Dieselgate

Thanks - the garage has since clarified that 'Gen 6' is not an official designation (just what he calls it) but apparently the unit has been changed quite significantly from the standard Gen 5 - new pump, different seals, different oil, even down to different drain plugs apparently.

Interestingly enough I've just had a price from another garage (slightly less than the last one) who have said that mine is a Gen 6 Haldex which I didn't even know existed! Does anyone have much idea as to how this differs to the Gen 5?

Looking to get the Haldex done imminently now the car has just clocked 29k miles. The independent I have always used and trust have quoted £178 including cleaning the filter gauze (or £115 for just the oil change) which seems pretty expensive to me - other independents online are quoting more like the £120-130 mark and the local Skoda dealer is quoting £110 (just oil change). Does anyone else know of any good indies in Kent area who would do it for less?

Possibly but my general view is that if you have been asked to carry out some work on a car that improves its chance of passing an MOT then it makes sense to do that first? It's not as if the wiper blades would have taken them a long time, a couple of minutes at most.

I had a bit of an annoying experience last week when I booked my Polo GTI in for a major service, brake fluid change and new front wiper blades (knowing they were a bit knackered) along with an MOT. The independent VW place I use promptly failed it on the the MOT due to the wipers and then passed it (with no advisories) on the retest once they had fitted the replacement. Why on earth they tested it before fitting the wipers is completely beyond me - it wasn't as if they had to call me up and say 'your car has failed but it will pass if we fit new wiper blades' as I had instructed them to fit new blades weeks in advance.

I finally got round to testing my new spare wheel today (no blow out, just decided to swap the wheels and see how I got on). The main question I had was whether the cruise control would work or not and I'm very happy to report that it does indeed work perfectly. I didn't take it far, probably a total of about 5 miles and no more than about 50mph but no issues at all so I'll certainly feel a bit happier on my longer trips to mainland Europe knowing I have a spare that I can at least do a semi sensible speed at and use the cruise control. The Nexen all season van tyre I got is indeed non-directional so ideal as a spare, the tread seems more similar to me to that of a winter tyre than an all season. All in all, very happy with what I've got and it makes you wonder why Skoda don't fit it as standard. I find it rather disappointing that the only spare wheel option on the new Superb is a space saver whereas the new Passat which is effectively the same car is offered with a full size alloy spare as an option.

I'm not too sure which one I have - is there any easy way of finding out? It's Amundsen as opposed to Columbus as its an SEL.

Mine is a 2.0 TDI and has wireless AA. First registered in July 2022.

Once I heard about the recall I booked it in to be done (as I understand it the work isn't always necessary as it could have been fitted right first time?) When they called to say the car was ready for collection I couldn't take the call but they left a message just to say it was all done and ready for collection. As the wife picked it up instead of me I didn't get the opportunity to ask if they actually needed to do anything or not directly but assume it's all been fixed.

I had mine done earlier this week. No idea if they actually changed anything or not.

Yes of course - wasn't able to find any all season tyres though. I'm not really too bothered about it being a van tyre overall, it's unlikely to be used much.

Finally bit the bullet yesterday and got my OEM 205/55/R16 spare changed for a 205/65/R16 tyre. Went for a Nexen Nblue HD All Season Van. Essentially it seems that pretty much all tyres in that size are van tyres so didn't have much option. I guess it could be a bit noisy etc but I can live with that (chances are I will never need to use it!) I intend to fit it in the next few days to check that it enables use of cruise control as I'm off to Germany next week and couldn't face a long journey home without cruise control (and at slow speed) in the event of a blowout!

Probably similar for me although I don't think I have ever got more than 65 litres in. On a previous car I had (Volvo S60) I got more than the quoted fuel tank capacity in at least a couple of times and on my wifes Polo GTI I have done the same.

Winter (and to a lesser extent, all season) tyres are better than summer tyres in winter. Source: Personal experience.

VED on my car is £570 at the moment (it will drop when it gets to 5 years old). I do around 22,000 miles per year at an average of 50mpg which equals about 1,980 litres of fuel. 1980 x 60p tax per litre = £1,188 + £570 VED = £1,758. 22,000 x 5.3p per mile = £1,166. £1,758 - £1,166 = £592 less.