numskull

Oh goody…

Yep. The vast majority of Pro Detailers use DA’s for all their work, not only due to their inability to introduce holograms, but they are also far less likely to burn through the topcoat if the machine is moving too slowly.

1st borns 1st BF was bought a brand-new Metallic Black Polo when he passed his test. He had a dollop of bird poo on the C pillar which he decided he’d remove with a Brillo….

Gawd - you totally misinterpreted that matey; I genuinely thought I had replied to Colin. You’ll note how he didn’t take offence but, oddly, you have? Almost trolling one might say. I have no beef with a single member here and I’ve been around since 2003. Weird huh?

Did I reply to you Colin? Anyway, don’t use the fridge as a test. The paint is not the same as car paint, it’s not designed to be gloss, it has no clear coat and if it’s white you won’t be able to see any results of your efforts.

Can I ask - is it a “dual action” polisher? It takes years of experience to to use a standard orbital polisher without creating mass holograms all over your bodywork. You’ll see them on cars when they’ve been to body shops and an idiot has finished the polishing. If it’s not a DA, I suggest you buy one; they’re not that expensive and plenty of second hand ones available on eBay.

Isn’t it the front that creek like billyo? Well, they do on ours. When I chucked it in on on warranty back in ‘20, I think all the main dealer did was to squirt a load of PTFE spray in between the bushes and ARB, whIch shut it up for a year or so. I just ignore it now.

OK. When I said they’re a “new phenomenon” I meant in todays market, with all and sundry jumping “on trend” and pointlessly buying another set of wheels and winter tyres anywhere and everywhere in the U.K., even down here in leafy Surrey. I’m not talking about the few dozen which were sold in a small areas 30 or 40 years ago. And why is this happening, because IIRC, we’ve had about 3 days of snow down here in the last five years! We travelled upto Inverness from London and Surrey more times than I care to remember in the ‘80’s/‘90’s in Summer AND Winter before and after I had company cars, but always on normal (read Summer these days) tyres. Yes it was bloody cold with sharp frosts and there was some crappy weather on many occasions in Winter with snow covered roads all over the north, but especially on a couple of occasions, on the A831 from Inverness to Drumnadrochit, where we stayed at Craigdhu, with my wife’s grandmother, who lived there alone til she was 94, and then moved in with her Daughter in Inverness and lived til she died at 105! Made of girders! My point is, winter tyres are absolutely necessary 500 miles further north of John O’Groats where winter lasts for months. However due to global warming, the temperature in the U.K. will continue to increase so in 50 years or so, kids in Scotland will be enjoying Surrey weather and have more Scottish wineries, whilst down here, they’ll enjoy that weather which is currently bathing Antibes. (Not literally TODAY!)

I’ve seen the P7’s slated on this and other websites and forums, and in my experience apart from them being noisy on metalled roads (they’re silent on smooth tarmac and that probably says more about the lack of suspension isolation from the cabin and body insulation than it does the tyres) they’re excellent in the wet, dry and for longevity. They got me home in Ireland, when the back road I was on was covered in ice and frozen snow. Summer, Winter and “All Seasons” tyres are somewhat of a new phenomenon in the U.K. and some more cynical than I might say that it’s just another way to part one from their cash. Having winter or even studded tyres is absolutely vital in, say the Scandinavian countries, the Baltic states or Northern Russia, but are they really needed in the temperate and warming climate which we have here in the U.K.? We haven’t had what I’d call a “bad” winter here in the last decade. It’s 28th October 2022 and it’s 15.1c here and 14c in Inverness as I write this. In the last 10 years, 8 have had the hottest Summer temperatures ever recorded.

Our OE 2016 battery is still going strong, but I suspect it’ll start to fail in the next 12m, so I’ve added a battery replacement to the RAC renewal. I do condition it regularly with our C-TEK charger which may’ve helped it longevity.

They’re taking the pi$$. I’ve used Skoda main dealers for that last 2 decades but no more, as they’re exactly the same as the others in the VAG. 20 years ago, they were fantastic - nothing was too much trouble and warranty was the norm. Now, nothing is in warranty - it’s normal sir, it’s normal w&t sir, not a warranty issue sir, it’s within tolerance sir or the classic, it seems to be driver abuse…. Sir! If/when it’s out of warranty, dump them and find a great indy; it’s what I’ve done now. There is big difference on the hourly rate, they value your business, they don’t make you wait for weeks for a courtesy (opps, sorry, it’s now a chargeable rental car) and finally, they don’t rip you off, because they want you to come back. SUK Dealers don’t give a toss, as they’re in the business of servicing PCP and leasing companies.

I want your garage… barsteward. 😂 Going to have to build one now!

I’m always fascinated by the true meaning of crap tyres, ditch-finders, widowmakers et al. I’m old enough to remember when Nexen, Toyo, Hankook and Kuhmo first started to be imported to the U.K., they were described with those same terms; funny how times have changed. Who would have thought that they’d be OE global suppliers to Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Ford, Skoda, Renault, Stellantis brands, blah, blah, blah…..

You’ll be fine, but I would buy a full set, then what I suggest - as does Skoda - is that every 6,000 miles you swap NSF to OSR and OSF to NSR. If you’re covering less miles than that, then do it annually. Both the previous owner and I have done this and I’m sure that’s greatly contributed to the original 2016 P7’s covering just under 38k with 2.5mm left on all four tyres. I’ll be replacing them later this year.

The pic above suggests a fix to make a socket - but no idea from this which one - permanently live, which does not seem to be what you are asking? Are you referring to the front, rear or boot socket? I ask as the boot socket is permanently live from the factory - I know this as that’s the one I use to charge the battery - but the two interior units are not.

They’ll have at least £3k profit in there so try to get at least £1k off by offering £23. Presume it’s a one owner car and it’s a trade in? Oh yeah, the Heated/Ventilated seats are great!

I guess actually showing the location of the specific connectors to the OP, hopefully, would have allayed any fears. Anyway, all this is irrelevant now.

well to be accurate it isn’t a light in the mirror glass, it’s an LED, but that’s just as useful and irrelevant as your comment was, in the context of the OP concern regarding the detachment and reattachment of the cable. 🙄

You will; it’s the tiny block connector I’ve circled. I’d imagine it shorted when it broke, hence the warning. The white connector is the auto dim socket and the two prongs are the heated element connectors.

Our MKI Superb also filled with water. Needed a new CCM, main wiring loom, parking sensor loom and 20 hours of labour to fix it. Ridiculously expensive. I also had the pollen filter housing fix done and plenums cleaned out at the same time. I also removed the stupid rubber drains. That was back in 2011. What a dumb design that was. She’s now with another Briskodian and still running fine.

I agree, it’s appalling. But I’m using that as an example of a car which one would possibly presume has been sold in the low ‘00’s, actually being far more “common” than its distant VW cousin. And why on earth would you buy a car which looks like that, with a Bentley badge, but knowing it is actually the same as the car called Cayenne, which is the same car called Q8 or, heaven forbid, Urus? And then over at BMW, there is the X7… or is it a Rolls Royce Cullinan? 🙄

Yeah, it was a reskinned 132; Car magazine called it “Fiats biggest dud!” Oops we have. The Mirafiori had Pirelli P “somethings” which were semi low profiles which lasted about 6,000 miles! I’m not certain which way I’ll go on the 280. I’m very happy with the longevity and wet and dry grip of the Pirelli, but the tyre roar is, well….annoying.

Yep, the 1600 and 2000 Twin Cam engines were fab. And as for the Super Mirafiori, the TC2000; there are just 4 on the road and 14 on SORN. I had an Argenta SR for a while too. There are none licensed and only 2 on SORN.

In 1984, I was stopped for speeding at 80+ on the A3 in our Fiat Mirafiori TC2000. I said to the officer that it wasn’t possible I was going that fast, as the speedo in the Fiat was only showing we were travelling at circa 70. Naturally, he ignored that and went ahead with the ticket, after refusing to sit in the car and have his colleague follow us to confirm what I was saying was true. I was pi$$ed off, so I took the car the following day to Tony Brooks, the Fiat and Lancia dealership in Weybridge and spoke to the Service Manager whom I knew well. He took the car out and was shocked to find the speedo was unbelievably inaccurate from 20+ mph, which got progressively worse as the speed increased. He got permission to give written confirmation of this from Tony Brooks himself, which I then presented as evidence to the court. He also confirmed that it was the original OE factory fitted unit and the fine and endorsement, thankfully, were dismissed. He also very kindly had the speedo unit replaced FOC by Fiat and the original was destroyed. Those were the days. Can’t see any dealership doing that now. Mind you, Brooks were very customer focused. They had 24 hour weekday servicing, so you’d drop your car for a service as late as 21.00 and collect it the next morning after 06.00 and they also had weekend DIY servicing at their workshop, where you rented a bay and ramp by the hour and you were able to service or repair your car yourself, using OE parts, using factory and their own workshop tools; you literally didn’t even need a screwdriver. The SM and a couple of techs were also on hand to help and get one out of the inevitable difficulties. Of course, the dreaded H&S police and insurance regs would never allow that these days…<sigh>

I’ll be interested to know how they turn out, as the P7’s are bloody noisy on rougher surfaces, like the M25/40, but they’re really quiet on smooth tarmac.