bigjohn

I've never tried this on the 1.8tsi but back in the day one trick I used on old oil burners was removing spark plugs and squirting a good slug of Plusgas into every bore and leaving overnight. Followed by squirting a bit of oil into each bore the nextday, turning over a few times & not starting and then changing the oil. Certainly worked on Ford pre crossflow engines that were prone to oil scraper ring gumming/oil burning.

I had two of these in the 80's as company cars but my goodness did they drink petrol - I rarely got over 30mpg. A later 1.3 89 Astra was way better in many ways. Blimey suddenly feel old!

1973 White/rust Vauxhall Viva 1256 bought for £50 in 1982 with only 60k miles on it - but Inner wings had almost vanished even at 9 years old and sills weren't far behind re rust, so I learn't how to weld. Ignoring the rust munching going on I actually ran it for a couple of years passing two more MOTs and it mechanically it was surprisingly reliable doing 12k miles/year - slow as hell though couldn't go up hill especially in a head wind(hated the A66!). Finally gave in when rust advanced much further weakening structure near front and rear suspension attachment points. Rust In Peace! Bizarrely I still have a bit of a soft spot for a Viva HC whenever I see one, saw an immaculate one the other week in Bridlington.

Usually another symptom of a failing battery which is why I asked

Sometimes it's not the resting voltage of the battery but what happens under electrical load - especially if a failing cell with internal resistance. I changed the original battery on my Superb when strange things started happening during lockdown(always started ok though), probably due to lack of use or the fact it was a Moll, it was 6ish years old at the time - all good since. Out of interest does stop / start still work? PS it's not just Skoda that has strange errors re battery - Mrs BJ's Fiat 2006 Panda starts flashing up "Power Steering Fault" every now and again when the battery is failing, new battery fixes it for another 6 years or so. Car always starts just fine. Family owned from new.

Hmm, I'd normally suggest this indicates a battery failing issue - I know you said you've checked, but how? Electric power steering has a high current demand so is an early casualty if all is not well. You can also get spurious errors elsewhere. Another known strange fail can be an abs sensors - especially rear.

You're probably overthinking this:- Re Rattly - these later direct injection engines are "rattly" at tickover especially with the bonnet up (which I think you had with checking oil etc). This is to do with the injectors and high pressure fuel pump. Any rattles from inside with bonnet down? Re Cambelt - if it's been changed you normally get a replacement kit inc tensioners etc. In any case the replacement interval has been revised to 15 years / 180k miles.

Does this mean all new Skoda 1.5tsi will be affected and is it related to the recent introduction to evo2? Any 1.0s affected. I've not seen any mention on the Kamiq/Scala/Fabia parts of Briskoda - yet? I ask as I'm currently considering a Scala 1.5tsi.

I don't know but your current big issue is probably DPF - might have been an ongoing issue.

Is it ok if climate control is on ?

How long has it been like this? Clearly a DPF issue and as well as the DPF and/or sensors being in trouble your oil will be a terrible way as with endless aborted regens(100rpm/ fans etc...) diesel will be running down the bores (used for active regens) and if like this long term it's not a good lubricant so could ultimately cause problems with things like bores & turbo. This is potentially serious so get it to a VAG specialist asap. I'd suggest not driving much until diagnosed properly.

I suspect there isn't a problem - when climate control sensors etc won't be in use.

There is a fresh air input into all car climate control systems from the outside which will take in more air at speed. If you really want you could seal yourself in by pressing the recirculation button - You might start steaming up though and air will get stale.

Or anything else damaged / disturbed when the original cat was stolen & replaced? Eg sensor wiring, exhaust/gasket leaks etc...

High HC is unburnt fuel so possibly something amiss re engine gubbins (valves, bores, injectors, air filter etc) You possibly passed an MOT with a new catalyst disguising an underlying issue. Have you tried a compression test?

Trouble is seat comfort is an individual thing. Years( er decades) ago I had a top of the range Renault Savanna 2.0 company car that "initially" felt as though it had really comfy seats but a 100 mile into a long drive my back started twinging and after about 300 miles I could hardly walk - can't blame age then as I was only in my late 20's! After that I had a Saab 9000cs and wow those seats were fab - Once I drove all the way through Europe to Munich in one go, not a twinge. I find I like most VAG seats (currently Superb mkII) as the firmness suits me but I have a friend who really hates them. I you start swapping seats - beware airbags.

I'd suspect the battery, especially as a failing battery is worse on a cold morning.

I don't think the Karoq 1.5TSI DSG SEL that Logiclee has bought would be in the £40k+ list price new category. Saying that my mate fell in that trap buying a nearly new Volvo S90 a few years ago - tax was a surprise as it's original list was just over £40k, ouch. Fortunately it's over the first year ( or less) + 5 years now.

You can't pay monthly when new - From Gov.uk:- "You’ll pay a rate based on a vehicle’s CO2 emissions the first time it’s registered." & "This payment covers your vehicle for 12 months." then "Rates for second tax payment onwards"

It's just a figure of speech - I've used the same statement in the past to describe good condition cars when middle aged. I wondered if it was a regional phrase, but possibly not as I'm from Yorkshire and OP is shown as in Suffolk.

As far as I know the extra £40 is paid by the original owner at point of registration and that part wouldn't have been refunded. That's why the wording was changed to "First licence rates for cars". So £190 thereafter , well unless the original list price was over £40k.

It's classed as "First licence rates for cars" payable on registration so thereafter I would suggest it'll be £190 for the year.

Even my older 2014 mkII Superb didn't come with a service book but a dealer electronic printout. When I stopped using the main dealer post warranty by a year or so I bought a blank Skoda service book and inserted the latest printout at the beginning, since then my great local independent garage has filled in / stamped it for any servicing / repair work.

Thanks, you are indeed correct!!!! I've removed the A pillar trim and relocated the wires.

Mine is a poverty spec mkIi and as far as I know if doesn't have A pillar air bags - no plastic "airbag" badge as there is on the B pillar. Cable is routed around the top to the door seal. Obviously @numskull has a mk iii so it's an important note but hopefully that shouldn't be an issue as that car already has wiring for a dash cam so the route is already known. I was mainly trying to show how the rear camera was mounted / cables routed for the rear hatch. I've deleted the A pillar photos as clearly not relevant.