numskull

Thanks J.R., I’ll give that a go and see if it’ll get rid of the muck. Anyone else on the dye front? Thanks in advance.

So after helping 2nd born replace roofing felt on one of his garden sheds last weekend and unbeknown to me, a small amount of the adhesive got on the back of my T shirt at some point, which carefully transferred itself to the centre bolster of my drivers seat. So I removed the main bit with tweezers. I then tried Poorboys leather cleaner to remove the remaining product which did nowt. So then I tried meths which proved to be a disaster,. No only didn’t it remove the bitumen, but it managed to begin to completely remove the top layer of the material and in one tiny spot, the colour of the imitation leatherette - or leather, not sure what it is now - has gone completely, leaving a dark brown material exposed - brilliant. Now I’ve used meths to successfully clean cr@p off leather on the MKI, the MKII and the the steering wheel of the MKIII without any problems whatsoever, so what this stuff is I really don’t know. So now I have a bolster with a lightened area, a small area with the top coat missing and I still have the two black blobs of bitumen on there too. I ordered a Skoda Beige dabber pen from The Scratch Doctor and this bared zero resemblance to the seat colour (useless service BTW; couldn’t have been less interested) so I was wondering if anyone has used a dye product which successfully matched the MKIII Ivory/Beige leather colour and if so, the name of the supplier etc.?

Yep, one of the first things I did, as the original reversing lamps were useless and did the blinkers at the same time.

Front or back door, or both?

No it’s not. 90% of them have never seen the inside of a bodyshop, let alone worked in one. They buy a franchise, get a few weeks “training” and they’re qualified. And the big boys dictate the standard of the work, the customer does not, with clauses like “as long as the repair cannot be identified by a lay person from 3 metres, it’s a pass” or words to that effect. Also, they’re worked on outside, even worked on when it’s raining without putting up a gazebo (I saw that this week in my road - another triumph of Chipsaway (“Like it never happened” my ass!) and with that the paint can get contaminated with dust, water et Al. They overcook the paint to save time, which means the outside of the paint dries but the inside remains tacky and that can cause crazing and shrinkage. And boy do they overcharge too. Yeah, a slight scuff on a bumper which hasn’t damaged the plastic is one thing; in regards to the subject of the OP post, forget it.

Couldn’t get mine to work on non matrix lights!😂

The issue as I see it with these "smart anythings", is that drivers can easily get distracted from driving, due to having to faff around trying to select the correct function to change the zoom on the map/change it back to lower the volume etc. which could lead to the vehicle drifting lanes, rear-ending someone. The designers think they're being smart by introducing MFD like these dials when, in fact, they're being dim; anything that distracts the driver for more than a second or so to make an adjustment is "simply stupid".

I'm sure that bove 50/60 it'd drop to 7th, so it'll be a 6 speed.

Oh dear - now that is truly dreadful.

Please don't - under ANY circumstances. They say they can do it, they'll bodge it and charge you a fortune. It needs to goto a decent bodyshop. I'd estimate that'll be £6-800, plus the wheel refurb, which should be about £80.

What AS has asked is, does your car have 6 forward gears, or 7?

And they wonder why they didn't close the deal and so many are going bust. "I'm fired - but I'm a brilliant closer" said Lance in disbelief. "Drop the "C" from the last word you said; that more accurate!" said Swiss Tony..

Have a look through this thread...

I agree. The 272/276 “280” will be a classic. It’s a real Q car; understated, comfortable, very well equipped - almost ridiculously so in L&K trim - plus it has tried and tested VW 4x4 mechanicals. And they’re very, very fast. And it’s already rare too. Its a keeper.

Try this…

It’s more about the depth of the sidewall and the density of the tyre compounds, which are the major contributor to the transmission of tyre roar into the cabin, not the year. Of course, alternatives are available for the owner to change if they wish. Changing from the OE Pirelli P7’s to Conti All Season 2 has dramatically reduced the tyre roar into the cabin. Given they have the same profiles, the reduction is primarily due to the pliability of the tread vs the P7. And being newer, there’s that additional tread depth too.

Yep, they’re quieter than the P7’s, that’s for sure.

Think it’s the same problem on all of ‘em for all owners. I don’t know if any treatment will put a permanent end to it.

Put a good smear of grease like Lubriplate, on the back and centre hub of the wheel and you’ll never have a problem getting them off again. I recall a week or so into my ownership, having to hit all four wheels from the rear with a heavy rubber mallet to remove them, as I wanted to clean the inside and rear rims properly. It was very frustrating and Gawd knows what I’d’ve done if I’d had a puncture during that first week!

Thanks @UndertheRadar. At the moment it’s only the squeeky bed sound I’ve experienced (the ARB is doing it again) so I’ll listen out for the grawncing sound of the arms destroying themselves! That’s after I stop trying to listen for weird sounds from the DSG/Haldex/Diff/Tyres blah blah blah..😂

Is this a different sound to the well documented ARB creaking feature, or could this thread be mistaken for it? (or vice versa for that matter!?)

Just looked under the car and ignore me @JR RS please. I am, not to put too fine a point on it, talking utter bolucks my friend. I think my memory of the frustrations caused in installing the cable at the bottom of the engine must’ve addled my senile old brain even more than I thought!

Our 280 has the longer tray, which I presume therefore, is standard, as I had to remove it to install the RaceChip. Don’t know if it’s a European figment, or an L&K or 280 standard fit but on there it is.

I did mine a couple of months ago using JFC’s post. 30 mins from start to finish.

Goodho. How did you sort the broken stud for the actuator?