Phil-E

Yes and no. Yes it's nice to have. But is it really necessary? I've gone from a 1.9 twin turbo diesel with 240bhp and 490nm of torque. We took the car for a holiday 3 weeks ago. 3 adults, the dog, boot full and 3 bikes on the bike rack. The 1.4 petrol with "only" 122 bhp and 200nm was more than adequate! At no point was I wanting or needing more power. Even climbing steep hills and winding roads. Yeah, I can't storm down the Autobahn at 250km/h+ anymore... but I'm passed all that now anyway.

The reason being is that they absorb more road noise and also prevent that annoying sound of stones and gravel etc hitting the wheel arches.

Thanks for your help on the oil change. I've checked and my car isn't included in the recall. But with 110,000 km on the clock I'm going to change the oil anyway ("filled for life" is a joke on any gearbox!). Did you use genuine VW oil? I see the Febi oil matches the requirements and part numbers so was going to use that.

I'm fairly certain they are a chain driven engine.

Exactly. Which I why I intend to change the gear oil on mine at some point. I just can't get my head around the logic of "filled for life". I've always also done the oil on my manual gearboxes that were also "filled for life" and the oil was horrible, filthy and black!

I keep worrying that me for the other half will do the same! We've driven exclusively diesels for around 12 years and now have a petrol again! As above, it's worse if its petrol in a diesel. It shouldn't have done any damage at all.

Unless you can afford to buy a newer car that has the timing chain and DSG issues already addressed then the 1.6 Tiptronic is the more reliable choice I'd say. Obviously its heavier on fuel and a higher tax bracket though. A quick google on the gearbox suggests its an Aisin Warner made TF60SN gearbox. I can't find a definite answer on the recomended change interval but Aisin Warner always have a change interval. The 6 speed Aisin in my Saab had a recomended interval of 60k miles. NO automatic gearbox is "sealed for life"... thats just rubbish. The oil gets heated a lot in the torque converter and eventually gets burned and needs changing. So if it's not already been done I would budget for a gear oil change.

My previous experience of the Skoda approved warranty was that we had a starter motor problem. At first the garage said it's not normally covered under the warranty but they would submit a claim to the warranty underwriter and see if they would accept it anyway, which they did!

I'm definitely noticing fewer diesels on the roads here. There's obviously still the old ones still driving around. But then 8/10 roughly of the new cars I see are petrol now.

But surely if it's a faulty sensor that's caused it then it should be covered? Or is the sensor not covered either?

If the sensor still reports a plausible signal (within a specified range) then it won't trigger a fault unfortunately.

My previous car (the Saab 1.9 twin turbo) had a DPF delete. The DPF was basically bashed out and left in place so it still looked intact. Stage 1 remap sees about 220 bhp. With a DPF delete that was pushed to 250 bhp (and 500nm of torque). So on that particular engine the DPF did cause a restriction but then a completely different engine with twin sequential turbos.

The DPF is pretty restrictive. Removing it allows the turbo to spool quicker. But either way having the DPF removed requires a remap too. Removing it without the ECU tweaks will cause warning lights, black smoke, failed regens and eventually engine failure (due to diesel getting into the oil).

I think they've just lost their appeal. Petrol has caught up so much in terms of power, torque and fuel economy. Plus the upsides of quicker warm up and quieter and smoother running. I know I'm not missing my diesels in the slightest!

Unfortunately that seems to be the way it's going. In Germany there is going to be am increase on car tax from next year targeting higher power and capacity diesels. Previously you could get away with paying cheap tax on say a 3.0 TDI V6 but the likes of these are getting pushed into a higher bracket. Then there's the whole diesel driving ban where diesels under Euro 5 (and later under Euro 6) will be banned from cities.

You'll have to have the DPF mapped out. A remap can make use of a DPF delete due to having a less restricted exhaust. This is, however, illegal to do. Well technically legal but then illegal to drive on the road.

The coding I used is: 1441884 That's a LHD with 2WD. Should be the same for your 1.4 TSI as mine.

I'll pull up the coding later for LHD.

PCV stands for Positive Crankcase Ventilation. It's a system that vents the positive crankcase pressures back into the inlet of the engine. If these gasses are escaping or the engine is sucking in fresh air instead of the crankcase gasses then it can negatively affect emissions.

I've just ordered myself a kit off eBay. Coming from China though so will take a while but it's a worthwhile little upgrade. My 2008 elegance had them and I liked them. Are the bulbs W5W?

I don't have a vRS. My lights are the same as yours. The H1 is the main beam (comes on when you pull or push the indicator stalk). But like I said the parking / sidelights are where I indicated. And they are a small W5W bulb. Best Google image I can find showing them: The DRLs may be deactivated. But there should be a bulb in there to prevent the bulb warning (P21W / BA15S).

The AFS system only works if the light switch is in the auto position. So it can be disabled at will by turning the switch to on.

And are the DRL (Daytime Running Lights) working (to the side of the fog lights)?

Here is where my sidelights / parking lights are on my FL.

Isn't that the main beam? The parking light is to the right in your picture above the round dipped beam lense.