CubbyQ

A bit more time spent removing evidence of smokers...not sure it's helped any, but can't be making things any worse... Removed the long piece of trim along the dash above the infotainment screen, removed Columbus screen, removed front side, and dashboard air vents, rear air vent, cleaned front window door rubbers more thoroughly and got into the gape between the door card and internal window seal... The only parts I've not been able to remove were the big centre air vent, and the air vent/speaker cover on top of the dash; any suggestions on how to remove those greatfully received! I had a go, and things felt a bit 'snappy'! The amount of ash, dirty dust and the odd piece of unburnt tobacco that was hidden away was surprising, and really shows it gets in everywhere... That rag was clean before I started. To be fair, the really grubby mark was from the outer window door rubber, but the rest is from the interior window rubbers and air vents! The top of the screen, which you can't get to without it being removed was grim; this photo was taken after I cleaned it. I've been down a rabbit hole this weekend, investigating best cleaning practices, and there have been a few suggestions that cleaning the interior when it's hot is best as the smells are apparent and the material pores are open. With a little luck, the second Airvidox kit is arriving tomorrow, so I'll let the car get hot during the day, and clean the panels and seats tomorrow evening before dropping the bomb. The nuclear option after all this is an ozone generator... Let's see what happens over the next few days. Cheers, Nick

Hi There, Download the Connect app, register for three months' free trial, login in the car's menus, and you should be able to download individual maps if you connect the car to wifi or or phone hotspot - I was able to do this with mine. Be aware that the downloads take hours as the car uses 2.4g wifi, and sits there telling you it's downloading, even when it's finished and installing. I found that switching the ignition on and off completed the map downloads...I did it country by country (the UK is split into three regions from memory). Either do all that, or just use Google maps! Cheers, Nick

Nice! Was there any coding to do, or was it just plug-n-play? I’m sure you’ve read about my cigarette smell woes and am looking at replacing the steering wheel…more facelift wheels seem to be on eBay than the original, so would be great if it’s a straight swap.

I dropped Airvidox a note this morning asking their advice as the whiff’s coming back. They reckon that some of the treatments I’ve used have masked and pushed the nicotine back into the materials, so have offered to send another kit for the cost of postage and to really give it a deep clean before setting off the bomb - great service from them. I did pop the steering wheel cover off this morning (the bit that covers the column to underneath the instrument panel) only to find a load of ash behind there - I’m going to pop all the trim off the dash at the weekend and am sure I’ll find more ash buried in there…eurgh! The previous owners must have spent more time smoking in there than driving it, as it’s hardly covered 20k in the 5 years they owned it, but feels like a pub that’s not been cleaned for 50 years - filthy barstewards…

Each to their own…but i have to agree…I had an Arteon company car for three years, and that CC panel along with the touch sensitive controls on the steering wheel were the worst interface ever fitted to a car…at least the CC panel was backlit, unlike the controls at the base of the later infotainment screen….teams, TEAMS of people of people got paid to c*ck that up so badly!

Thanks both @OccyVRS and @Danoid for pointing out the differences in the coolant. I’ll get that changed at the next service to make sure it’s been brought up to date with G12 EVO.

The diagnosis on mine was that it needs a new nearside mirror, which is being replaced under warranty! Interesting because that mirror does make a bit of graunching noise and moves a bit roughly when folding in and out. And neither mirrors were working when I picked it up (great, as they had obviously seen the fault), but they were working again by the time I got home!!! Just waiting for the call to get it booked in to be fixed.

Probably the cheapest and easiest bit of preventative maintenance I've ever done! Replaced the infamous "mit Silikat" silica bag-equipped coolant expansion tank with a shiny new one, without the silica bag. Mine was the version with the separate chamber so the bag can't be removed. Less than 20 quid from Skoda Parts Direct, and they even had it in stock when I dropped my car in yesterday for some warranty work. Part number is 5Q0 121 407 AA. Following a video on YouTube, it took all of 10 minutes to empty it using a meat baster, unclip all the pipes, fit the new one, refit the pipes and refill it. Well worth it for peace of mind.

Hi @Setesh , that’s great, will have a look, it’s worth a try before investigating a proper detailer!

That’s brilliant @travs , thanks buddy!

40 years for those butts to decompose in our rivers and seas…I did the same when I smoked, so not at all have a dig at you buddy, also horrified with how we just threw them away back then 🙂 Thanks for the idea for steam cleaning; if I don’t get it clean over the next few months, I’ll get it detailed properly. A relatively easy fix may be to buy a used steering wheel from eBay and get it re-trimmed - I’ve found a few posts on various forums where people have resorted to this. I was driving down the M5 a few days ago and as the sun was hitting and panning around the dash, wheel and front doors, the smell was coming and going. I’ll beat it, and at least now the car isn’t greeting me with a stale smell every time I get it in. I’ve been keeping a windscreen sun reflector up which is obviously helping.

Thanks Bud, No toggle on mine, guess my car’s running an older version of software.

People are grim…zoom that photo in and look at the patch of ingrained something in the trim in front of the seat belt clip…similar on the other side…I think the previous owners may have been a bit on the large side, and may not have had the best personal hygiene habits… I hit that with Auto Finesse Total and a toothbrush yesterday morning before work and finally got rid of it…again, after multiple attempts with cleaning products and microfibres not doing much to remove it. I’ve a feeling this may be a case of just focussing on a small area at a time, and scrubbing it down thoroughly when I get time over the next few weeks and months! The car’s probably in such good condition because it’s been protected by a thick layer of crud 🤣

Stupid question, but how do you do that? I have the connected services active, I can see the car’s data and position in the app, but I only have the status that the car is locked or unlocked; no option to lock or unlock it! Thanks, Nick

That looks good, and dead cheap too - well found.

After a quite some hours, a fair few quid and a few different attempts at getting rid of the previous owner's smoking habit, I dropped an Airvidox chlorine bomb in the car for the best part of 8 hours on Sunday...the results are good so far. I've already used a mix of Autoglym high foam shampoo, Auto Finesse Total interior cleaner, an Autoglym air con sanitiser, new pollen filter, Dr Leather wipes, and the smell kept on returning, especially on hot days, and especially from the steering wheel and passenger soft trim/pleather between the window and handle when the sun hits it...it's grim...I even unbolted the front seats and vacuumed quite a lot of debris from the hard-to-reach places...The irony is that the interior is pretty much immaculate, apart from the smell, and one small burn/melt on the USB port, which I'll replace at some point. So far, the interior smells fresh and the chlorine smell is gradually going (which I'm happy for it to stay as it doesn't smell of fags!), The steering wheel still has a faint whiff of smoke, but nowhere as bad as it was, so I may leave it a few weeks and do the treatment again. I spent the time pre-cleaning with Airvidox' own interior cleaner (a solution you mix into a bucket of water), and even after I thought I'd cleaned the interior to 'as new' previously, the water had gone from golden to a grim brown once I'd finished, so it obviously picked up even more grime the other cleaners hadn't. So far it's done a lot more than the other cleaners I've used, and cost a lot less...I don't think it's completely eradicated the problem yet, so if required, I'll give it another go a in a few weeks...for around £20, it's certainly been a lot cheaper than the other options I've tried, which in all fairness only clean what you can reach and touch, whereas the gas gets in everywhere, the same as cigarette smoke. Hope that helps any other owners of cars which have been smoked in! Cheers, Nick

Hi Chris, I don't have the genuine bars, but do have Thule bars and they don't have rubber pads either...I was really hesitant the first time I fitted them, what with having a couple of kayaks on the roof and clamped down hard "Rock the boat, rock the car!", but they were fine, no scratches to the paint anywhere. That being said, I'm a bit OCD about these sorts of things and you've reminded me to look for some thin rubber sticky pad material to put on the clamps! Cheers, Nick

And ironically just after cancelling the appointment with the garage, my mirrors have started playing up again today after behaving themselves perfectly for the past couple of weeks!

That’s good news Saneso, glad to have helped! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Nick

Following up on this, I fitted a Nextbase dashcam with hardwire kit, connected to the cigarette lighter fuse (not knowing it’s a permanent live). Dashcam was removed from my previous car and had a knackered battery, so always needed to be connected to power. Dashcam was overheating, stopped working and the mirrors stopped working again…dashcam disconnected, and after a couple of drives the mirrors are working as they should again. I reckon it could be battery on its way out as it’s original, and the drain from the dashcam was causing issues. When they were playing up before, I’d just bought the car, so battery was probably in a bad state from the car sitting around and only doing short journeys. I’ve already clocked over 1k miles in the month I’ve owned it - it only did 3k last year, and 5k the year before, so not expecting the battery to be in great condition! Hope that helps. Nick

As a bloke, don’t we all forget to mention size? 🤣

Nice, good to hear the quality all-seasons are better than the cheap summers…I think, like you, I’ll just take whichever offer Conti/Pirelli/Michelin are offering when I’m ready to bin the Lego tyres, as any of them will be a great choice. From my experience last winter, the Contis come to life in the colder, wetter weather so you won’t be disappointed. Just one question, and apologies if I missed it, what size are yours? I’m on 235/45/18 and hoping they have a decent rim protector. Thanks for your feedback!

You’re welcome buddy. Let us know how you get on, hopefully sorted without having to travel! Cheers, Nick

If you're willing to travel a bit, I can thoroughly recommend Imperial Tyres in Swindon and Chris Mullins Tyres in Gloucester, both very good used both over the past few years...Imperial a little more expensive for hunter alignment but very thorough; and as they offer road force balancing, they were the only place to show me a very buckled wheel on my Cupra after about 4 other tyre places simply had a go at balancing it and either not noticed nor told me it was buckled, but happily charged me for not making it any better!