*JP*

As regards lighting performance Xenon and led are both good,in fact xenon seem to perform better on certain cars. I believe the reason led have superseded xenon is because of their low energy use.

Exactly,see my earlier post. The equivalent car will be £2/3k cheaper in 2/3 months from now.

If I was a buyer I would be holding off for a month or two.. I understand WBAC have now drastically reduced their offer values on cars due to anticipation of a national recession with the Corona virus. Obviously dealers will still try to shift their existing stock at current price but the new lower values will work their way into the system in due course. A good tip is on the cars you are looking at in a retail situation,go look up the WBAC value,the difference may come as a shock!!

Grey may be the wrong word perhaps...But I would say it’s an arse covering clause that would have little effect in practice.It gives them the opportunity in extreme cases (e.g. a 25 stone guy who slides his bulk in and out in rough work clothes) to deny a claim. Under normal circumstances only an idiot would accept a claim turned down on a 7 month old car, because such a failure would be a manufacturing defect. Skoda design seats to last longer than 6 months,the one that don’t will be faulty from the start.

What I would say is that there is a grey area here,under normal conditions seat coverings should still be in good condition after 3 years or more. But what is normal ? Just a case of sticking at it and not being fobbed off.. I am not saying in this particular case the damage whether the damage is covered by warranty or not,what I am saying is that Skoda can’t just put a blanket 6 month disclaimer on certain items. What would you think if when you were looking at a new car the salesman said “ If you buy this be careful with the seats,they are only guaranteed for six months.”?

Can someone confirm that somewhere in the Skoda warranty booklet it actually states that the warranty is restricted to 6 months/6000 miles for a seat?

If the paint is metallic that makes it more difficult to blend in. I doubt if it can be smart repaired since they use panel edges to disguise the fade in,something you haven't got in the middle of a door.

The thing about these bumper protectors is that they all look nice when put on in shiny black or shiny chrome but then they get scratched by the dog/loading awkward items,etc so you are sort of back to where you were before...a tatty looking bumper top. Just have a cloth inside the hatch to pull over the bumper every time you load something?...cheaper as well.

The Cupra ST 4 drive,apart from obviously being a bit faster,is set up for a more sporty drive with lower suspension and sharper steering,but costs more like for like,and isn’t as spacious of course. The so called bucket seats in the Cupra were too hard for us.

The tilt is via the up and down lever. Yes,there is adjustable lumbar as well.

No factory orders anymore. It’s only the Challenge model now that has the electric seats.IMO the standard seats are good enough,the Challenge ones have more Alcantara and the electric adjustment and memories,but that only matter if you have different size drivers swapping over a lot.. Anyway,all you can do now is trawl round dealers cars to see if there is anything to to suit you in spec and price.

I’m not aware of comments about the vRS seats but I would rate mine as excellent. Easy enough for you just to sit in a car at you local dealers.

Mine does it. Seems like it’s normal.My car is auto and steadily driven the revs don’t reach 2000 before it changes up,so perhaps that is something that means condensation stays in the exhaust longer. I wouldn’t worry about exhaust system rot,they are all stainless now I believe?

Good when the engine is cold but does it still do the job with a hot engine driven hard? I guess this thin oil is used to get better fuel consumption and lower emissions stats...are we expecting VAG to confirm it prolongs engine life? The handbook states that 5/30 oil can be used for top ups. My car came with the oil level at the bottom of the dipstick so a half litre of 5/30 Longlife III was added. I am happy that no oil has been used in 4K miles.

Agreed. I guess a 3 hour job.

I’ve had two BMWs with that autobox,a 328i and an M140i and agree it’s excellent. However I’ve now done 4K miles in the vRS with the DSG 7 and that is excellent as well ,so if the Octavia suits your needs it would be silly to rule it out because it supposedly has a bad gearbox...it hasn’t.

I liked my Accord R when I had it but that was a long time ago...but I do tend to remember the basic characteristics of all the cars I’ve had even though there have been a lot. I remember it handled very well,great gearchange and steering,supportive Recaro seats...and the v-tec engine of course. If it had a fault it was that the box had only 5 gears...to exploit the characteristics of the engine IMO it needed 5 close gears for acceleration plus a sixth gear for cruising,but certainly all the memories of it are good. P.s can’t recommend an M135/140i.. Good very powerful engine,great auto box,the rest very average,dead steering,ride and handling not up to expectations...and small and cramped of course.

Secret memo to Skoda dealers from Skoda HQ: “This new 0-20 oil,push it to customers as much as you can,the retail price is high so that gives both of us a better profit margin and because it’s as thin as water more if it should get used between services thus increasing sales.” Personally I choose to view it as a thin oil running in oil and when the car is one year old it will go onto annual servicing,and if Skoda in their wisdom deem it satsfactory to fill it with 5-30 oil that will be fine with me.

You’re fully entitled to make fun of the looks because they are over the top,but don’t have any doubt that they are a fabulous driving car,beyond anything that VAG has to offer below an RS3....read all the road tests and also take my word for it because I had one before my illness.

Volvo V60 T5,with the 250hp petrol engine. In particular because big new discount available or a 6 month old one for £25k

The calc I’m looking at shows an offset increase of 15.4 mm,that’s 9mm for the et difference plus 6.4 for the extra rim width. I’m running 7.5 et 35 as my winter wheels,so 16mm more offset and I’ve no problems...BUT with standard suspension,so it’s possible with a lowered set up you could have rubbing issues.

I didn’t know the quoted dB noise figures for each tyre were measured by drive by,i.e external noise...but surely a tyre that gives a low reading by this measure will be low in the same proportion for interior noise on the same car? So does it not follow that by picking a tyre with the lowest dB rating you are going to get the lowest interior road noise levels possible in any car just by changing the tyres alone? Of course that particular tyre might be hopeless in terms of grip and wear,there’s the problem!

15 months ownership isn’t long,but 55k miles in that time is a lot! Regarding the value,I wouldn’t expect either a car supermarket or outfits like WBAC to give the best price but they will be generally indicative of the market so don’t expect a lot more and the high miles will make it a tough private sell. Since it is a vRS I can only suggest you try the specialist “sports/prestige” dealers for offers.

So all the reputable tuning companies that supply rear arbs for this type of suspension don’t know what they are about? This type of modification will reduce understeer and add some steering feel. It won’t make the ride more comfortable but it will do the above,I know since I’ve done it.