SwallownAmazon

Anyone know how to remove the gear knob from the lever on my 2016 Octavia vRS manual? The pretty metal trim around the front edge of the main emblem has started to come apart leaving a sharp edge that cuts into the fingers when changing gear. Is the knob separate from the gaiter or does the whole thing have to be changed?

I had a similar problem with my 2000 BMW 740 Sport a few years ago. Broken front spring replaced with a standard item which made the car sit lop-sided. Garage told me that the "Sport" springs were only available in pairs,so they got the standard one without asking me. When I gently "blew my top" at them for not asking me, they had the car back and changed both fronts for the proper items only charging for the parts, including the refund for the wrong one. In your case, they have clearly fitted the wrong spring / strut assemblies, front and back. Take measurements of the ride height of your mate's car, centre of the wheel to the lowest point of the wheelarch, and compare that to the measurements on your "repaired" car; there will be a significant difference. Present those to the service manager and tell them to sort it..... If you still have the sales brochure for your car, it will state the vRS suspension is 15mm lower than standard but it only actually quotes overall height. You mention in the original post that it was a "major franchise EH"; is that a Skoda franchise or other manufacturer? If it's a Skoda franchise we need to know so as to avoid in future....

My inclination would be to take the car to a specialist in-car-entertainment retailer/installer and get them to take a look at it. Might be something as simple as an internal fuse.....

I bought one of these back in the summer: AUTOPHIX V007 OBD2 Scanner Compatible with Volkswagen VW Audi Skoda SeatI paid around £60 from Amazon but they seem to have gone up a bit since then. It reads codes and enables fault deletion but I havn't got around to finding out what else it can do.

No it won't, Manufacturers will only appoint dealers that can afford the shiny white elephant showrooms that now seem to tbe the norm. They don't care a monkeys about customer service because once you've bought the car you're stuck with it for good or ill.

Update? Are you content now?

These folk might be worth a try: https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/ They specialise in old car fittings but may have modern stuff as well. I've fitted LED's from them to my 1937 Morris 8 so I can see and be seen a bit better.

My wife's 2008 SEAT Altea has had exactly the same problem twice - new door lock needed each time.

Yes, 'twas a mis-type. Still, 5W30 is still knatsy thin - like sewing machine oil. I'm much more used to 20W50 or even straight SAE40 in my classics......

Like JohnMack, I pensioned off my 2008 BKD engined Octavia diesel earlier this year to buy a 2016 vRS diesel with the CUNA engine on around 145,000 miles. Like any car, previous maintenace is vital and the car I bought didn't have much recent history - silly me! The memsahib and I both loved the car when we saw it but after a few weeks, the problems started. The pale orange engine light came on shortly followed by the curly glow plug light which sent it into limp mode; I'd also noticed a heavy oil consumption -~ 1/3rd litre in 200 miles. To cut a long story short, it's had three exhaust gas temp sensors, two DPF pressure sensors, EGR valve cooler and DPF all replaced at a total cost of around £3,000. The heavy oil consumption turned out to be a leak from a missing gasket somewhere in the turbo area which allowed oil to leak onto the manifold but it's still a lot higher than I am used to. It is because the oil used in these engines is so thin (0-30) that it just disappears. If thicker oil is used, the residues clog up the DPF which will ultimately block with replacements available at £1,200 - £1,800 depending on where you get them from. Ignore re-worked ones as a bad job. Notwithstanding the above horror story, we both still love the car; it seems to be well engineered, (DPF system aside) has more than enough power and handling to keep a retired rally driver happy in his dotage!!

Hi John, Yes it's me - sent you a PM. BW Chris.

Not if you use it properly........ It has lots of different fittings because there are lots of different calipers.

Yes, Tornado red (fading to pink in places!) B3 2.3 litre 20v. My company car back in the day and I bought it for the memsahib when it was written down to zero in the books. 180,000 miles and still on the original clutch and exhaust..... Took it to Spain on a tour 3 years ago - never missed a beat.

That's what I used on my old 2008 Skoda, my 1990 Audi 09 and 2000 BMW 740 Sport. Excellent piece of kit. Just beware of the excess brake fluid possibly overflowing from the reservoir when you use it.

That's what I intend to do when my fronts are due a change - wheels need a bit of TLC at the same time.....

My personal view would be to go for a manual gearbox - lots of potentail problems with poorly mainatined DSG boxes..... If diesel check for proper maintenance of the DPF and associated components. Try and get a good quality scan done for stored faults before you commit. I speak from personal experience....

Alan, You've clearly had a bit of "bad do" but if you like the car it doesn't really matter if repairs cost more than it's worth. It's the replacement cost you should be comparing the repair costs to. I spent many hundreds on my old 2008 Octavia until it became untenable because of the need to go into the London ULEZ quite frequently. In many ways I still regret selling it because its replacement ULEZ compliant vRS has been an absolute sod.....

My previous 2008 Octavia 2 got through two rear wiper motors in 160,000 miles. Something to do with the seals for the concentric water pipe that passes though the motor assembly not being terribly good causing corrosion which ultimately makes the whole thing seize up. Not repairable! Make sure yu get the correct replacement - there are two different types...

It's actually OBD ll (Roman numerals for 2) and I have one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08ZXRP9HR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 Seems to work well so far....

On my old 2008 Octavia TDi, my bonnet cable came apart. It's in two parts joined by a plastic Widget" and it was this that had failed. Took the Green Flag breakdown man nearly two hours to break in..... Dr Mike Oxgreen is partially right about WD40 the standard stuff is only really suitable for freeing off stuck or rusty components and is a slicone containing spray. What I suspect he means in the second part of his post is their PTFE spray lubricant which dries to a slippery surface. Best to not allow your bonnet catch to get that rusty in the first place.

None taken..... BUT as I said in the OP, I turned the headlights off in a traffic queue because I could see they were dazzling the driver of the 2-seater in front of me. I have often been semi-blinded by some jerk in an enormous Tonka toy behind me in traffic and don't get me started about those who sit in a queue with their foot on the brake! What's the handbrake for?

This question has been asked before but I can't seem to find any definitive answer; has anyone tried fitting a slightly wider tyre to the standard vRS Gemini wheel rims? The 225/40 ones fitted as standard look terribly skinny with the rims protruding outside the sidewall by a considerable amount which has contributed to the kerb rash while in the hands of the previous owner/s. I have in mind 245/40 x 18 size for which there seem to be many options, both budget and premium. I have used Kumho and Nankang brands with great success on previous Skoda and Audi cars and have Sumitomo rubber with a large rubber rim protector built into the sidewall on my BMW 740 Sport.

They were on, that's the point. The instrument lights went out when I turned the sidelights only on. OK when light switch on AUTO or headlights.

2016 Octavia hatchback diesel vRS. Noticed something a bit odd with the instrument cluster last evening: we were stuck in traffic and to relieve the eyes for the driver in front I switched the lights from AUTO to the sidelight position to turn the dipped beam headlights out. The instrument cluster lighting then went off leaving only the "needles" for the rev counter and speedo visible. Turning the switch back to AUTO or to the headlight position brought the instrument cluster lighting back on. On the return journey I tried it again and the same thing happened. Never noticed this before, is it normal? No codes shown on OBD 11 when I had a look this morning....

Fuse?