GroundHog

Great stuff - thanks FF.

I recently sold our 1.4TSI as we traded in two cars for a newer Scout, but in all the time I had it I thought it was great. Its got good fuel economy, whilst having enough poke for day to day running and is sooo smooth and easy to drive. Also with the price of petrol and diesel being so different at the moment it makes this engine even better. Mine had only done 19k so I can't comment on the high mileage but I can't see it causing too many issues. The TSI engine is pretty tried and tested in Golf's so its not like its that new. We have now got a 1.8TSI in the Scout and I have to say I absolutely love it! So much poke and the addition of 4WD too just makes it so chuckable, so I would also recommend this engine if you are looking for the perfect compromise between the two extremes, especially as you may well find the 1.4 a little on the sluggish side at first until you get used to it. They did the 1.8TSI in the pre-FL Octy, so you may find a high mileage older car (think 2007 onwards for that engine) if you hunt around a bit and aren't fussed about the FL model.

On a similar vein... anyone know how to change my single electrics to double electrics? Its a standard factory fit Skoda towbar, but only has the single electrics, so no good for towing a caravan. Sorry for the thread hijack.

Having been number 21, I am now... 108. GroundHog / Anthracite Grey / 1.8 TSI / Aug 2011 So long 08 Scout - you did us proud!

Doesn't hill hold use the ESP somehow? Is it worth getting this checked?

I only wish I could. I have a choice of Audi, BMW or VW. Tried a Passat this past weekend and its just too boring. If there was a Superb on the list I'd snap it up.

So I'm getting a company car and this means we need to get rid of one of our cars. We have an 08 Scout TDI with 53000 on the clock and a 10 reg 1.4TSI Elegance hatch with 17000 on the clock. My head says keep the hatchback as it still has over a year of warranty left and significantly lower mileage, does about the same mpg, and petrol is cheaper at the mo. However my heart says stick with the Scout as its so good at everything and will probably hold its value better in the long run and is more of an all purpose car; and I know that if we sell it, we won't be able to afford another 4x4 for a few years. I'm probably getting an A4 Avant or 3 Series Touring as the company car, so I'm going to have a much smaller boot as a result, and we will soon have 2 kids under 3 and a dog, but is that enough to justify the older Scout? What do you lot think? Head or heart? Am I right in saying the Scout will be due a cambelt change when its 4 years old, which just makes it even more expensive?!

Pretty sure when we had our Scout windscreen replaced we went for no top tint, and no tint on the screen itself. It looked exactly the same as the one it replaced (just a helluva lot cleaner!!), so I guess that was right.

Ah yes, I have the vbf and find it very useful. It was more out of interest as I have test driven an Audi A4 Avant, but it is quoted as having a significantly smaller boot (490 litres vs over 600 for the Octy), but I wondered if with the vbf in place the space above the vbf was similar to that of the Audi that doesn't have it. If not I'll end up just getting a Passat! It was more out of interest than anything scientific.

Anyone know the litre-age of the Octy Estate boot when it has the variable boot floor in place (ie the space above the floor)? Just wondering as I'm getting a company car and I'm wondering if what we have at the moment in our Scout with the VBF is similar to the size of some of the estates I have the choice of (alas Skoda isn't on the list - booo). Thanks.

Thanks for the info guys. I will look at the Continentals. I always had Pirelli's in the past and found them to be fine so might look at those as an option as well.

I need two new front tyres for my 1.4TSI hatch, but just wondered if I need the same make tyre on the front and back? Current tyres are Bridgeston ER300's that came with the car, but these are about 15 quid more per tyre than getting Dunlop's or Pirelli's. I don't do a massive mileage so don't really want to spend £30 more than I need to if it doesn't matter having a mixture of makes. Thanks.

Cool thanks - I'll give that a go tomorrow.

The boot lid on our Scout keeps "sticking" and not opening properly. Makes no difference if I open it on the key or using the handle on the boot. Its like the boot catch is not quite releasing properly. Anyone else had this problem, or know of an easy fix, or is it a dealer thing? Cheers.

How much was the remap for the 1.4 if you don't mind me asking?

That's what happens when you only put down a £100 deposit

It definitely just looks like a Lancia clone from the front. Maybe the VW parts bin is empty and so they've dipped in to the Chrysler one instead?!

I have the manual seats and have no problems finding a comfortable driving position. The annoying thing though is when someone else drives the car and they move the seat (why is it dealers need to move the seat up and down and back and forth so much to move it for servicing?!), you then have to get it back to how you like it. The electric seats have a memory function so once you're happy you know you'll always be able to get that position back! Make sure you test drive a car with both seat types rather than just in the showroom, as you'll never be able to tell otherwise.

Yeah you get the SD card reader, and to be honest unless you have an excessive amount of music, that will probably be sufficient. Only thing on top of the spare wheel (make sure its the full size spare not the space saver, as you don't actually lose any boot space by going full size and they're the same price!) I would add is if you want a flat boot floor when you fold the seats down then order the variable boot floor. Its nice as you then get a handy cubby hole underneath the floor as well to store all manner of junk in!

Thanks guys. I wasn't going to bother with winter tyres as such, more the M+S tyres that work all year round and see how we get on. However thanks for the Dunlop and Barum tips - I'll have to look in to them. I think I've got Pirelli's on there at the moment and to be fair they have lasted a good 20,000 and all worn pretty evenly, but there was some loss of traction last winter, and these are pretty loud, so if there is a better/quieter option then I'm certainly interested.

Our tyres are getting a little on the low side on our Scout (about 3mm all round) and so I was wondering what we should replace them with? I'm wondering about getting some mud and snow tyres what with winter coming and the sort of winters we've had recently, but wondered if they had a reduced lifespan compared with normal tyres? Its expensive enough to replace all 4 tyres on this car without having to do it again in 10000 miles time! Any suggestions/recommendations from anyone? Not looking to spend too much, if possible, but going on the last time we bought 4 new tyres I seem to remember only premium makes made this weird tyre size anyway so its going to be pretty expensive either way. Thanks a lot.

I did wonder if I had a problem with the turbo as there have been times when I've floored the throttle in 4th gear and not really felt much acceleration, almost as though I was driving a normally aspirated 1.4. Might be a trip to the dealers then :(

I have a 1.4TSI hatch and I've just start noticing, over the last few weeks, it being rather hesitant when accelerating up through the gears. It seems to be between 2000-3000rpm when in 3rd, 4th or 5th where I'm not getting a smooth acceleration anymore, instead it is almost jerky. I've always noticed 3rd being a bit jerky from low speeds, but now I'm getting it in the other gears as well. I wondered if it could be caused by me putting supermarket fuel in it (I had one of those 10p off per litre vouchers for Sainsbury's a few weeks back) whereas I've tended to use Jet or Shell in the past, as it has been happening since around about the same time. However I have since put some Shell petrol in and I'm still noticing the problem. I have also topped up the oil as that was getting a little low, but nowhere near running out. Any other suggestions, or is this a common problem? Cheers.

I think I have seen a similar problem on our Scout TDI. Though saying that its not really happened much over the last few months. I've never spoken to a dealer about it, but I'm sure I read on here that someone else experienced something similar as well. I wonder if it is a common thing on the old PD engines?

The 1.4TSI is a far superior engine to the 1.6MPI, and its much more modern as well so more economical. I would say that the 1.2TSI is probably more on par with the 1.6MPI though from a performance side so you might be better looking at the 1.2 as a better option as it is cheaper than the 1.4 but still more economical than the 1.6MPI.