J.R.

It didn't sound plausible, did they charge you for replacing the pipe? The master cylinder replacement wont eradicate the problem, because they will have bled the system it will behave for a while before returning with a vengeance. Removal and replacement of the master cylinder in an equipped main dealer workshop should not be anything like 2 hours labour but that will indeed be the book figure, that is how they make their money plus charging £140 for a plastic cylinder that I got for €18 = £15 including delivery. First time round took me a while but I did not have the benefit of experience, the Skoda service instructions or a coleague as mentor. Unclip switch connector (tricky but seconds once you have the knack) unclip and plug fluid reservoir pipe, release clip and disengage brake line (tricky again but seconds when you have the knack, rotate cylinder 45° anti-clockwise (bayonet fixing) and withdraw, job is 50% done, reverse procedure to fit new cylinder and bleed system, another 5 minutes tops. Because of access problems caused by the DPF on my car I remove the pedal and cylinder assembly from inside the footwell, 3 M8 bolts, adds another 5 minutes to remove and 5 minutes to replace.

My caravan is 8 meters long but thankfully they were sensible enough to not use Canbus. They still aren't even capable of making a caravan that doesn't leak or of drilling pilot holes for the fixing screws of the front & rear ABS panels instead of splitting them open by driving the screws straight through the plastic, I shudder at the thought of the balls up they would make using canbus wiring, which would actually be a very good idea for the all important weight reduction. The alleged cooling system upgrade that comes with the towbar preparation is absolutely essential for towing in the mountains of the Sahara Desert!

The Bio-Ethanol that is sold at the pumps in my area has the ethanol component coming from the betteraves (sugar beet) that are cultivated all around me, they are no longer viable for conversion to sugar because the unlawful subsidies were finally removed so most of the Sucreries are now producing Ethanol and other by products.

Nobody would do that and then boast about it on a forum would they? Answers on a postcard please.............

We supply electricity to you through the National Grid. Whilst not all of the electricity produced for it is renewable, we make sure that the bit we take is. We do this through our energy mix and the ways in which we get renewable electricity: We generate our own renewable electricity. Our biomass plants in Lockerbie and Sheffield create enough energy to power 100,000 homes throughout the UK. We work with other renewable generators, such as wind farms. We buy REGO certificates. And there you have it, validation of what I posted earlier (which you awarded me a groan for!) , hats off to them for their honesty WRT their dishonesty.

Yes I expect problems, usually they have been hidden or are not declared, it gives me great pleasure to find and resolve a problem where the garages had gaven the previous owners so much grief and cost them so much money that they ended up PX'ing the vehicle and I end up buying it as a trade disposal probably after they tried foisting it off on other punters. There is always something (usually undeclared) that makes people get shot of a desirable vehicle, finding and resolving takes patience and determination but its never rocket science and always actually quite simple once diagnosed.

I can't advise you other than tell you how I view these things and operate, it clearly is not appropriate for the mindset of many but is a view I believe worth passing on. I refuse all additional warranties even to the point of refusing them if they are (not) free and included in the price for the reasons that I and others have explained, it's just a means of the seller disassociating themselves from their legal obligations and blaming everything on the warranty company. In addition even on new goods I don't consider a guarantee worth anything but hassle to me, that view is influenced by living in France, if I buy something and it doesn't work my first reaction is to fix it and get on with my life rather than face the insouciance and downright mistrust & hostility which is the default French customer services response. If I cannot fix it I insist on my money back, not a repair, not an exchange. I only have insurance on anything when it is legally required and even then the absolute minimum cover, when disaster strikes I deal with it ASAP using my own resources and again get on with my life, I have seen too many people lose their businesses through their inability to trade while they argue with insurers and their paid accomplices the experts. During a disaster like the aftermath of a flood or a fire the last thing you want is to be fighting the company you paid good money to to look after you at that exact time. For decades now I have never bought a car from a dealer only private, when something goes wrong I fix it, if I don't know how I learn, that way I never get screwed around and have to listen to BS from a service receptionist, mechanic, salesman or dealer. When I read the reliability surveys for new & second hand vehicles in detail all of the frustration and bad reputation is usually generated by the inability, incompetence or unwillingless of the garages to effect a repair having the car only one time, I have avoided that all my life but have to get my hands dirty and keep up with the technology.

Next time round (hopefully there will not be a next time) follow the very good advice given to you and firmly state I am not having anything to do with whatever warranty you strapped me up with, the car (I believe) is faulty and it is your responsability to fix it or have the car back & refund the purchase price, I will not enter into any further conversation regarding using the word "warranty" This would have saved you lots of hassle, time, lost sleep, arguments, all of which the dealers use the warranty to create, and got you to the same eventual resolution sooner. Good luck with the next purchase.

The old Citroens that used mineral hydraulic fluid in the fancy brake systems certainly benefitted from a change of fluid. Discoloured brake fluid will not add to your braking distance, for the amount of heat generated in normal braking you would get equal brake performance and stopping distance were you to use tap water, its in extremis that any significant water content can make its presence felt, when carrying or towing overloaded & repeatedly braking from high speed, mountain descents, track days etc, any involved driver would know all about it through the change in pedal feel. There is a danger that a carefull suburban driver could be unaware having never put the brakes to the test until an emergency stop involving some or all of the other contributory factors. I regularly deglaze my brake pads & make sure the ABS kicks in as most of the time the brakes get very little and very gentle use.

And as someone that does I can tell you that you dont need a service shedule or an electronic tester (which I have) to know when you have excess H20 in the calipers. It has only ever once happened and was nothing to do with absorbtion from the atmosphere or through the flexible hoses (another myth based on a theoretical but unmeasurable science) it was on a Galaxy that had a recall because rain running down from the scuttle was falling directly onto the master cylinder cap which had an upturned U section where the float switch could swivel in it, the water went straight in and displaced the brake fluid (less dense) then travelled down and settled in the front brake calipers, they were full of rusty water and zero fluid, the concentric clutch slave cylinder failed also later on. That braking system running on pretty much water (the perfect hydraulic fluid but for one small detail!) worked perfectly until abused under very extreme circumstances. My MK1 Octavia had the fluid checked every year using the most expensive and regularly calibrated tester during the Télé-thon at the Lycée Pro where I volunteered, I also checked it with my own tester, it never showed any measurable contamination and was scrapped at 17 years old and 325000 miles with the original fluid in perfect condition.

I have no doubt that they pay for a certificate that says the energy they sell is 100% green and renewable. Nice work if you can get it, you trade electrons (green or not so green) and don't actually have to produce anything except marketing BS and certifications lapped up by a seemingly endless supply of willing naive virtue signalling customers.

You are talking in riddles and not making any sense, what has the selling dealer actually said to your request to return the vehicle?

Nothing really to check if its the internal concentric slave cylinder, and I will bet my house it is. The problem will reoccur more and more frequently, pulling the pedal up whilst there is not a lot else you can do actually makes it worse because it will draw more air in through the O ring seal between the two plastic parts which is causing the problem. Bleeding the clutch will improve matters for a short while, just a simple gravity bleed, no tools needed, just turn the knurled plastic bleed knob 180° anti-clockwise and watch the bubbles come up the tube, you wont even lose any measurable amount of fluid so topping up is only for peace of mind.

Trade price for the genuine VAG cylinder from TPS was around £110 a year ago. Maybe £140 retail? I now have a pattern part one which cost €18 including delivery, it is identical and the parts came from the same injection mould and it has the same VAG part number moulded in. I can change them now in around 20 minutes, a skill I definitely wish that I had not gained. An hours labour perhaps? I can pretty much guarantee that it wont have been leaking and the intermittent problem will remain/return and turn out to be the slave cylinder if you have the concentric slave cylinder but garages like to start with the easiest job first to see how deep and compliant the customers pockets are.

If you had read what I posted or perhaps had I explained it better it was to make the risky job that OCCYsport has just done much safer. He was jacking up the strut with a block of would against the force of the spring while hammering/levering the steering knuckle away from underneath which would then leave the strut free to move sideways if the action of removing the knuckle did not do that anyway, the block of wood is balanced on a trolley jack and pushing off centre on the side of the spring platform, very likely for the wood to fly out sideways and the strut to shoot down where hands are probably moving the knuckle around. My suggestion was that while the strut was jacked up and attached so "relatively" stable to use a pair of opposing ratchet straps to retain, not compress (the jack did that) the road spring, then the knuckle can be removed from the strut in complete safety, a pair of ratchet straps unless they were like the flimsy tin can ones I bought on Ebay will more than cope with the 1 or 2 inches of compression needed to clear the knuckle and as Occy has said the spring will be retained within the strut. I have never used ratchet straps to compress a road spring although would do so in an emergency, I use my drill press for 2" race springs and the hydraulic press for road springs and then use the straps to retain them in the compressed condition, I release the load on the press progressively to make sure they dont slide around the spring to the same side as each other.

Thats because its a meaningless term so nothing could be! Its like "Heavy duty" or "CE" etc, anything they can make up to convince the unwary to buy.

Yeah because any capacitors are never going to self discharge in the time it takes for a (long low slow) battery charge are they!

Mr Muscle enema required.

I bet someone has been working on or has removed & replaced/reconnected the fuel sender unit recently!

Evidence of same (being done) was on the print-out 🤣

Yeahbut them is yellow innit!

OK, I had not realised that you were going for a lowered stance. Nonetheless its not good form to have the springs become loose on their platforms on full rebound, I have a feeling that those front springs are going to be a lot stiffer as the drop is not as either of us expected considering the lack of preload. Its really good to know that the strut will come out without removing the knuckle and that very very tight driveshaft retaining bolt, I am kicking myself for having given you a good suggestion re the ratchet straps yet when I did mine a few months back I was farting around with spring clamps which were too large for the space, then the bearing balls showering made me abandon the job and instead of using my head and thinking of the ratchet straps I copped out and removed the knuckles on attempt number 2.

Sure they will, they will just take slighty longer. That said most of us would fit new pads with new discs.

You have a light scratch and learned what to do and what not to do should a similar incident happen in the future, don't compound your grief by involving your insurers, move on and forget about it. The MIB will laugh at a claim for a scratch from a driver with comprehensive insurance, their role is picking up the pieces when someone is left paralysed by an uninsured driver (an example).

My first reply may have been pointless and childish but it was a joke and definitely not an attempt to belittle you, I am really surprised that you would consider it to be so. I disagree that there is no need for humour, when I have done something stupid and am beating myself up about it I really appreciate being shown the funny side of the situation. You have acheived what you set out to do and will be able to lubricate the locks in another way if they ever need it, rather than saying that others should learn not do what you did on the contrary, they should take confidence from your example of a cheap and easy no cost repair and knowing the implications for future disassembly.