fr1nklyn

Here is a video showing the DMF movement in both directions. In most cases the vertical movement does the rattling sound. Even if it’s new, the DMF should be checked for such vertical clearance before putting it into the car. https://youtu.be/3N4_pvjzgaw and another one from a TDI https://youtu.be/4sgzrNIl-r4

+1 I’m almost 99% sure that the noise comes from the DMF. Most likely it was fitted correctly as mechanic is Auto gearbox is specialist. The issue IMO is the actual DMF which is defective. I’m saying this because I had changed 3 DMFs on my wife’s A3 1.9 TDI manual until I find a working one with no vertical play and almost no horizontal play of the upper plate. By horizontal play I mean the moving of the plate in left and right when you try to move it with your hands. Do have severe rattling sound when you start the car cold and it’s idle on neutral? Like something in the gearbox is hitting its walls. Then is it changing when moving to Direct and still holding the brake? Do you hear shuddering/rattling when you turn the engine off? The acceleration between 1 and 2k rpm is also one of the symptoms of a bad DMF because this is the range where the torque increases( reaches max at around 1800 rpm ) and the load over the gearbox is changing.

@Intercityuk I would go for the OEM cambelt kit for another 7 years and 80 to 100k miles till the next change.

I was able to release the clip by pushing the metal clamp with the removal key from the bottom of the radio. I am sure that this happened because of the bad quality removal keys. So for god sake, don’t be lazy like me and use VW genuine removal tools.

Hi Guys, I want to swap my 6.5” screen on the pre-FL with the 8” one from the facelift. But all except one of the metal keys click. The bottom left doesn’t click when it’s pushed into the hole and therefore doesn’t release the bottom left corner… The rest corners are released and I can pull them out except this one. The display hasn’t been removed before, as far as I know. Any ideas how to remove the display unit in this case? EDIT: I tried different angles and to push the key harder, but without success, unfortunately. Many Thanks! F

BTW I also use Ravenol VMP 5w30 for mine and IMO it’s one of the best 504/507 oils out there. This and Ravenol VSW 0w30 for a bit colder climates or city driving with start/stop system enabled. As I wrote earlier, I also have no noticeable oil consumption with it. I’m about to try Amsoil AEL 5w30 for my next oil change, which is also very stable oil. I will post update with it as well.

@PetrolDave True - the climate in UK isn’t that different from the rest of the EU countries. I think that cambelt service is more like an option to extend your warranty(of the engine only) with 2 years.

Replace timing belt at 210000 kms for non dust rich countries. This is what my service manual says. No time interval is mentioned. My local Skoda dealer said the timing belt can last 10 years with no issues and that they never had snapped/broken belt. But the water pumps start to leak pretty often... They said that even the *fixed* water pumps start to leak after 4-5 years.

@brimarma Do you know, was the haldex filter cleaned as part of the haldex service or only the oil was changed? Hint: Skoda and rest of the VW dealers don’t do it. But many independent vw garages know for the haldex pump issues due to the accumulated deposits from the haldex clutch and clean the filter as part of the service. Try to launch the car on a wet road few times and see do you also observe shaking like the guy in the beginning of this video The noise could also be from the rear diff? I hope that the noise hasn’t appeared after the diff service. Has it? DSG+TDI in the city are **** combination, I can confirm.. Some say that driving it manually for some days adapts the DSG to owners driving style, but that didn’t work for me, so can’t tell you for sure. The Sport mode is kind of useless, it keeps revs too high for longer than I want why accelerating, but at least doesn’t torment the car at really low revs for the sake of a half liter diesel

Yes, the ceramic pads last a bit longer but it all depends on your driving style. Coast few kilometers after being on a track to cool them.

BTW you can also try the ceramic pads. I observed a big difference when swapped OEM ones with set of these on my previous Audi A4. They aren't fully ceramic, but have ceramic fibers in them. Everything cleaned and re-greased - slider pins and brake pad beds. That should give you a good brake performance. Don't forget about the brake fluid - I plan to change mine with ATE SL.6 which has pretty good characteristics.

Looks good! IMO if you change the theme and software buttons on the left side to green, it would be a little better because it will match the rest of the interior lights color.

For those who are wondering - the old cap can be reused. I switched my tank with silica bag with the latest model without such. It was like 25 euro. The old cap and its seal were perfectly fine.

She looks awesome!

Ours are worse I would look at it if it’s been bought from Bulgaria and has full service history. Otherwise it’s not worth the risk.. There are people doing the same in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Buy one from a dealer or with full service history confirmed by a dealer. Regardless of the country.

Hi Buddy, There are quite many places where you can purchase letters, but what you need is to match the font type and size, if you want the OEM look in black color. There are some sellers in Amazon and eBay, also you can check these guys - https://www.carbadgeuk.co.uk/car-letters.htm BTW that reminds me that in Macedonia you can find some Octavia owners having letters “Ako ne te saka” as addition to “octavia”, meaning “If she doesn’t love you, leave her” - “octavia” means “leave her” ( I suspect that it’s funnier if you know the language )

Sorry for the off-topic, but why someone decides to order brown interior when there are so many black parts like the wheel, plastics on the dash, vent holes’ grills, etc. It’s just inconsistent

Here is one in Bulgaria on 130k. You can check the mileage at the local Skoda dealer Euratek. https://mobile.bg/details/11610379038508022 It has reverse camera, front and rear parking sensors, ugly alcantara leather , 8” Columbus and activated SmartLink. Plus the cambelt and waterpump are changed. Most probably because the pump had started to leak. Which is good. Appoint hour for full diagnostic in Euratek, talk with the owner, buy a one way airfare and it’s yours ( I did it like that, with the difference that it was a domestic flight ) haha And it’s 15k Euro, but I think you can take it for 14-14,5k.

Could be a mistake, but what’s that hydraulic fluid change at 108k? I thought that most of, if not all, O3 have electric power steering?

As a person who was in your situation an year ago, I would say that you can find pre-FL Scout for 14-15k euros. I bought mine for 15k Euro with 1 year extended warranty on 100k km. I was searching for it about 4-5 months so don’t hurry. I had tried both the 150 and 184 you can definitely find noticeable difference between them. Choose the 184 version, the maintenance is the same, fuel consumption also, not sure about the taxes in your country, but I suspect that will also be almost the same because they both cover the same Euro standard. The FL version is more comfortable, but IMO those headlights are ugly as toad Even the pre-FL vRS looks better than FL one. The back lights look better on the FL version Look at the car services on fixed intervals(yearly), not on extended ones(every two years). The extended intervals are for companies and people who change their new cars every 4-5 years. You are about to buy a second hand car and you want to serve you well for at least 4-5 more years - it has to be well serviced. * Look at the car below 150k km * check the DPF condition for sure, it can be cleaned in some cases, but it’s better to know that it’s below 60% accumulated soot. * The DSG is better in the petrol version. In the diesel versions it’s kind a clunky in the city between traffic lights if it’s driven lightly. It’s great when you floor it. If it’ll be driven mainly outside the city both manual and DSG are good options. * In case yoh choose the DSG - it should be serviced every 60k km. * The Haldex oil( the 4x4 ) should be serviced every 60k km as well. It’s poor 4x4 system perfect for most of the people going on skiing and things like that. The Subaru AWD is much better for offroad But their boxer engines are usually opened every next oil change * There are no full leather seats in the Scout, which is the preferred option when you have kids... so you can skip the alcantara if you are on a budget. * You can easily retrofit reverse camera, so skip that option if you are on a budged. * Those without Navi option on their infotainments usually have SmartLink option which allows you to use Apple/Android car play. So if it has SmartLink in the menu, you can choose it if it’s the cheaper car. It may need additional activation if it’s there but requires code( ~200€ ) * The Xenon headlights are great, it’s worth choosing a car with them compared to the one with halogens. * Many have defective water pumps, so if the cambelt and the pump aren’t changed at 150k km, plan to do it soon. The cambelt in many EU countries for this car is suggested on every 210k km and no time interval, but I would change it every 5-6 years/150k. Like they do in UK. Especially when you have in mind the defective water pump. * Good luck with searching and don’t hurry if you can, it takes time to find yours

I do have Scout TDI184 CUNA engine with no noticeable oil consumption. Not sure what’s the difference between CUPA and CUNA engines, but I don’t think there is much difference. Mine is driven like stolen, and it does some light offroad from time to time. It was even on extended service intervals for the first 65k... Not by me, but by the previous owner. I do drive the bulletproof 1.9 PD TDI the same way and it consumes 1l every 2k miles. It’s my old A4 which has always been on fixed service intervals. Some say it matters how you drive the car and how often do you service it, but in my case that’s not really true.

Agree. I would try this first, for sure.

Wait 2-3k miles and see is this the case. BTW was the car recoded after the DPF cleaning? Not sure is this necessary? You may want to find out more info about that, because DPF cleaning isn’t official VW procedure - once clogged, VW recommends unit replacement.

Could be, yes. Can’t you for sure, but I drove brand new VW Caddy 2.0 TDI some time ago and didn’t notice a DPF regen in the first 1500-2000 miles. Even though it was doing mainly short trips and everyone who drove it was driving it as stolen Now it’s doing regens every 200-250 miles, it’s on ~30k miles.

It’s like that in the beginning if the DPF is new/the while car is new. Brand new car owners start to notice passive DPF regens at 1000-1500miles. Then when car reaches 5-10k, it usually happens every 200-300 miles. I can’t tell you exactly why this is happening like that, but when the DPF is new it takes a while it’s been clogged for the first time.