Phil-E

I must say (touch wood) my 2012 1.4 TSI has been fine for this compared to my previous 2007 1.9. On the previous one I had a problem where the rubber boot seal was full of water and then a leaky washer pipe. Dried it completely out but always still suffered with issues. Whether it's the petrol Vs diesel (faster warm up and so heat coming out quicker?) or it's a pre/post facelift climate control thing (some differences with how much air and where it comes out)? Or maybe the climate is different here in Germany? But don't feel it's that different. But maybe less rain overall? Just looked this up. Germany average of 700mm per year Vs UK 1220mm.

I guess it comes down to your budget and what age of car you're looking at? The TSI engines came in with the facelift. All the TSI engines of this era are chain driven. I can highly recommend the 1.4 TSI. It runs very nice and smooth at idle to the point where it's hardly noticeable the engine is running sometimes. Pulls really well from low down without having to rev it. Will really shift if you get your foot down and still returns food economy. I think you'd really like it over the 1.6 FSI. I've driven an FSI before and didn't find it a nice engine I must say.

So I just got my 300€ bonus from the German government. Basically they've paid everyone a one-off 300€ energy crisis bonus to help us all pay the expensive gas and electricity bills. Obviously we then have to pay tax on it (of course!) We are also just in the process of buying a house. It's pretty well insulated but lacks the triple glazing we've been used to in our current flat. We'll likely have a new boiler fitted as the current one is from 2003 and the German government are bringing in new rules from 2024 where at least 65% of the energy for a newly installed heating system has to come from renewable sources. I'm looking into fitting a "mini" solar system (you're allowed up to 600w without having to oficially register it) since we use a steady ammount of electricity throughout the day we would make savings (no feed-in tarrif for these systems). Then I'll also look to plumb in a heat-pump water heater in the future.

I've always found the WiFi on the Ring doorbell pretty poor. I managed to remedy it with a decent WiFi mesh system. The system I got uses WiFi, Powerline and ethernet. Currently have them connected via ethernet (since out flat has ethernet in every room). Since using this rather than a single router I had zero problems with Ring disconnecting.

I say why not!? I also chose to use an oil flush on my last change. The car was previously serviced mainly on the long life interval which I personally find too long between changes. So I bought a can of Liqui Moly and chucked it in before dropping the oil. Was surprising just how black the oil came out this time and considering I'd only done 8,000km since they'll last change. So I'm confident it definitely shifted a fair bit of crap out the engine.

So... we're still waiting 😪 We rang about 4 weeks ago and they confirmed the vehicle was in their factory in Italy and they'd definitely started building but couldn't give any more information. My box of things I've been buying has been slowly increasing. I've got some Philips LED headlamp bulbs to fit. They are road legal here for vehicles on an approved / tested list which the Fiat Ducato / Citroen Jumper / Peugeot Boxer is on. Just have to print out a certificate and carry it with the vehicle. Also bought a Bluetooth / GSM control box for the Truma heating and hot water. So I can control it from my phone. Also two ultrasound gas sensors to tell me how much gas is in the bottles. These connect to the Truma control box so I can check the levels via Bluetooth or remotely via GSM (uses SMS messages back and forth so no data connection required). Why is everything these days taking so long to build!? I'm sure I'm in the same boat with people waiting for cars etc.

Pretty impressive speeds. My other half has an unlimited tariff with Vodafone and 5G. Done a couple of tests and we've seen a max of about 500. I personally just have a cheap unlimited data contract but my speeds are limited to just 10mb/s. You might think that sounds painfully slow but it's still adequate for streaming HD Netflix and Youtube etc. And I'm allowed to tether so can use my Chrome Tablet out and about too.

That's a shame. I assume a cost cutting measure. All models of the MK2 got indenpendent suspension as standard and it really makes a difference to the feel of the car in my opnion.

I bought this car over 2 years ago and have used E10 for almost every fill up since then. Zero problems and runs as smooth as on E5 (have used it a couple of times). Weird.

We have a 2012 1.4 TSI DSG Octavia and I recently drove a family members Leon with the same 1.4 TSI also from 2012. I've also been a passenger in this car several times. I have to say that the interior quality of the Octavia feels so much better. The dashboard in the Leon feels a bit cheap and plastic compared to the Octavia. I also prefer the ride comfort and handling of the Octavia. I seem to think the Leon got a solid rear axle beam as standard and just the sportier models got independent rear suspension. The Octavia of this time period got it as standard.

They've been selling E10 petrol for 10 years over here in Germany. And I've seen a few stations selling E85 (also available since around 2008 here) and never heard of any issues.

I wouldn't recommend it. Especially with modern ABS and ESP etc. If the front have significantly more grip under braking and or conering then I dread to think what that would do to the handling and trying to maintain control. I'd recommend either a 2nd set of winter wheel with winter tyres or get some all season tyres. Most all seasons are basically winter tyres adapted for summer use too. I've been through all sorts of this snow and ice with my Hankook Kinergy 4S2. Last winter we had temps down to -19c so they got a good testing. Amazing grip when setting off, braking and cornering.

I ended up not using the microfone that came with mine. I bought one that fits inside the factory holder inside the interior light. It's from Fiscon and has a 3.5mm plug. I think I had to then get an adapter as the stereo has a 2.5mm socket. Using Android Auto she understands me perfectly everytime.

Did they just clear the codes or perform a full basic settings? The later forces the gearbox to relearn the clutch biting points etc so can buy you some more time if the clutches are wearing. It's not a long term solution though unfortunately.

I just had a VW T-Cross for a week with the 1.0 TSI DSG. I must say I wasn't impressed with the gearbox. It was jerky and hesitant both on up changes and down changes. My 2012 1.4 TSI DSG is so much smoother. But could be the larger engine being smoother than the 3 cylinder.

I now have this issue too. I took the car for a drive last week after having the gearbox repaired. When I got home one of the seals was hanging out. I'm guessing 200km/h was enough to loosen it! Oops! Might try gluing it or something.

Just had mine repaired after having the flashing spanner symbol. It spewed green hydraulic oil out. Was the mechatronics housing that had a crack in it. Housing replaced and mechatronics rebuilt.

When I registered my car over here in Germany I didn't have a COC. But it wasn't a problem as I just went to the TÜV centre and they printed it all off for me for a small fee. Shame they can't just do that at an MOT centre.

Yeah. Think I'm going to have to upgrade my roof aerial to one with GPS and run a new wire since mine didn't come with GPS from the factory. They can also be prone to other interference from dash cams or mobile phone chargers.

To be honest I get pretty bad GPS signal on mine too. If I put the GOS antenna outside the car it shoots up. I think I have a coated windscreen or something.

So I picked the car back up yesterday. The good news is that it's running beautifully again. The bad news being it cost me 1,200€. The mechatronics was the fault obviously. There was a crack in the housing around the accumulator. It's likely to have been there for a while which means the pump runs much more than it should and eventually pushes oil out the breather. Took it to a local automatic and DSG specialist nearby and they've rebuilt the mechatronics with a new housing and seals etc. I figured if I just took it to the Skoda or VAG garage they'd just want to replace the mechatronics with a new one and the bill would be much higher. Ah well... such is life with cars eh?!

Just thought I'd share my experience of it. We had a VW T-Cross hire car for a week while our car was in the garage. I wouldn't say this system is dangerous... but like with most electronic assistants it has it's time and place which is why you have the option to turn it off. I initally didn't put any thought into it since we'd driven on wide open national speed limit roads etc. But at some point we got into the country with some narrow roads that had a white line down the side but non in the middle. So to pass other vehicles you'd have to drive on the white line in order to make room. Obviously the lane assist didn't like this and it felt pretty horrible trying to move over to pass vehicles and having the steering wheel push me back out. So a bit of fumbling with the buttons on the wheel I managed to turn it off. And it's one of those things that once you've done it once it literally took a couple of seconds to do again. All in all I think it's a good system. In the real world people can get distracted and it only takes a couple of seconds to wander to the side and at least the system could prevent an accident in these cases. Or even someone drifting off to sleep, maybe that nudge from the wheel would be enough to wake them.

Have a visual check of it if you can. It's driven off the auxiliary belt so it's visible (not like they used to be when driven off cambelt etc). If there are no signs of leaks then it should be fine. It could mean the seal wears out and it starts to leak. Mine did it last since I owned it for 2 years. But then last year the coolant had dropped slightly so I topped it up and since then the noise has gone. And no signs of any coolant leaks.

Could try contact the seller and see if they have a software update you can download. This usually wipes the stereo back to factory defaults too. I recently got an update for my Android stereo. Just put it on a USB and plugged it in and rebooted and it updated.

Did they replace any of the coolant by any chance? I've heard that a certain coolant type causes the seal in the water pump to squeal.