Axle_of_weasels

...but it will only get it right if it is in the right mode. This should always be the case if it is serviced in the Skoda network, but sometimes indies either don't know or don't bother. For the 'variable' servicing, you need the long life oil, although some people use the longer life oil and still service at the shorter fixed intervals. Cost difference isn't that much these days, although it was once probably higher. That's true of the six speed DSG fitted to the Diesels, but the seven speeds fitted to the petrols (all? I think so) don't have scheduled oil changes.

The load ratings probably are more significant than the speed ratings, until you get to about 10 mph from the speed rating. So, provided you weren't over 158 mph, I don't think this is an issue.

I've never had a blow out, but my Father, who covered a lot of miles, did. Back in the day, he had a set of tyres from which one blew out. Got a replacement, and then another blew out. Then a third blew out. This was too much for him, so he took the whole caboodle to the tyre dealers (an outfit he'd used over a number of years, so who knew him), He wasn't in the habit of concealing the fact when he had a grievance, but it doesn't seem to have taken much to convince them to replace the whole set, including the new ones that they'd just sold him, for zero cost to him. He never had any other problems with tyre blow outs. I can only conclude that they knew there was a problem with a batch of tyres, and that's why they were happy to do this. These were Firestone tyres, and he never subsequently bought any Firestone tyres. Neither have I, but I wouldn't make that an absolute bar, these days, now that Firestone are owned by Bridgestone. Don't know if any of that helps you, but I assume that tyre manufacturers generally have problems with some very small percentage of their production, and the good guys have fewer problems, and are more willing to ante up when they do.

Ah, by then I thought the 1.4 had been replaced by the 1.5. Pardon my confusion.

Isn't the 1.4 a chain?

I think that the OP should - this may have been done already - get information from Skoda UK on their stance on providing a hire/loan car. A car may be forthcoming as part of some other insurance that the OP has, but the time periods tend to be quite short, and it is quite often the case that these cars are of a lower spec. than the original vehicle. Whether this is adequate, given that the vehicle has a business role is an open question. Given the messy legal situation, with the involved dealership potentially being no longer a legal entity, which can be sued, a further discussion with Citizen's advice seems called for.

Here is a link to website of a supplier selling a D52. Notice that it looks (superficially) quite different from your battery. It is also the way I expect a Varta Silver Dynamic battery to look. The vaguely silver coloured plastic is the usual give-away that it is part of Varta's silver range. My strong suspicion is that you have an OEM version of the D52 (same battery, internally, just cost reduced in some of the cosmetic/appearance features, to meet Skoda's requirements...I've seen Varta/Skoda do this before, and in that case, it was a non stop-start battery, and looked even plainer) BigEjit is probably correct that this battery has been disconnected before: Most probably, whoever just felt that they needed to disconnect it because of needing to do work where there was a risk of a short, but it could be out of another vehicle. The OEM versions do not normally make it in to the retail supply chain (in the UK anyway), but it could be what you get if you buy a battery from a Skoda main dealer. If the battery has a date code, that may be a further clue. I've got an alternative strategy for you, in replacing the battery. I haven't tried this (never owned a stop-start car), but I'm pretty sure it will work. i) physically change battery ii) turn stop-start off iii) drive for a short period (at least a couple of days, and at least 150 km), then turn stop-start back on. Or, possibly, leave stop-start off, if you don't like it (there is a minimal saving in fuel, and it reduces the life of the battery - the two nearly cancel each other out). This should give the system time to do any adaptation to the new battery (which is likely to be small, anyway) before you engage stop-start.

Out of interest, I had a look at their website, and a few things struck me. - There is a 'how it works' page in their brochure. Nice, but it doesn't say how it works. - I looked at their economy claims and thought 'that's difficult to believe'. Then I realised that it doesn't say what they are comparing to, If they were comparing to a normal, correctly balanced, truck, then its difficult to believe. If however they are comparing to a truck where each of the eighteen wheels is as out of balance as it gets, then that's easier to believe. -While their website is nicely designed (photos look expensive!), it looks like an expensive way of hiding the fact that the information that you really want isn't there. My summary is that I believe (without taking the time to investigate in full detail!) that these things are probably over-priced and do little that wheel balancing doesn't. So, conditionally recommended for people concerned about lead in the environment, or that vast group who refuse for odd reasons to have their tyres balanced.

I don't know this engine, but... 'Oil way too high' means some fluid is getting in to the oil, unless it has been (dramatically) overfilled. If it smells like diesel, chances are it is diesel - the other option would be coolant and that would smell quite different. Your picture of various levels (was this a leak off test, or a test with the injectors running normally?) shows pot #1 having the lowest level, therefore seems to be pointing the finger of blame towards 2, 3 and 4, but not 1 (if excess fuel through the injectors is the cause,which it may not be). If there is a real excess of diesel fuel, but it is still burning, you'll get black smoke. If you get an excess of fuel and it isn't burning, you'll get white/grey smoke. Coolant in the exhaust would also be white smoke, but you'd notice the loss of coolant. Eventually, And it wouldn't explain the smell of Diesel. Now, I don't know how this engine does DPF regen; some engines do it by late injection and some use a fifth injector. The late injection systems were always felt to be the ones that caused the most issues with fuel dilution (fuel in the oil) but I guess the fifth injector ones could do it too, if it were really, really bad. That it is happening when it is cold could be a clue; to get DPF regen to work correctly, you need some temperature, otherwise you just spray fuel in to the exhaust. Perhaps this is happening, because regen is being attempted too cold. I don't really know why that should happen, except to suggest that maybe a sensor is telling the engine management system that the engine is up to temperature at a time when it isn't (or cabling, or the ECU itself, or the fuel pump etc, etc), or fuel is leaking past an injector. A leak off test would be more sensitive to this than a normal operation test, so it would be good to get one of those done, if you haven't already.