years (MY16) at less than 23000 miles - old belt and tensioner still looked to be in a state that they could comfortably have been reused! Certainly suggests that replacing purely on age is not especially great advice to owner.

The 'Traffic Calming' humps (AKA Earth low-orbit launch ramp) in the exit from The Democratic Republic of Merton recycling and refuse centre are so steep that speed more than 2 MPH risks putting the front struts through the hood!

Well done, interesting experiment - regardless as to it lasting, it appears to have at least some life in it. I'll have to PM you for wager delivery details.

Provided you exchange with same battery type (AGM or EFB) and Amp-Hour capacity you MAY not have to adapt the new battery into the vehicle system - although I consider it best to at least change the battery serial number (adaptation) because the vehicle charging system may be limiting the charging rate to compensate for faults detected in the old one. A smart charger (I use a Ring 8 amp - Ctek is another good brand) is best for AGM/EFB batteries, look for one that can handle all three usual battery types.