J.R.

Indeed which is why I said somewhat provocatively The Ferrari driver would have had even less of a view ahead and I suggest that he may in fact have been slowly edging out to see if it was safe to overtake after doing a mirror check so he would have been looking intently ahead, on a sweeping left hander where there is no solid white line that is the prudent thing to do, I dont think signalling would be appropriate in those circumstances. My vision is not good but in the final half second of the video clip I'm pretty sure that I can see an oncoming vehicle coming into view, it did seem rather strange that the video was terminated at that point, what do others see? Perhaps the OP will post a longer clip to disabuse the suggestion.

Yes that is what I meant, my bad choice of wording, I have spoken very little English for 19 years. Good point. A combination of two impatient drivers, I know of what I speak cos I is one! A Ferrari driver doing exactly what most would expect of them and which they probably feel obliged to do in a perverse manner. A VRS driver wanting to show a Ferrari driver that their indulgence was wasted. I have been both those people (not with a Ferrari) and consider myself lucky to have not crossed paths with a clone of myself. It is rarely safe to overtake in on UK roads in a sweeping left had bend especially on narrow country roads like that, on a wider road elevated above the surroundings without trees obscuring the sight lines, all the elements lacking in that video, you can sit back a little and look ahead to the left of the vehicle in front before deciding to take a little look which is not so risky on a wide road but there will have been a considerable blind spot. Equally there is a blind spot for the Ferrari driver to not see a car that has whipped out between the mirror, signal (not) manouevre. It would appear not, I was never to blame in my then mind for any of the accidents I was involved in when I drov like the roads were my personal racetrack, indeed the insurance companies agreed with me but in hindsight every one was avoidable if I had been thinking, its only from the benefit of experiences like that that I became a safer driver, I see people making the same hasty mistakes that I did and nearly coming a cropper, several times coming face to face with an oncoming overtaker who has swooped out dramatically from tailgating the car in front as the French love to do, I have reacted to and avoided situations that when I reflected afterwards concluded I would have in the past hjad an accident and ergo been partly responsable.

That brought it back to me, its funny how we recall the memory of a smell for so long. It was my MK1 Octavia TDi and prior to that an Alhambra TDi, both pre DPF days, the smell was the rudimentary patricle filters working after the vehicles had been laid up for some while which from what you have said could be the case with your vehicle as well. I did not even believe the vehicles had them until my CT guy showed me the box from under his ramp, he recognised the smell. Maybe they were in fact catastrophic convertors?

Mine usually smells of puke when regenning, sweet sickly sound like Adblue but I think your car is too early. Maybe it had a head gasket replaced and is still burning the coolant condensate lodged in the silencer boxes. The DPF cooler could also leak coolant into the combustion mixture, perhaps the intercooler. You have not said what engine or fuel type your vehicle has.

DPF regeneration.

Did you by any chance have the Haldex oil changed at the same time? 💡 What you describe sounds like the planet wheels breaking up. That would be more while turning left (or right) and should silence once in a straight line. Also check that one of the disc backplates has not fractured around the fixing indents.

I keep watching it over and over again, cant see any indication from him but he had already crossed the white line before you passed him. I guess all accidents are avoidable in hindsight.

It might be my vision but it looks like you were overtaking 2 vehicles approaching a (blind) bend to the left! Less blind once in the right hand lane but by then you were committed, it would have been a lot more than a few scratches had there been a vehicle coming the other way. Come to think of it aside from not using his mirrors although I suspect you were in his blind spot he had even less visibility than you did from the RH lane. Its like there was an attraction between the two vehicles, perhaps its fate, maybe you deserve each other!

Pointless unless you think they got a bent MOT and as you have not uncovered anything dangerous that should have failed an MOT what would be your reasoning for doing so? I would be more concerned about the regen, it is probably just coincidence, they do them regularly enough but some people have bought pups that have been traded on because of constant regens and oil dilution. A VCDS scan should give you an idea of the health of the DPF and its remaining life unless the garage has reset the oil ash value to zero, this is for when the DPF is replaced, if that has been done and the DPF is the original that should ring very loud alarm bells. That said that is exactly the situation with mine because I am a curious fiddler and I am not selling the vehicle.

How long did you have keep your pants on for? 😄

Depends how old you are!

Stuck modulating valve in the ABS block, no free play in master cylinder pushrod. Has anybody been working on the brake or clutch master cylinders or in the pedal box area?

Corrected that for you!

Do it yourself and avoid all the hassle and bad feeling on both sides. Your water leak may be unconnected to the work done or not as a result of negligence as you do not know where it is coming from. Loose bolts, missing fasteners, connectors not reconnected are what I expect from any work done by a garage, I know that it shouldn't be that way but it usually is. Not that I am any less immune so I recognise that mechanics are only human and have to cope with many more disturbances than I do, we have more incentive to be studious working on our own vehicles.

Another part which is likely to decompose first with the rustworm are the retaining washers that you can see holding on the front exhaust heat shield, the on over my differential is now flapping around. Keep your eye on bits like those and any derusting and surface protection treatment you can do on the wishbones and subframes will not be wasted. I forgot the obvious self composting mild steel components to check, the brake disc backplates that might as well be made of Bacofoil!

Check the sleeve clamp between front & rear exhaust sections, that is usually the first thing to let go, plenty of meat left on the suspension arm and as for surface rust on a mild steelexhaust pipe, well that just shows how far cars have evolved if people find that concerning.

I don't think there is a UK equivalent, I had not come across the product before but will buy some, it seems more suited to removing stains from textiles, Vanish stain remover might have a similar composition. Whatever scmoo is on the screen WD40 used with the scouring pad would be more effective than soapy water, it softens many things like activated adhesives that solvents wont touch. I find brake cleaner to be particularly effective with some stubborn schmoo.

Glad that the flapaerobics worked for you!

I believe that you have the full Climatronic system, does it have individual temperature settings for driver & passenger? I am assuming that they were both turned up to the same temperature, there are temperature sensors in the heater pipes, one of yours is probably not giving the true reading so the flaps are doing the wrong job. VCDS will display the readings from all the sensors and the operating angle of the flaps compared to the commanded angle, if the flaps are working properly then the temperature sensor readinsg should be the same for both sides (both set to the same temp) if they are different you just have to work out which is the implausible reading and replace the sensor. I bet you were looking for an excuse to remove your dashboard!!!!!

The usual problem is the underseat connectors (colour bright yellow) being kicked by rear seat passengers, many people solder them, there is also another connector tucked up in the seat squab foam.

My MK1 Octavia was vandalised by someone from the airbus factory throwing a pot of 2 pack resin across the bonnet which splashed up the screen, roof, side windows and door panels. It was just about cured when I noticed, acetone removed some from the paintwork but most was too far gone and it was removing the OE paint so I let it harden for a week before mechanically removing what I could. The screens were the easiest because as long as you dont use abrasive compounds they wont be damaged, a brillo pad is quite safe but is not doing the business for you. I used a scraper that I have which takes a razor blade and is intended for removing carbonised deposits from ceramic hobs or paint from windows, that should cut through whatever schmoo you have on your screen perhaps followed with one of those aluminium swarf scouring pads. The reason my car was vandalised is that someone had parked across my drive, their drivers window was cracked open slightly and I was carrying a full watering can when I saw the vehicle, it seemed like God or providence was guiding me! 😄

I got 61 mpg this morning on an hours drive from Bergerac to Libourne, an A road but passing through lots of towns, roundabouts and junctions, temperature was about 23°c The return journey was at 32°c and I had the aircon on and also did quite a few additional miles of urban crawling, the economy dropped to 56mpg. Cruising speed was 50-60 mph when I could do it, national speed limit is 60kph/50mph and there were several speed cameras along the way.

It can take many hours, even weeks of driving to burn all ejected oil from an exhaust system. That statement comes from experience but with a 60's vehicle where the inlet valve was not opening so it was drawing oily air past the rings and filling the exhaust silencers, this was decades before catastrophic convertors etc which may limit the amount of oil that gets through. In any case the engine needs to be running at high revs under load like on a motorway for the exhaust to be hot enough to burn away oil that has got through to the silencer boxes.

Apologies, I had not appreciated it was a saloon, I've been driving estates for far too long!!!

Let's hope it is correctly aligned, maybe the fitter left them loose knowing it needed a 4 wheel alignment but they skipped it. Does it track straight ?