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Fair enough, sounds like you really don't like your Superb. Given the aggro you've had, I can see why you've thrown your hands up and said "ENOUGH!". I hope you find a suitable new car that pleases you. 👍

My knowledge of car heating systems isn't great, but let me throw some thoughts your way. Firstly, the description of the problem "The heater keeps going hot and cold. " is not particularly helpful. Can you describe the problem more, give us the conditions under which the symptoms occur, and more details about the symptoms please and your car? eg: Do you have full climate control? Does the problem happen regardless of whether the air-con on and off? Is the cold air cooled, or just ambient temp from outside? Are there any unusual noises? How frequently and for how long does the air change from hot to cold, and (I assume) vice-versa.

Had my service light pop up on my car recently, so phoned Listers up to discuss it. I got through to the service dept. and spoke to a friendly but somewhat confused chap about servicing my car, who during the course of our conversation stated that the "long-life service only lasts 12 months". I repeated that back to him as a question, and he confirmed "Yes." I asked him if that was the case, what was long life about the long-life service, and he went off to find out. When he came back, he told me the long-life service lasts for 2 years or 20K miles, which sounds about right. "So why's the service light come on?" I asked, remembering that the date of next service had been set last time I was there, supposedly to the long-life service. He said "Any chance you could pop the car in?". I demurred this offer as it's a bit of a jaunt out there and speaking to him was not encouraging. I may well be using a different Skoda dealer for my next service. He's probably a perfectly decent bloke and may well be a competent mechanic, but Listers really shouldn't let him near customers making enquiries as he came across as pretty clueless. Edit: Just phoned another (closer) Skoda dealer who tell me they can't turn off the servicing light as another dealer did the servicing. This sounds like cobblers to me, but may be Skoda protocol. Starting to get grumpy now and am considering ditching the Skoda network and going to an independent instead.

Is there a 2022 version of this, @roottoot? The only one I've found is this, and it's not as satisfyingly neat.

I don't see the problem here. You literally bet on your car having an expensive, catastrophic failure, and you won the bet. The cost of the repairs far exceed the cost of the warranty. No only that, but the warranty sorted out all your needs by providing you with a replacement car during repairs. Now, you have a six year-old car, with a brand new gearbox. What is the problem you have that buying a Lexus will solve?

Hi Chris! My big gripe about arranging insurance is the whole "smoke and mirrors" aspect of it. I'd like to see how insurance premiums are calculated, and the breakdown of costs associated with a policy. I'm not talking about "£15 extra for legal cover", I'm talking about how the actual premium is calculated. (I'm not happy with 50 different insurance groups too, plus qualifiers. That looks to me like a system that was devised to make things simple but has been stretched and distorted beyond reason, and is now unfit for purpose. I dare say you can do little to change that system, but you can simplify it within your company.) Beyond this, there's too much small-print, exceptions and exemptions. Most of it seems to be deliberately opaque with the intention of giving the insurer wriggle-room to get out of fulfilling a claim the insured party thinks should be paid. Again, to me this comes down to a lack of transparency about how the business is run. It's very easy to make things clear, if the will is there. If you address the above issues, clarity of how the premium is calculated and dramatic simplification of the small-print, customers won't be baffled when arranging cover. There will be no reason to be unsure about the process, and there will be clarity about how modifications affect insurance premiums. With transparency, the cost/benefit of the role of the insurance broker would also be made clear, particularly when it comes to what brokers are supposed to do, will do, and what they cannot or won't do. TL:DR More transparency over the whole process of insurance, please.

There are devices which you can connect to the S/S switch that cause the switch to hold it's last set state, rather than switch itself on. There are some threads on this on the forums here.

Additional to this, you can switch the coasting on and off with as Paulski says with a dab of throttle or brake. I'm sometimes self conscious about dabbing the brake to control speed by disengaging coasting if there's someone behind me, as some people use a dab of the brakes to tell people behind to back off. But it's not actually been a problem in practice.

This is a fair point. If you can't measure the improvement, how do you know there is an improvement?

No idiocy involved in this question at all. 👍 There is scare information on jacking points and axel-stand positioning points, other than the sill jacking points. I've been trying to find a picture of the underside of a 2013-2020 Octavia to work out where the axel stand points are with the plastic underbody panels in place.

As you say, they're both great cars. If there's an objective reason why one car would suit you better than the other, then there's your car. If you have a personal preference for one car over the other, for whatever reason, then there's your car. Very often, asking for advice on a car is pointless, because we usually have a preference, and tend to stick with our preference, with the endorsement of those who agree, and despite the recommendations of those who disagree. TL:DR Make sure the car you buy meets your requirements and budget, and trust your gut-feeling on your decision. The only buying opinion that matters is your own. Good luck!

We almost had this in Erdington in the 1970's. The number 65 used to drive up the middle of the dual carriageway in Short Heath with the driver sat at the wheel, dutifully not steering but controlling the throttle and brakes. Steering was controlled by a pair of roller wheels which guided the bus between two high kerbs. Before that, we had trams on that route, but I was only a babe in arms at that time. Funny how these ideas loop round every now and then.

Not sure what the "current situation" is that will cause that acceleration, other than political will, which at the moment is strong. The will of politicians to force people into electric vehicles may strengthen or weaken. I doubt we'll see this happen anytime soon. As I see it, right now the people running things are focussed on wealth redistribution. So I'd be more inclined to believe a complete ban on the ownership of private vehicles would be put into effect, with cars being used via short-term rentals, like e-bikes. I suppose with autonomous cars, you order a car to your location, it drives itself to you. You use it on a pay-as-you-go basis, and then when you finish with it, it drives itself back to base. But in the short term, I see a convenient war being staged, to distract from and cover up the complete mess the Western governments have made over the pandemic.

Well rock and roll! 😁 I'll still probably get it done at 40K miles, but even at my slightly increased mileage that will still take me another 5 or 6 years. Unless there's an "either x miles or n years" service interval on the DSG boxes.

Is that for Octavias with the DQ381 too, @roottoot?

I hadn't considered that, but it's an excellent point. I have a (perhaps cynical) suspicion that the decision to stop people working on their cars at home has already been made, but how to mainstream this idea has not yet been determined. The insurance angle is probably the easiest way to achieve this.

This reminds me that we used to be able to perform electrical work at home, but now most (there are probably exceptions, I don't know all the details) domestic electrical work needs to be signed off by NICEIC certified electricians. I'm old enough to remember when new electric devices didn't come with a plug and you'd have to buy one or try and get it included with the product. Since "The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994" electrical devices have come with plugs pre-fitted. I can imagine a time when only "certified" mechanics will be able to work on cars, but hopefully it won't be in the near future. Maybe they'll slip in the legislation as the number of electric cars increases? I dunno.

Most likely issue is failure to plug connector in correctly. It's pretty stiff going in and is a right pain to fully locate correctly. Don't try and "pull" it into place with the locking mechanism, use careful force to push it in all the way, then use the locking mechanism to lock it in place This thread has everything you need. (Edit: Not my thread, this was down to @weylandwho deserves the lion's share of the credit for it.)

Sorry, no idea @Noms. It did mean a bit of trimming the underbody trim to fit it, but it seemed to be a pretty straightforward fit. Mind you, he does have access to a proper workshop and seems to know his stuff. There's a big Skoda following in India, so there are quite a few enthusiasts from India on YouTube.

3M dual lock is good stuff and an option I've used for some years now. You can get different temp ratings too. It's almost as convenient at velcro, but it grips much more strongly and requires some force to seperate the two halves, especially when cold. Most importantly, it doesn't allow wobble like velcro does, so you get stable footage. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reclosable-Fastener-Waterproof-Stronger-ROOMWATCHMAN/dp/B09L8FYRK9/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2D11DZ6SC2JFG&keywords=3m%2Bdual%2Block&qid=1652691344&sprefix=3m%2Bdual%2Block%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-5&th=1 Another option is "nano tape", but I've not used it with dash cams, so can't comment on how good it is for that application, but it works great on number plates. (Edit: Link below is just to give you an idea of the stuff, I have no idea if that particular product is any good.) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multipurpose-No-Trace-Removable-Washable-Reusable/dp/B09XRBRCRZ/ref=sr_1_13?crid=1Y3WFJ2OEWUWZ&keywords=nano+tape&qid=1652691415&sprefix=nano+tape%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-13

That price sounds extortionate to me. My advice would be to take advantage of the high price on your existing car and drop it in exchange for a deal on a new vehicle.

No idea if it's any good, but it looks like a straightforward installation and looks pretty good in place.

Good luck for the future! I hope you make a good recovery from your illness.

That's a good result for such a simple mod with the gold tape. I can't remember, but have you also lagged the exhaust manifold? I'm now wondering if the OEM air intake could be improved with some insulation.

It might be worth checking to see whether there are any ULEZ areas on your planned trip. I know in the UK there are a growing number of ULE zones, and they're a pain in the wallet for owners of older TDI vehicles. (And older petrol cars, too.) ULEZ compliance might not be a concern for you at all, but if it's a factor you've overlooked, I thought I'd mention it. £8 for the right to drive on a road I've already paid VED and fuel tax to drive on grinds my gears. https://www.brumbreathes.co.uk/info/32/charges-operation/34/paying-drive-clean-air-zone