phillip

Looking at other threads on here, there is mention of an additive which DPF-equipped cars need, which appears to be very expensive. Is there an additive bottle under the bonnet somewhere that requires frequent topping-up or something then ??

I am looking at purchasing another Octy vRS, after being away for 4 years, but this time am looking at the diesel rather than the petrol, which brings me onto the subject of DPF's. My current Altea 1.9 diesel doesn't have one, and I have never owned a car that has, and am wondering what the issues are with them ?? I have been tinkering with cars for over 30 years now, but have no experience of DPF's, and wondered how much of a problem they are on the PD/CR 170 ??

Budget is around 10.5k, and ideally would like a face-lift model on a '10 plate, but although there are one or two petrol's around, the diesel obviously commands another 1k premium, so realistically am probably looking at a pre face-lift '09 plate.

Cheers mate, but having looked around the classifieds for the past few weeks there do appear to be quite a few on 17's....was this the standard fitment, with 18's being an optional extra ??

After 4 years away from the fold, being a contented Seat Altea owner, I am now looking at coming back to Skoda and purchasing another Octy vRS, albeit a Mk 2 diesel this time. I have been scanning the classifieds recently, and have seen one or two likely candidates, and see that they come with either 17 inch or 18 inch alloys. Whilst the 18's would obviously look better, I am wondering if they adversely affect the ride/handling characteristics ?? Can anyone enlighten me please ??

I have to say that it is the best looking car I have seen in years, and there are some good looking cars out there at the mo..

Nah...not for me...have never rated any French cars....a mate at work has just bought one of these.. http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/microsite/vxr/astra/gallery.html He has gone for the blue one, and I have to say that the pics definitely do not do this car justice...if you haven't seen one in the flesh yet, you do not know what you are missing....NOW THIS IS THE MUTTS NUTS !!!!

X6 X6 X6 X6 X6

Easiest (and cheapest) option which worked for me, was to remove the door card, slit the plastic film, and liberally spray the actuator inside the door with WD40 !!

Yep..remember that one, and thanks for the advice...we have been instructed to stay below 50mph at all times,,, and have been provided with a laminated card in each of the cars to that effect, however one of my colleagues who shall remain nameless, only found the card after he had responded to a job at 100+mph (on the motorway and NOT in the snow !!!)

Yep...glass is about 1/2 inch thick, and the doors weigh an absolute tonne.....ran it over the weighbridge the other day, and it was coming in at 2.6 tonnes !!! Agree with what you're saying about it still being early winter, but knowing what the firm are like, they will send them all back to Ireland next week, and will probably ration the Astra's to either one snow tyre or one snow chain per car

My lot (West Yorkshire Police) have ordered a boat load of snow tyres and snow chains for the fleet of Astra's that we are currently running...but as I look outside, it's raining heavily and there are only a few patches of ice remaining on the roads...the words - stable door - horse - and -bolted- spring to mind However...I am grateful to them for borrowing a fleet of Mitsubishi Pajero's from the Northern Ireland Constabulary, as I have had lots of fun the last few days going up and down treacherous slopes that I wouldn't even consider doing in the Vectra VXR's

bump...

A mate of mine has got a '54 plate Mk 5 Golf Gti, and has recently had a problem with it so brought it down for me to try and find the problem. A few months ago he had it back to a certain Northern main dealer who replaced the DMF under warranty, however when I lifted the bonnet to investigate his new problem, I saw that the pulley belt was half worn through, and the corresponding pulley had sliced into one of the aircon pipes thus releasing all the refrigerant !!!On further investigation, I found that the bottom gearbox mounting bolt had sheared off allowing the whole engine to swivel forwards in it's remaining mountings, and as a further result, this has partly crushed the exhaust downpipe !!! My bro-in-law's garage has replaced the bolt and pulley belt for him, but has found that the exhaust downpipe (complete with cat), and aircon pipe are dealer-only items, and they want over £600 for the exhaust downpipe (and presumably new Lambda sensor), and £164 for the aircon pipe !!!!!!! I suspect that the reason the bolt sheared in the first place was because it wasn't tightened up properly by the dealers when they put the gearbox back in...but proving it could be a bit difficult. I have advised him to get back on to the dealers to seek recompense, and he says he will be contacting them on Monday. Has anyone else out there had a similar problem, or could suggest a possible remedy please ???

Cheers buddy...will do.

Thought it would be something along those lines, as my Altea is 60k/ 4years, and would suspect that it will be a similar set-up on the Audi....thanks for the replies

Doh.......cheers for that buddy, will let him know soonest

Yo peeps...my first post on the new look site, and it's not even Skoda related (but nearly is)... a mate has just acquired an Audi A3 1.9 Tdi on an '07 plate with 75k on the clock, and wants to know when the timing belt needs changing ?? He says it's the lower powered version, so I am guessing it is the 110 bhp variant, as fitted to various VAG group motors, and am assuming it will be the PD engine ?? Can anyone assist please ??

Have you checked ALL the door locks to make sure they are locking ??? I had problems with 3 of mine at various times, when I had the car, and a mate at work has got a mk V golf GTi, which has just started having this problem. Fortunately, I found a thread on here somewhere, which recommended removing the door card, and liberally spraying the actuator with WD40. It worked for me on all 3 locks :).

Was thinking about getting one myself last week, and after visiting Currys, and seeing what a mine-field it is out there, I decided to consult one of my neighbours who is a TV engineer, and he said...."DON'T BOTHER...they are all a waste of money, and the picture quality is nowhere near as good as a traditional tube TV" !!! TBH I have to agree with him... we currently have a 28" Sanyo tube TV which is about 5 years old, and the picture quality is far superior to any LCD/PLASMA that I have seen, and the kids Wii plays on it just fine :).

No worries mate...just doing my job :). It's a shame he had to fork out for his house locks changing though - that won't have been cheap :(:(.

I aim to please !!!

Sorted it.... went looking at 3.00 pm around the neighbouring streets, and there it was parked up on Lady Lane (3 streets away from where it was allegedly stolen from), locked and secure, with no damage. Phoned your grandad, and gave him the good news, and suggested that he may have just "misplaced" it, but he was adamant that he had parked on George Street, but he was nevertheless very grateful, and said he would make arrangements to come and get it. Phoned him back at 10.00 pm to make sure he had collected it and got home ok, and he then admitted that he had obviously had "a senior moment" when he parked it, and had then gone back to the wrong street !! Doh !!!! Never mind...all's well that ends well :thumbup:.

Sound very strange to me does this... I have never known a car get stolen from the city centre on the back of a recovery truck :confused::confused: !!. This is my patch and I am on at 2.00 pm, so will do a bit of digging and let you know !!

Yep.... a mate of mine had the same problem on an Audi 100 a few years ago, and I changed the master cylinder (£80) for him and it cured it :thumbup: