nta16

I must admit I was confused about which vehicle as I missed/forgot the 2017 bit, so say a 7 year old vehicle with 100k-miles so not high or low mileage over the time but as a diesel 4X4 perhaps out in the wilds or towing something it might have heavier use than the "Chelsea tractor" type of school-runs only use. @keifrb unless you have another Škoda you have a typo in your name badge. -

String method with outset wire wheels. -

I'd go Mahle, Hengst or Mann. Depending on the sump plug used you may only need a sealing washer, or fit the plug that only needs a new washer next time, less expensive to but 5 or 10 of each and put them in your stores. Engine oil and filters changes isn't really a car service and only deals with the relatively unimportant engine (and cabin filter) brakes, steering, suspension (all three include tyres) then safety electrics (horn, lights, etc.) are more important, then you could lubricate hinges and moving bits. At 100k you might want a change of coolant, steering fluid?, I'm not sure about your transmission fluid, brake fluid, I'm not sure what engine sensor you might want to clean, throttle body. Run on a couple of tankfulls of V-Power before, during and after serving (and MoT). Don't just change the engine air filter clean out the box and inside the hoses as much as reasonable too, same for cabin filter and perhaps a spray if required. Servicing a diesel engine and engine bay will have you wishing it was an electric engine, I only check the dipstick on a mate's diesel and my hand was covered in black liquid coal dust - but good luck to you, let us know how you get on.

Have a look at this for a general idea, bear in mind the car is RWD and the (15.5", 394 mm) steering wheel is easy to remove and position and the only airbags in the car are your lungs. -

Restricted/limited mileage on "classic" insurance policies are different to the usual standard car policies for standard usual policies with these the estimated mileage is more of an estimate and different policies may have different bands anyway. Provided you don't go too far over and perhaps, if required, adjust the figure at your next insurance renewal it should be fine, obviously only your provider can tell you for sure (and they might get things wrong if you speak to the wrong person in the company). You are supposed to notify the insurance company of any changes in use (and any accidents even if you are not going to claim on them) but reasonableness should apply. "Classic" insurance polices are a different kettle of fish, I had 30+ years of those including business use (no problem what so ever) both limited mileage (as at times I had more than one "classic" in daily use) and much more usually unlimited mileage, the coverage and costs would have those with standard policies in tears, I found the few times I had limited milage (6k-miles a year) it was very restrictive but other times when I had unlimited mileage I could have had limited mileage. The last policy I had for about 12 years had unlimited mileage as a no-cost option anyway.

ETA: if you just want front wheel alignment you don't have to have the full computerised 4-wheel alignment checks that cost far too much and little if any adjustments can be made to a lot of what it shows on mass-market road cars, look for a place that uses the old laser light plates just for the front wheels as that's well below the cost of a tyre (even the crap tyres) to do toe-in/out and they can look at/for any other issues if there are any, usually something worn unless you've been crashing kerbs or potholes.

You can do adjustments with using string, wood, floor markings or there use to be a plate(s) you pushed the front tyres over (forget what it is/was called but that worked as do the other methods. My eyes were never good enough and too much farting about on a car for me but great joy to others. How much more farting about a Fabia is I've no idea, far too much for me, and beyond me anyway. There will be loads of videos on the basic methods, undoing the track rod nuts I'd not imagine (don't know) on a Fabia wouldn't be different. HatBoyHarvey seems to do good videos of DIY on Fabias so you could have a look and see if he's done one, or there's a John Twist of University Motors doing this on a MGB or MGA IIRC. https://www.youtube.com/@HatBoyHarvey/videos HTH a little.

Sorry, I have just noticed a typo I can not edit now AGM batteries when 'coded' correctly on the VW cars regularly run at 80% charge which is around 12.4 v - (not 12.v as in previous post).

I take it you mean test the fuses with a multimeter for parasitic drain rather than testing the fuses for any fails. There will be lots of videos showing you how to do this, and testing for fails, the video below is just the first example I found, it is in American English, I do not know if it will offer you subtitles in your language. If you are disconnecting the car battery to test read the battery then do first read the Owner's Manual for your car to see what might be needed to be reset after reconnection of the battery, often it is not all that is listed but that depends on model and year of car, I find fully closing (not locking) all doors, windows, and sliding roof if fitted, and turning off all electrics that you can reduces the need for some resets but the resets and quick and easy to do (including synchronising the remote key fobs) that I do the them anyway. Again read the Owner's Manual for how to reset items and synchronise the remote fobs (so easy to do). Please note I am not an auto-electrician, mechanic or expert in anything, there are other posters much better at such than me and I am more used to cars made in the 1960s and 1970s which are much simpler electrics (and no electronics at all as standard) but the basic principles remain the same. HTH. If not I know a straightforward video of testing for fuse fails.

Needing the ignition on to open or close windows really annoys me (I'm used to wind-up anyway) on my neighbour's car I can open and close the windows with the remote keyfob on locking and unlocking the doors. I can't stand getting into a solar gain heated car I want the windows or doors open to lose the excess heat before I get in the car (and glass roofs covered over). Why VWŠkoda Fabia Mk3s don't have the facility is beyond me not doubt they have their reasons, good or bad.

If you're not keeping the car for the next change of spark plugs and you have to buy the tools now it might be more economical sense, less PITA hassle, to pay the Dealership to change the plugs (don't forget the engine air filter element) at the next service. Or if you still want to go DIY then you can make or use other bits as pullers, metal wire, cable-ties, bent, shaped metal. You may find an end plug more of a pain so want an appropriate grease/lubricant to make replacement and next extractions easier next time. Changing the spark plugs on a Mk3 has been covered before in this forum with details, photos (video?) previously so you can find lots of info here, or a Google search will probably bring you back to the forum.

Depending on the age of your car it's more likely poor quality stock of sensors, possibly a change of supplier, or hangover from covid times or stock, or VW trying to save cents or fractions (decimal places) on individual and overall car building costs, or to help cover past "errors" and "mistakes" or to fund current distractions or "directions".

No disrespect meant to you but I wondered if you knew about tyres when you put comfort is king yet you have 19" wheels with 40 profile tyres. For decades now the fashion has been to have bigger wheels and wider width shorter height sidewalls tyres. This is the equivalent of wearing a party frock and high heels when you really need to be in sensible clothes (nearer suiting race tracks than our 3rd-world roads). The size of the wheels is primarily to get over the brakes and take fully loaded weight of the car, the tyre size is also about taking the weight of the fully loaded car. The tyres are a very undervalued very complex very important component on the car, they have great effect on the braking, steering, suspension, road holding, ride comfort and noise. The size of the tyres in themselves in road holding and grip are not that greatly influenced within a the range of sizes the manufacturer offers but more abut the design, build and composition of the actual tyre chosen or compared. So say a 215/55ZR15 tyre of one make and model could be superior to, and outperform, a 235/40/ZR19 of another make and model. Just for your info some of the sizes given for tyres are nominal, good enough for size comparisons but not strictly accurate, if you look in a tyre manufacturer's catalogue you will see the tyres can vary in size very slightly and things like new tread depth can vary, e.g. one tyre may start with 7-8 mm tread depth against another that starts with 6.5 mm. That doesn't mean you've been diddled out of 0.5-1.5 mm of tread depth, different tyres wear the tread depths at different rates (though much will be about the car, how and where it's driven). Have a look at the links below to help see the differences in different tyre sizes to your car. It may help you to know that 80% profile tyres were a standard decades back (and well before that 100%) and 70% was low-profile, and 13" and 14" wheels were standard, 15" for sportier and/or heavier cars (the cars then weren't as bloated and lardy as they are now though, they were much lighter). Have a look at the 'Tyres & Wheels' forum on this site (link below) for all those swapping from larger wheels and tyres to smaller wheels and tyres for comfort (you do not lose much, if any, handling but it depends on the tyres you choose), you can no doubt also find such threads on this forum. You can also sometimes see these changes in the 'Wheels & Tyres For Sale' and 'Swap Zone' in the 'Marketplace' section of this site. HTH. 'WhatTyre' - 'How to read your tyre size' - https://whattyre.com/how-to-read-your-tyre-size/ Tyre size calculator - https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/ 'Tyres & Wheels' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/213-tyres-wheels/ 'Wheels & Tyres For Sale' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/333-wheels-tyres-for-sale/ 'Swap Zone' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/272-swap-zone/

That shouldn't be so as there are competing elements when you are driving but it may well charge faster. 12.4v is fine for an AGM battery but again it depends on when, how and where you took the reading. Also depends on how reliable and accurate your battery charger is in telling you the battery was sulphated. I think I would take a reading with a multimeter on the battery posts immediately before fitting media player and soon after fitting with the media player off and then take readings off relevant, or better still all, fuses. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

In reality it doesn't take long but seems to with those spring clips and the shape of it when you turn it over to get the hidden screws out (I suppose they'd learnt they couldn't trust the fantastic-plastic (ever seen a Lidl Aldi Bentley with the skin off) to even once hold after filter change. Not as bad as one of the spring clips on the cooling at bottom near grille, no matter which pliers I used including the proper cable remote type, the ratchet jaw was too large for fit in space, without dissembling the front of the car I struggled and then when I did get them both off in all my collection of jubilee clips I didn't have a good size fit so the stupid spring clips had to go back on. Again nothing difficult just PITA awkward and of I never start with a good attitude and it tends to get worse, but I am very cheap to employ, just loathe working on our cars, particularly this one.

Model and year perhaps. If it's three rubber grommets perhaps they have the VW part number on them? I've no idea but lots pf parts do if you can get them off the car to look. I'd not do it for you with my wife's Fabia as removing the airbox is a PITA, farting about with those silly hose clips and last time I took the airbox off I scratched the plastic top as it slipped off the worktop as I turned it over to get the silly screws out ******* German engineers and their clever ideas. Some posters on here have access to files which include parts, possibly erwin and other sources. I'd just ring up the Dealership parts as it's often as quick and about same cost or even quicker and less cost than elsewhere with P&P and the gamble of the correct part and not wrong or substitute.

?Škoda parts? - https://www.skoda-parts.com/online-store.html

There you go @hetty1 a Fuchs Silkolene a German UK oil for a German engine in the UK. FUCHS OIL CHOOSER - https://fuchs-eu.lubricantadvisor.com/default.aspx?lang=eng&country=gb With engine oils the world is your lobster. I meant to put you might be as well to set your display to show oil temperature and see how often and for how long your engine oil is at or above about 90c to see possible frequency of changes as just one very rough indicator, if every journey all year round gets you to 90c then annual changes may easily be enough or even perhaps longer with better oil. Your car and engine so your choices. ETA: some used to say they never changed their engine oil but I suspect they never intended to keep the cars too long or it was something like a very old Ford (or Japanese) and they were happy to see just how long the engine and car would last like that and save them the cost and effort - be interesting to see how long a more recent VW engine would last, probably still a reasonable time but I'd not gamble on it, imagine the headaches the computers would get and give you. 😁

I'm mixing up Fuchs/Silkolene with Motul - Siilkolene (fork oil) for the LA dampers and Motul for IIRC a mate's gearbox, it was the Motul stand I went to. I should have remembered that Fuchs sounds German but was thinking of more of Silkolene. A lot of these company names go back to UK starts but of course sooner or later UK no more. This often happens when I go by my memory alone, I balls it up but I never worry as I soon forget I balls'd it up and probably repeat the same mistake again - but I won't remember that, again. 😆

Still shows a big difference. which presumably goes somewhere else.

Who knows who is really in bed with who, as long as us servants and nature doesn't stop their profits all is fine. It's like "Spoons" are one of the biggest food buyers and suppliers in retail, I remember a mate saying he went in and they'd took steak off the menu at very short notice - very soon after that on the telly was something about horsemeat as if that'd affect the general "Spoons" clientele, as long as it was cheap and you got a drink included. A number of years back we went in a "Spoons" to kill 10 minutes waiting for our driver to arrive, we had two halves of one of their regular ales and having a brass neck I asked if I could use the 50p-off-a pint token, lady behind the bar said "yes", for a laugh I said what about two tokens for the two ales and she said "yes", when I asked how much she now wanted she said 29p, I felt a bit embarrassed but also like a true "Spoons" customer and a lot, lot nearer retirement age.

Scan for error codes and get the battery 'code' correctly if not already done so. Check the battery isn't low in charge or just fully charge it with an appropriate battery charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's Owner's Manual and the charger maintainer instructions, charge low (amps) long and slow not higher amps, short, quick charger, this may take many hours if the battery is low. Any problems like you have and you want to be diagnosing them with a battery in good state of charge, health and connections. As you have cleaned the negative connector I take it you have also checked the positive side and that all connections at all ends are clean, secure and protected. As you didn't have the battery installed you don't know how ell the job was done, I have batteries replaced by Dealerships that were not done well and you shouldn't have needed to clean a connector really. Are you sure it has the correct battery fitted, was the battery actually new when installed? An appropriate (to your VW model) scan tool if updated too should give you correct error codes, an inappropriate scan tool and/or not updated may not give full or correct information.

Fuch (and the other name they used to use) offered to sponsor our car club last time I was at the NEC and enquiring about their oils (for Armstrong lever-arm dampers IIRC or oil for a mate) and the chap told me the company was owned by a French lady. I do know a little about marketing, sales, advertising and costings and pricing and certainly old enough to know what's suggested or most popular isn't always the best. Comma covers a lot of brands and brand names, Brazil IIRC. Morris oils is an old name IIRC, favoured a lot by some of those with old over-valued, over-priced cars called "classics". There are so many oil beliefs and some people have favourite brands or brand names which is fine as a good oil is a good oil (and a better oil is better) and unless it's counterfeit or a garage or mechanic has ben up to some shenanigans there no bad oils as long as suitable for purpose, some might be more suitable. The oils can only help with the engine they can't overcome the ancient legacy, design and build compromises and mistakes. We all all lucky with have German engineering. 😁 As for the German and VW numbered coolants, well . . . ya gotta laff.

IIRC Fuchs/wotsit is French, Castrol are part of I forget but not really British, Castrol Classic is through the MG Owners Club at Swavesey. As it's a German engine I'd have thought VW would want a German brand but perhaps the German brands don't want to be associated with VW. 🤣 Perhaps Castrol has some German connection. As for synthetic, well there's synthetic and synthetic, BMC/BL/Rover Minis and Rolls Royces were both cars but I think we can agree they weren't too much like each other whilst still sharing the basics. I prefer to buy a better oil in advance, often at a discounted price for various reasons so not that much more than the standard inexpensive stuff, I even do it for my wife's 2015 Fabia and that certainly doesn't deserve me going out of my way for it. Dealership engine oil changes has always (claimed at least) been with Castrol, two different weights probably for different Dealership owners or whatever was cheapest in bulk buying at the time, though I've never checked it so it could be anything. As an unexpected distress purchase I'm topping up with Castrol EDGE LL (old label) "with patented TITANIUM Technology" I'm not even sure VW approve it, please don't tell them. Oh, "Castrol - a BP group brand *1" - they put asterisk and note number then no notes to tell you what it means. "Castrol.com BP Europa SE Uberseeallee 1D-200457 Hamburg" arhhh.

You would probably have to pay a lot more to get an appropriate level TopDon (or others similar) and then possibly have to pay extra for extra service stuff (battery checking, keys). TopDon (or other similar) are just the brands their models in their ranges can vary a lot as to how good they are depending on what level you want to work to with them (don't believe every bit of advertising for them check on the manufacturers website, models used to change quickly. To me the VCDS look awful, legacy, nerdy, something from the 1990s but many like them and they are based on what VW used to use and of course for VW will be very specific. If you buy one and then go on to Mercs (frying pan to fire to me) I'm sure you'd have an easy s/h sale of the VCDS if you wanted. Have a look and/or ask on the 'Diagnostics & VCDS' forum for info on VCDS and possibly TopDon (and other similar). - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/23-diagnostics-amp-vcds/ Whichever scanner you get it's important to make you you keep it up to date with updates before you use it otherwise you might get incorrect results, many (particularly mechanic or electricians) are too lazy (or don't know) to do this, don't be one of them. HTH.