J.R.

Incorrect, the finish is base & clear, a scratch in the clear coat that does not go as deep as the base coat will appear white, the OP's car base colour is graphite grey (the scratch colour is white), this would not be applied over a white primer.

Don't be too embarrassed to return for help when/if replacing the throttle body does not resolve the issue. Like Pete I have my doubts and would not replace it unless it had been proved to be faulty by testing its operation (commanded opening angle and measured angle) using output tests in VCDS or equivalent, if it is faulty it would normally bring up a MIL light and have a fault code. An air leak is more plausible, again this can be diagnosed by looking at the Lambda sensor output.

The low fuel warning light is not a glowplug symbol, in fact from memory its not a light at all but an audible bong and "low fuel" being displayed on the Maxidot, perhaps there is a light on non Maxidot models (is there such an animal?) but the glowplug light is definitely for the pre-heating time before you should crank the engine (solid light) and perhaps a flashing mode for something else, my MK2 had 4 failed glowplugs but the light never flashed.

Absolutely normal behavior for a wax capsule thermostat. The water pump sleeve does its thing in the early stage of the warm up, I doubt that you would see anything in live data other than feeling heat coming from the heater without a corresponding increase in live data temperature because the coolant is running in a direct circuit through the heater.

Then whatever you do do not touch it up with "body paint" use lacquer (clear coat). Keep adding layers until it is standing proud after drying then leave it for several days (unless you mix up a 2 pack clear coat) before flatting, compounding and polishing.

I am partially sighted. If you dont know what you are looking for then you only need to ask. Your money your choice but why start the thread?

Use your eyes and not your keyboard, you are the one who can see what is fitted to your vehicle.

Bad advice, all our vehicles for the last 2.5 decades have had a base and clear paint finish, if you want to touch in a light scratch then it should be with clear lacquer followed by polishing. If the scratch appears white against a dark paint colour its a sure fire sign its a lacquer coat scratch. The clear coat is very hard and very deep, it takes a hell of a lot of flatting and polishing to go through it, filling scratches with lacquer and then flatting & polishing down flush with the surrounding lacquer is desirable to maintain the thickness. Filling a clear coat scratch with body coloured touch up paint stands out a mile!

A compromise would be to fit the standard battery and disconnect the BMS module current measuring shunt lead which will disable the stop-start as you have indicated your desire to do, revert to a standard alternator charging profile and avoid the expense of BMS recoding. The battery will last as long as it would on any standard vehicle, arguably longer than a replacement AGM on a stop-start vehicle. It is unrealistic to expect any battery replacement to last as long as the factory fitted (Moll batteries aside) one even if it appears to be the identical make and capacity.

I gave the love to a girlfriends MK1 MX5 which she bought as a grey import from the docks in Ireland, she did not know what the weird metal thing was on the front bumper, I knew immediately, it was a timing strut, from the lowered stance, the rollcage, the magnesium split rim wheels, the exhaust tailpipe.............. It turned out that it was a track car and had all the right bits and none of the show and no go stuff. You speak of "single stage" paint I presume you mean non base & clear? Her black MX5 definitely was base and clear because it had vicious vandalism scratches all along both sides which I managed to flat, compound and polish out, they looked white against the black base coat.

Its costing you £300 in parts to replace a cam belt? I have spent £8 in the last 26 years, probably half a million miles driven. No that is wrong, it was 2 belt changes so say £20 allowing for inflation for the second belt.

You claim that you have to drive a Superb because of your size and particularly the size of your feet but now you tell us that you drove an Isetta for several years!!!!!!!

It's not adjusted correctly, you should see whats behind! Possible causes: Wife driving the car before you attending to her hair and makeup. Wife sitting in the rear seat 😁 As someone who had owned 30 + cars after 2 years of driving I never thought I would be where I am now hoping to keep the Yeti for my remaining days which hopefully will be a couple of decades and some.

If the brakes are used quite heavily it's quite normal for the rear pads to wear more than the fronts, on a track car twice as quick. Its a function of the pad area, disc diameter and above all the relative absence of airflow cooling to the rear calipers which because of the need for a handbrake are also placed high up where all the radiant heat rises when stopped. I agree the 40/60 front/rear split is just the usual Trumpism from a service receptionist.

Your logic sends you down expensive rabbit holes. You seem to be overlooking the basics and diving deep into complicated stuff requiring a lot of study Octavias will work perfectly without the alarm siren I see no reason why yours should be different. On a very basic level this says something very important, the door closed switch is either not working or signals from its controller confirming it being closed are not being received by others allowing the system to prepare to enter shut down mode. 2 very common basic faults, 1 the door lock microswitch for the former. 2 damaged wiring in the door bellows for the second. Have you checked either of them? You now know why the horn was not sounding but the indicators flashing. Edited. I take the above back, you "tricked" the door closed microswitch then opened the door without releasing it, I can't get my head around quite what the electronics thought were going on. I really think now is the time to invest in VCDS, its reminding me of when I was forced (through my own stubbornness) to scrap my MK1 Octavia only to have to buy VCDS for the MK2 and then realise that with it I would not have had to scrap the MK1.

A shame that mine has had a hard life as a swop would suit both of us. I will look for the lights but I know they will need the tabs plastic welding back into place more securely, I just did a temporary job for a UK MOT in order to bring it over, when I matriculated it ANTS gave me 2 years on the carte grise for the 1 year UK MOT 😁

They sell for very very strong money in France, you would likely come out on top selling and then buying a RHD but it would be an unknown quantity and you know everything about your vehicle. 3 or 4 years ago I finally sold up in the UK and begrudgingly took my old RHD headlights to the dump, they would have been of no use to me here, I knew this day would come 🤣 I do though have a nagging suspicion that I may have brought them (that the kind of person I am) if so they will be at the hôtel in the North of France, my brain is now kidding itself that it can see them on a high shelf! I wont be there for at least another month, maybe longer but will look while I am there.

Look on the positive side, you no longer have to worry about your prononciation 😅

I've got a collection of Bosch and Varta coloured ones!

I started driving diesels in 1998, in the 27 intervening years I have replaced one cam belt costing £8 at 225K miles, I did not change the waterpump, tensioner or idler bearings as back then if the OE stuff was still in perfect nick at that mileage it was likely to outlive anything which replaced it, I can't say with certainty that the same would apply today. I regularly visually inspect the belt condition and the position of the tensioner. I have the locking tools but still yet to use them, when the time comes I either will not be able to find them or will find they are not compatible with my current engine.

Visual inspections are all that is needed, you get plenty of warning, earliest that I have replaced a belt was 225k miles.

You are a better man than me Pete.

I cannot help you any further.

For short circuit protection purposes whoever moved the cover to the positive terminal was a wise person.

I think you are still missing the significance of the above, or to put it another way the link between castor angle, steering effort and the offset on the handed lower ball joints visible in the photo.