rum4mo

Exactly, I'd always be very aware that I'd end up paying for labour to replace, no "ifs" or "buts".

I don't know why it is the LHS that, at least in UK, seem to fail the most, possibly due to how these parts get integrated into the suspension system on VW Group cars - or a RHD only issue - and so it could be RHS mainly in LHD markets. On the question of supplying your own parts, in my case, I think that my honest garage owner did end up maybe charging more time than that job warranted due to them "operating to my instruction" - but I'll take that. I'm sure that there is plenty scope of that if you as a customer request/require working doing that is not being done from a menu or "book times". I had said that I had carried out the diagnostics side of the job so all I wanted was for his workshop to deal with the issue of removing a seized in failed ABS sensor. The final bill did outline that work was carried out to as requested - which is correct and fair enough to both parties. Maybe I need to look further afield if I really do get lazy/worried about replacing all my front suspension arms - as I've already bought all of them and all associated fixings, a shame really as I want to put work his way, ie support my local small independent workshop. My last job that was carried out on my car was done by a localish VW Group Indie, first they "poo poo'd" me when I suggested that the only source for the correct parts was Audi, after a few days they got back to me to confirm that was correct and needed me to collect my car until parts could be procured. Then it turned out that one part was out of stock at Audi - that was true and very unfortunate for us, after that I offered to take on the task of ordering in the parts which they were happy enough as one part was back order with no firm suggestion on when it would become available - but, in general, I'd suspect that they would decline any requests from me to fit supplied parts to cars, and I can understand that as there are as you said, the issue of any items failing early, plus any items supplied being wrong for that model of car - and so lead to "car in bits stuck on a lift with someone needing to pay for lost time/revenue" and also low grade parts being supplied, ie lower grade than their workshop is willing to work with - really potentially lots of issues that could only work against their business.

There seems to be a method used in USA by the VW Golf owners, called the "2 X4" method, that seems to involve jacking the strut up using the ARB drop link bolt and its bracket to "secure" a length of 2" X 4" with a bottle jack or trolley jack under it, that obviously allows "you" to compress the spring and so the hub carrier socket can be separated from the bottom of the strut - I'm certainly not recommending using method as it seems to be quite risky! One other tool that I'd suggest is a "must" when doing this job, is a "hub splitter" bit, again Laser Tools sell their version of this official VW Group tool, but I've noticed some others selling the exact same item a lot cheaper. It is used to slightly open up the pinch point after removing the pinch bolt and nut. Laser Tools 3396

The part about the customer buying their own parts, really from any source seems have become a big "NO NO" for many garages, a bit annoying for some of us, but I've had that response when I wanted a new ABS sensor fitting and then the car being MOT'd, initially that hurt a bit, but I had to accept it, really not too good as I grabbed a new ABS to carry out diagnostics - and ECP was the easiest place to buy a Bosch one from - £67.99 PIM price was under £15, but that would have taken maybe 3 or 4 days to land on my doormat! Leaking DCC dampers, especially the LHS front ones, hum, yes, a common problem it seems like, SEAT at least, fit Monroe at factory, and the difference in price from a Monroe branded DCC front damper and a Monroe VW Group branded DCC front damper - at least for a 2019 SEAT Leon Cupra is huge - horrible.

Just one thing, if it was the RHS front spring you were replacing, then it's always better to remove that nut to get the drive shaft out so that you can get the hub down low enough to get the hub carrier out of the strut "socket", so, if it is now the LHS spring that you are now planning to replace, you don't need to get that hub nut off as you can get the hub down low enough with the drive shaft in in place. It was a Laser Tools 36mm Bi Hex 1/2" drv deep socket that I bought back in maybe 2008/2009 - and that one had slim enough walls Laser 0954 there will probably be other cheaper ones that might fit. Edit:- checking for wall thickness is a very valid point, I might have struck lucky, found one being sold in damaged packaging at a market stand at what I thought at the time was a good price, so bought it. My other worry was "do I need a deep socket seeing as that nut is quite "high" ?" so I just played safe and bought a deep impact socket, and in time, that worked out well for me. Maybe the nut is not "high" but the drive shaft projects out of it quite a bit.

This is typical of the problems that can "evolve" when being collected by AA or RAC during warranty period. I had an issue with a 1984 Ford Orion 1.6 Ghia Injection, the engine cut out as I drove over a rough roundabout that had been skimmed during road resurfacing, I knew it was an ignition problem as I noticed the rev counter dropping like a stone. So, as I was an RAC member, and maybe going by my description of the problem, they sent out a contracted garage recovery truck - to transport my car either to my Ford dealership or my hone address, I chose "my home address", it was made clear to me that the RAC were being "very careful" about working on cars still under new car warranty. In that case, I had caused this problem to probably occur, it turned out, I discovered once at home, to be a badly "potted" ignition coil lead, ie the primary lead to the coil, had too much potting/moulding material in its socket and so it was making poor contact, especially after driving over a rough patch of road - I'd noticed that for some reason, someone had jammed that lead under the HT lead at the coil, and it looked wrong - obviously at the Ford factory or at my supplying Ford dealership, car was only a couple of months old, I was just on my way to visit my wife a day after she delivered our first child! Anyway, in the OP's case, surely the AA is working as VW Group's "roadside support" during the car's first year or two from new - so they should always be working hand in hand with what is acceptable to VW Group dealership workshops. This is where the RAC and AA's mindset of "getting you moving again" gets slightly blurred and misses the mark when they are operating as a car marque's "new car roadside support during warranty" agent. As always, customer takes the hit!

I tried to make use of the Autoglass warranty on an Ibiza, failed completely as they had replaced their "office management system" so all old records had been binned/dumped or just lost, it didn't matter that I still had the original paper copy from when they first repaired a small not very well a couple of years earlier - in my case there was no MOT issue, just blinking annoying to stare at while driving. I thought that that was a pretty lousy excuse for rejecting a warranty claim, maybe typical for modern UK businesses.

Obviously my daughter's SEAT Leon Cupra is also auto (DSG) so maybe this is as good as it gets with modern DSG cars with Hill Hold / Hill Assist etc when used mainly in stop/go town traffic a lot.

I had that on my 2000 VW Passat 4Motion when it was maybe 10 years old, 70,000 miles, VW main dealer tech said "if it was me I'd replace both sides" after confirming that it was front wheel bearing issue, I'm not sure that I could work out which end the noise was coming from, so that sorted out my problem and was exactly what I had asked the service desk to get done if it was a wheel bearing - ie do both sides. My wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS started doing that when it was maybe 7.5 years old, 40,000 miles(maybe), I bought a tool to do that job and once again played safe and bought and replaced both front wheel bearings. I know that you have thought that you had definitely worked out which side it was coming from, but maybe a better plan would have been to get both sides from the heavy end replaced first, in the case of my wife's 2015 VW Polo, it looked like there had been water ingress into the front RHS wheel bearing, though I couldn't detect any roughness from either of the removed bearings.

Maybe depending on the engine power output - or maybe not, that car could have Mando front callipers, Mando seem to have been licensed to manufacture "same as" versions of established European brake parts, so maybe an issue with tolerances in there somewhere. It seems to be aftermarket Brembo brake pads that get bad press for causing knocking noises and that is put down to the type of steel backing plates that they make/sure, ie punched out using cheap and cheery presses. That info comes from someone that works in brake testing industry and is not made up by me. I'm not sure how aftermarket Pagid pads are made, so can't comment there, but I've used them in the past and would use them again on our cars as and when they need new brake pads, but Pagid from ECP, hummm, maybe a lesser or lower quality product in Pagid boxes - by mutual agreement.

Maybe it is some of the other "life saver/convenience" features that are causing this accelerated wear on the rear pads, my older daughter bought a SEAT Leon Cupra new back in mid/late 2019, it's total mileage is roughly 24,000 miles, I felt the need to replace the rear pads maybe 2 years ago, it looks like the next set of genuine VW Group pads are getting "well down", she drives it mainly in town commuting to work - the rear discs looked nasty when I changed the pads the first time, now they are just looking horrible, but no issues at MOT time, it is Pagid I'll be suggesting that it used the next time along with new discs. I only used genuine VW Group pads while it was still under warranty. Edit:- on the topic of paying people to work on "your" car, my 2011 Audi S4 gifted me with an ABS sensor failure as I drove it out of my garage to take it for its MOT a couple of weeks ago! As I grow older I am becoming more risk averse and I've taken a distinct dislike to the aluminium uprights/knuckles on that S4, so I've ended up walking away from replacing the front RHS ABS sensor for fear of having trouble getting all of it out of the aluminium hub area of that upright/knuckle, without touching the inner face of the wheel bearing which is where the magnetic strip is, so, today it was been handed in for an ABS wheel speed sensor followed by an MOT test! Some months later I will need to man up and attack the lower and upper pinch bolts (steel bolts passing through aluminium) - I never considered this when I bought it almost 12 years ago!!

No, no rubber cushion at the lower end of the rear springs, just an aluminium disc that is probably meant to be a sacrificial anode to hold back corrosion, I tend to replace these when replacing rear springs, typically lots of people do not know that they exist as they turn to white dust over time. I'd very much doubt if that item would ever cause any creaking noises. In very cold weather, with my wife's 2015 VW Polo 5 door hatchback, after replacing the rear dampers, springs, bump stops and these lower aluminium discs, that car now does make slight noises when driving over speed bumps just after it has been driven away from the (garage) house early cold mornings, but not at any other time. I didn't replace the top mounts. Edit:- if there is a small bit broken off the end of the spring(s) then that could cause a noise.

It seems like using Google can show you some info - well that usually works to connect you with some useful stuff and some not quite so useful - that was just a general statement as I've found the "search" function in most car forums are very very picky and so yield zip all.

Humm, if in doubt get rid of it. I might play that game with my motor mower, but never with my cars, I use the contents of my “top up” the next service and refill with new oil, while the “oil” will last a long time, it has been said, the additives will not - so I’ve taken that on board rather than taking my chances.

Bother, "turbocharger boost control" seems to be another "fashionable" issue to befall the 1.0TSI engines, no good guessing though as to what exactly is causing this.

As above, guessing is for silly people, if I was silly I'd suggest "Throttle Body issues" - quite fashionable for later cars than your wife's one - but until you have checked for logged faults, many simpler/cheaper things are possible, Probably no MAF sensors in these engines.

As above - exactly the same for VW Polos!

Quite a lot of Lemforder stuff is made in China nowadays, as well as Malaysia and of course Germany - all with the, in my case, Audi roundels ground off, a bit of a surprise but I'm hoping that quality standards are being maintained! I'm just mentioning that as you mentioned Lemforder.

I'd think that these parts are not made to be disassembled without destroying them or in other words rendering them not fit to be reassembled and trusted in the future, if I were you, I'd just buy a new one - having a working and reliable fuel cap works for me, though all our cars have locking covers so basic fuel caps. Edit:- wait a minute, there is a "lock cylinder" listed in the Skoda parts listing - so maybe you can buy one to suit your car's key! Skoda part number 107 201 551 FJ

I bought an "extra Torx" size just because I was sure that VW Group used it - wrong! There used to be a really good tool shop in Edinburgh, they even held/got buckets of old tools probably from company closures, lots of altered/bespoked stuff in these buckets getting sold for next to nothing, really handy if you felt it was "just what I was looking for", they also sold higher quality tools, a big loss when they shut up shop(s).

Ah, "male" Torx that have E numbering, I've not started acquiring them - yet.

@nta16Don't you mean XZN ie 12 point or multi spine? I wonder if that part has anti tamper or security screw on it, VW Group tends to use them on parts that are not meant to be taken apart - if that is the case here, maybe the bolts that secure it to the car are elsewhere. Something prompted me to buy RIB a few years ago - fills a space in my tools storage system!

Maybe, if you are concerned, dig a bit deeper, I'm sure that this was the topic of either a recall or hushed up as a workshop action to check/change something away from how it was originally built by Skoda, normally this sort of action covers a named range of unit serial numbers going by production period that this issue was "allowed to happen". I'd be very concerned if I was you and you just got some local garage to sort this out, and certainly if I had used one that knew nothing about this issue. I'd probably send DVSA an email or use their online notification system as that would add to those that hopefully have already done this, in my world, with the early admission by VW Group or at least one of their marques, that this was a known issue that they had addressed - a lesser version of this occurred with the earlier 1.2TSI EA211 engines and that, I think, prompted either a change in the part or a change of venders or something else, to minimise the chance of this happening with later engines. This is not a "wear out" issue, it seems to be a poor/bad bit of design and/or manufacture of that part - I'd be spitting blood if I had to pay for a car manufacturer's error - well a big error like this.

Probably the plan is to drop all the coolant out, apply a vacuum then let that draw/drag the new coolant into the system, I've bought and used a Draper kit on my other car, a 2011 Audi S4, the other thing that I made up, was a reservoir fluid height extender which I fabricated by buying a cheapish replacement pressure cap, drilled out the pressure relief valve and bonded a length of poly water piping onto that re-purposed pressure cap. I've also resorted to removing the small "fluid return pipe" and applied a vacuum in a bid to prove to myself that the, in the case of that S4, that the charger heat exchangers had been fully flooded with new coolant. Edit:- or maybe just as important, I felt the need to be sure that the electric pump serving that sub-circuit, was filled with coolant - I'll be doing the same thing when I replace the G13 with G12evo in my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI, for the same reason.

I've got the simpler sort of egg shaped 1/2" SQR DRV tool, it works well, though in recent years I just couldn't resist buying the type that you linked to, even bought one of these Y shaped things that might make manipulating lower arms of all types a bit easier when working by myself - not used yet!