Phil-E

Oh and another tip. Go for all seasons. They provide some massively improved winter grip. If you're not planning on track days etc then the slightly diminished summer performance is negligible. They also improve grip on muddy conditions.

Honestly your best option would be to "downgrade" to a 16" wheel or something. The stock tyre size for 16" is then 205/55/16 and provides great ride comfort but doesn't feel spongy or squishy even when driving harder. I'd also go for XL tyres. As above they just provide that extra strength and especially with a larger profile tyre they resist sidewall flex and improve cornering stability.

Actually with the 6 speed DSG the clutch remains partially engaged while stationary in D. The clutch is (and cannot) ever be fully disengaged. Since the clutches are multi plate clutches lubricated with oil then there is always a bit of drag even when "disengaged". But since they are lubricated then the wear is so minimal and that's why they have an oil change interval.

If you want to access behind it then remove the ashtray/storage stray, remove the gearstick surround (just pull it up). Then remove the two torx screws to remove the ashtray assembly completely. Then if you look behind there there's two torx screws. Remove which ever side you want to access from. Then in the foot well on the side trim there is a torx at the front. Remove that and you can then remove the side trim.

Oh and it was also back at the garage we bought it from as the rear wiper motor was extremely noisy so they fitted a new one under warranty. I also asked them to check out a squeak from the engine. It also occured when the engine was warmed up and came from the waterpump area. I've read about this and it seems its the seal on the waterpump that can become noisy. They apparently couldn't find any issue. I recently topped up the coolant as it dropped to minimum but zero leaks. I was given a bottle of coolant (checked it was compatible first) and so topped it up. I didn't really take not of the noise but I noticed the other day that the noise has gone. So it's possible that the concentration of coolant was too low and causing the seal to whistle. Will see how it goes. Oh and the battery went during the cold (down to -18c) weather. So bought a Varter with a higher rating. Obviously the battery isn't covered under the warranty.

Decided to do a gear oil change. It wasn't one of the cars included in the "recall" and was already factory filled with the correct mineral oil. But at 117,000km I decided to change it so I know it's all fresh and healthy. The gearbox oil was pretty disgusting. Dark black. With the new oil being a lovely golden brown honey colour: And the mechatronics was also pretty dark but not too bad. Still had a green tint to it but far from the vibrant green and slightly see through of the new stuff:

Haven't updated this for a while. I've since added interior LEDs. Initially bought a cheap sett off ebay but I've since replaced them with branded Osram and Philips bulbs since they started to flicker. I swapped the LED sidelights to standard halogens but some Philips Cool Blue W5W. Changed the DRL bulbs to some blue coloured halogens that give a nice wite light. I could have fitted LEDs but didn't want any issues at the next TÜV test. Fitted Heko wind deflectors to the windows. The most recent addition was an Android stereo: I also bit the bullet and bought a proper DAB adapter kit. I tried the supplied windscreen glass mount aerial but it was woeful. I bought it from ebay as a kit listed as Alpine KAE-DAB1G6. Came with the passive adapter to swap the amplifier out in the rear C-pillar, some cables and an FM/DAB splitter and amplifier. Slightly more expensive than just the new amplifier but it saved having to run a new cable to the front of the car. And I get full DAB+ signal and zero dropouts: Just waiting for the reversing camera to arrive. The stereo supports the dynamic guide lines that swing as you turn the wheel so I had to buy a camera from China as I struggled to find one that didn't have integrated static guidelines which would have looked rubbish. We also went on another holiday last year (when we still allowed to). Drove all the way up to Denmark and stopped of in a couple of places on the way. Such a pleasure to drive. They really are well screwed together.

There should be timing marks on them that should line up. If they don't then the chain is stretched. How many miles/KMs does it have? And any signs of rattle?

That screen to map out the steering controls is identical to that on mine. If you did want to add DAB to it by the way then I can highly recommend the rear amplifier and splitter option. The Octavia estate has the additional glass aerial in the rear window. The signal is sent to the front and combined to boost the signal. The stock amplifier filter out DAB signals and only boosts FM/AM. You can swap out the amplifier for a DAB one and run a new cable to the front. Or do as I have and swap for a passive and fit a splitter/amplifier behind the stereo. I used the kit Alpine KAE-DAB1G6 (Alpine KAE-DAB1G7 is for Golf 7 and Octavia MK3 I think). This option also saves running any new cables to the front. The only hiccup I hit was that the +12v ANT connection from the stereo doesn't actually output anything. So took me a bit of head scratching wondering why the signal was so bad (the amplifier obviously wasn't getting any power). Full DAB signal and crystal clear. Only had one very short drop while stopped at a red light between some tall buildings. But no drop in sound.

I decided to do an gearbox oil and mechatronic oil change on my 7 speed DSG. It's at 117,000km. Wasn't included in the "recall" so was already factory filled with mineral oil. It was an easy job. The only problem being I couldn't get the mechatronics breather to budge so ended up breaking it. Ordered a new one and it's arrived already. As you can see the oil is pretty black. The. We oil was a light golden brown. And the hydraulic a very dark green and almost black. The new stuff is bright green and partially see through.

I know the one I borrowed had a 150kg nose weight. The owner normally tows it with a range rover though which no doubt have at least a 150kg limit.

Although technically my annual mileage is borderline for a diesel the actual journeys I do just aren't suited to a diesel. I could have got a 1.6 TDI and yes it would have saved on running costs it just wouldn't have been suited. I'm still saving loads compared to our previous Saab, which although was a diesel it guzzled fuel since it was heavy, old style torque converter auto and had lots of torque that was hard to resist 😁😁 I'm now enjoying the massive improvement in refinement, quieter engine and MUCH faster warm up times. I also done have the worry of the diesel bans they're talking of (and already partly introduced) here in Germany.

What's the maximum nose weight of the tow bar? I believe most horse trailers have a pretty hefty nose weight (usually double that of a caravan). I borrowed a horse box from a friend to take some stuff to the tip when I had my Saab. It's had a very heavy empty nose weight (above the max rated for the car/tow bar) so I had to put some heavy stuff slightly over towards to rear.

The 140bhp 1.4 is still Euro 5 and so the tax is the same. The later 150bhp is then 30 a year tax. But they only came out with the MK3 Octavia. A 2012 1.4 TSI 122 with that mileage should be fine. It's advised to service them on fixed intervals though so depending when the last service was done then budget for a service and switch to fixed. It's a very nice match to the DSG. Drives so lovely and smooth, quiet, effortless etc.

I've also taken the plunge and ordered the kit that replaces the antenna amplifier and splits the signals to give DAB. The estate has an antenna in the rear that is then used for DAB. I toyed with replacing the aerial etc but it would involve running a few additional cables. And the cheaper aftermarket aerials get awful reviews. And everywhere I read about people having replaced the amplifier have nothing but praise for the DAB signal.

Lol. Nope! I had a windscreen mount but it was also rubbish. But then the windscreen broke and didn't bother replacing. I was going to swap out the GPS antenna on the boot lid for a DAB ones but never got round to it.

If anyone is interested in retaining a factory aux in socket then I've just managed to sort mine out. Bought these little pins that match those socket for the aux in at the back of the stereo. Chopped up an unused RCA cable, pin on each core wire, the 2 grounds together and pushed the pins into the quadlock. https://www.ebay.de/itm/10x-MQS-Quadlock-Stift-Stecker-Kontakt-Set-PIN-0-50-0-75-Fakra-MOST-VW-BMW-/152871039441?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292 Working aux in the armrest now.

Ok. It's possible that the gearbox is underfilled as I've heard of similar problems that turned out to be too little oil.

If I rev the engine it's fine. But literally as soon as I move the signal goes. Think it might a grounding issue on the antenna or something. I'm probably just gonna bite the bullet and get a roof mounted DAB/FM antenna. Dab coverage is actually pretty good over here. It's DAB+ actually as we brought a little DAB radio with us that doesn't work here as it only supports DAB and not +.

The DAB app will be if you have the optional DAB receiver. It's just a USB DAB receiver that plugs in. I've just bought one for mine but need to sort out an antenna as the supplied windscreen one is completely useless. Works a little while stationary but as soon as the car moves an inch the signal just vanishes!

So according to the Fiscon website they do have the mic in the interior light. And the 36338-2 microphone is the one that should fit (same as the MK2). IF the stereo has a 3.5mm connection then you can get a 2.5mm adapter (I think that's what I've done on mine).

With regards to the microphone. Is it inside the interior light like the MK2? If so I found one for my MK2 that fits in the factory position inside the light but has a standard 2.5mm plug on it. It's a Fiscon. Maybe they do one for the MK3.

I see loads on eBay for the CAXA engine.

I assume it's the 122bhp (CAXA) engine?

It wouldn't be a sudden drop off necessarily although under certain loads and revs etc depending how suddenly the torque increases it could be noticeable. Just ask them about it. I can't remember what it's called but the ECU basically has a torque table or graph or something programmed in. So it knows that at any given revs, load, air flow and injection quantity how much torque that equates to and calculates this on the fly. So it's basically needs tweaking so that for instance if it's not producing 200nm at a given revs and before it would only be producing 180nm that it still calculates and reports 180 and not the higher 200.