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I got my done my a local body shop, cost a couple of years ago was £85 (2hrs labour) plus the grill i got from Ebay, the bumper had to come off and he used a heat gun to get the grill out.

what is involved in an emergency recovery? thankyou.

Hi, I ve the firmware to update my MIB2 system (plus the usb port is suitable) to Smartlink working but what is the failure rate of doing this? if the system did brick, can it be rolled back to previous f/w.....

Yep i had always budgeted for a DMF, pleasantly surprised to find its a SMF, mine has the 6sp box & SS but i believe it applies to the 5sp too. Skoda UK said there is no DMF for the mk3 1.6........

I'd double check that you actually have a DMF, my 1.6tdi '16 plate, is a SMF and thats according to Skoda, Autodoc say same too.

Basic OBDEleven, then buy the very cheap credits for things like Battery or fuel filter.

Cut down a scaffold plank, put 2 bolts into the end, fit into drilled holes in the ramp or fit over any of the angle iron on the ramp. Just resting a piece of wood on the ramp, risks it sliding down when reversing off the ramp.

As above, there are some on youtube on doing the cabin filter, someone called Chris Vids is the best one. On fuel filter, YT says fill housing with diesel and just start car but i have always used obdeleven to prime fuel pump, costs 3.99 to buy a credit to do this, avoids air locks in the fuel pump. To avoid rounding off 13mm drain for oil filter housing, use a 6 sided socket, a bit of wiring has to be uncliped to get access to housing. You also need shallow rise ramps to get car in the air.

Mines on 143k miles, and atm, touch wood, still going strong, regular oil changes 8k & vw 504/507 essential. I did the gearbox oil at 120k, its a pia, as to do it properly, you need to lock out the gear selector, undo bolts that hold the selector in place (get this bit wrong and the box will need to be removed to fix) and then undo it, to drain fully, i didn't do this, instead i filled, ran for 100miles, drained and refilled - then i fill via reverse switch - but it is dependent on your gearbox type, mine is the 6 speed.

EGR cooler issues can cause what looks like blocked DPF and failed regens

You can buy and fit yourself, get the basic ObdEleven reader, pay approx £5 for 1 credit and code the battery yourself, the battery type "AGM" stays the same but by changing the capacity - a new one will be 70 or 72ah, the serial number also changes.... telling the BMS it has a new battery, this must be done even if capacity and type are the same. Takes 10 mins. You'll then have a device that can read errors in future and do things like prime fuel system when changing a filter.

As always depends how its been looked after, mines on 142k, no real issues, Thermostat, a glow plug, an ABS sensor, electric water pump and a corroded brake hose in 10 years (plus consumables) a mate has 200k on his, still original DPF, EGR, Injectors and Turbo. The Silca bag seems to cause issues with the heater but i haven't had these. Might be worth hooking an OBD reader on it and seeing whats going on, check the DPF Soot/Ash levels? The weak point would be crank seals, seem to leak slightly with regularity.

Mine was replaced at 105k (6 years old) and it was starting to fray but the garage did say that was unusual.

Update, someone suggested activate "Needle Sweep" did this, fault has gone away.... been a week now, hopefully for good.

ok cheers thanks for that... i didn't realise the cluster is coded in. The thing is, rev counter works just fine most of the time. I activated "needle sweep" in OBDEleven and it works every time, i just dont want to go to the expense of a repair etc only to find its a sensor or something else, though nothing on a scan & car runs fine, mpg is normal etc.

Cluster i get but car starts and runs just fine

Sorry what does that mean?

Rev counter sometimes under reads, no reading or 50% of revs, no other issues, obdeleven reads revs fine, all other dials good. I ve just had thermostat replaced but i'm 80% sure it happened once or twice before but i put that down to obd reader in port, as it started working when removed but i probably switched engine off on... which can get it reading revs again. when its working, it under reads by about 700rpm. I'm thinking dial cluster, car is 10years old, 142k, anything else i could look at? thanks.

With no mechanical experience/knowledge, i think you'd be better off ringing around and finding a garage that can do this for you. The disk and caliper would make the job a whole lot eaiser.

Yeah they are the ones i fitted (Bosch) i just replaced 1,2 and 4. the sensor one is around £120 (Skoda will charge around £200) that was 3 years ago, so far touch wood, its been fine, i used a ceramic grease on the threads, 10nm, an airline to clean around the well, last thing you want is crap getting into the engine, a can of compressed air wil do the job, no1 is to the far left as you look down on the engine. They are at the front of the engine, easy to see and get the engine hot first before removing, you'll need a deep 10mm 1/4 drive socket, 12mm for the no3. I would buy a torque wrench, rather than guess.

Oh don't worry, i was asking because the VAG one says "Made in France" on the label and Vernet by Calorstat is the only manufacturer of car thermostats in France.... I suspect they are one in the same thing! but considering the work involved in getting the old one out, it's not worth the risk to save £40

Yes thats where i saw i can get a Vernet one for 15 euros or a Skoda one for 65 euros.... there are 2 different types of thermostat, dependent on joop or Geiger cooling systems, Skoda UK told me i either need a joop one or a complete housing (major job to fit) Turns out VIN number wont tell you which... only a physical look. I just wanted to know if anyone has experience of non OEM thermostats such as the Vernet one?

Went to replace thermostat on my 1.6tdi but the part Skoda advised i needed was the wrong type, i have a Geiger colling system, not a Joop one, a OEM thermostat is £70 a pattern Vernet one, who apparently make 'stats for Skoda, is around £20. anyone got experience of either? its a bitch to get at, throttle body has to come off, so its not a job i want to do again.

Ok thanks, makes sense as the engine block will still be very hot

How did that work in regard to the thermostat? surely when the car is nice an hot, the stat is open, feeding back coolant into the expansion tank, but the cold water/coolant will close the stat?