Michaeldavis39

Excellent news- as i said i was "accidentally" given the Skoda manufacturers information print out regarding cam belt change last year by Bristol Street Motors Skoda dealership by a young man in the service dept- he had not been there very long and was still learning the ropes but couldn't be more helpful- if i find it i will post it on here - but when i visited the same dealership two months later i was told by the service manager different information- he printed out the Bristol Street Motors Skoda service guide- not the Skoda manufacturer guide because none of the uk dealerships use that the uk has its own guide. How much revenue would these dealerships lose if none of the Skoda cambelts were changed until they were 10 years old - and lets face it a cambelt kit for less than a hundred pounds and a couple of hrs labour is a very nice little earner the price they charge isnt it- nearly as profitable as popcorn and coffee!

The mileage that the Skoda factory recommended to change the belt was 130,000 miles - like you said mileage not age.

My father just had his Fabia mk3 cambelt changed and offered it to me to fit on my Octavia- no wear or stretch at all at 5 years old haha. My mechanic friend does lots of cambelts and hasnt seen a bad one for years- the material used now is far superior to what they used years ago plus a lot of modern engines dont run the cambelt around the water pump any more which reduces the stress and stretching too. My best friend totally neglected his 10 year old Honda Space shuttle never serviced it for the last years- didnt have any money to do so unfortunately ,cambelt had gone past the service by 5 years and he still had no issue with it- modern petrol engines sure are better than they used to be! Thinking of belts - i have had a Bosch washing machine from new for 23 years now- 2 sets of motor brushes, one drain pump are the only parts that have been replaced- but the belt still looks like brand new! My Citroen diesel engine cambelt was recommended change by the manufacturer- note not dealerships- 10 years, so i changed at 10 years- no stretch and still looked brand new- bearing in mind diesel engines are much harsher than petrol too! So after reading what i have written do you not think perhaps that all UK dealerships are in this Cambelt change together- i was told originally belt is for life on these cars and had a printout that was from Skoda factory, then Bristol Street Motors who gave me this printout - i was apparently given it by mistake when i questioned it a second time and told its a change every 5 years- you all make your own mind up and i will let you know in another 4 years how my belt is doing- car will be 10 year old then when i think i will change it for the first time.

Rear wash not working- haha mine was the same! It also had passed an mot the day before- go figure?? Very common fault on these cars as it gets blocked up due to lack of use. I fixed mine myself as i couldnt be faffed with taking it in to the dealer for such a little thing- took me ten mins to remove clean and fit back on- i didnt need a new part it was just a bit of muck- works a treat now and i find its clever how it sprays along the blade first before the blade then wipes the screen on first wipe- all other cars i have had just sprayed the screen and the blade wiped at the same time. I still havent found the self cleaning car wash and hoover facility button on my car though- maybe that was an optional extra the previous owner did not select?

No ACT on my engine - but I see that the new VRS uses the 1.4tsi with ACT and Hybrid technology- not the 1.5tsi - I wonder why????

57mpg was at 70-75 yes and not on my own as said passenger and an old British sportscar gearbox in boot- second journey was 60mpg same speed but no need for aircon at all and i cant see how the car could be any more economical unless it had better aerodynamics- I have fitted the diesel full engine undertray along with the extended gear linkage tunnel tray too so my car will be a tiny bit better than all other 1.4tsi cars on the road. Looking back to 2005 I had a VW Bora 1.9tdi Highline 5 speed diesel and I never got better than 55mpg with just me as the driver- back then I thought that was good economy but these direct petrol injection engines with sequential fuel injection have come a looong way in the last 16 years!

It will definitely be the position of the actuator arm Alan- nothing else it can be! Taking to Skoda will rectify the positioning once they calibrate it on their computer system👍👍

I have been looking at getting windows tinted and you can expect up to 8 degrees cooler on the best tint

Fitted new filter and put the glovebox damper inside the actual glovebox- not faffing around trying to fit it in 30 degrees!

You are right that must be a date- so i was slightly wrong, car built 2015, still will change though due to the amount of rubbish in it and being 3 years old now- glad its easy to change - my last car was a toolbox job crawling under the dashboard!

Just a follow up to cabin pollen filter- my cynicism has proven me right- looking at this filter it has never been changed- car supposedly had two services one by Skoda and one at the Ford dealership i bought it from last year. I would say this is the original filter fitted from new in the factory- very dirty and now being replaced obviously- interesting to show what around 18k miles of air pollution is captured by this filter isnt it!

Didn't need aircon on it wasnt particularly hot the day i drove, had the air fan on a little and didnt need to open the windows- you have just jogged my memory to check the pollen filter though- I suspect like most things on a low mileage car it has probably never been changed- same as the spark plugs which I have just done myself which stopped the slight misfire I was having- Skoda dealership couldnt diagnose- though they did send me a video of my brake discs and tyres- which i know already are perfect as they were all new! Hilarious and guess I wont waste my time or money going to that dealership ever again except for parts maybe. Im getting older,wiser and maybe more cynical but simple stuff like oil and filter, air filter and pollen filter plus spark plugs do not require a great deal of skill to change and having grown up doing this all my life i rather check it or do it myself- lots of dealings with dealerships has never inspired me to think they can do a better job than me- one even stripped the thread in my VW Bora tdi oil sump - this particular car had never been touched by me and had been to the same dealership its entire life in my ownership- ( i had a well paid job so could afford to pay VW service cists haha)a young trainee mechanic worked on it- i paid for his overenthusiastic bolt tightening. In 33 years of driving i have only ever had one sump damaged and it was by a dealership. Sorry for going on rant over went off topic lol.

I know it wont be active cruise control- but ive never had acc anyway, all my previous cars had the standard vw group stalk with up and down speed limit- thats what you mean by throttle position lock isnt it?

I dont have any cruise control just old style right foot control! The motorways were not that busy actually - I have seen much busier. I live in the North East where an old Triumph sports car is a very rare siting. I think I heard of your brother in law- I too am a member of the TR Register. These old sports cars are far more popular in the South along with most of the engineering workshops that specialise in gearbox rebuilds etc hence my travelling- i have ended up doing a full nut and bolt restore on my TR6 due to my OCD lol and by the time its finished i could have bought a brand new VRS Hybrid - I am considering adding cruise as I had it in my previous two cars and do miss it- no radar on the front of my car so it would just be a standard cruise.

Yes i thought heat insulated glass would keep interior cool in summer but it doesnt unless they made a mistake at the factory. It definitely feels like the heat is stored in the car not reflected - i had a car with black interior and black leather seats which was just as hot as my Octy - I am now resorting to leaving the windows down on a hot day - my wifes 2013 little Fabia does not get anywhere near as hot inside as my car- fortunately our summers arent very long and next car i get i will spend more time looking at useful features instead of how low the mileage is! Btw just looking at your car photo it is very clear your rear windows are darker than the fronts!!

I had a Citroen diesel before my 1.4 Octavia- i would never prefer a diesel engine over a petrol. I did a run to London and back last week equivalent to 3 adults loaded and achieved 60mpg which i was very pleased with- i didnt try hard to be economical either so it shows how good the 1.4 engine is with a 6 speed manual- my car is now on 18.5k miles- 6 years old- was very low mileage when i got it so in excellent condition for its age. Do you find the rear darker windows help to keep the interior cool on hot days when car is sat in a car park for example? I ask as according to Skoda my car has heat insulated glass- which this summer means keeps the interior like a greenhouse- very hot!

I had aircon switched off the whole journey. You did really well with your economy that dsg box is very clever and i am going for one in my next car which is a few years away- only got my Octy a year ago as a very low mileage- 14.5k 5 year old car so got plenty of life left in it!

Check to ensure when they fitted the new actuator that it is calibrated correctly- if the arm is too far in or out at rest it will not function correctly according to factory data stored in ecu- the distance the arm protrudes is quite specific or else you will get the fault that you have now. A good mechanic should know all this.

So a follow up to my original post. Recently i covered a 525 mile journey in a single day and averaged 60mpg- this was mostly motorway driving with a small amount of country roads, two adults going and an old Triumph TR6 gearbox and cylinder head for the return journey- which would equate to 3 adults. If i had driven at around 60mph instead of 70 i think the economy could have improved by a few more mpg - i did not find any difference in using the eco mode button at all so still no idea why it is even on the car seems pointless to me.

How are you enjoying your car, any follow up comments so far?

Im going to upgrade my multimedia as its not very "multi" - its mib1 so cant do Android Auto for example- changing to mib2 with 8 inch screen much better and phone will then be able to do Android Auto on car screen. Ive also ordered the bonnet gas struts as its quite a large heavy panel- my previous Citroen C5 had gas struts as standard and that bonnet was similar size as was the entire car actually- the Citroen was far quieter too with better noise insulation by far.

So you got a facelift mk3 very good- no noisy suspension for you then! What engine size did you get? How many months do you have to pay the Skoda cover for and does it include cambelt change? I Just put some numberplate holders on mine today- look very smart i think.

So i had a Huawei phone previously and looking in Skodas website it did mirrorlink- phone no longer works so looks like i need upgrade

I have the Goodyear all season tyres all round and find them quite quiet- though not any quieter than the summer Yokohamas that were originally fitted to the car - surprisingly.

Manual gearbox. So no benefit to eco mode?