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Oh I'm sorry @KenONeill, should I be using gender-neutral language for you? 😄 What are your pronouns? 😋

I wouldn't worry about the styling, it really does grow on you. Around town, the VRS economy is going to be worse than you might think, but for 5K miles a year, that shouldn't be a big problem. The only fly in the ointment I can anticipate is valve carbonisation which will need sorting some time in the next 15 years, as the 245 only has direct injection AFAIK, and not direct and port injection as some other EA888 2.0L engines have. As for choosing between the Octavia and the Lexus, I couldn't advise. It's such a personal thing, and there are so many factors that go into choosing a car that vary from person to person. I too keep my car ages, and so the lack of port injection was a deal-breaker for me. (Though I had a short panic when I thought the car ended up buying didn't have port injection, but it turned out that it did.)

Not sure if you're trolling or not, but I'll assume good intent for now. I would expect the glass to be quickly available. Wouldn't you? How long would YOU expect to wait for a replacement window, @ords? Autoglass have warned me to only drive the car short distances at low speeds because the temporary glazing is unsafe at speed. Ask a single mum with a couple of kids whether being without her car for a couple of weeks is "unreasonable". FS! 🙄

I don't think two weeks is particularly unreasonable. Grumbling about things they're not happy with is what grumpy middle-aged men like me do. The BBC even made a series about it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071jtx/episodes/guide If you think moaning about slow service on a car forum is ranting and raving, you clearly haven't seen someone rant and rave. Perhaps you're not married? 😋

I don't think I could live with the drop in fuel economy. 😊 It's just me getting used to the different throttle response on the sport setting. Also the one junction I tend to perform quick getaways is slightly uphill, so it's really a few factors that all contribute. I'll get used to it.

As it happens, they turned up to replace the glass today. They arrived with the wrong window (nearside instead of offside), because they ordered the wrong glass. Naturally they don't have the offside window in stock, because why would they? I'm happy to accept that Autoglass don't use JIT. I don't care. I couldn't GAF what you want to call whatever system Autoglass uses for ordering replacement glass. It's slow and it sucks.

Within reason, yes. That's their job. While I wouldn't expect them to have a full stock of glass for, ooh say a Ferrari 812 Competizione which is a relatively exclusive car, or an considerably older vehicle like a 1960 VW Transporter split-screen. But for a recent car like the MK3 Octavia, of which about 2,500,000 have been made and are common as muck in the UK, absolutely yes.

What's your explanation for the month wait?

I disagree. If Autoglass weren't reliant on JIT, they would have had the required part in stock.

So are most broken car windows planned events, @J.R.?

Update: I'm due to have the glass replaced next week, almost a month after contacting Autoglass to replace the window. "Just In Time" stock management working its usual magic. 🙄

Further to this, I think it's actually Sport mode having a much more sensitive throttle response than Drive mode, and so me hoofing it in Sport adds quite a bit of extra fuel for a given throttle position than the same position in Drive mode. I think the solution will probably to drive the car a bit more in Sport mode and get myself acquainted with exactly how much throttle is needed for a sharp exit.

I was going to suggest a glue gun, but I think the plastic welder is probably a better solution. That said, glue guns are very handy, but I'm a big fan of glue guns.

As an investment, I'm not convinced any used car is a safe bet as an investment unless the buyer really knows what they're doing. The examples that raise high prices tend to be immaculate low-mileage examples. So that means buying it, keeping it very carefully, fixing/restoring as required, and not using it. Then you're subject to the vagaries of life and the market. I'm old enough to remember when the market took a nosedive and a lot of people lost big money on their investment cars. Of course, if you buy one because you really want one, then could you bear to not use it and eventually sell it? If you want one, just buy one, but I personally wouldn't view it as a reliable investment.

Bingo! Hang on, I'll dust off MS Paint... Right, there we are. So this image is based on how I understand ABS works. I've exaggerated the wheel size difference and only put 4 ABS markers on each wheel, but the principle is sound. The ABS system gets a regular "tick" from each ABS wheel sensor as the ABS marker passes the ABS sensor. When braking, the frequency of the ticks should reduce, because the wheels are rotating more slowly as the car slows down. However, the ABS ticks from each wheel should all come in at roughly the same frequency. (Note, there may well be a speed difference on an axle due to the cornering and the outside wheel rotating faster than the inside wheel. I'm going to disregard that in this example.) The next bit depends on the sophistication of the ABS system, but for this purpose, I'll assume the ABS system is thick as pudding and very basic. If one of the ABS wheel sensors doesn't send a "tick" to the ABS unit, the ABS unit says "Ah ha! That wheel is locked, I'll loose off the brakes a bit until it regains traction. I'll know when it's got traction, as I'll get a tick from the ABS wheel sensor." So it releases the brakes on the locked wheel, get's the "tick" from the now rotating wheel, and then thinks "There we go! All good now, I'll re-apply the brakes." All this happens very quickly. The problem I'm highlighting, is that the extra time between ABS ticks on the larger diameter wheel & tyre combo MAY be enough to cause the ABS to think "I haven't had my ABS wheel sensor tick, the wheel must be locked. I'll release the brakes on that wheel." Now it might not be a problem at all. But also it might be, which is why I mentioned it.

I know I'm odd, but I remember reading the VIN decode on my vehicle and thinking how useful it would be if car dealers allowed you to spec new cars you intended to purchase via the options on the VIN decode. I mean, there's stuff on there you don't even know existed. Sadly the reverse seems to be the case, and car spec variations are being trimmed down to make manufacturing easier.

Hello there! Do post some pics when you pick up your new car.

Wow! That's good going! 👍

I think this is the video you mean. What a tool this car driver is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y_E4dbGD24

Whoever believes they have the least to lose in a collision with an oncoming vehicle will assert the right of way. You can argue it until you're blue in the face, but in my experience, that is the unfortunate reality of the situation on the road. EDIT: I'll rephrase it to sound a little less aggressive: Whoever believes they have more to lose in a collision with an oncoming vehicle will yield right of way. But the net result as to who gets right of way remains the same, whether ROW is given or taken.

Good call booking it in ASAP. I understand it's nice to have a good idea what the problem is before booking it in, as then it's harder to get fed a "They all do that, Sir!" line.

It really sounds like it's coming from something driven by that belt, but it's hard to say. Hopefully one of the folks familiar with the vRS TDi engine will be more help, but anything I suggest would be a guess and that's no use to you.

I can't advise a particular garage, but I'd suggest you have a rethink about Darkside, as they are very reputable and will do a great job. AFAIK, Darkside have a reputation for quality results, not for being over-priced. It's probably worth approaching Darkside, tell them what your budget is, and ask them if a turbo upgrade is possible for that budget. If they say no, then ask them for a rough cost breakdown of the work you want done. You then have a basis for comparison. I don't know what Darkside cost, maybe they have extortionate labour costs, I dunno.

I know nothing but what I see in the video. That said, it might be my imagination, but it seems like the noise (sounded like a repeating chirp rather than a squeal to me) was linked to engine RPM. Does the frequency of the chirp increase with engine RPM?

Hello! Have you had the same car for 20 years?