J.R.

You can drill a small hole at the lowest point of the silencer casing as a condensate drain.

I'm not sure such an animal exists, it looks too long for a TIG torch electrode and the tip has never arced.

It looks like the end of my mechanics stethoscope, the one that keeps falling out into inaccessible places under the bonnet!

The filter has done its job but wherever the grit came from it will have been through the oil pump to get there, the oil pick up strainer will have caught any larger pieces. Is it normal? I dont know but will dissect mine at the next oil change, perhaps you could fit a new filter to the Tiguan and check the old one as a comparison?

Trop Bon - Trop Con.

Water pump impellor shroud sticking. For temporary relief remove the electrical connector when the engine is at normal operating temperature and not overheating, that is to say when it is behaving, you could do it later after the engine has cooled as long as it was behaving correctly on the previous run and you dont turn on the ignition again until after the connector is removed. You could just leave it like that and it will be fine, in winter you will notice a slightly increased warm up time and a little longer for hot air to come from the heater, many fit a water pump without the shroud which gives the same effect. Rest assured it is nothing to do with the towbar fitment.

I like others are here trying to help you not to get into an argument. I have suggested something based on a proven style which come in various widths so might not even be bespoke other than the mountings. I very much doubt that anybody will have designed and marketed a bespoke rear Bull Bar for your Octavia, its more the domain of show off 4x4's.

The adaption routine should be found under the "Adaptation" tab. VCDS or perhaps its VAG behind it is absolutely terrible regarding units and positive/negative, it would not surprise me in the slightest that the negative value should actually be a positive one. The best thing you can do is go into "Measuring blocks" and read the output figure for the DPS in whatever units they chose to use in their drunken state, probably light years! Check it at tickover and then at 2.5K RPM it should go from a low to a higher figure, no point me stating what mine is as its probably different units, once you have the figures and units of measure then you can Google to see if they are reasonable or not.

The Bull Bar as fitted to that Pathfinder would not fit your vehicle as it has stays that come up from the chassis longerons, probably the towbar fixings, its also not wide enough to protect the outside corner which seems to get sideswiped. Behind the bumper is a rigid crashbar, easilt removable to fabricate mounting plates to sit flush with the inner face of the plastic bumper for something worthy of its name to be added to the outside, I assume you are old enough to remember when bumpers did what was written on the tin! What I am thinking of is the rear "step" type bumpers added to the rear of transit vans etc, one of those of the correct length would protect your vehicle and above all leave its mark on the incompetent sideswipers, they are not lazy, ignorant or selfish but simply incompetent, the same sort that have me standing on the brakes like only 10 minutes ago when I approach a stop junction and they are turning left onto my road (I'm in France) and cutting the corner massively. If you cant find a suitable width extended van rear step bumper then bolt on a length of Armco! As it is on the back and not on the front you are less likely to run into trouble with it causing injury if a pedestrian stepped out in front of you.

What is the figure for the DPS adaption value? It is off the edge of the photo. A minus measured figure indicates that the offset adaption routine needs running or the sensor is faulty, I believe the former. What is the calculated oil ash mass or volume? That will be more revealing.

I bought a MK1 Octavia with 188K on the clock and took it to 325K without any problems whatsoever, aside from oil & filters it cost me £5 for a coolant temperature sensor, £8 for a cambelt alone (no pulleys, tensioners etc) and maybe £30 on brake discs, I also replaced the rear shocks and front struts with uprated ones from a Police car in a breakers yard but that was an upgrade rather than the originals failing. Had I invested in VCDS it would never have been scrapped. My 2006 Octavia was mote troublesome electronically but armed with VCDS it was manageable, 2016 is in my view the latest year I would want to own as there is simply so much complication and unreliability from the later emission spec vehicles. I say go for it but budget for a clutch & DMF if it hasn't already been replaced, also try and get some DPF figures from VCDS to get an idea of how much life it has left, hopefully it will have been motorway miles and not short journeys.

Even more of a parallel universe, glass of water on the bonnet while pressing on.

Heel & toeing on the road with a diesel engine 🥴 It must have the noise simulator!

That is exactly what happens to a race engine with large valve overlap (fixed not variable) when it bogs down and falls "off the cam" I remember seeing an Imp with a screamer engine kangarooing for half a lap of Lydden Hill before finally finding its breath. Entirely plausible. These cars are getting stupidly complicated.

It's rare that I would ever feel sorry for a main dealer but in cases like this they have my sympathy in equal measure with the purchaser. Thats where I feel sorry for them, if it is a latent maufacturing fault the trader really doesn't deserve to be the one picking up the tab.

Luk is OEM! I'm sure if you look through their listings or message them your engine details as the listing requests then they will have a LUK or Sachs kit for you much cheaper than the £680 you were speaking of. Since fitting the kit my engine has been remapped to an alleged 184hp and I have done 45000 miles many of them towing large fronted trailers at autoroute speeds loaded well beyond the towing limits, the LUK clutch and DMF are fine. Editted, the remap was done before the clutch/DMF, it was the higher revs which revealed the failing factory fitted Sachs DMF, that was at 79K miles, the LUK set up has done an additional 45K miles

Try their other offerings.

I bought a LUK clutch & DMF kit in 2021 which came from Spain and only cost €320 including delivery to France, as you are in Italy you should get the same free delivery. The seller is selling the same item but it has now gone up to €399, still considerably cheaper than what you are quoting. Check carefully to see if its compatible with your engine code, mine was also a 110kw, if not then they do many others one of which will be correct for your vehicle. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161989960427 Editted, mine was 110hp and not 110kw, I had brain fade!

Throttle body clagged up should be the first thing to investigate.

If the old pads came out tapered with wear then it will take a very long time for the new ones to do the same and stop rocking when the brakes are applied, the rear brakes do very little work. You either abuse them driving with the handbrake on or have to be patient. Apologies, I had read your posting but it hadn't sunk in that you had replaced the disks as well as the pads. You have some sponginess or lost motion somewhere in the rear calipers with the new parts.

Now that definitely looks like organ pipes!!!!!!

Thanks for that, I can see them now after enlarging the picture and knowing now where to look. What exactly do they do as they cannot be open to the filtered air, they wont have been put there to look good, before I could see them I thought they might be like the dummy "abdo" like intake tracts moulded into some of the engine covers. These must have a purpose, possibly to reduce reflected resonant type intake noise like you get with Weber DCOE's which can cause fuel stand off. I think Toot may be onto something, perhaps the OP can confirm if he car is equipped with these and whether they are unobstructed i.e. not in contact with other parts?

I cant see anything resembling 3 (or any number of) organ pipes.

Sounds like a very sensible and pragmatic plan.