TomGoodheart

Well, as Sod's Law would have it, the door had freed itself by 8.30 when I took Wifey to work this morning!! This despite it being stuck solid after me bashing at the door panel last night and no better at 7.30 when I cruelly sent Wifey out to take daughter to school (so I didn't have to get out of my nice warm bed!) Whether the bashing helped free it or it was a whim of the Gods of Irony .. who knows! But I gave what I could see lashings of WD40 and got it to the dealers asap! I'm pleased to report that they (Progress Skoda, Bedford) found there's a faulty latch and have ordered a replacement. As it's covered by the warranty it's all a welcome relief to find it sorted almost painlessly. Apparently it's a rare problem in the current model. But in case anyone else does have problems, it's worth checking the latch.

Thanks. I tried a few knocks with no success. I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow. As a related issue, anyone any views whether any work should be covered by the three year warranty? I know 'adjustments' to doors aren't, but in my view failure of a deadlock is a safety issue and hardly an adjustment ... Edit: And if it's any help .. the door 'sounds' normal, in that it makes the same noise as the others when the central locking remote is used, which makes me wonder if the locking/unlocking mechanism is working but the deadlock is just stuck in the locked position .. if that makes sense? And I tried more judicious thumping in different areas of the door; again to no success. :'(

I've had a search on the forums and it seems not uncommon that Octy I doors mysteriously deadlock. I have the same problem with my '95 1.4 TSI. The rear driver's side passenger door is locked solid. All the other doors work normally using the central locking and remote. I've tried simultaneously pulling the handle as I unlock remotely, kicking the door (gently!) as I pull the handle and pulling both interior and exterior handles simultaneously. All to no effect beyone winding me up. AFAIK, the car hasn't had any knocks or bumps that might cause a deadlock to misfunction. Is this a regular problem, because my dealer says they have never heard of it before? They also suggested a day's work at presumably lots of ££££ Any ideas would be much appreciated. Please bear in mind I have figured out where the petrol goes and how to turn on the music but am otherwise mechanically incompetent, so will not be able to try reprogramming the warp drive or changing the fuse on the flux capacitor type stuff. So any advice needs to be simple(minded)! Thanks!

My 'i' is silver. I had assumed they had dropped the red I with the new lettering. I has a 1.4 TSI I'm ... slightly disappointed. But I like my car so much it will pass!

Prescription sunglasses (got them as my second pair in a deal) and a baseball cap! Honestly, you can dip the cap brim very precisely and it cuts out more glare than those daft visors any day (well, it does if you're short like me!) Yes .. there's the image thing. But I'd rather be safe. And for when I get old(er) .. one of those flat caps will do! Now .. where did I put my whippet and pipe?

Not as far as I can see. VAG Factories

I've been pleasantly surprised with my new Octy. I've had no problems at all getting out and about, even up hills (famous last words!!) Unlike my bosses' Celica and 5 Series Beemer. Neither could get up the slope to work. I'm very glad they couldn't hear me laughing for the wheelspin!

Nope. I must be stupid today. I keep getting the login when I try to save. Do I need to create an account or something?

Just one more thing. Do check if your insurance company offers any 'new for old' cover as standard. Mine does for the first year of ownership and so I arranged for my (two years) gap insurance to start after that. No point paying for cover if your normal policy already provides it and it shouldn't a problem deferring the start of the gap policy.

I got the Autoglym thrown in as part of my deal because I'm lazy. It looked very nice on delivery though a few weeks on needs a good rinse. But the thing that sold me was the lifetime bit where they valet and redo it (well, that's what they told me .. kinda makes you wonder how long the basic treatment is supposed to last in that case!) every three months. I didn't know about detailing before I came on here and I'm sure I'd get a better result that way. But I'm more than happy for someone to clean and valet my car quarterly for life at no further cost to me!

Mmm .. the mats are listed at £50. I believe that the car comes with some mats, just the optional ones are nicer and say 'Octavia' on the driver's side one! Again, the boot is carpeted as standard. Whether you want an extra liner depends on the dirt you're likely (or not) to throw at it! As for fuel .. I pushed for that before delivery (I should have asked for it as part of the deal!) but was told in no uncertain terms that the car just comes 'as delivered', which in my case was with about 1/4 tank. Wouldn't get you 300 miles .. but it was enough to get me to my local Tesco filling station. Might be worth asking for any options you particularly want to be switched on in advance. I asked for the dips and parking lights enabled as DLR. The dealer had it set up with driver's door opening (you need to click the remote twice for the remaining doors to unlock), emergency lights on hard braking (I think - haven't tested that yet!). I also asked for the second (nearside) fog light to be enabled but for some reason they couldn't figure how to do that!

I think the 1.4 / 1.8 question is tricky to answer really. It'll depend on what you're used to and how you drive. My 1.4 TSI slips up to 80 mph all too easily and I haven't yet noticed any lack in torque when I want to overtake or accerate. But then it has 30% more power than my old Toyota and it's 10 years newer, so I'd hope to notice a difference! It has the same size engine as the Toyota so is resonable on emissions and body wise, it's only really mm larger. But it's a more solid car with better roadholding and I'm finding it to be a very nice drive. I'm sure a 1.8 will give you better acceleration and if speed's your thing ... but then it'll want feeding more often, plus insurance cost, slightly higher road tax .. ! My guess is that you'll notice a difference from your Focus either way .. the question is .. how much of a difference would you like? And I suspect a test drive might be the only way to conclusively answer that one.

Yup. Nobody was going to offer me anything close to the scrappage so it made a new car a possibility. As for mpg I haven't checked really but I'd guess at the moment it's clost to the published urban figure. We have a lot of roundabouts here so it's constant acceleration, deceleration driving.The one trip on the motorway it was amusing to see the estimated milage to the next refuelling go UP by 25 miles! Indeed! It seems to have power across the whole range. My old car 5th was strictly for cruising; no acceleration to speak of at all. But now ... I've had to set the 'pinger' to tell me I'm driving too fast!