wiilydog

sounds like the service indicator hasn't been reset properly last time round and fine to wait to next January for it's next service given your low annual mileage.

true, but there is rubber inside so they can deteriorate over time but difficult spot just by sight alone I had a bad ns rear top mount that went bad and that did made a knocking noise but os one was still fine at 200k Try identifying which corner the knocking noise is coming from and worth changing it, to see if it eliminates the noise as the mounts are only £15 each, and should take no longer than half a hour to change. also worth checking that the coil springs are not broken at the bottom of the control arm, as sometimes a tiny bit can break away from the base of the coil spring

Did they change the rear shock top mounts too?

what size wheels are you running as you might also consider fitting some 16" wheels to improve ride comfort

Have you checked the rear anti roll bar drop links as when one of them was faulty on my car it caused a squeaking noise. Also recently I had a noisy n/s rear shock top mount that went bad and replacing it solved the problem, although it was difficult to identify as the noise was very subtle and difficult to pin point.

Guess vrs shocks will be stiffer so makes sense to match the rears as well or alternatively why not just get after market bilstein b4 55mn front shocks for non sports suspension, if you happy with the existing ride.

I assume you will be getting 55mm hubs to upgrade to 312mm brakes then 2.0tdi struts will be fine as these are 55mm too.

Can't beat a BKD in terms of reliability, mine done 216k before I sold it and had no MOT advisories, shame ulez will probably rule it out though. Probably 1.4tsi would be the next best alternative if want to be ulez compliant. Try to negotiate money off a timing chain replacement if it has not been changed.

MK2s are over engineered and go on for ever if well maintained and my Mk2 diesel was still going strong at 216k when I sold it. I don't think prices for petrol models will fall anytime soon as will continue to be strong especially when more and more places are moving into ulez restrictions, which seems to affect mainly to diesels below euro6.

As long as you disconnect the whole headlight unit from the car you should be fine to open up as xenon bulbs does involve high voltages so need to be careful. I think there are a few torx screws to remove before they you can access the bulb.

Could be either the bulb or the ignitor unit, I would try a bulb swap first to see if it is just a blown bulb.

I would avoid the 1.5tsi and go for a 1.4tsi as the cambelt change on the 1.5tsi can be a bit on the pricey side.

Yes just sold it last week, it had a cream interior.

No it was not a VRS but a L&K 2.0TDi with 216k miles on it - insurance paid out £1,700 but I bought it back for £400 and repaired it myself.

Most likely to be uneconomical to repair. Someone bashed my wing and they wrote it off despite it just needing a wing.

I was given 2 Options full settlement or full settlement less savage value and keep the car. I chose the later and purchased the car back for £400 then got wing from the scrap yard for £40 to fixed it up as at the time I was struggling to find anything reasonable as I didn't want to rush to buy something. I just sold it this week and made a small profit on it.

same thing happened to me a few months back, a lady side swiped my car on a round about, it went through an accident management company from the other party. They didn't even come to assess the car and just asked me to take some pics and they came back that my car was a write-off despite just a minor scrape on the wing. However I got a very reasonable offer and the guy said if you are not happy with the price just take some examples from auto trader as you are suppose to be able to purchase something similar with the settlement. Have they offered you to buy your car back and get it repaired yourself, as that might be an option if the figures work out.

Also try Facebook market place. Mine got minor damage on wing last December and insurance wrote off the whole car😞 so not surprised with the insurance quotes you are getting.

I can recommend volkscentre in Blyth, I been using them since 2015, as they specialise only in VAG cars and provide excellent workmanship at very reasonable rates. I had my DMF and clutch done by them back in 2016. https://volkscentre.com/

no, comparing 2.0 bkd long term average 42mpg over last 100k and long motorway trip can achieve 50mpg

You will need to stretch your budget to MK3 territory if you want the 1.4 tsi with timing belt

it is the time of the year again for misting issues to start up again🙄

Guess due to the cost of repairs it's only worth doing if you plan to keep the car for 2-3 years more as the dmf protects the gearbox from the vibrations as it acts as a damper. Otherwise just run it until it breaks.

a quick fix would be to get a complete ignition mechanism + barrel with key from the scrap yard and swap the key blade to your old key fob as the transponder sits in the key fob. below is a fix for mk2

Watch out for DMF rattle on idle if it has never been changed and budget £700 if it needs changing. Make sure Aircon is ice cold as leaking condenser or fail compressor are quite common with age.