PetrolDave

...to avoid confusion it's a good idea to keep your profile up-to-date 😘

The Thule bars from my Audi B7 RS4 (06 plate) fitted my Octavia 3 Combi with no mods. The Thule website lists their part numbers by vehicle, if the same part numbers are shown for both your vehicles then they will fit.

Original battery no, an identical replacement battery will need the serial number held in the battery management system updating (just change 1 digit).

Over 25 years ago I had exactly the same thing happen on a Vauxhall Corsa GSi 16V, so this isn't a VAG specific issue. The cambelt tensioner failed one week after a cambelt change (the main dealer replaced the belt but not the tensioner). We want high compression engines for efficiency, emissions, power, etc and that means having valves that will hit the pistons if incorrectly timed - we can't have our cake and eat it.

We would be failing our moral duty of care if we didn't point out when something illegal was being asked about.

I agree. The GPS speedo is the accurate one, the car speedo will have been set at the factory to meet the legal requirement of never under reading and not over reading by more than 10% - hence the typical over reading by 5-7%.

and that both Bluetooth and WiFi are enabled on the phone.

While you find something to do for the remaining 3 hours 59 minutes and 50 seconds... If you're on a long drive that's a lot longer than it takes for a comfort and snack break. If it's in a town that's a lot of shopping buying things you don't want/need.

Correct, provided the in car infotainment system supports CarPlay (if you have an iPhone) or Android Auto (if you have an Android phone) so the maps can be seen on the car screen. I used to live in North Devon where many of the roads I used regularly had zero mobile coverage and by downloading maps onto the Google maps app on my iPhone I had maps 100% of the time - Apple maps does not have the ability to download maps so was pretty useless in that area (and also when on holiday in the mountains of Maine in the US where mobile coverage was virtually non-existent).

The Eco Contact tyres have a hard compound, like all eco tyres, which means they are 'supposed' to last longer but at the cost of grip - so them performing poorly in snow is expected IMHO. My preferred tyres are Good Year F1 or if budget/longevity is more important Vredestein Quatrac - I got over 15000 miles on both of those on my previous Audi RS4 compared to less than 9000 miles on Pirelli PZero.

Not if you use Google maps (which I do on my iPhone using CarPlay), because it has the option to download maps while on WiFi at home. The only thing you lose without a mobile signal is the latest traffic data, but that will download when mobile coverage is restored. I have downloaded maps covering England south of Manchester, which covers all of my current trips - when we go on holiday to Scotland later in the year I'll download maps for the rest of England & Scotland then.

I always use Bosch wiper blades.

When the car is unlocked many of the electronic modules stay awake only going to sleep when the car is locked, so to minimise current drain the car should always be locked when left unused for a long(ish) time.

Normally it just needs to be topped up, however if the dealer checks the brake fluid for water content they may advise replacing the brake fluid but IMHO they shouldn't replace the brake fluid (and charge you for it) without asking permission.

Maybe the design of the chargers needs to have a tweak to automatically physically eject the charger plug when the charge rate drops to the point were it's clear that the vehicle is fully charged (or maybe even 90% charged)? That would stop charger hogging.

Check out the steering angle sensor fault, without steering angle info the ACC and Front Assist will be disabled. It's a bit difficult to advise further as your cable (HEX-USB+CAN?) doesn't support the longer CAN bus messages that VAG introduced a few years ago (hence the comments about more information not available), you need a newer cable like a HEX-V2 to get complete diagnostic information - no the HEX-USB+CAN can't be software updated there's just no room for more software updates in the cable!

The screen between gauges is NOT part of the infotainment, it's part of the instruments and is controlled by the software in module 17 not 5F. Head unit is another term often used for the main unit of the infotainment behind the dash.

I think as well as the "Think Bike" signs that you see on popular roads (e.g. A32 south of Alton) there should be "Think Car" signs too, on several occasions a bike pulling in after a risky overtake has caused me to brake sharply as it pulls in in front of me - defensive riding and defensive driving should be equally promoted.

Reports say that many company PHEV vehicles are returned at the end of lease with the charging cable still sealed in the plastic bag it was put in at the factory. https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/105206/fleet-owned-plug-in-hybrids-may-never-have-been-charged If those reports are correct then it would seem that there is a 'tax dodging' minority(?) of company car drivers - with the beneficial BIK rates for hybrids it's not surprising that hybrids are chosen.

I would suggest looking at the Fabia, it's of a very similar size to your Clio.

I suppose it depends on your definition of 'major changes' - a change to the engine ECU SW or gearbox ECU SW or front radar ECU SW (amongst others) will have IMHO a 'major change' in the behaviour of the car but none of those will be reported in the infotainment SW version.

I've posted that several times on here, but people continue to post the infotainment software version number - seemingly without understanding/caring that their car has maybe 30+ different processor controlled modules all with their own software versions that are not reported in the infotainment system. You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink 😠

Translation - no fault codes appeared on ODIS so we don't know what to do.

Sounds like the coding is now being set wrong in the factory as so many recent build cars have WiFi disabled and missing from the menu?

Most media companies are dependent on the advertising revenue from car manufacturers, so they have to be "careful" in their criticism of cars on test. CAR magazine used to be (no longer a subscriber so cannot comment on current situation) more concerned about accurate writing and have lost advertising contracts because of it.