TerFar

Dynamic Chassis Control. Smooths out bumps on rough roads. It a £1,000 extra on top of the range vehicle. Not dure why it's DCS and not DCC!

My conclusion from all this that the best practise is: 1. Invest in good tyres and 2. Balance the front / back wear by swapping front / back approximately half way through estimated tyre life Of course, if you have a tyre fail during an early part of its estimated life, it does present a dilemma! But that is an unusual occurrence.

I don't consider myself as ancient: just a juvenile 75 yo. My first cars had crossplys, no brake servo, no power steering, trafficators, NO HEATER and ghastly vacuum ww wipers. It did have electric starter, but also a starting handle for when the battery was inadequate on a cold winter morning! No motorways and, of course, you had to read a map to navigate! Cars have moved on a bit.

The water pump is not driven by the Cam Belt.

Good point. It may suggest a manifold leak which could explain poor running at low revs.

I've a 2016 1.2 TSi but with a DSG box and there's no judder. If it's not the clutch, then I'd suspect a drive shaft problem.

The chart clearly shows DSG oil change at years 4 and 8.

I have a Jan 2016 1.2 DSG with just under 16k miles on the clock. I had to replace my tyres (Bridgestone) because they were showing clear signs of old age even though they were well inside the legal limit for tread wear. I've had no problems with my DSG. I had the fluid changed at 5 years though. I certainly do not intend to change the cambelt at such a low mileage. The belt manufacturers quote a life of 120,000km and trying to find REAL/GENUINE figures about how many TSi engines have been written off through cambelt failure is impossible to find. I intend to keep mine until as late as possible before replacing it before the new non-electric car sales ban is introduced in 2030. Presuming that I continue to add miles at our current rate, I'm guessing that it won't have done more the 30,000 miles when it is 10 years old, so I'm not wasting money on a new cambelt. As for the DSG problems reported: I've heard rumours that the fluid being used by VAG was a little too acidic and it slow ate away at the tin on the solder joints inside the Mechatronic unit. The DSG fluid has been reformulated, so that should be a problem.

The Montecarlo edition comes with sports suspension options.

I mostly agree with you. My Fabia was bought used (at 2 years old) which already had the 17" wheel option fitted. Personally, had I bought it new, I'd defintely have kept the 16" standard wheels and just fitted premium tyres.

I had original Bridgestone Potenza 205/40 R17s on mine that were over 5 years old. When I had the MoT in January, they warned me thst although they were well inside legal limits (only 60% worn), the walls looked stiff through age and there were cracks appearing. They were rated E/C/72db. I've replaced them with Donlop Sports Maxx RTs (rated B/A/68db) and they give an infinitely better ride, are noticeably quieter and give much better fuel consumption. Hooray!

There's a tyre pressure card slipped inside the filler cap. I've got with 205/40 R17 fitted and 32 lbs is perfect when not heavily laden. I put 36 lbs in the rears when fully loaded. But it is probably different for the 16" wheels.

Not a great help, but if you search Google for Android Auto on Pixel III, there are bucket loads of the same observation, but it's unclear if it's the Pixel or latest Android that has the problem.

My Skoda dealer describes the BCM is the battery control module. It's not a physical module but part of the msnsgement is software. There is no downside to disconnecting it: no errors or such like, just all upsides (no start/stop and a fully charged battery).

That's precisely what is wrong with the system. 90% of our journeys are short journeys; supermarket, gym, town for various reasons, gallery where wife works, etc. all round an extremely busy roads with queues of traffic and roundabouts, start/stop nearly all the way. So with the BCM sensor connected, we have start/stop in action at every stop draining the battery that's only at 80% to start with (until it it is too low and the BCM overrides it), very little overrun to do any charging whatsoever. I've plugged in a battery voltage gauge and watched the voltage to see when it is charging and it's not often on short runs. If you take it for a long run to 'top up the battery' at a steady 70mph, it simply charges back to just 80% because there are no opportunities for overrun at a steady 70mph (unless you want to drive erratically and drive other motorists bonkers). I think the whole idea is a complete EU legislative mess in the pretense of saving fuel. But just how much? Insignificant in my experience. Just annoyance of the delay waiting for the engine to restart at busy junctions and constant low battery warnings. So I disconnect the BCM sensor which enables me to pull away at our local busy roundabouts and junctions and it eliminates low battery problems.

I've had my BCM disconnected for 3 years (except the days it's been in for a service), mainly to defeat start/stop but also because it stops the battery from fully charging. It's only necessary to disconnect the BCM sensor lead from the battery negative terminal and tuck it away.

Originally, the did try mast triangulation, but the accuracy was poor because invariably the phone couldn't see sufficient masts and/or the signals bounced off buildings. There are now so many satellites in geosynchronous orbit, that it is possible to 'see' as many as 7 at a time!

I know exactly where you're coming from. I often reminisce about how much simpler it all was back when I started out motoring. I did most of my servicing and have rebuilt several A series engines. I've been a big enthusiast about many of the modern improvements such as power steering and power brakes with all the handling, safety and economy improvements. But all this electronic jiggery pokery is far too much. Now if you get a fault, if it doesn't show up on the diagnostic system, most garages are clueless what to do. When a friend and I drove an ancient Reliant Kitten estate on the Mongol Rally, it was a pleasure to find that once we had left 'modern' Europe and drove into Ukraine and Russia, though the roads were ghastly, every little village had its little garage/workshop setup and they really were traditional mechanics. We had a generator burn out: no problem. A guy took it off, stripped it and rewound it in less than three hours. When two wheel studs broke, they removed a good stud, jumped onto an old scooter and disappeared for a couple of hours, coming back with two newly machine replacements! Here they'd right off your 5-year old car for a broken stud!

Try Halfords. You can book and pay online selecting a day and time that suits you. When they did my battery, the were prompt at starting the work (they had the new battery ready waiting) and it took 15 mins to replace the battery and plug in the programmer to change the codes. A little more expensive than buying online, but the convenience is worth the extra when you're old and grumpy like me.

I guess this is a manual gearbox? It sounds like a clutch issue. As you go up in ratios, the worn or warped clutch judders less because the ratios are much higher. At 46k, I guess the previous owner used the clutch as a foot rest! Take it back to the garage and ask for it to be repaired or reject the car. If you truly are terrible at changing gears, get a Fabia with a DSG automatic. You'll love it so much, you'll never use a manual again.

Most mobile phones have a location chip based on receiving satellite signals. This is why we can use Google Maps or installed GPS Apps. It has absolutely nothing to do with making phone calls.

Yes, this happens to me occasionally. It is usually because instead of attaching my phone to the magnetic phone attachment on the dash where the phone has a 'clear view' of the satellites in the sky above, I have left it in my coat pocket, so the sky is partially obscured. The result is the occasional announcement 'lost satellite reception'. Obviously, if I'm just popping down to the shops or going somewhere familiar, I am unlikely to want to use my phone, so I leave it in my pocket. So this is normal.

Yep.

A timing belt failure will most probably result in an engine rightoff. But the chances of that happening are greatly exaggerated by VAG. The manufacturer of the belts states a life of 160km: VAG leans towards providing easy money for its agents.

As above, you can unlock all doors by double pressing the open button or you can change the option to open all doors with a single press in Car Settings as explained in the manual.