Jimbo vRS

Me and the FiL managed to do the front and back ones in under an hour. That was jacking each corner up in turn as well, no lifts etc... and setting up/packing away. If they quote you more than an hours labour, I'd walk away.

Sounds like the wheel bearing to me. Are you attempting this yourself? It's a bit of a pig of a job apparently.

That just show the points on the sills to use the supplied jack against. I was after a list of other points under the car that trolley jacks and axel stands could be used. I'm just trying to check that the places I use are suitable and that I'm not going to do any damage if I keep using them.

Anyone got any pictures of these appropriate places? Cheers.

Fitted them the wrong way around?? I'm obviously no expert, but surely that must've taken more effort and ingenuity than actually fitting them correctly?! :eek: You're dead right though, and I had my (mechanic) father in law check them after I'd done them the first time, just to be on the safe side

Fuel Filter & Throttle Body Clean are the two which spring to mind.

Fronts are a doddle, I have zero mechanical ability an managed it myself. You after specific pads, or OEM? Try GSF or TPS for the latter. DOn't by the mintext sets off eBay though, the set I have seem to be made of cheese!

Thanks for all the input guys. KR MAN - That thread didn't help much with choosing products, but I spent a good half an hour drooling over some lovely cars, so it wasn't a complete waste of time Chris - Thanks for tip re: glazes. Think I'll save some cash and give it a miss this time round. Can always get one to try next time. Wilsonian - I'm off to Halfords and Asda at lunch then. Cheers for the tip. Andy - I tried detailing the spare over the weekend, and claying seems to have done the trick on the front of the wheel, bought it up almost like new I think I need something stronger to get rid of all the tar and muck on the rear though which has resisted all of my efforts so far. Thanks for all the advice guys,

A wheel refurb would be good as I'd like them recoloured as well, but funds are a little way off for that. Same with machine polishing, hence the need for a polish with some fillers. Are you suggesting the Wet Mirror Finish instead of the Collinite? How hard wearing is it? Ideally, I'd like something that doesn't need renewing *that* often. So far, it looks like SRP > Jetseal > Collinite on the car, and a couple of layers of Jetseal on the alloys. And some megs UQD for the washes inbetween. Although I've just been reading about glazes... christ this gets expensive very quickly!! :( Thanks for all the help so far.

Thanks Andy, that's a few quid saved by not getting the Wheel Guard!

Cheers, that was the plan (removing them), but looking at the state of them; I suspect sandblasting may be more effective :( Have got some AG Wheel Cleaner and a used clay bar ready. And a spare can of WD40 if they fail to do it. I've read it's safe to use cleaner wax on alloys as well and have an old bottle of megs stuff that could be put to use if required. Is it also possible to use the AG polish/renovator on alloys if the much still isn't shifting?

Best not to. There's a guide to cleaning the engine bay in the Styling & Car Care forum (it's stikied, so near the top of page 1) that will help you get it clean without breaking stuff.

Hey folks, I've been lurking in this section for a little while now and think I've managed to absorb all the info I need for the task at hand but was just wondering if someone could sanity check my plan, if possible. The old girl (Black Magic Octavia) is comming up to 5 years old now, and the paintwork could really use some attention. There's the usual collection of swirl marks, plus some light scratches (I think these a really cosmetic as I can remove *most* of the evidence by rubbing it with a wet finger). Added to those, the paintwork has the texture of the bottom of a budgies cage :eek: Washing and claying I'm fine with, it's the products to use next that confuse the hell out of me. I'm assuming that claying will completely remove the Supaguard protection that I had applied from new (if it's not already evaporated/disintegrated etc...) and I'll need to put some new protection on. I've been reading through all of the threads here, and this is what I think I'm going to go for. Does this lot sound about right before I go and blow a small fortune? Stuff I need to buy is marked. All products will be applied by hand as I dan't have access to a polisher. The Plan: Go over the paint with AG Super Resin Polish (would need to buy this, is there anything better?) to attempt to remove/mask the worst of the swirl marks, and get rid of some light scratches down one side. I've already got some AG Paint Renovator as well if the SRP isn't up to the job. Would I need to use the SRP on top of the Paint Renovator (if I have to resort to it)? Two coats of Jetseal 109 (to be bought) Two (More/Less?) coats of Collonite 476S (to be bought) I also need to sort my alloys out as I don't think they've been properly cleaned in a while (well, ever really). Once I've got the muck off, I was thinking a couple of coats of Chemical Guys Wheel Guard (to be bought) should do the trick. Is it worth (or even possible) sticking a couple of coats of Jetseal on them first? Then there's the interior, but that's a whole seperate weekend I think... Any tips or advice gratefully recieved. J.

A dealer will never acknowledge a car as being in "excellent" condition once you've driven it off the forecourt. Took my other halfs mint Ka in last year and was told it only rated as "fair" as it had been used :confused: He didn't seem to get it when I pointed out that the system was giving him prices for used cars :(

All the valuation services use different methods of working out the price. Not sure which services you've used, but the only ones the motor industry will touch (generally) are CAP and Glass's. CAP are notorious for being more stingy when it comes to pricing (there's an old saying in the motor trade : Buy off CAP, sell off Glass's). I don't think you can get a CAP valuation as a private customer, but Glass's will do you one for ~ £3.50. You'll almost always get a better price by selling it yourself, but a lot of people don't have the time or inclination to do it and will take the dealers trade in price just to get rid of it. The following snippets are from Glass's FAQ section which may explain some of it a bit more Why is the dealer offering me a different trade-in price? There could be many reasons, for instance, the dealer might have given you extra discount on the car you are buying, it may depend on how much he can get for it on the forecourt (demand), he may have a large stock of that model, his view of the condition may be different to your own, it may be the time of year. You always have the option of going to a different dealer. Why is there a difference between the Trade-in and Retail Values? The trade in price (the amount a dealer pays you) differs from the retail price (the price a dealer may advertise the car for) because a dealer has the following costs and considerations: refurbishment, valeting, servicing, stocking, storage, warranty, administration, title checks, profit, advertising & VAT.

Currently sat on 520 following Fridays drive from Inverness to Derby, via Loch Ness & Fort William. It's sat at the half way point of the red section of the guage, so I reckon it'll probably do 550 - 570 before hitting empty. It surprises me quite a lot because the journey was done with a weeks worth of camping kit in the boot along with me and SWMBO. Wasn't the quickest of journeys, sat at 70 on the motorway, but there was plenty of overtaking done on the A82 over Ranoch Mor so it was booted a good few times as well. Don't think I've ever had it that high before.

Is there any chance of getting another run of these done? I could use a set of 5 please.

I'm not so sure that's such a good way to check as mine was loads worse on the manifold side than it was on the hose side. Brilliant guide, thanks

Yep, that's the most likely cause. Eventually it'll just sieze completely.

Finally got around to doing this over the weekend. All I can say is, which genius decided it was a good idea to run the washer hose through the wiper gear assembly with a couple of joints???!? Whipped the motor out and took the cover off and URGH!! No wonder it had stopped working!! It was well and truely clogged up with a mixture of rust and gunge. I can only assume this was from 4 years of leakage from the washer hose. Half an hour with some WD40, rags and a toothbrush and it was back to full working order. Re-greased it, put it all back together and Roberts your mothers brother. Always nice to do a job that doesn't involve forking out for parts though The boot trim is still sat in the garage though. After half an hour of banging and swearing, I decided to save that job for later Thanks for all the advice folks

Cheers guys. Looking forwards to lots of fun with the trim. Just had a search (which I should probably have done before posting) and I'm hoping I can get away with just cleaning and lubing the motor, rather than replacing it. Any hints?

After a week of sounding arthritic, my rear wiper has finally given up the ghost. From the sounds it was making, I'm fairly confident it's the motor that's gone. Anyone know if it's a big job to replace it, links to guides, part numbers etc... Thanks, Jim.

Cam belt and waterpump were done last year, so all up-to-date on that front I'm going to get the brake fluid changed as well as that needs doing every 2 years IIRC?

Hi Folks, The service indicator has just come on for my 04 Octavia vRS (Mk I) to have its 4th variable service. It's done just over 63k miles now. I'm going to give the local garage in the village a try for the first time as he's handy, well recommended and considerably cheaper than the dealers. Just to make sure I'm getting a like-for-like job, can anyone tell me what needs doing at this service? Is it just an oil/filter change and general inspection, or is it more involved than that? Thanks, Jim.

Nah, they were just the standard mintex 312mm vented disks. No grooves and not drilled. I may have just been unlucky (I hope) but another member has experienced the same problems as be with the same brake box set.