ArisaigDavid

No idea where I should put this, or even if it's worth writing at all, but I topped up on petrol for the holiday season yesterday at a BP fuel station just outside Kinross. I don't know how 97RON can be called 'Ultimate' but, even if it was, 171.9 p/litre seemed a bit strong! As I turned to leave, the cashier said a cheery "see you again" - not bleeding likely, I thought. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all, after another year's great reading and good advice.

Hopefully somebody can help. We have sold our house in the Highlands and are now in the Perth area looking to buy our next home. Can anybody recommend a good garage in the area? Does John Clark Skoda, for example, have a decent reputation? Thanks in advance for any advice.

One particular bee in my bonnet is face-level air vents, for keeping my face cool - just like in my 2016 car. This has become a rarity these days, and the ones in the latest Superb seem positioned to control the temperature of your nether regions instead. I suppose you choose your car according to which part of your anatomy is most prone to overheating - more critical than many of the other things that get complained about, for me at least. Either way, I find the (no-cost option) rear wiper to be an absolute boon.

I have a 2016 car, and the brochure I was given in 2017 shows that a heated windscreen was standard in the L&K, but optional in everything else - could this be the difference?

Taken from my kitchen window this morning - there are nicer things out there than Skoda Superbs!

Just to reiterate, there was nothing wrong with either the solenoids or any of the wires which may or may not either feed them or be part of them. Since I'm here, though, can anyone provide the wiring diagram for the offside rear exhaust silencer?

A coil isn't a coil without wires supplying it with current, so ...

Strange, given that a solenoid is almost entirely made of wire, but there you go. By way of an update, in case it helps, the dealership workshop manager said that the solenoid diagnosis by the indy was just "a red herring" thrown up by the system. It turned out that the water pump for the gearbox had suffered a short-circuit, melted some connectors and blown a 10amp fuse. Finding this out had required the use of an endoscope because is is so hidden away, and they had to remove the front differential in order to fit the replacement. As reassurance to the rest of you, I can report that he said that he'd never seen this happen before - I suppose that should make me feel special, except that the bill was £1,253 ! Happy New Year to one and all.

Hello all. The engine light appeared on the instrument panel recently, so I took the car straight to my local independent garage. Their computer said that both camshaft solenoids had failed. The mechanic said that it is extremely unlikely that both would fail at the same time, and that it was most likely that a wire had come adrift inside. Unfortunately their system could not get that far into the wiring diagrams, so I would have to take it to the Skoda dealership - another 200 mile round trip ! It's booked in next week, but I have the horrible feeling that I'm going to get done over - does anyone have any views on the subject?

I''ve never quite understood the statement "run it into the ground". Every problem with a car is fixable - just look at Car SOS, or the Ford Model T's still in existence. The question should be "How much will I be prepared to spend fixing an expensive problem on a car that is "old" but is otherwise perfectly serviceable, until the next expensive problem crops up?" It is a question that only you can answer, but you will have to ask it of yourself every time something needs doing, which will probably be bigger and more expensive each time as the car ages.

It wasn't done to my Superb today, and it wasn't even me who did it, but here's a tale for anyone who's interested. My car was booked in with the usual local independent in a few weeks time to have new brakes, an MOT and look at the rear screen squibber, which wasn't squibbing. In the meantime we took a 10-day holiday in Perthshire, and on one day, on accelerating up a slip road and joining motorway traffic, various alarm and warnings suddenly started appearing on the dash - stability control, hill hold, ABS, cornering lights, front assist and park assist. Subsequent to that, on a number of occasions at car park speeds, the engine would temporarily refuse to rev enough to move the car properly, and on one occasion it revved without me using the accelerator, so that I had to brake to slow the car down. I had guessed from previous experience that an ABS sensor might be to blame for the warning messages, so I took it to the nearest Skoda dealer who, surprisingly, was able to fit me in for a diagnostic the following day. Following the diagnosis (£69) and their apparently routine "health check", I was advised that the following were required :- * OSR wheel bearing and sensor : £607.42 * NSF wheel bearing and sensor : £624.82 * front brake discs : £769.33 Total £2001.57 They said that the car was safe to drive, so I continued with my holiday and, on my return, took the car to the independent garage for the brakes and MOT, plus this new extra work. They confirmed the diagnosis, fitted new front and rear discs and pads, fitted both wheel bearings/sensors and carried out the MOT, for a grand total of £1234.60 ! Now, genuine Skoda parts may or may not be of better quality (although I've never needed new wheel bearings on a car before, so possibly not) but to get the same work that Skoda quoted for, plus rear brakes, plus an MOT, from an independent (who I trust implicitly) for £835.97 less was something of an eye-opener. As an aside, Skoda had said that the wipers were not clearing and required replacement, even though they were, and still are, clearing the screens perfectly well. They quoted me £63.72 for the front pair, and another £63.72 for the rear one, when I can get the Bosch Aerotwin front pair for £27.05 and the rear for £10.58 from wiperblades.co.uk as I write, and I know for a fact that they are considerably better than the Skoda items. Interestingly, while they were discovering that the wipers weren't clearing the screens, they failed to notice that nothing was coming out of the blocked rear squibber ! Anyway, I needed to get that off my chest - thanks for reading. Incidentally, I posted something a couple of months ago about press reports that a hard-wired dashcam was considered a "modification" by insurers, and might void the policy if they hadn't been advised of it. I informed mine (LV) at renewal time last month and, once I finally got someone who knew what they were talking about, was told that they considered it to be a "safety feature", rather than a modification, with no effect on my premium - it's probably worth informing your own insurers, though, just in case.

I don't know how to do that, but it was an online item from the Manchester Evening News yesterday.

This seemed the best place to post this, but I'm sure someone will move it if not. I have a hard-wired Nextbase front and rear dashcam myself, and my wife came across an item in the press today saying that this 'permanent' arrangement (rather than something plugged into the fag lighter) could be considered by an insurer to be a modification and used as a get-out clause in the event of any claim if they have not been notified. I'll be getting on to my insurer to check ..... maybe others should too.

You're right - I hadn't looked at it that way. He was still in the car on the river bed, with granny still in the house oblivious to all of this. Either way the car was trying to kill him - the engine tried to gas him, but was foiled by the gearbox trying to drown him instead! Shows what a fine invention the catalytic converter is, though.

This is just a story, prompted by the above but of no real relevence to anything much - apart from me there is probably nobody left alive who knows it, so this is my opportunity to pass it on. Take it or leave it. Many, many years ago my grandad had a small car, a Wolseley or perhaps a Riley 1.5, and my dad decided to buy him a brand new Daf variomatic to replace it. I can only assume that he thought an automatic would be easier in what were his later years, but that any other automatics were expensive executive stuff at that time. They settled on a bright yellow one, for some inexplicable reason. One cold morning grandad decided to take the car out, went into his garage (timber, with a pair of side-hinged doors) pulled the doors to behind him, got into the car, started the engine and busied himself with demisting the windscreen with a chammie while the engine warmed up. It seems the carbon monoxide got to him and he collapsed, knocking the CVT into reverse as he slumped. The car pushed the garage doors open, trundled across the lane and drove over the edge of the pier into the River Tay. Fortunately the tide was out, so a passerby was able to notice the car lying (the right way up, almost unbelievably) on the temporarily dry river bed about ten feet down, and call 999 - the choice of bright yellow turned out to have been an inspired move after all. Grandad was rescued, and made a full recovery, but that turned out to be the end of his driving career! Just goes to show that an auto isn't always best.