MichaelTL

I was driving along the autoroute in lane one in France approaching a jucnction slip road with a lot of cars entering. A motorcycle had been following for several km at a good sensible distance. I decided to move to lane two and as I am accustomed, I had a look over my shoulder at my blind spot before the maneouvre. Would you believe it - the biker was there riding parallel to me. Not something I would have done when I was biking with a foreign driver and a busy slip in front. Lucky for him I always check for anything not visible in my mirrors but I was thinking any detction system that alerts a driver to a vehicle in his blind spot must be very worthwhile. I don't have it on my Mk3 Octavia. I do however have the forward facing radar or lidar or whatever and it saved me from a bump. I was slowly approaching a quiet rural junction and glimpsed at my satnav. As I did my brakes were applied because a car came out of nowhere and crossed my path. This 'exaggerated swoop' JR refers to is intensely irritating, and of course dangerous. They come steaming up behind you and only overtake at the last second. Back in the UK I am perplexed by drivers who either fail to signal at all at islands or only signal off. Other road users stop needlessly not knowing the intention of the other driver. I used to car share on a long commute with an older driver who almost never signalled anywhere. It was embarrasing to be in the car with him. Why not signal? It's a mystery to me. If only they could be fined for it.

Decided to postpone. Hoping Richmond Škoda Portsmouth will be able to check it Monday. We've got a long drive in France.

After a 200 mile trip today my wife and I noticed a rumbling noise when we we driving around side streets. It's coming from the lhs but unsure if back or front. Only hear it from about 10 to 25 mph. Not very loud. Car is full stuff for holiday and so more weight than usual in back. Braking and steering the car makes no difference. Still there with clutch depressed. Doesn't seem to change pitch with speed. Car was serviced not that long ago. We're taking a ferry to France tomorrow. Wondered whether to postpone. No garage open tomorrow and early crossing. I'm thinking we should keep speed down and monitor it to see if it gets any worse and get it checked at a Skoda agent sooner rather than later if it does. We have a maintenance plan with Skoda. Car's a Mk3 Octavia. I'm wondering if it's new or I didn't notice it before.

Car was returned the following day and it's running perfectly. My local agent's service manager who was excellent throughout reduced my bill. The learning point I think is to take your car to a workshop who have plenty of experience with the engine - TSi 1500 ACT in my case.

Message this morning was that the visiting Skoda tech is working on it and it will be done by end of day. New message - car is going to Skoda workshop. Hope whatever happens it is sorted out good as before I took it in.

I'm wondering if I should try to get them to transport the car to the proper Skoda workshop. Have emailed them to say it's my preference.

Thanks for the link Toot

Well the car's been in the Skoda dealer a week having it's cambelt changed. I say Skoda dealer - they seem to specialise in Seat. Someone from another branch of the franchise - where they specialise in Skoda is visiting tomorrow to see what's going on with my Octavia. I was told they had problems setting up the cam timing - not too familiar with the TSI on the 1500. They tell me it falters - I don't know more detail. Hope it's sorted out soon.

The scheme still offers insurance against a lot of very expensive possibilities though it does end up having a higher premium!

Alors, JR are there many Skoda dealers in France? We may end up there in the not too distant future and I would like to continue driving Skodas.

I asked the Cheltenham garage if they used original manufacturer parts as I am eager to keep my monthly care plan going. So, the £694.00 inc vat price is with us using O/E equivalent parts (these are the same quality parts as genuine but without the main dealer logo.) So, if the genuine parts were needed with the main dealer logo branded onto them, I can confirm that the cost would change to £844.02 inc vat/fitting. .....I assume the parts would not qualify without the main dealer logo - or am I mistaken?

Is yours the saame - ACT engine?

I have had prices checked from the car reg. I assume the job is more complex/expensive/takes a lot longer with ACT. I see it's £200 more for the ACT engine at the Cheltenham garage. Thanks for pointing that out. Not much good saving a few quid on extra mpg when they take it back in servicing costs.

I would have recommended Furrows Oswestry to anyone before today. I still think there's an error. They tell me a manager will contact me.

I contacted the Skoda dealer Faintree at Telford. Now have it booked in at their Shrewsbury centre and cost is £570 Guy said he thought he would never get anyone to pay £1000+

Cheltenham is a bit of a run but do-able Thanks. I've tweeted to and emailed Skoda UK to ask why their servicing costs are 50% higher than Volkswagen. I always thought Skoda offered better value!

I checked the local Volkswagen dealer - £669 inc. Went back to Skoda at Oswestry - confirmed £1016. They said that's the price they were told by Skoda for the job. What's going on?

It's the year - a 2018. Looking around on t'internet I wonder if they have mis-quoted. Also an old colleage says paid in Aug 2021 £630 for cambelt water pump and mot Skoda Octavia estate 2 litre diesel. I can't get hold of service dept at moment.

I have been quoted £1016 by Skoda main agent to replace my cam belt (Octavia 1.5TSI). I have a service agreement - £32 per month. Wondering firstly if I can save much money getting someone else to do the belt and secondly who I can use so as to not affect the service plan. I have read on here that water pumps tend to fail on diesels mainly and that pump location on petrol eng means less money saving having it changed same time.

I will ask the dealer about the brake fluid.

Thanks for this information. Should the dealer have ensured the brake fluid had been changed when I bought the car. It had already passed it's third birthday. As I said I did ask and they said it measured ok. Fixed servicing fits my annual mileage and the all-in service plan. The milage is higher than it would have been normally. I did a road trip in France. Mind you I expect to do another this year.

I've logged into Skoda Connect both on my pc and my iPhone. I cannot see how I can access the service record. Will check with the dealer unless anyone can point me in the right direction. Elsewhere I see that the service plan includes pollen filter and sparkplugs. I don't know if I need the air-con work. Edit - Checking on here looks like I don't need any aircon service work unless it is showing signs of needing it and that it's covered by the waranty anyway.