Fred Bloggs

I got a 170 CR Elegance 4x4 hatch on the 0% VAT and the 0% APR. No brainer to use the 0% APR deal as well, keep my money in the bank.

FWIW, on my Mk2 Elegance, if you press the lock button on the key for >2 seconds it folds the mirrors for you. My Mk1 Elegance never had this functionality IIRC.

Best feature to have on a new engine would be to replace the belt camshaft drive with a timing chain, IMO.

Cheers, just the job!

Thanks, thought so.

I think I have a problem with the Columbus unit not recognising music tracks that I have ripped with Win Amp. Win Amp is ripping in .m4a format and it seems the Columbus unit cannot read these files? .mp3's are read just fine. Snag is, I have >1000 tracks in .m4a format that I want to listen to! Thanks.

After about 4 months of ownership I still struggle to get really comfy and be sitting high enough to see out of the car properly. I'm ~5' 9" and found the old Mk 1 much better for long journeys.

You're saying there is no servicing at all for the first three years or 30k miles on a diesel engine? Not even an oil/filter change?

I wondered about that but I couldn't see anything obvious when I looked earlier today. Besides, the Columbus simply doesn't display the "Album" folder it just displays all the MP3 tracks under the "Artist" folder. So, it displays three track number "1's, 2's, 3's etc" if there's three albums for an artist for example. I have found that the exact same file structure on an SDHC card displays perfectly, how you'd expect. I'm just going to use the SDHC card now in preference to the HDD. Cheers.

Thanks.

I've loaded about 2500 MP3 files onto the HDD of my Columbus unit but I've noticed that the file structure I have used (ROOT > Fred's Music > Artist Name > Album Name > MP3 tracks) doesn't seem to be recognised properly. The Columbus unit lists the MP3's as Artist > MP3 tracks, so the albums are jumbled up and they play out of sequence rather than by album order. I can't see a way to correct this, anyone else noticed this on their unit? The only solution I can see is to reorganise the folder structure as ROOT > Fred's Music > Artist+Album Name > MP3 tracks. Edit - The Columbus reads an SDHC card with the exact same files correctly. I'll use the SDHC card in preference to the HDD now.

Thanks, that helps a lot.Edited - Here's what my Columbus unit says - HW - Version H60 SW - Version 3984 Active map coverage - West Europe Active map supplied - Navteq Map version HDD - 7551 I got the car about 4 or 5 weeks ago so I hope that is pretty recent software that's installed, I wasn't given a DVD.

How do you find out what version of maps you have please? Thanks.

Thanks, I never thought of using the ICE section. Yes, a digression but I don't share your experience of Linux (Suse, Fedora, Ubuntu) running quicker than Windoze on the same hardware. Thanks again.

I don't know that it does, it's just me speculating. Besides, the processing power of the unit will dictate how well the unit runs just as much, if not more than, the platform it runs on.

Thanks, yes I had to move the folders to be in the right place at first but I soon got the hang of that. OK, so you have A to Z > Artist > Album > MP3's. Which, apart from the A to Z folders, is the same as I have. I am surprised the Columbus sees a difference there, a computer would be fine with both yours and mine and would see them as the same thing other than one folder layer different. I suspect Columbus is running a Linux port?

Thanks, Album > Artist > Tracks > MP3's? I've tried to keep the same folder structure that I use for WinAmp on my laptop but it seems it isn't possible which is a big shame.

I've loaded about 2500 MP3 files onto the HDD of my Columbus unit but I've noticed that the file structure I have used (Artist > Album Name > MP3 tracks) doesn't seem to be recognised properly. The Columbus unit lists the MP3's as Artist > MP3 tracks, so the albums are jumbled up and they play out of sequence rather than by album order. I can't see a way to correct this, anyone else noticed this on their unit? The only solution I can see is to reorganise the folder structure as Artist+Album Name > MP3 tracks.

The dumbing down is well under way. There's loads of ways the Mk2 Superb has been dumbed down compared with the Mk1. On my Elegance for example, the Mk2 has no auto dipping interior mirror, no rear heated seats, leather is only half the quality, no "wood" trim, no warning triangle, general trim quality less robust, no standard carpet mats, no spare wheel as standard etc...... On the other hand, compared to the price of my Mk1, I paid not a lot more (VAT free deal, 0% etc) for my 4x4 170 CR Elegance in November 11 than I did for my V6 TDi Mk1 back in December 2005. I suppose something in the car has to give to bridge that gap.

Thanks I'll have to drop into the dealership and show them what it's doing then but I expect they'll not know if it's supposed to be like that or not.

It does on mine, all part of the bizarre behaviour. I don't suppose it does any harm but I can't help thinking this is just a feature for the sake of it and one that I wouldn't even have known about if a neighbour yesterday hadn't told me that "one of your fog lights is not working". Hence I started looking at it later yesterday when I'd been out.

Thanks, it seems bizarre behaviour to me, and the manual seems useless when you read it.

I have a 170 CR Elegance 4x4, done about 1300 miles and I can't work out if the front fog lights are behaving normally or not, if anyone can confirm what I am seeing is correct or not then I'd appreciate it. I always leave the lights on the "auto" setting all the time. When I start the car, the headlights come on and just one of the fog lights comes on. Sometimes it is the left one, sometimes it's the right one, but never both. Sometimes, when I arrive where I'm going, I get out to look at the lights and the fog light that was lit when I set off is now out and the other one is lit, never both are lit. If I switch to side lights, one fog stays lit. If I switch to manual dipped beam, one fog stays lit. If I pull out the switch to manually turn on the front fog lights, they both come on as they should. When I engage reverse both fog lights come on (I know this is correct). I have tried to read the manual but it makes no sense to me. Does this bizarre behaviour make sense? What about at MOT time, it will surely fail the MOT running with just one fog light lit? Thanks.

I have the 4x4 170CR Elegance saloon/hatch so not a like for like comment. I have problems with the driving position, particularly my left leg. Pay close attention to this when you go for a test drive, I didn't and I bitterly regret not doing so. I have to sit very low and this makes visibility out of the car awful making parking and moving around in tight spots difficult in such a long car. The 4x4 system has the car feeling very planted to the road compared to my old Mk1 Superb but I would say that the older car had a much better trim quality and may well have been better screwed together. Already after 1200 miles my Superb has developed a loud rattle from inside the centre dash area when driving over ripled road surfaces (and there's a lot of those in the UK now) my 6 year old Mk1 never had anything like that. Overall, I'm not that impressed with the car apart from the 4x4, so take a good long test drive before you finally decide. If I'd taken my advice I may not have bought this car.

How do you see what maps version is installed in the Columbus? (I didn't get a maps disk either). Thanks.