J.R.

I am far from a VCDS expert and just feeling my way but the above does not seem correct to me. AFAIK you can do anything on another non VIN registered VAG vehicle maybe including watching live date, what you cannot do is make programming chnages to modules without using up another VIN. I cahneged vehicles after purchasing so 2 VINs used up, I owed a massive amount of favours to my UK neighbour so when he wanted me to make a change to I think it was window opening from remote control I was happy to use up the remaining VIN only to find that he could have done it through his infotainment screen (sad smily). Could that change or another say changing the DRL set up have been done by "any generic code reader"? AFAIK they can read generic fault codes stored on the ECU and delete most of them, not for instance an airbag warning code which needs to access the individual Canbus module which VCDS can do. I'm kicking myself for not having the forethought to have bought a 10 VIN unit in the first place, the upgrade price is punitive compared to the original option. Sorry for typos

They dont need or have to justify the lead time, justguarantee to provide certain spare parts for a certain time after a vehicles manufacture. Do you know that they actually manufacture the door panels themselves? Very little of a modern motor vehicle is actually made by the vehicle manufacturer, assembler would be a better choice of phrase. Some production plants may still make the bodies and engines but they will be seperate from the assembly plant and the units will arrive on a JIT basis like any other components and sub assemblies from their suppliers. Tthose same parts which are required as spare parts do not follow the same logistic chain, they will not go anywhere near the assembly plant fast moving parts and consumables will be stocked in distribution warehouses and with TPS etc, I vert much doubt that an unfinished bare unpainted door or tailgate will be stocked, it will be ordered and the order will go right through the chain to the manufacturer, he will have to meet his JIT commitments to the production line before diverting one unit for a VOR (veicle off road) order. 3 months does not sound excessive and were you to actually be able to find the thruth behind the BS it's probably only been ordered 2 weeks ago. Sorry for any typos.

Not wise to bandy ideas like that even in gest given what exposure to Mercury has created. I have weighed in individual batteries to a proper recycling yard in the UK, 3 last summer, around £8 each IIRC. You get nothing at the dump but they do very well out of them, or over here its my neighbour that secretes them away each night, he doese indeed weigh in over 100kg at a time. The ferailleurs (I'm surrounded by these types as the recycling centre is in my village) advertise on Facebook €10 paid per battery but thats just as much of a scam as them offering to pay for wrecked cars, they load em up and then demand money with menaces for coming. The lead alone is worth a lot more but as you say the recycling costs are high, its nice to get a little bit back though. Keep up the good work with the short, succinct and knowledgable advice!

I have tried most everything as a back to back comparison on the 3 Roulotte de chantiers that I have restored in recenbt years, none of the rust convertors do anything other than create a stable surface for painting over and the rust always comes through no matter how good the paint coat, some better than others but none "cure" or convert" rust entirely. Regarding moisture and air, I completely agree and that is where the last product that really does do what it says on the tin comes in, Owatrol oil, it seeps in and seals the rust from air and water, it stops it in its tracks but does not cure or convert. Overpainting will make it prettier and may add some protection but the bits I haev simply treated with the oil look exactly as they did 5 years ago after being outside exposed to the elements ever since. I had a patinated rust & green coloured cast iron water fountain, it looked good but the rust was spreading, Owatrol oil has kept it exavtly as it was when I applied it. My 36 year old toolbox and roll cab had rusted under the paint, made worse by having to be stored under a tarp during a garage build, this week I ground all the loose paint & rust off with a wire brush head in angle grinder, then Owatrol oil on the rust and bare metal, then I painted it with enamel mixed with Owatrol as they suggest, cynical me thought it was just to get you to use more of the product but it really did go on well and flow out, as good as the old lead paints used to be. The finish is great and it appears to have stuck well to the 48 hour cured Owatrol which was still a bit sticky to the touvh. apologies for typeos.

Im reasssured that it turns out not just to be me on the recieving end but saddened that its more widespread, at the time I thought i muast have unknowingly upset him atometime before. I cant work out why not responding to a genreal question not aimed at an individual person could be deemed to be rude, the response to Pete was well beyod rude, Sporry for typos

Sorry about that, its either my eye condition or I confused it with another post, probably both. You should be taking up the issue with the garage in the first instnace, I can't read back through but I think you said they quoted you for replacing the pipe? if it has been rubbed through then that is easonable, they should at the very least refund the cost of the first recharge but you still end up payi for it to be done after the ork and its probably better to cut your losses and find a cheaper independant garage to replace the pipe or DIY which is now a possibility as the gas has already leaked away sorry for any typeos

I am only trying to advise you that you are drawing several conclusions without any basis as you seem determined to take this down the legal route. 20 years without a recharge is in anyones eyes enough normal losses for the system not to run due to insufficient regfrigeratn, their machone will have given them a printout of the vwhole procedure, the vacuum test, its duration, the the depression before and after test period, how many grammes of refrigerant removed, how many refilled and the high and low pressures when tested operational. I am only trying to play deviles advocat sorry for typos, I cant see what I am typing.

Get a grip Danoid! If it was cooling on the way back then the system was pressurised and working, to see it pi55ing out and to lose the pressure and cooling as fast as you say indicates the pipe finally fractured or rubbed through at that time. Is the hole visible and exactly where the squiggle is? I ask becaise its suspiciously close to the filling port but that has the cap on it so even if the Schrader valve has dirt under its seat it should not leak. I very much doubt that any law says that a garage has to find a leak, finding a competent garage is hard enough, they all use these automated machines, they just connect up and walk away, if it does not hold the vacuum for the required 20 minutes (or so) it will not go onto the next stage of refilling, thats the point where they start scratching their heads and make up all the bull***t about what is wrong with the system, the truth is they have no idea about anything other than connecting the hoses to the test ports (and many cat even manage that) pressing "start" and walking away, when they return it will either say finished or could not recharge.

Both are correct and not mutually exclusive, the aircon light comes on when you select the aircon function, if for any number of reasons for which there are compressor shut down codes in VCDS the most obvious being low refrigerant gas pressure then the modulating valve which allows the system to pump and circulate will not be actuated. The aircon light will remain illuminated under the above circumstance which I agree makes little sense.

Not true on any VAG system for the last couple of decades with the clutchless driect drive compressor, I agree that its best to use it all the time but you cannot actually switch it off, you just think you have!

Allowing for the fact that they simply made up the 20% figure that pretty much equates to a compounded 10% loss each year anyway, it would reach 20% after 15 years and 12% after 20 years. But it would have stopped cooling long before that further proving that they make these things up as they go along which includes the famous 10% per year figure, most vehicles don't lose aywhere near that amount.

Thanks it will pass, my ophtalmo is back on Monday. I'm pretty sure its an allergic reaction to pollen combined with being 20 days post operatoire for a cataracte op. There is also a secondary cataract growing which I expected and hence is not of concern. I could just about see that so I dont think there are any typos, yesterady was a very high pollen day other days its worse in the mornings but never good.

My Yeti does indeed have the cut outs, its probably safe to say that all my previous VAG vehicles also had. Will the knowledge change the habits of a lifetime? I soehow doubt it, it dangling onto the rear win has never caused me anxiety and I wont start reading owners manuals until I need to know something. as before. Sotrry for spelling but cannot read what I am mistyping.

The DSG gearbox may have a different transfer drive ration but ias it is effectvely an outrigger of the differential straddling the driveshaft I cery much doubt it. Design for Pruducrion is all about rationalisation & minimisibg the variants of parts. The garage do not knpw and are being lazy in playing safe, they also want to maximise profits by fitting a new VAG unit and minimising their risk, I would (and did) make it ùy business to find out the exact differences in the suffix numbers, whether it is a revision and for what, I'm sorry I cant do it for you but I am close to nlind at present and cannot see what I typz.

No VAG car I have had since the 90's (and they have been the majority) had that feature but its probably more true to say they actually did but I never read the manuals!!! I will have to look at the Yeti tomorrow, I'm just happy to have a lanyard and to not be losing any more fuel caps.

Of course it does, thats why it is on a lanyard. If you dont like it then cut the lanyard & put the cap on the pump and revert to having to drive back to the garage to ask if they have found your cap when you notice fuel spilling out and/or motorcyclists coming a cropper behind you. The cap touching the bodywork does not concern me, much preferable to keep losing theml.

I believe that when I was looking the diff was common to all the VAG FWD derived 4x4 vehicles with the angle drive gearbox on the front driveshaft. If anything was to be different I imagine it would be the Audi TT or some sporting models.

Yes my AliExpress reversing camera has been a game changer for coupling (phnarr phnaar!). I cant quite see the towball just a tiny shadow on the bottom of the screen, I have encouraged the plastic camera housing as much as I dare, slotted the holes etc to arrive at that point so now just have a tiny Tippex dot on the head unit LCD surround to indicate where the towball is in the left right axis. Even the trajectory lines are very accurate for placing the trailer despite from my view them looking very wrong.

Agree with all the above especially replacing as a pair. You would be hard pressed to buy anything of an inferior quality to that fitted by VAG and given their price I would buy anything but VAG branded ones. Mine came from an Irish E-bay seller and were astonishingly cheap, £30 something each, they have been fine for over 18 months. I would definitely ask for the bump stops to be replaced, they degrade with age and yours may have been taking a battering if the oil is leaking. Likewise the top bearings when I removed my struts I was showered with ball bearins where one had let go, I subsequently replaced them again with el cheapos but one strarted knocking again after a fe months showing that cheap unbranded parts can eb a lottery. It's only time for me but if you are paying labour I would have the bump stops and to mount bearings replaced as well, any good garage would insist on it & maybe your price includes them, I would also consider replacing the springs, one of mine had failed before the shockers started leaking, they did that lost damping very quickly, perhaps as a result of being disturbed to replace the springs. good luck!

If it has failed as a result of the wrong oil being drained during a Haldex service then it will be pretty much unrepairable unless the person stopped driving at the very first tiny signs of noise, I did so and have been in remission for 3 years but its damaged , noisy and at best in remission, it willsurely fail before I am ready to part with the vehicle. Lippy 427, to my knowledge there is very little if any difference between the various part numbers, the ratios are the same for all vehicles, unlike the front diff or a RWD diff which would have differing ratios according to power plant wheel size etc the rear diff ratio has to match that of the transfer box and that I believe has remained constant. The differences in part number suffix I believe relate to the Haldex controller which surely must be included for £5164! When I was looking I only wanted the diff and not the controller, I just missed on one at £200 that had hung around for a long time, the others were £3-£400, that was 3 years ago now, lots have failed since so the price may have risen. I don't think you risk getting a bad one from a breaker, only someone dodgy selling their old failed one, aside from an incompetent lack of lubricant I think they are bulletproof and will easily last the life of the vehicle. When this incompetent drained his diff oil believing it to be Haldex fluid what came out was a clean as the day it was filled in the factory 79000 miles before, that can't be said for the carbonised the dribbles that came out 200 unlubricated miles later or the diff oil put in for 20 miles to flush out any other contaminants. I must do them both again soon and see how both the diff and Haldex are holding up.

Yes, its a very easy job, get the new tray and you will see where you have to cut, from memory you can just follow the line of the sunken profile. Now you have got me thinking, I dont think mine had a tray, just a recessed area with a rubber mat. I had replaced the dashboard with a remanufactured one, mine had deployed the airbag and ruptured, it was the new one I cut.

I disagree, writing stuff like that makes people drop their defenses and show themselves for what they really are. Breezy Pete had it right.

Ah the old "came out of nowhere!" that ranks with the "for no reason the engine died!" or "without warning the lights turned red!" 🤣 It was probably me and I had been waiting all day to exercise my PàD in front of someone looking at their satnav 😄 Be carefull out there people!

Bad luck more like, it's not for want of trying I can assure you. They are the hardest of all to brake test, very frustrating.

That will be me then, thanks so much for pointing out the error of my ways, I have been blissfully unaware of my idiocy all these years but no longer thanks to your kind words. I will leave you in bliss regarding your own failing.