nta16

@Napastar if you're still with this, I forgot the following Briskoda forums that you could look at and/or ask on. Fabia Projects - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/205-fabia-projects/ Performance & Tuning Upgrades - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/212-performance-tuning-upgrades/

Only thing I can think of is to try dusting or cleaning/polishing the plastic dash cover with a microfibre cloth if there's a sensor supposed to be there. Or does it relate to the auto main beam sensor on the rear (front-facing) of the interior rear view mirror, I'd also try cleaning this and inside and out of that area of the windscreen. These "smart" systems on the car can be fooled by a bit of debris on or near (such as a leaf near or on the front "assist"). If you have the wheel switch that adjust the brightness of the dash you could try adjusting the brightness slightly to see if that helps the automatic system. I've no idea how effective the above would be but all are cheap, easy and quick to try. Cleaning didn't help with my neighbour's 2023 Ren-No! Nissan Cashcow's "automatic" rain-sensing windscreen wipers, the system remained as useless as it had always been requiring the intervention of what used to be the driver (rather than part-time passenger) behind the steering wheel, so much for progress, of course VW computer programs have German engineering so are "clever". 😁 HTH.

It sounds like it might not be adjusted or set up correctly on you have the car or towing equipment set incorrectly you'd need those that have training or experience in such to go through things with you. As for a better (in many ways) lubricant (and good penetrating/releasing agent) than WD-40 Multi-Use I recommend GT85. - https://gt85.co.uk/

Are you sure that does not dazzle drivers coming from the opposite direction, have you tried parking your car up and driving towards it in another car, looks to me more off-road brightness in those photos (unless camera/photo lighting). Over here now we might suggest a visit to SpecSavers.

You're in the 'Styling and Car Care' forum so off course. I don't know any good Dealers, garages or mechanics for a VW under warranty still. The Dealership in Northampton is the usual average for an English Dealership so if you keep your expectations at that level you won't be disappointed and get the car serviced (engine oil % filter change and look-see for chargeable work) on the other side you might have to remind them of the "maintenance" schedule work if you're keeping the car or not be reminded of it if you're not keeping the car and only what the rubber-stamp type attention. You could have a look at the 'Skoda Dealers England' section for any current reviews for whichever areas you think Bucks might fall in or be near, or look and/or ask in the 'Škoda Scala' forum. 'Skoda Dealers England' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/369-skoda-dealers-england/ 'Škoda Scala' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/384-škoda-scala/ HTH.

With your liking for American cars will it be kerb feelers next.

I don't know about fog lights, front fog lights I've never found of much use, almost always the wrong type of fog for them the very few occassions I've used them, perhaps modern front fog lights are better, I've no idea. As a generalisation it may depend on if the LED bulbs fitted are fit for purpose, designed for that use. I used to see loads and loads of moans about LEDs by old farts that own "classics" about LEDs but they had often just fitted the wrong type or cheap crap Chinese LED bulbs, going to a reliable knowledge seller would have prevented many of their mistakes and often existing wiring and electrical issues were at fault rather than the LED bulbs. People often compare apples with oranges as far as LED and other items go and then wonder why there are differences.

Are these supposed to be fog lights used in fog or spot lights to give more light in general use? Do you now have two sets of fog lights on your car? How much fog do you get in your city that needs one set let alone two sets of fog lights? Is it fog that you get or more like smog in the city?

Some auto-electricians (and electricians) are as bad as some mechanics be very selective about who you use. Have a look at the map here and see if there's anyone nearer to you that can offer any help to at least give a report and perhaps live data. -

If I was you I'd take up AG Falco's offer and contact him. The problems could original from one or several areas, you need proper diagnostics to fully pin this or these down. First thing always, that anyone can do with electric issues is check the battery and battery terminal post clamps, they both need to be clean, and secure, then check the main cables off the battery and their wires and connections, they need to be clean, secure and protected. If there are any other main earth cables they need to be included. Then it's matter of chasing back through perhaps the ignition switch, or it could be other electrics or electronics. What will help is getting a report and live data from a VW appropriate scan tool that has fully up to date program for your model and year and its and your car battery not in low states of charge, that may be part of what AG Falco can offer, if not there are possibly other Briskoda members that can and not at £162/hour, that is a ridiculous cost. Load of rocks that they haven't heard of electric issues at least similar to yours, have a look at the threads and post on here alone.

I think this is very good advice and it comes from someone with a 40+% increase in PS twice as much as your son is proposing. What does your son want to achieve, what did you want to achieve when you had yours done, was it just ego figures, where the needle is on gauges, or keeping up or in with the boys and girls, or more, will it ever be enough, was it ever enough. It's his life but you as his father obviously want to help. Note the comment about insurance costs. To me already the recommended servicing and maintenance is already thin in some areas for cars in standard form, with the 20% increase probably not a lot more is needed than at standard but more is needed at standard. A VW 4-pot sounds rough to me and the 3-pot (that VW don't have much history with AFAIK) we had as a loan car for a few weeks sounded a bit rougher still, that was a standard 110. There are plenty of posts and threads in the Mk3 forum and others on mapping and the results of mapping plus there's the 'Fabia Projects' forum. "Go faster" stripes just aren't good enough anymore. 😆

Like all figures it depends on what they relate to, 10mpg difference could be a lot or a little, I'm sure with many cars and owners if I drove their cars I could increase the mpg and with others decrease the mpg in the same journeys and weather, I'd not be very constituent driving my wife's car unless I really tried to be which would require a regulated route and type of driving in similar conditions. Decades back, before the A14 fully opened I could use it to test my settings of servicing the car and adjusting the carbs when required (well as much as I was any good at doing that) and later 50mph at different times on the M1. M6 and A45. I was going to a 100 mile test run on the M6 one time but my wife wanted me to speed up so I cut it to 50 miles, only cruise control was my right foot and keeping an eye on the rev counter needle (in 4th gear for direct and roof down). Later in the journey after measurement I followed a couple of mates in their bigger, faster, more powerful cars at a higher speed and halved the mpg figure.

@radoszczak your battery for whatever reason(s) was put into a poor state of charge and health and you wanted to "bench" recharge it for use on another car so 3.5 was better than say 5 or 8 amps but not as good as 2-amps or a bit less, that is my personal experience from decades of helping out my neighbour's with their various batteries over decades, and it is backed up by what I've read, you can check these things out for yourself rather than take my word for it. I've recharged batteries in lower, and much lower, states of health and charge (and older) than you have mentioned and not had the drop you mention from a battery just sitting there with self-discharge only so I'd not trust yours with much load or use in a car in a cold country. If you look at the battery manufacturer's specification sheet you may find 4-amps stated for normal charging, VW on car is 0.1 of Ah but check with your 'Owner's Manual' for the car. I use an inexpensive 4-amp "smart" (they are not smart) charger maintainer for my wife's 2015 Fabia but the battery is not allowed to go too low in charge. Batteries have never required any attention other than very occasional routine maintenance checks on any other cars we have owned but this was and is the first 2015 car either of us has owned and the first VW product either of us has owned, with its (to me over) complicated computer programs and start stop (we did own four Škodas 30+ years ago). Whether your Aliexpress button has caused any issues I would not have a clue but if your new battery's performance does not seem as good as it should I would monitor the effects of that button just in case, I would probably/possibly be wrong but that is what I would do you may not.

Hi, welcome, You may be better looing at and/or asking on the Octavia Mk IV forum. Obviously I've no idea how good a job your towbar supplier made of the installation but the Dealership saying the electrics had been tampered with so much that they can't do diagnostics sounds a bit iffy to me unless your supplier has crossed wires or connections or not installed things correctly. VW computer systems are particular (over to me) complicated so do need care (and 12v battery kept from low state of charge). Also this invalidating warranty sounds iffy to me (unless done incorrectly). If your supplier has installed correctly then my money would be more on a VW fault, computer programming or part(s), looking and/or asking on the Octavia Mk VI forum might turn up an update to computer programming or part(s) related to your model and year or engine. Admitted Recalls might be on here (I don't know about 2023 models). - https://www.skoda-auto.com/services/recall-campaigns Skoda Octavia Mk IV (2020 > ) - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/396-skoda-octavia-mk-iv-2020/ Good luck.

Reviews are often about the service or sometimes the customers have made mistakes, you need to see the actual comments and what they refer to. Unless there's a specific set of parameters I take them with a pinch of salt. Same for the often praised tyre review site, far too many variables to make a really informed decision. But these things might give a very general overall if they don't include anomalies, or too many of them. You also have to factor in customer expectations and bias (favourite brands perhaps, some perhaps too critical because of higher expectations some not critical enough). As long as the performance variations aren't too wide most people won't care and will support a brand or brand name or not, or none at all and buy lowest priced they find which is fair enough.

I'm not a mechanic or expert in anything but to me that would be a sign something isn't right, all the annoying computer programs, modules and sensors should prevent such things but does your engine have that active cylinders thing (shuts of cylinders to save fuel/emissions(?) as that may be too "clever" for the computer programs and real world physics. Modern services are very skimpy basically just an engine oil and filter change (and only adequate oil IMO, I use better oil than the Dealerships/garages/mechanics even on this VW car) and a general look-see for chargeable work. You need to make sure the scheduled "maintenance" is carried out in a timely fashion often by time rather than mileage intervals. So at 4 years old have you had the spark plugs changed and engine air filter changed (cleaning the box and hoses I'd not expect from a paid person), depending on your location and driving environments I think the air filter change schedule might be too long in intervals (unless it's changed?). Increased mpg is often a sign something is wrong (I think this was mentioned earlier by someone) there are of course many things that could cause this instead of as well as the engine which is why whole car servicing, maintenance and checks as required are important. Scan tools are very useful and often very needed on modern cars but they are only one diagnostic tool another is the senses of the driver and mechanic, along with perhaps other diagnostic tools, don't just rely on sexy tools like scan tools but they could be very useful to help resolve this higher mpg if the cause isn't from other than the car. Colder weather and you may be using more of the many facilities available on a 2020 car that use more fuel (and battery power, with your short journeys a preventative recharge using an appropriate battery charger maintainer, following the instructions in the 'Owner's Manual' and charger instruction booklet may be required to avoid issues and being a part of the season's call out statistics. 5 miles is a short journey, I did check the oil temperature on my wife's car for this thread but forgot to report it back and have forgotten the details now but I do remember the temperature was lower than previously for the journey, whether this was because of the colder weather, different engine oil used, my poor memory or a permutation or combination of all three I don't know. My wife told me mpg seemed reasonable on a three consecutive days run on back roads and motorways to NEC and back the other week, speed not above 60 mph. A change in circumstances and use can obviously affect mpg, started towing a boat, carrying heavy passengers or other load, faults on brakes, etc, etc.. For this forum a full scan report or live data would be appropriate otherwise more generally the relevant Octavia forum might be appropriate for more reading and advice.

And so was my text text I've just seen in your quote.

I'm not sure after the cabin has fully warmed and dried out there's not much point keeping the air-con on but you can experiment to find out as there are many variables. Variables include journey length and type and if you keep damp or wet bots, clothing, towels in the car. Having the air-con on unnecessarily is to me a slight waste of mpg (not that I worry too much about mpg) and unnecessary extra drain on the car's 12v battery (not that I worry too much about that despite what others might think) but more of a thing to think about with a 2023 VW. I thought about using a carbon Mann filter but don't think I did I just used of the two (IIRC) white options as neither of us have any issues requiring them and I like to have car windows open when I can, not so easy on modern cars, but it was such an (unusually) easy job on the car I can't remember doing it really.

Hi. welcome. With the decades use of plastics, particularly on the German marques like VW, you do need care with them and of course more so on 19 year old engine but then some would have crack or broken well before then. At least VW put the part numbers on the parts. You may be better for this specific repair looking and/or posting in the Octavia Mk2 forum and I don't know if it's typos or predictive text that has rocket instead of rocker or if VW owners/enthusiasts use that term for the part. Skoda Octavia Mk II (2004 - 2013) - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/28-skoda-octavia-mk-ii-2004-2013/ Good luck.

Well done and thanks for reporting back. N90974701 looks like the one that is also used on the plastic engine cover under my wife's 2015 Fabia Mk3, if so a Torx 25 socket head on it but I don't know the thread type or size. A careful person might not need spares of those but we all sometimes have "dropsies" or they just disappear particularly when black against black surroundings. They ae at least metal so a magnetic tray or bowl will hold them or washed takeaway container in my case which I have to be careful not to knock or kick over and then have to wait for my wife to find the missing fixings I can't. 😁

My wife's 2015 Mk3 Fabia took a very long time for the inside of the windscreen to clear sometimes, I think its the very large glass area (and possibly the plastics but don't know about that). Personally I'm happy to use a damp synthetic chamois to speed things up, then the air-con on, blower on full with sun visors angled to reflect the air back to the screen. Even then it took (too) many minutes for the screen to clear enough to safely drive (car is always outside as we don't have a garage). But I don't drive the car much as it's my wife's car so two (Pingi) humidify bags sit on the dash and are dried out as required, AFAIK these have helped a lot. (The recent rear door leaking (same as on Mk1 Fabia) from the heavy rain hasn't helped but the repair won't get done until the warmer drier days return as I'm not gambling 9 year old VW plastic fitting and my health and comfort in the cold, damp, wet weather.) For the cabin air filter personally I used Mann as I find their filters to be generally very good (particularly their engine oil filter for my wife's 2015 MK3, I've never been over impressed with Tosch labelled stuff for cars). I was interested to read the link DerekU put up about Crossland, personally not a brand name I'd go for now (like many others that are just brand names now with variable quality of manufacture) but as I don't use them I don't know their quality.

Hi, welcome. I would have a look at the other side wheel arch liner and if it looks like it has the same fixings them remove one to see what type, length and thread the screw is. Up to you if you want exactly the same screw or one that will do the job but not exactly the same. My mind would wonder why these two screws are missing (possibly some lazy or clumsy person not putting them back in) what's behind there that was needed access to and why. You are very lucky as your first car is only 4 years old so is it a service thing or repair. Being new to the car pay attention to your car battery use and charging and recharging and the important things like brakes, steering and suspension, all three include tyres (pressures, thread, sidewall damage from kerbing and potholes), safety electrics like lights (wipers, washers, horn, blower) and windows and reflective number plates (see and be seen). When you lift the bonnet your first thought and check should be the brake fluid reservoir (the level and colour of the brake fluid, one second look normally) and not the engine oil dipstick, battery terminals being secure would be before dipstick. Good luck. If you find the part number or specification of screws let us know for future.

8-10 hours of charging may not have been enough but it depends at what amperage the recharge was made at. The general rule is very low and very slow is better, 2-amps or less charger. You do need to have checked this battery before (and after) charging for all 6 cells having the correct level of 'water' (electrolyte) in them and that the plates were not buckled or furred up. 12v is a low state of charge for a battery out of a car and IF the battery was fully charged properly to even say 90% to drop to 12v after just two weeks suggests the battery wouldn't probably perform well in another car (unless it's a very old petrol manual car with none or little computer stuff on it and associated electronics and it is to be driven very often and regularly on reasonable length journeys so that not too much electric is used and the alternator can keep topping the battery up). You could perhaps use the battery in non-car use in your basement or shed, run a radio or lighting and recharge as required. Otherwise recycle for a small payment, about £8 from a "scrappy" in England. From our very, very, dear friends, VW, blessed their cotton socks, we do luv them. - Charge level No-load voltage 1.28 g/cm3 100% 12.7 V 1.21 g/cm3 60% 12.3 V 1.18 g/cm3 40% 12.1 V 1.10 g/cm3 0% 11.7 V

I thought the booby pin was going to be some elaborate American hair holding device, but looks like it's just what was called a hairgrip down this way. 😁 All good stuff, custom made tools (bits of different width stiff wire, wire coat hangers are sorely missed, still a couple of bits of them in my tool box and shed as tools though),

For the 60mph limit are you sure the speed limiter hasn't been set or switched on by someone? See the Owner's Manual for it's operating conditions and dash lights. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models If it's not that you probably need a scan tool report to point you in the right direction for this issue of 60 mph. The scan tool needs to be VW appropriate and its program fully up to date for a 2019 Fabia, plus you want the scan tool and car 12v batteries not to be too low in state of charge or there can be errors in readings and report. Some Briskoda members are able to offer reports and more for the sake of beer tokens, others as a professional service so different renumeration. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/262215-list-of-vcds-owners-previously-known-as-vag-com-vcp-owners/#comment-3091029