MiniNinjaRob

As far as I am aware the tow bar prep includes physical electronics and reprogramming to allow a tow bar to be fitted in the future. Remember you have to take into account the extra wires that will need to be attached to the electronics of the car (not as simple as splicing in some wires like in years gone by) as well as telling the car about the potential extra weight, stoping parking sensors going crazy amongst other things). I don’t think you can easily fit a tow bar without the prep and I fear your dealer may given you the wrong advice. I hope I am wrong and you can do it but that was my understanding. Anyway, It makes no difference that you are only using it for bikes as the nose weight of a fully loaded bike rack can be just as much as a caravan. Most of the weight of a caravan is on its wheels, there’s isn’t much weight going onto the tow ball compared to its overall weight. If you have multiple bikes on a rack you can easily exceed the nose weight capacity of the tow car, especially easily if you are carrying e-bikes.

It’s definitely a colour which looks good when it’s kept shiny and waxed but I’ve seen older cars with the same colour - people who have probably taken it though drive in hand car washes - and they look dull and drab when dirty.

Thanks but they won’t send to the UK. I’ll check out the ones from Superskoda

I assume better/brighter bulbs? If so can you advise what you installed?

No. Just got my car and it works fine, just one small issue is that the radio favourites haven’t been saving but I’m not sure if it’s me doing something wrong or not.

Mr car arrived on Friday, I think I ordered it in June (would have to check) and it was pushed back from November to February arrival date so it’s actually early. SEL iV with interior LED pack, optional black wheels (which although the same size as standard 17” look bigger and certainly style suits the car so much better) and petrol blue colour. Not cleaned properly yet - was a bit dirty as it was delivered on a flat bed truck from Cambridge all the way up to me in West Yorks. However the garage did a really good wax job as the water is beading off very nicely.

Was that to the uk?

My SEL iV with optional black wheels and LED interior pack in petrol blue. Straight off the delivery truck so it’s not clean (I will address that with a full detail) but so far I like the colour and the car itself!

My car is (hopefully) being delivered today!

I wouldn’t dare go to the dealers if it was my fault and such a simple fix.

You can’t keep the electrics on for hours then expect everything to work 100% afterwards!!! Charge the battery yourself or take it on a long drive to help it out.

I have B4s on my Volvo 940 and they are brilliant, so maybe it depends on the use case.

That’s almost exactly the same as me.

does seem to be that the VRS models take the longest - maybe because they have all the electronic options?? I would have thought diesels would probably be at the back of that long queue too.

I got an email through work today asking me if I could take deliver on Friday!!! Completely out of the blue. But being as it’s a company car it’s a bit different process. SEL estate with LED interior, metallic paint and some different wheels. I think I ordered it in June.

The wording is a little strange isn’t it? I’ve never “clogged” a bonnet before….

And that’s if they do it at all. Ceramic coating is a good thing - it doesn’t replace proper paint care but makes it a lot easier to keep your car looking showroom fresh. I’d get a proper car detailer to do it for you as soon as you get the car, some offer packages for new cars which might include ceramic coating. However if you’re the sort of person who just takes your car to drive through hand car washes then don’t bother paying any extra for anything.

It’s a rare thing to happen but it does happen! I had a brand new Vauxhall Astra once through work and it had to have a new box fitted, took them 2 weeks and cost £3k to do it (I didn’t pay it but saw the dealer cost sheet when I picked it up which would be covered by warranty).

Fancier areas are often targeted for new cars, my wife is an insurance investigator and has had plenty of jobs going to fancy estates where keys have been cloned while they are still inside the house so they could drive off with the new car on the drive easily. There is the flip side in that they also might break into your house while you are asleep and steal the keys from your bedside table while you are in the bed. Tends to happen most with Audis for some reason. Metal box near your front door is best option.

I wouldn’t touch them - stories of them destroying wheels/tyres/bodywork even when installed properly and company denying responsibility for any damage. Just be careful driving and parking!!

Looks neat for an add on, maybe a bit of Alcantara on the top might make it even better.

Seems perfectly reasonable to get 75mpg with regen on and driving reasonably. I used to get 60+ mpg out of my non plug in hybrid Auris fairly easily accross whole tank fulls of fuel. With a plug in hybrid and better regeneration than my Toyota you’d get a lot more. Depends on driving style and terrain of course, most people want to drive like idiots nowadays and wonder why their cars don’t do the advertised numbers. 🙄🙄

It does very much depend on your mileage and your typical driving journeys. I would argue you are only doing 8500 miles a year which £1400 a year in petrol at 40mpg about 16p mile £564 a year in petrol doing 100mpg is about 7p a mile. Some people have reported 75mpg average in an IV but maybe you do more. So if you are generous you are saving maybe £900 a year in fuel. Not including the price the charge the battery overnight. A petrol VRS is about £5k less than the iV version so it’ll be at least 5.5 years to make that cost up, actually a lot more if you include electric cost. So it’s difficult to argue it’s cheaper, but if you have individual reasons why you need the iV electric only mode (congestion charge?) then it might be worthwhile. I certainly wouldn’t be ordering a hybrid if it wasn’t massively advantageous in BIK payments. I’d either have full ICE or full electric.

Hybrid only really makes sense for company car drivers like me who are paying very little BIK tax as it will do miles on electric only. The increased list cost over a standard petrol version far outweighs any extra fuel costs if you are a private buyer.

Got another email today from my lease company (through my work) and it is still saying early Feb for delivery. That’s 7 months for my SEL iV with LED pack and black optional wheels.