freelunch

I took a similar dealer's car with 1,700 miles on the clock for a test drive and over 26 miles tried every variation of manual and auto with the DSG, including red lining a few times. I'm still driving that car seven years later without a hitch.

I have a 66-reg 220ps TSI from new. My average mileage from the first tank is just over 36 mpg. I have always taken measurements from the pump as the in-car readout is usually pretty optimistic. I live in London, so a lot of urban miles. My best tank was 43.1 mpg, my worst 26.5 mpg.

IMHO, there is nothing not to like about a pedal box, regardless of brand. At the very least, it gets rid of the excessive travel in the stock throttle pedal. You should report the pedal box to your insurer, though.

I was driving in Naples, hit a sharp curb stone and took a chunk out of the sidewall, which I didn't notice until Siracusa. Since the tyre had not lost any pressure, I rode it until I got to Palermo. I found a Pirelli dealer (I had Pirelli's on the car) and asked to buy a used tyre - anything to get me home. The owner's daughter came to help with the language barrier. She spoke to the mechanic, who had a look at the tyre. "I can fix that", he said. Two hours later, my tyre had been vulcanised (almost the same word in Italian) and I was on me way. No charge. I forced the guy to take five euros. Imagine that happening in a UK garage.

Ha! Neither am I! I'll just carry the worms, thank you.

I once used a foam "repair" on a motorcycle tyre. When I got the bike to a proper repair place, the mechanic said he couldn't patch a tyre that had foam in it as the adhesive for the mushroom plug would not stick to the tyre. I have no spare in my car. I still have the can of foam that came with the car, but supplement it with a worm repair kit and a foot pump. In seven years, I've not had a flat tyre, but use the foot pump all the time for topping up before long trips.

The update installed without issue. However, cold weather really affects the responsiveness of the unit. Had to do two hard restarts to get the thing running properly again. Now I just have to go somewhere...

Well, the update in the Columbus ICE was up to 81% when I switched the car off and left it to itself. I'll let you know next time I'm in the car. JR RS a few posts back says that P393 is the latest version, but I got my download from the Škoda portal

I just downloaded HIGH2_P390_EU_202445 from the Škoda portal. Had no problem with the download or the migration to a 32 Gb SD card. I don't know if that's the latest version out in the wild, however.

I can't believe I'm offering advice to you, but maybe the problem would be corrected by cleaning corrosion off the caliper and greasing the edges of the pads? My brakes caused problems simply because I wasn't using the car enough. The discs rusted and the pads couldn't release properly.

I washed all the glass and reg plates before the MOT but as for the rest, it's harder to see the dent when it's dirty...

Picked up the BRB (big red bus) after its 8th annual service and M.O.T. Managed to lightly scrape the near side wing mirror on the brick wall that lines the incredibly narrow alley to the garage. Will have to remind myself to retract the mirrors next year. Passed M.O.T. no problem. Advisory says light rust on brake discs, but pads good. The rust is explained by the fact that I did 1,182 miles since the last M.O.T. plus I only had to drive 200 yards from my parking spot to the garage. Sure beats having to take two trains to get to the Croydon Škoda dealership for a service. No cheaper, though. Ready for another year of problem-free motoring. Must use the car more...

If you don't want to spend any real money, a touch up paint for along the body crease and a rubbing compound plus a lot of elbow grease on the rest of the scrape. Polish and wax. It will withstand a casual glance from twenty feet away. Then you can decide if you need the pros to get involved.

I bought the dealer's ride in 2017 and, except for a couple of trim problems, it has not given me any problems. Best car I've ever had. I'll run it until Mayor Khan legislates it off the street. Or insurance gets to be a problem. (I just had my long time insurer refuse to reinsure me. No claims, just getting too old, I guess.) I'm happy to stick with the devil I know... Anyway, the real issue is: is money burning a hole in your pocket? I like the A5, but I think Škoda has a better service record than Audi (What Car?)

Regardless of anything else, you need a new battery. Get one at Halfords. Drive for a week and see if all the other problems disappear.

Bought insurance for it. Wow. I read that OAPs were seeing a serious hike in premiums (I'm 77) but after several years of claim-free, penalty-free motoring, I was surprised to get dumped by my broker. I wrote to ask if it was my age. They said no. They said they couldn't find anyone to cover me for parking on the street in SE22. I got the bum's rush. Last year's premium was £404. I got Admiral to insure me (£600 excess, mind) for £738, paying monthly. We use the car so little, I seriously thought about giving it up. It's a luxury, but (as of now) I can afford it, so I bit the bullet.

It's where I keep my pedal box controller. Haven't had to open it in five years!

I echo the above post. A pedal box is not a remap. It only compensates for "throttle lag". Um, for which it does a very good job...

My TSR was unlocked by VCDS. In my experience, there must be a bit of sat/nav guidance, because when I get the max speed sign (white circle with a black diagonal line through it) on a highway, the TSR shows 60mph, but when I'm on a motorway it shows 70mph. I don't blindly follow the TSR though. Sometimes it displays incorrect info. In London, a lot of the 20mph speed restrictions are just painted on the road. It seems the whole of the north and south circular is 20mph! Mayor Khan really does want to get us out of our cars.

Not with Chris Knott Insurance.

DTUK Pedal Box I installed one of these to combat throttle lag. Works great. Pretty much plug'n'play, just a tight squeeze to get under the dash. Multiple settings for speed of response. I've not read a complaint from anyone on this site that installed the box. (edit) I've left it in place during the annual service with the dealer and it has never been mentioned. I have declared it on my insurance.

Both my front windows are very finicky about "touch" on the switch. How long you hold it down or up has to be perfect to get the one-touch. I adapt to the requirements, if I don't get it right the first time. Never occurred to me to replace the switch.

You can see I average 4K miles per year. My biggest problem is: I park outside and the car sits for weeks at a time. If I drive in the wet before it's parked, the brake pads stick to the discs. I had to have my local free the pads on one occasion. From ten feet away, you'd think the car was new, except for the curb feelers, um, rims.

I was just singing the praises of my 7-year-old Škoda Superb Sportline hatchback. However, after starting a sat/nav destination, halfway through the drive, the system rebooted, losing the route when the system was back up. This happened three times on three different days, but not all the time. I did a force reboot, but don't know if there is anything else I might try to sort the occasional problem. Any ideas? Thanks.

7th annual service and MOT, but first by my local independent. 27,000 miles and just returned from a 16-day trip to the Orkneys. Car ran perfectly. I washed it before I gave it to them. No one likes working on a dirty car. They did a major service, all the filters - no spark plugs - wheels rotated. £327. About the same as my 4th service from the dealer. All the parts were more expensive, but no surprise there. As the dealer is in Croydon and the indie is a three minute walk away, it saved me a 90-minute drive and two train rides. Car passed its MOT with flying colours. Only advisory was only 60% left on rear brake pads. Mechanic said it's a nice, clean car. I guess I'll keep it. I think I'll have the wheels balanced and aligned next.