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spacenase

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    Skoda Yeti 1.2TSI DSG

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  1. Probably an obvious question, but have you checked whether it has different sound settings when playing the sd-card vs the USB?
  2. @Skoffski I suspected the same, it's easier for them to just say no. Motability had the servicing done at a main dealer in the North West. @xman That may be true from the dealer's perspective, but I can't agree with that from an owner's perspective. For me, that's a way of ending up with a broken gearbox at 75,000 miles that would still be fine if some maintenance work had been carried out at 50,000 miles. Your comment earlier on the tolerance differences is interesting though. It could explain why a lot, but not all boxes are failing. In this kind of situation, for me it is not just about the service requirements set out by the manufacturer, it's about what's best for the reliability and longevity of the car. There are plenty of examples of something not being a service requirement then later proving to be a common problem. The original issue with the synthetic oils in this gearbox is a prime example, and it's not just the VW Group that have this problem. For example, the Honest John website recommends an oil and filter change every 10,000 miles or each year, whatever the manufacturer says. To me, this makes sense because the oil is critical within an engine and an owner should be ensuring it is in the best condition it can be for the sake of the engine it lubricates. Consequently I have my older car serviced every year with the MOT however many miles it has done (usually much less than 10k). So it's the same with this gearbox, if other automatic boxes and manual boxes require fluid changes, so must this one whatever Skoda or VW say officially. Having said that, if there are a lot of cars with this gearbox up for sale over 5 years old with 150k miles or more on them that have their original gearbox with it's original fluid, then I'll freely admit I am wrong. My opinions on this come from over 30 years experience of owning very old, old, new, good, very good, surprisingly good, bad, very bad and surprisingly bad cars. Whatever surrounds them, the mechanics of a car are largely unchanged and really, so are the genuine maintenance requirements of them. Things need checking regularly to look for potential problems before they become real, fluids need changing and the water pump needs changing with the timing belt. Until electric cars, or some variant of them, take over the world, I can't see this changing. I would trust the manufacturers recommendations on servicing if I thought they were solely based on the technical requirements of the car, but it's been shown time and time again that some recommendations are based on marketing, some are based on cost and some seem to based on nothing more than trying to hide known potential problems. To ignore this dooms us to repeat the same mistakes again and again. Okay, I'm done on this one. I've taken a risk on buying a car with a gearbox with a known problem. There is clearly not enough information around on the likelihood of my particular gearbox failing, only that it's higher than you'd expect it to be. There's also no specific information on the best course of action to help prevent it failing, if there even is any action you can take. It's going to be a question of giving it time and see what happens. As they say, time will tell....
  3. I have not had it done because the dealer I had the booking with and took it to today said they could not do it. That's why I said that in my post earlier. Obviously, I have not had time to look into whether anyone else could do it yet. The dealer that did the servicing for Motability told me that. As I said there seems to be differing views on what does or does not need to be done. With respect, how do I know what you are saying is any more or less valid than the other information I have found? The consequences of having work done by people who do not have a clue is also well known and I have had plenty of (expensive) experience with this in the past. This is why I went to my local Skoda dealer, because if anyone should know how to do it, it should be them. And yes I am fully aware that dealer service staff only know what the manufacturer teaches them, but if changing the fluid is standard process (as I maintain it should be), then they will have been taught it and have a process to follow for it. I'll have a think about whether to progress this or leave it for now.
  4. Actually, the reason I booked it in for the fluid change is because I don't believe in sealed for life gearboxes. Even if the service department had said that Skoda say it is not necessary but they can do it for me, I would still have got it done. I am aware that there is some apparently contradictory information out there, but if the change is carried out properly it is not going to cause a gearbox problem, whereas dirty or ineffective oil will. They said they could not do it, so I presume they never changed any from synthetic to mineral when that work was being carried out. To be honest, my main frustration with them was that they didn't have the courtesy to call me and let me know before I turned up. There are recommended change intervals for manual gearbox oil (mostly around 70k), coolant, brake fluid, clutch fluid, engine oil, differential oil, so saying that these gearboxes don't need a fluid change ever makes no sense. Even power steering fluid is accessible so the owner can check if it is getting dirty and can arrange for it to be changed. I do accept that it may not need changing yet on my car, but I don't accept that it is safe to say it is sealed for life. On the plus side, I have Smartlink activated now at a cost of £136 all-in.
  5. So I turn up at my local dealer today to be told the 7 speed is sealed for life and they cannot change the fluid. Looks like you were right #Skoffski. Odd that they could change it when they switched them from synthetic to mineral oil. The service manager is trying to get some info from Skoda. That’s a bit of peace of mind taken away and there’ll be an interesting argument if it breaks whilst I have it. I can’t see any rationale for anyone to make fluid that operates in the kind of environment that you’d get inside an auto box not changeable, especially mineral oil that’s going to degrade over time and eventually be ineffective. At least any technical rationale, I guess it’s more likely to be a business/commercial decision.
  6. I had a read through the info after the suggestion from @Skoffski in my thread, and I'd want to check whether the clutch packs came under clutch wear and tear or not too.
  7. Thanks for that. Personally I don't believe in oil for life as all fluids deteriorate over time. It could mean I'm being premature, but it'll need doing at some point. I had a Peugeot 406 a number of years ago that was supposed to be sealed for life, until it needed a rebuild. Also, if fully synthetic oil contributed towards the failure of earlier boxes, surely deteriorating mineral oil is going to cause similar issues over time?
  8. Thanks for the warranty info, I'll take a look. Hopefully my local Skoda dealer will be able to handle changing the oil.
  9. From the dealer group website none of their used cars are Skoda Approved, they are all group approved instead. That's why I thought that they may not be authorised to sell Skoda Approved. The Skoda website does say that it is selected dealers. I must admit I didn't think to ask. I think I got it cheaper than a Skoda Approved one would have been as it was similar in price to one in a nearby car supermarket.
  10. @Skoffski Yes I know it would have gone through an auction first, I'm not sure of the relevance of that? I was simply saying that Motability were the previous (and first) owners. It's just over 3 years old and was probably on a 3 year lease via Motability and was handed back at the end. I could ask Skoda, but I prefer to be over-cautious on this and just get the fluid changed, especially if there is some confusion on the schedule. 40,000 miles is not an unreasonable change interval for gearbox fluid. I'm not sure of the relevance of how many DSGs Skoda produce either, I'm sure the VW Group produce many more as a whole? The brake fluid was changed at 40,000, I'm not sure about the spark plugs. I believe everything that is included in the service was done, but I was told that changing the DSG fluid is only a recommendation. I'm not sure of the main point you are trying to make? It would be unusual for someone to recommend not doing some preventative maintenance, especially on a part that has a reputation for problems even if it is not totally justified. For the record, I think there is a higher than expected failure rate on these DSGs, but I don't think every, or even most gearboxes are affected. I just see it as a higher risk that I need to help prevent from happening.
  11. £135 all-in. None of their cars are advertised as a Skoda Approved, maybe they are not authorised to sell them? The dealer that serviced it said it was recommended, also this VW webpage: https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/what-we-check-and-why/dsg-transmission-oil-and-filter-change
  12. Hi, I just picked up my new (to me) Yeti on Saturday and I'm really happy with my choice. It's a 2015 1.2 SE DSG in Jungle Green with 53k miles and is an ex-Mobility car. I bought it from Skoda Wolverhampton who were very helpful. It's genuinely in near immaculate condition with only a few marks and chips on the bodywork to show the mileage and the interior looks nearly new. I've driven it over the weekend, and apart from the jiggly ride which I was expecting, it's proving to be as good as other owners have said. I've read mixed stories about ex-Mobility cars, that some are looked after properly and others are used and abused. In fact, the salesman said they had to turn away an end of lease Superb because of the poor condition it was in. Fortunately my Yeti is one of the ones that was looked after. The only concerning thing I've found is that the DSG fluid was not changed at the 40k service as it is only a recommendation and Mobility chose not to get it done. I've booked it in at my local dealer to get it done next week. It's a bit of a risk with these DSGs, but I'm hoping that since it has got to a relatively high mileage with no issues, it shows that my DSG is a good one. I've got the standard 6 month satisfactory quality law to fall back on if anything happens. I'll be getting SmartLink activated to see how that works with my iPhone and I'll hopefully have a few year's happy motoring out of it. The fluid change is something to check on ex-Mobility cars and probably any ex-lease or ex-company car though.
  13. It's an inspection by the auction company that's going to sell it, and they only consider the condition of it on the day. I presume they get any claim history on the car from a vehicle check, the same as anyone else who is buying a used car. The key to it is that the person doing the inspection is signing off it's condition so that if anything is found afterwards, it is their responsibility, not yours.
  14. I reckon the designer must have been about 20ft tall, or designed it from upstairs because I've found an angle from which the front looks okay:
  15. iTunes and iPods have an option for gapless playback. I've never had a Sonos but I'd bet it has the same function. I don't think I've had an built-in or aftermarket head unit in a car that does gapless playback, so it's not just the Bolero. The Columbus in my Octavia wouldn't do it either. I've tried a few different options to resolve the problem and found the join tracks option in iTunes to be effective and easy to use.
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