numskull

Used part on eBay?

I think the reason is that it is probably for the hatch, but it isn’t clear. 🙄

Very true, albeit should they open the package, they’ll establish the the U.K. cost of the item and then add the VAT based upon that usual landed number. C&E can basically do as they wish.

Lucky you and not necessarily; I’ve had a counter experience with AE. I’ve made a statement of fact Re the U.K. Customs and Excise law, nothing else. Almost certainly, the struts advertised on AE and elsewhere will be made by the same local manufacturers used by VAG for their Chinese production lines and should be of the same “quality” or hopefully, somewhat better!

Obviously you mean except for circa £100 for VAT and 2.5% import duty. VAT and duty are both applicable to anything imported to the U.K. costing >£135. There you go…

£700+ for a couple of bits worth £100 at the most. If they were precision engineered items I could understand it, but it’s clear form the failure rate, they ain’t. God I’m sick of rip-off parts prices, especially when one knows what the mark-ups are on these.

Itl’ bee sheet….

It’s is, feck it…. it’s a sign it’s busted…

Try reducing the ringer volume on the phone.

Got rid of the Skoda, Superb and 4x4 badges on ours last year, Colin. Those L&K stickers on the front wings were also lifting and catching the microfibres when cleaning the car. And they look bloody awful too.

Hmmm… only suspect area is getting to the wiring - that will be a pain for sure but worth it to save £500. EDIT… Doh….. Just saw the attached vid. 🙄 You’re right, seems even I could’ve done that! 😁

How difficult is it to swap over the struts?

Damage always looks worse on white vehicles.

I asked because we had issues with rust in the exact same place on a number of Audi, who staff lived on the coast. It was only those vehicles which were affected. The paint is particularly thin in that area and it can, under some circumstances, remain damp for days and that, combined with the salt in the air, makes for a poor combination. Audi fixed them under warranty via the leasing company.

Are you near the sea, Stevie?

I didn’t have perforation round the numberplate lights on the boot lid on our MKI, but after 7 years SUK approved a replacement.

That’s poor. You might have a warranty claim there.

Ahhhhh… yeah, just ignore me Ken; migraine hangover and very long day… 🙄. Given the dozens of fault codes that were thrown up, I’m certain that any one of those dealers would’ve had the car for 5 days, found far more “issues” related to “the problem” and replaced associated parts to determine if they were right. The conversation with the service advisor would go.. ”Errr, so why have you replaced all these parts?” ”They we’re all shownimg they had a fault, so we had to replace them”. “So it wasn’t just one problem then?” “No, they were all faulty.” ”So they all failed at the same time?” “No, some failed earlier and some later.” “And you didn’t think to speak to SUK on my behalf - the car has only covered 30,000 miles.” “No. One unit failing causes another one to fail.” Then at the bottom was the figure of £1,489. I’ve been there on one occasion on our MKII at a Skoda dealer I’d used for a number of years which had been taken over for a third time, by a major group. Enough said…

Ours works perfectly as per the handbook.

Well, given Wheelbase are not Skoda Main Dealers but an independent garage, this really doesn’t apply in their case.

Some way to physically go, but can I suggest you call Colin Marshall at Wheelbase in Hersham, Surrey (link here). Our Superb 280 had the dash alight like a Christmas tree, biggest issue was ABS and ESC were off, which I explained in turn to the four closest Skoda dealers as I called them in turn last week - Allams Epsom, Lookers Guildford, Garlands Aldershot and Skoda Crawley. Not one showed the slightest empathy and none of them could even LOOK at the car for a one hour (chargeable) diagnosis slot for three weeks and further weeks wait for the appointment to have the work undertaken… unless I needed a courtesy car which would mean between an 6 to 10 week wait! I called Wheelbase last Saturday and the very pleasant lady I spoke to said that’s bad news, but it was probably just a failed sensor and then said they could take the car in on Monday. I said I need a courtesy car and said unfortunately they wouldn’t have a courtesy car until…. Tuesday! The 280 went in and it was fixed by 5pm. It was the NSR wheel sensor. It was a very, very easy and pleasant experience. I won’t be returning to a main dealer again; Wheelbase will now be getting our custom. It’s worth a call as I’m sure they’ve had this issue on a number of VAG products.

Wheelbase Garage Ltd Good Garage Guide Reviews I had the dash light up like a Christmas tree on the way to Ireland. ABS, ACC, TPS, HHC, ESC, Cornering Lights, Front and Rear Traffic Alert, Lane Assist, Front and Rear Parking Pilot and Blindspot detection all unavailable. Called all the “local” Skoda Dealers and none could see the car for three weeks or four if I wanted a chargeable courtesy car. I called Wheelbase last Saturday and the 280 was booked in today 10th August with a free courtesy car. The problem was solved (failed wheel Speed Sensor) and they corrected the off centre steering wheel too. Brilliant service, great prices and very, very nice people. I’ll be getting the car serviced there from now on. Recommended unreservedly.

UPDATE. Took the car to the Independent dealer this morning. Spoke to the owner, Colin Marshall, who said yep, he was sure it’d be a failing Wheel sensor causing all the issues and they’d call me later. I also asked them to centre the steering wheel as that’d been annoying me for 16 months. They brought round a nice VW Up (free) and I went on my way. At 16.45, they called to tell me it was all sorted and I could pop down to collect it. Arrived and we were seen within 2 minutes. Colin was just competing the bill. It was indeed the OSR Wheel Speed Sensor which had a mechanical fail and they’d replaced that. They also had a odd fault with the NSF sensor which was Magnet Field Too Low (anyone??) on the 26 July, but it was fine once it was cleared. He gave me the complete VCDS print out too. So the final bill was £253 which was less than I expected. So massive thanks and a shoutout to Wheelbase Garage in Hersham, Nr Walton-on-Thames, in Surrey (Link here) and there are masses of great reviews on Honest John Good Garage Guide (Link here). Colin was very pleasant and clearly very knowledgeable on VAG products and after this positive experience I will be using Wheelbase for our future servicing needs; annoyingly, this is how Skoda dealers used to be like 20 years ago - thank heavens there are still some dealers who actually still value their customers.

No problem with DAB even with the dashcam fitted which others have reported have created an issue.

I have no idea what people actually expect of so-called “hi-fi” in cars; the sound in our ‘16 L&K 280 is exceptionally good… for a car. Mid range and treble are both very good and the bass isn’t overblown as long as the system bass is set flat. Its these qualities have always been lacking in most of the cars I’ve had. I did spend a lot of money on a Pioneer based system in our Peugeot 604 GTi which was OK, but this Canton system is better. However, one cannot expect a car to sound like a quality hi-fi system because they simply do not; ever. 30,000 watts of insane loudness and ridiculous levels of booming, bone and house window shaking bass is not hi-fi IMO.