Delacroix

Yes, ZZ3's were the last tyres I had fitted to my vRS before I sold it, and in my experience were the best (although I couldn't judge long-term wear), with low noise, great handling and good wet road stopping. I peferred them to Conti SC2's (which were the original OEM's), but haven't tried the newer SC5's so can't make a realistic comparison. Inbetween I also had some Uniroyal Rainsport 2's which I also thought were very good, but not as good as the ZZ3's (they also seemed to wear quite quickly).

Re the Citigo, it was my last courtesy car when the vRS was in for it's MOT and service. At first I hated it (I had a 150 mile round trip to make for work that day), but after a while I grew quite affectionate for it, although I'm sure I would have got lousy fuel economy as an owner as I was foot to the floor nearly all the time with it! One thing I would say though is it really lacks sound proofing, particularly from the rear tiny boot and wheel arches - so lots of dynamat would definately be my first mod if I ever owned one!

One advantage of Warranty Direct is that when I took out a policy with them last year there was a choice of 1, 2 or 3 years, and I thought that the 3 year policy was both good value and would be a help if and when I decided to sell the car (which it was as it can be easily transfered to the new owner).

You will likely get off WBAC a similar price to a p/x from a dealer (so not enough). Needs must if you need to sell before, or at the same time that, you buy, or if it is mainly owed to a finance company. But if you can afford to take a little longer then go the normal private sale route of advertising on here, and if that doesn't work quickly autotrader and/or piston heads

It's worth remembering of course that the adaptive suspension is an add on package for the GTI, and a very expensive one at that. Perhaps Evo would have been better moaning about the ride of the standard GTI instead?

The legal position is explained in this AA page - http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/general-advice/right-to-repair-campaign.html There are pros and cons to both main dealer and indy. Main dealer stamps in the service book are more attractive to most buyers, with the exception of enthusiasts who will often rate a good specialist indy garage higher. As has been mentioned, 'goodwill' from SUK may be useful but will likely only come with main dealer history. If you are planning on taking out an extended warranty through companies like Warranty Direct they are also normally very keen to insist on main dealer servicing. In many ways it could come down to local availability and reputation. It would be interesting for SUK to have a problem if you used an Audi, VW or Seat dealer for servicing and with access to identical parts because they were 20 miles closer for example. On the other hand a specialist indy garage has to work harder to build up custom and reputation - if they have done so then they are almost certainly going to be better than main dealers for the actual work they do.

I'm one of the people that has only used one map so can't compare to others - that said I really loved the Superchips Blufin and it was a really smooth power boost (and gave better economy on my petrol vRS). What swung it for me at the time was both the easyness of the Blufin handheld to swap around the map afterwards the map if wanted, the price (cheaper than Revo or Shark at the time, still is I think) and the fact they had been around since the 70s and are an official partner with VW Racing.

Yes, agree with all the points about the LE (Monza's) compared to the ProRace 1.2's (that are only £30 or so more per corner and are what Skoda UK should have used in the first place, particularly as they did such a great job with the seats). The Monza's aren't the worst wheel in the world, but they aren't the strongest when it comes to UK pot holes either. Oddly, and in relation to the OP, I have just sold my beloved LE today and the buyer (who is on here) was looking to swap them for a set of stronger zeniths or neptunes - talk about coincidence!

Sold today via Briskoda to another member who I know will love it as much as I have. :beer: all round!

Thanks, and it's still for sale - happy to negotiate sensibly on price, or around things like the additional rims/winter tyres that I'll happily sell seperately if a potential buyer doesn't want them included.

Except that I too was very careful with mine (from new), and it has hardly ever needed any top up from one service to another. I have heard that there can be huge differences between the same VAG engines for this and that it appears to be pot luck whether you end up with a thirsty one or a camel!

Yes, please buy mine (in the cars for sale section of the forum) as it's perfect and ignore all the others - they're rubbish

This older thread gives some detailed explanations of the problems and solutions if you read down it - http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/153325-ecu-remap-warning-from-jkm/

For Sale - Lancashire *** SOLD *** 2009 Skoda Octavia Limited Edition (numbered 051) vRS (petrol) 1 Owner from new (me!) 33k miles Taxed/MOT until March 2014 Warranty Direct comprehensive warranty (transferable to new owner) until March 2015 SKODA (RAC) Assist (inc European and Home cover) transferable to new owner until March 2014 FSH (main dealer) All invoices/receipts 18" LE alloys New Tyres (Avon ZZ3) Stage 1 Bluefin removable map Full Leather, Cruise Control, Dual Zone Air Con, Maxidot Trip Computer, Tyre Pressuree Monitor, Bolero 6-CD changer/MP3 etc. Set of 16" alloys and Dunlop 4D Winter Tyres (new) £8,250 ono Please send me a pm if interested. The car has been absolutely fantastic and well cared for, but I have now downsized to a GT86! This is a great opportunity to get a low mileage Limited Edition with 18 months left on the extended warranty to give the new owner complete protection and peace of mind. Advertised here first as it needs a good Briskodian home, but if no takers it will be in Auto Trader next week. Jim

6pot, if you are anywhere near Lancashire you are welcome to come and look at mine now and without any sales talk/pressure (you will get a brew and an honest assessment of the car, however!). Not on the market yet, but I took the plunge and have a GT86 on order for early September so it will be getting sold then. One owner (me!), FSH (main dealer throughout), 33k miles, ALL invoices/receipts, best custom leather (2009 LE model) on any Skoda, and better than latest options, new tyres/filters, spare set of (new Dunlop 4D) winter tyres and alloys, taxed/MOT'd until March 2014 and best of all a fully comprehensive Warranty Direct extended warranty until the end of March 2015 that can be transfered to the new owner. pm me if interested.

All the comparison sites I've ever used have listed mine as an LE just from the registration number. I really don't think it makes any difference in terms of premiums, although in theory an LE may have a slightly higher resale value against a non-LE pre-FL 09 plate but I wouldn't have thought it would be huge.

On my 18" rims I've gone from Conti sport contact 2's to Uniroyal Rainsport 2's and now have a post winter tyre set of Avon ZZ3's (£110 ea including fitting balance and a free front alignment from National). Out of all of these the ZZ3's are my favourites (2nd choice would be the Rainsports), as the ZZ3's have great grip and are very quiet for road noise - although too early to judge wear and tear yet. I think a lot of the time you need to judge what price you can pay at the time. So while I was looking at trying the newer Conti SC 5's, they would have been just over £200 extra for a set against the ZZ3's.

Indeed I do, I was obviously trying to push up the rarity/desirability factor

Yes, I can confirm that the 250 2009 Octy LE's only had the individual numbers on each front seat and nowhere else. The seats and (unfortunately) the wheels were put on when they arrived in the UK (the leather seats are far better than the standard vRS full leather option, the less said about the monza wheels the better). Essentially they were a hybrid car, the last of the pre-facelift body shells but the first with the 2.0 tsi engines, and also the first with the newer center panal internal switchgear.

I'm still on the original wheels (although have had 2 replacements since new), but the main 'mod' (aside from a stage 1 Blufin map) is a replacement LE badge due to the red letters falling off the original one. I used one the same as this and it looks loads better than the OEM - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-LIMITED-EDITION-EMBLEM-BADGE-FOR-BOOT-SPOILER-WING-FRONT-LIP-BUMPER-BLACK-/321102913141?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4ac3399e75

Yes, it is a common fault, plenty of threads if you do a search. I had the same intermittant stopping fault around 6 months from new, got a new motor fitted and it has been fine since. That was under warranty of course, but the actual cost would have been around £60 or so had I been paying so not a huge outlay if you want to ring around your local dealers/indy garages for a quote.

I had the citigo as my MOT/servicing courtesy car last month, and I was initially pretty naffed off (it was a Superb last year), particually as I had a 100 mile round trip to make for business that day. However, by the end of the day I'd actually grown quite fond of the little thing - yes, other road users weren't quite as 'respectful' as when I'm in my Octy vRS, but if I constantly floored it I found it was quite fun to drive (although I doubt my fuel economy was very good!). But the one thing I couldn't get used to was the terrible road noise from the rear wheels that echoed through the boot area. Certainly if I had one for any length of time I think the first thing I would do would be to get some sound absorbing matting fitted back there to reduce it.

I did quite like the Conti 2's (came with them from the factory), then I went to Uniroyal Rainsport 2's and preferred them for both wet/dry grip and handling, but now I am on a new set of Avon ZZ3's since swapping out my winters (Dunlop wintersport 4D's that have been fantastic). The Avons were £110 each (18") from National inc fitting, balance plus I got them to throw in a free alignment too so something of a bargain against the price of Conti's as I saved a couple of hundred quid. Can't comment for longevity yet of course, but grip and handling are the best I have experienced, plus they seem to be extremely quiet, so they get a big from me!

Yes, I get it on mine occasionally. I did raise it a couple of times when it was in for services under warranty but never got anywhere. In reality it is an inbuilt design fault (along with the water that goes into the boot when you open the hatch too quickly in the rain). I made things better on mine by pushing in the top of the doors inwards (with the windows down) that seems to have made a slightly closer fit, and by keeping the rubber seals clean and extra water repellent by using stuff like Autoglym vinyl & rubber care solution.

Like others have indicated, the MkIII ia just getting too big, along with the pricing. That said, the vat free / 25% off offers have been rotating almost continuously for around 4 years now, so perhaps SUK have taken a leaf out of the big supermarkets book and will start with an over-valued RRP to then offer a 'bargain' discount. But if not a MkIII vRS, what else? Very hard to say, if the Focus ST didn't look like a complete mess I'd probably be tempted by that (and actually the ST estate looks to my eyes at least half decent when compared to the ugly/bland hatch), but right now I keep getting pulled ever closer to GT86 territory (particularly as it is now possibnle to get a discount). Yes, no room in the back, small boot, etc., but....