James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale

You can probably squeeze your hand up behind the bumper, push the old one out then pop the new one in.

Directly from a dealer or TPS branch that deals with the public

If you get the same part number then an official skoda dealership should have no problem coding it in.

They're a simple enough job in either case. New selector with one manufacturer. New microswitch on the other. I've rarely seen a reoccurrence of the fault after the repair.

Did it have a Gates tensioner on it by any chance?

Over time the gearbox will adapt to differing driving styles. I've dealt with complaints in the past where a husband and wife will have "his and hers" cars. One ends up using the other's car to pop down the shops, notices how differently it drives and assumes it's got a fault with it. Next thing it's in the dealership. Tests show up nothing, you explain why it's doing what it's doing, they laugh at you, complain to skoda, skoda confirm what you've said is correct, they then leave with a little bit more knowledge about their car and hopefully a little bit more respect for the "yard-apes" in charge of repairing them. The reset is a good idea. Keeps things nice and crisp.

Replace the DSG oil, filter plus the drain plug washer and o-ring on the filter housing. The parts are far from cheap. Even at cost price the oil is about £15 a litre x 6 litres (£90), £20 for a filter then the seals £5. There's something like half an hours labour then the VAT on top. On the fixed price scheme you never get the full labour times. There's no reset involved either. Run it up to temp and check the oil level, road test and that's it. Personally I road test them and run a diagnostic check before and after. There's far too many chancers with a known problem on their gearbox who book in to have the oil changed then show up a couple of days later with said fault claiming that it's only come about "since you changed the oil".

I you buy a key from the dealer and want them to activate smartlink you could always ask if they'll programme the new key for free whilst they have the diagnostic machine connected up. It realistically only takes about 10-15 minutes.

When key pairing is carried out correctly it should remove all the missing keys anyway. The only thing that a would be thief would be able to do with that key then is to open the car via the mechanical door lock and turn on the ignition via the mechanical barrel. The car won't start and the alarm will sound. Some auto locksmiths have a different method and force a new key onto the car. This doesn't erase the missing key.

With just about every fault on new models these days you'll probably find there's more than likely a software update.

As far as I'm aware the keys are not reusable. Once the transponder has been paired to a car's immobiliser it can't be wiped then paired to another vehicle. A spare key will set you back in the region of 150-200 quid supplied and coded by any skoda dealer.

From memory the plugs are all the same unit provided by Texa diagnostics. It's only the app that differs. I use a skoda plug and the skoda app in a Seat, it works well.

I've seen it in hundreds if not thousands of service books, always blank 🤦🏻‍♂️ It's surprising how many of those items that Skoda UK are claiming are part of services on their own website that don't actually form any part of the service schedule tasks on the online maintenance sheets that they provide based on the vehicles age and mileage 🤷🏼‍♂️

If it really is saturated with 65g of soot then I'm afraid that no amount of DPF fuel additives or driving to try an force it to regen will work. The ECU will block the process and all you'll do is clog it further. There's places like DPF doctor that might be able to clean it in place or you'll have to remove it, send it away for cleaning then have the ECU reset.

Under heavy use we've seen the filters blocked after as little as 15k miles. The change interval at audi on certain models was 3 years with no mileage mentioned. I saw an S1 grenade it's haldex unit at 50k. It smashed the housing to bits and actually caught fire 🤯

I'm not condoning the removal of the silicate bag on your Skodas but the first thing I did when I got my Leon was remove it. That's speaking as someone who deals with the consequences of them failing on a fairly regular basis.

39mpg looks pretty good to me. With the cold weather set in at the minute, heater on full along with the heated seats I'm lucky to get 35mpg out of mine.

PM me your reg and an email address and I'll send you your service history. It takes about 5 seconds for any dealer staff to obtain. The bodywork inspection is an interesting subject. I've been asked about it at 2 different brands and the answer from "those in the know" (brand area managers, warranty auditors, technical trainers etc) is that it's an additional operation separate to the service and mechanical inspection. This means that it carries an additional cost then logging online with a different operation code to the service. The cost has put pretty much everyone that I've dealt with off. I was never given an exact figure of what the aforementioned cost should be 🤷🏼‍♂️

The kodiaq 150 1.4tsi ACT is another with the 6 speed wet box. I was always a bit concerned about owning one myself but I had a leon for 3 years with the 7 speed dry box and it never missed a beat.

I believe you're only lumbered with the choice of the 7 speed DSG on the 1.4TSI engine.

I've spent a bit of time with each brand in the VWG these last few years and the comments about the desirability to steal a skoda vehicle are spot on. At VW and Audi there'd be at least a couple of instances a month where customers would have an attempt made at having their car stolen. We'd be replacing lock sets for fun. At Audi in particular we had our own demo, courtesy and on-demand cars stolen on the regular. We had customers parking their car outside other people's houses only to find out later their house had been ransacked looking for the keys for said car too. It seems that should you own the likes of a Polo GTI, Mk7 Golf GTI/R/GTD, S3, RS3, Q3/5/7 or Leon Cupra the there's a good chance someone will try to take it off you. I've only heard of two skodas being taken in recent years: one that shared a driveway with a Golf R that they were after and the other was the result of stupidity (left the keys in the ignition). I've discussed this with customers in the past and the sad fact is you can spend £1000s on a garage, CCTV, big gates, security posts, alarms, trackers etc but all it takes is a them to catch you off guard just as you turn up at home from work or just as you get in the car in the morning. You can't have nothing these days ☹

Not a TSI but I have one on my 184TDI along with a pedal box. It's excellent and DTUK are great to deal with. Andy is usually readily available to speak to should you have any concerns.

As stupid as it may sound the EA288 diesel engines can take around 15000 miles to fully eradicate air within the cooling system from the original build and run in at the factory. I've seen this happen since it's introduction and more often than not the system is filled to maximum and there are seldom any more reoccurrences.

OBDeleven with a pro license will set you back less than £100. It will do everything you need as an "enthusiast" user.

If you want a very good mobile deterrent then you can't beat the oldskool Disklok! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371440068430 I'm afraid that speaking from the experience of living in a "nice" area with a high crime rate - if they want it then they'll take it.