paulski

My independent VW garage flushed my coolant after I realised I had lack of heat on drivers side and coolant was odd colour, soon after the cambelt got changed. Two bottles of Wynnflush, put on the new expansion tank, had it for a full day to get it hot and cold to do it twice, lent me a car, for £112 all in

Odd, when I login i just hit this and the drop down appears for Digital Service Schedule and it asks for a VIN and then takes my to my service records by clicking OPEN DSS button. .

5 years is the much debated recommended interval in most posts on this site. But its still debated due to conflicting information in service manuals and across the internet. Just search on here for CAMBELT and you will find loads of threads about it. Its not clear if you want to carry out the work yourself? However bear in mind that Skoda fixed price lists this @ £600 for cambelt and water pump. Interesting that my local main dealer say £649. You will find may independents VW group garages will do this for alot less but still use genuine parts. I had mine done for £430 at my local independent with genuine parts, belt tensioners, and water pump. Go hunting for prices locally or go to the dealer for security. Its a routine job for garages really. How many VW group 1.6T/2.0TDI's on the road, thousands...

@PetrolDave I've never paid to just "view" my service records. And it shows detail of additional work/parts. When last looked it shows "toothed belt" in additional work service record when I had my cambelt done at an independent. @Sload paid access will be for service/repair manuals but I'm no Erwin guru.

Coolant looks fine from the pic but for peace of mind and if you're going to sell on in 12 months and don't want to attract an unnecessary bill it's worth changing. My heating went south 3 days after cambelt change. Garage flushed it twice and partially recovered it but it's not 100%. Part number is 5Q0121407M was £24 Inc vat on the bill for the flush.

Not rushing to change here too. I am very pleased with my 2016 MK3 SEL TDI dsg and plan to keep it for as long as I can. For me this model has just the right tech.I don't have smart link (but could have if I paid for it). But Amazon music over Bluetooth is quite adequate. I get on quite happily with the Nav. The infotainment has actual buttons for main user selections, not a touch screen Voice control works most of the time (or makes me laugh!) Friend has mark 4 and it's been back for several bugs in tech already in first three months.

VCDS Auto scan: A download from the cars brain, that shows each component (called modules) installed in the car, be it an ECU i.e engine or door locking controller or a CAN gateway (a box that connects all the boxes together). Depending on how highly specced a car is from purchase will have more or less modules. Some modules have sub modules to add further functions, i.e rain sensor for auto wipers. Each module is configured in various ways to allow it's functions. Some that were not there from factory purchase, may be enabled to gain new functions via an "Adaption" (recoding) of the module. So you can change the behaviour of a specific module and the network allows it to work without changing any components, it's all done in coding. Each module has a code (an adaption channel list or long code) specific to is functionality and will vary from car to car depending on how it was configured from the factory, i.e Mr Dealer, I'd like to buy the option rear parking camera on top of just parking sensors. Components are added and coded to the cars network to say, Hey there, when you put me in reverse, I can beep at you and you can see behind the car on a screen, that £600 option is bells and whistles DTC: diagnostic trouble code, simply an error recorded in any module to show a fault i.e bulb out or electrical issue. Can be cleared if fault is resolved.

Online service records can be found on Erwin site. https://erwin.skoda-auto.cz/erwin/showHome.do You need to create a login and use the VIN number to find the records. Happy days its had regular servicing. Like others have said, cracking cars and the 2.0 TDI is just a effortless to drive. I get +50mpg all day long (brim to brim properly calculated) with mixed driving.

Perhaps you've had a read of the forum during this purchase process. A few things below to check. Make sure they give you the genuine Skoda SAT NAV SD card as you cannot use it without one. On a plus is its been "used" at the mileage which is good the diesel engine generally. It should have had a cambelt change by now. I would highly recommend you check the colour of the coolant in the coolant expansion tank. It should be bright pink. I would check after its being warmed up you have heating on both the drivers and passengers side, wack the heating dials up to check this. Read this thread for further info. http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/487819-bag-in-coolant/

£40 genuine. https://seat-skoda.caffynsparts.co.uk/parts/skoda-parts/skoda-octavia-iii-boot-netting-system/

Ok so I've an estate with rails but have to say the Thule wing bar with T_track proride 598 is very easy to put on and off. I can get my roof box and two bike racks on in minutes with ease. There are alternatives and a good place to look is the Roof Box Company. WingBars are very quiet. My stay on all the time.

2016 tdi dsg. Agree it's a bit enthusiastic at times. I just turn the system off with the button when I know I want quick get away. At least the button is in convenient place! Eco mode gets even more "exciting" when it coasts and stop start kicks in. And don't get me started on being stationary for a while, hand brake on (highway code and all that), in P on dsg lever, engine stopped. Now we're off. ..Oh dear I'm not Lewis Hamilton am I.

When you say normal heat was the engine up to temperature at that point I.e 90C? Suggest you check if you have heat on passenger side and cold air on drivers. Close down the vents and put switch to front vents only. If the engine has warmed up then cold air on drivers side is the classic sign of heater matrix blockage due to silica bag in coolant failing. Check the colour of your coolant. It should be pink without any discolouration. Let the engine cool and remove the coolant tank cap and look inside too. (they are stiff to undo)

Very difficult one to decide but if I was you I would change it at the 5 year interval for peace of mind. Those components have not really been used to their normal miles for the 5 year interval so could have degraded. My indy says the belts are usually ok when they change them, but its the tensioners that often are wearing out/fail and they are what keeps the belt tight an prevent slip/engine damage. There will be other comments to come along for sure but just my 2pence worth as you asked. I got mine done for £430 all in with genuine VAG parts.

@SashaGraceWith regard to the strange clunking noise, I presume you are referring to the flap motor for air Re-circulation that closes when the car is put in reverse, to stop exhaust fumes being drawn into the cabin?

Always good to see positive feed back on a car that's done lots of miles but probably had regular servicing. Do you get it serviced alot more regularly than manufacturer recommendations? Given the wear and tear it must get as a taxi, any interior issues of note, seats, handles, locks etc?

If you create an "Admap" for that controller and open it in excel. You can copy the "words" out of each adaption channel line and paste it into Google translate, German to English. It does a very good job of translating them to be honest. Easier than going back to school and learning German..

My 2016 2.0 tdi manual states it's always active in reverse with a 5% slope that is really not alot by all accounts. I notice it activating going up into my driveway from a road.

Perhaps foot on brake for more than two seconds is activating hill hold and then that's delaying takeoff?

She means that you can adjust the instrument cluster mpg readings to be more accurate. You would do a full to empty fuel tank a few times to work out actual real world fuel consumption. Then there should be an adaption to adjust it by a factor (the difference between the reported readings and the measured). Hope that helps.

Who writes reviews on good service generally. We all have our standards and things can go wrong at times and reviews certainly have their place but if everyone had a bad time places would never get the work. I used a dealer a while after purchasing my car for a major service purely for convienience and price. I was welcomed at the door into the brightly light (hair product advert) palatial building, by a very smart sales representative with teeth like Rylan. Escorted by said sales rep, whilst been offered a cup tea (i don't drink tea but I'm in a minority) to the service desk. A delightful lady then asked me fill in all sorts of paperwork I had no idea what I was signing, but it looked very boring whatever it was for. Handed over my keys and my car was whisked off to somewhere I could not even see a mechanic in overalls. Some 6 hours later my credit card had a dent in it, the car was washed (nice) and it all still worked as it did before. I'd have asked for the old oil in a jug and a recyled bag full of all the old filters they had changed, but the disposal costs would have been too much for my now dented credit card. So all in all it was a good experience for me at a dealer too. It now goes to an an independant. They give me a car for the day, which is a bit clapped out to be honest, but a giggle to drive as its not mine hehe. I can speak to a mechanic in oily overalls (hooray) and even go into the workshop as there are certainly no doors with "No Unauthorised Personel beyond this point" stickers. I feel much more comfortable with it that way, and they even don't offer me a cup of tea!

@Racailloux Just one other suggestion to add. A number of posts on poor Android Auto connectivity have found it to be the cable used to be the issue. Might also be worth a try unless you have already done so?

So when you say rears Eq'd oddly can you enlighten us on what you found? I think in standard setup (non Canton etc) the rears play havoc with the sound if fader is in the middle because they have different frequency responses to the fronts. Then the position of the tweeter in the rear is in the wrong place being too close to the front. It's quite a muffled sound from the rears only no matter what you do with the head unit equaliser settings. Too much mid comes through them. Like has been said big ICE Max power days was all boot subs at the correct crossover frequency for bass kick, and some quality component fronts with tweeters up a ear level A pillar or door mirror level.

Its a "New variant"

FL just means "face lift" So when a few body work changes were made. 2017 models onwards you'll see the subtle changes like the headlights were split into two lights with a gap between them. In SEL spec pre 2017 (I have 2016 SEL) you get Satnav, Alcantera seats, front assist radar (collision avoidance tech) Mine has split level boot floor (an option i think) that folds to many configurations. Its brilliant as hides stuff during the day but trips away folds down to swallow masses of stuff. If you want luxury look for adaptative cruise which was an option on top of just cruise.