neilwilliams

Just back from my test drive. It was in Letchworth and they managed to come up with a factory fresh 1.2 S. When I say factory fresh I mean just that - the protective film was still on the bonnect and roof, while the plastic was on the front seat when it was brought round! I took it up the hill I was concerned about and it didn't miss a beat. I had a chance to try the 1.4 engine in a Golf about an hour earlier (also a factory fresh car!) and that engine really pulled on the hill. I think I'd pick a 1.4 just for the extra torque but the 1.2 was a revelation. I'll certainly be shopping around before I make a final decision. Letchworth and Cambridge will certainly get a visit (Cambridge mainly because my existing car is a Polo and they are part of the group with VW dealerships which might help the part exchange value). I can say Progress in Letchworth were polite and helpful, despite me turning up almost an hour early as the Golf drive finished earlier than I'd expected and the dealerships were only a minute apart from each other. One of the few sticking points would be the lack of MDI on the stereo but they have a solution for that which helps. I've seen the guide on here but it's not the sort of thing I can do easily.

I've arranged a test drive in a 1.2 and will throw it at the Baldock bypass in both directions on Friday. We'll see how that goes and then I'll decide whether to travel further in order to drive a 1.4 yeti or just try the engine in a different model. Thanks for the comments - I know I've been away from Briskoda for a few years but it's great to see the community spirit is still here.

Thanks for the information guys, it's much appreciated. One of my reasons for ignoring the 1.2 was a hill I have to accelerate up on a regular basis (Baldock bypass from A1(M) to Royston, just heading towards the tunnel). I have a Polo 1.4 (85PS) at the moment and it struggles with the hill, although the five speed box with stretched ratios is more likely to be the issue than the engine. The 1.2 is slower to 62 but will have more torque and better ratios due to the six speed box. My mileage over the last 12 months has only been 6000 so the extra fuel cost isn't too much of a worry.

I've had a few Fabia's in the past and after some time away from Skoda I'm considering a Yeti as my next car. My mileage has dropped a lot and there's a number of short journeys so I want to avoid the diesel models due to the DPF. I was looking at the 1.4 as it has enough speed for me and reasonable economy but having spoken to two dealers who between their groups have five branches, I can't get a test drive in a 1.4. The best that was suggested was a drive in a 1.2 followed by a go in a 1.4 Octavia. I've had a look in the forum and seen the spreadsheet for delivery times and didn't see a 1.4 listed, while the survey of owners slightly further down the first page suggested only a few have the 1.4. It's got me wondering if there's something I need to know about the engine or whether it's just unpopular so the dealers don't have a demonstrator to help manage costs? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

My dad has a Fabia 3 1.9 TDI and took it to the dealer recently with a front knocking. He was told there was an issue with the engine mounts. I don't know the specifics as I wasn't with him when he went to the dealer but some parts have been ordered but are on back order due to it being a common fault of some sort. Apparently there is some sort of technical bulletin that has been sent to the dealers on this issue. Saying that, it was the first time my dad's dealer had seen the issue. I wonder if this is related ot item number 2 in the original post?

Doesn't the towing eyelet go into one side? I know the Mk I Fabia had slightly different grilles for this reason.

I've got the 105bhp engine in a golf. I've done 35K in two years and not had any problems with it. It does like a drop of oil (approx 1 litre every 10,000 miles, but I am on the longlife servicing). I colleague has the Octavia with the same engine and I know that's used a little as I put some in it for her a while back.

I've got a Golf hatchback with the 1.9 engine and you know it's pulling a lot of car around as it doesn't have any urgency to it. I expect the estate would be heavier so go for the Octavia.

What sort of file is it? If it's a microsoft office file you should open the file, go to the file menu and select save as. You can then use the options to set a read password or an edit password.

My dad had his Fabia vRS serviced at Progress a few months ago and was very impressed with the overall service he received. The car was spotless when it was returned to him. The only odd thing is that the car had to be taken off site for the MOT. The vRS is due to be changed later this year and he's got Progress as his first stop for a new Fabia. A family friend also used them recently and when he told the staff he was heading into Letchworth to do some shopping they dropped him off and insisted he let them know when he was ready and they'd pick him up.

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a copy of that advert as I'd love to use it in a lesson but you tube is blocked for students?

Is the Epson a USB or USB2 device? Also what type of ports do you have on your computer? You could fit a USB2 card and check you've got a USB2 cable for the printer. If it is the unit itself that's slow I expect you'll be able to pick up a card reader quite cheaply from the usual places. As for comparisons, perhaps if you can let us know how long it takes to transfer a file and the size of that file others can offer similar figures for comparison here.

My current desktop is a 5 year old Medion bought in PC World. It's run without any major problems throughout that time. I believe Medion themselves are based in the Netherlands but couldn't be 100% sure on that.

If you go into the control panel you'll find an icon for Windows Updates that will let you check what's available and download them. From the small amount of playing I've done with Vista it seems to work well.

I've not got any first hand experience of Lexmark except that most of the Dell all in ones are just rebranded Lexmarks from what I can tell. I keep getting calls from the father in law of a colleague with text scanning issues on it. My parents have just got a new HP C3180 from Amazon for £40. So far so good, but I know the inks will be pricey when the come to replace them. One a related note I have a HP printer (not sure which one as I'm away from home for a few days) which was in storage for over 6 months and printed without any problems as soon as it was connected back up.

A colleague got one of these earlier in the year when he had a car from Enterprise. He wasn't impressed by the car but was happy with the service he received.

I went to Whistler, about an hour or two from Vancouver for a skiing break last December. To me it looked like America but the people were more like the UK used to be 15-20 years ago. I only saw Vancouver on the way back to the airport and the traffic was murder but that was the only downside to the whole trip. I'm seriously considering a return visit in a year or two.

I had this on my golf recently and the cause was most bizarre. I bought the car with "dealer fit" parking sensors. The fitter ended up leaving an electrical connector in the rubber gaiter by the boot hinge and over time the connector wore through the reversing light cable. Considering the Octavia reversing lights are not in the tailgate I doubt this is an issue but it may be worth checking the wires for breaks.

If you know the model of the drive in your computer have a look online and see if there are any updates for it. I recently managed to apply an update which enabled my laptop DVD burner to deal with both + and - disks. If your computer was not an own-build job have a look at th emanufacturers site for help.

I had that engine in my first Fabia. I think I averaged around 44mpg in mixed driving once the engine was run in. The roof bars will affect the fuel consumption as they increase both the mass of the car and they add drag through the air. I've never used them myself so I have no idea what kind of affect they would have.

I know exactly where you're coming from. I'm at two and a half weeks after being told they'd get back to me.

Who produced the booklet? I'm really only familiar with the NFER Nelson ones but the theory generally matches. One of the main differences I've seen is the use of patterns when the publisher is trying to keep the costs down and avoid coloured inks!

I think these are also known as non-verbal reasoning tests. They are a test of logical thinking, reasoning and deduction. They are not really tests you can revise for, but doing some practise tests can help you get a feel for what they are after. I've marked a few in my time (batches of 60 :eek: ) but not had to sit one for years. Generally you need to watch out for patterns in colours and/or shapes. You might get five red dots, four black dots, three red dots, two black dots and be asked what comes next. The answer here would be one red dot - the dots go down by 1 each time and the colours swap between red and black each time. If you do a google search you'll be able to find some online examples which may take you through the answers as well.

Enjoy

I've been using a Sony Cybershot P10 for around 5 years now and it's been faultless. In that time I've taken it on four residential school trips so it's seen beaches, mud flats, marshes, castles, and various weather conditions. It's also done the initial photography for two school calendars. In that time I've taken over 6500 photos and been fairly happy. Battery life is my only concern with it but I believe the newer Sony cameras have sorted that particular issue a little better. I am thinking about upgrading to a DSLR but that's more something to play with (it certainly wouldn't be taken near mud flats!!) but I'm going to keep the cybershot for riskier locations. I'd say go for it, but do make sure you get a decent capacity memory card.