xman

Any thoughts about what DCC setting is safest for driving through the forecast sleet/snow on the M62 next Thursday morning. Normal or Sport? Tyres being changed tomorrow, moving the 5mm tread P7 pirellis to the front and fitting new Goodyear 4seasons G3 on the rear axle.

Are they DCC dampers? (Dynamic chassis contol) - they have an electrical plug on them. If not, go to a trusted independent and they should cost less than half that. Are they leaking or simply misting a little? Misting is not an MOT failure and is considered normal.

Finally AI Bot 4..... "Thank you for contacting us, we'd love to hear what you think of the support you received. Please take a moment to answer one simple question... How would you rate the support you received?" 🤬

The immobiliser chip is passive, read by a reader coil embedded in the ignition switch. Users cannot reprogram this. The only user reprogramming is to code the key to the car so that remote locking works. It requires specialist equipment to reprogram the immobiliser chip. If yours has stopped working then either the immobiler chip is broken or missing (Its housed in the key in a tiny glass tube) or the car has somehow lost the immobiliser code of that particular key.

You can disable it by pressing the button marked (A) to the left of the parking brake (while the ignition is on). This is the autohold function. When illuminated Autohold and auto parking brake is enabled otherwise both are disabled. You can also just turn the ignition back on and release the parking brake and it will remain off when you turn the ignition back off. This won't affect the autohold/auto parking brake setting.

Note that rear wiper and washer only works when tailgate is closed.

No technician carrying out regular servicing would look that closely, even if they take the wheel off (which in most instances they don't) even then I doubt you can pick up potential seperation by visual inspection. The car had its MOT 4 weeks earlier, the tester inspects the pads and discs pretty closely according to the rules (1.5 mm min pad thickness etc) I accept that if you live in Shetland you probably need to check your brakes more frequently, but even then, pad seperation should not be an issue unless you regularly drive off road / through water. Its a quality issue, specifically the use of "black steel" https://yijingbrakes.com/why-do-friction-materials-separate-from-the-backing-plates-and-how-can-i-avoid-it/ https://trade.mechanic.com.au/news/brake-pad-delamination-here-s-why-it-happens https://www.materialsperformance.com/articles/material-selection-design/2018/09/advanced-corrosion-rust-drive-brake-pad-failures

I see what you did there 🤣

Just my 2p on the subject of modern headlights. Modern design language and use of led/laser technology has led to, in effect, point sources. No large reflectors in the optics to spread out the lumens at source as would be the case with halogen and hid. As an observer we perceive such point sources as much more intense (glare). Matrix lights rely on the windscreen camera and image processing. I doubt the optics and performance of said cameras/processing is perfect even with a perfectly clean windscreen. Most modern cars I have driven with automatic dip are pretty useless as are automatic wipers and I invariably use manual control. There is little need to use main beam in modern cars unless you're tearing down winding little lanes Personally I find matrix lights highly annoying when I am a pedestrian walking by a road in the direction of oncoming traffic. Instead of driving on dipped beam in built up areas as per the Highway code , I get those full main beam multiple point sources fired straight in my eyes. I invariably have to stop and look away until the offending car passes, often taking several seconds to recover.

All well and good until you decide to go on that driving trip abroad or even drive 200 miles down south on a Bank Holiday weekend.

28 v 34kWh. Interesting. Over 17% difference. Domestic meters are certified accurate better than 2% for Class A in the worst case. So that looks as if figures given by EV board computers are no more accurate than ICE cars. Strange how they are always on the optimistic side. I would think electricity consumption should be easy to measure accurately. This suggests that drivers are being fooled by their EVs, miles per kwh, kwh charge etc. Not many would think to cross check their car against their home meter.

An old car with a market value of virtually nil, difficult and expensive to source parts and difficult to repair due to its age. Your car will invariably be written off if you make any claim, market price is all they will offer according to their indusrty bibles such as Glasse's guide.

@J.R. has been proved right. ECP Bot no 3 now deployed informing me that Bosch warranty is 24 months/24,000 miles so case closed. We've solved your request! AI in action. Didn't understand the issue. Safety/QA not warranty. Pads going in the bin along with Bosch's reputation On 2nd thoughts I'll take them back to the store and instruct them to return them to Bosch for QA to investigate. Whether they do is another matter, but at least I tried to inform them before they kill someone.

@J.R. You might be right about AI bots. Some of the emails have slightly strange sentences included, just look at the one I posted earlier. The replies came back really quick too. Sometimes within minutes. The CS rep changed her name after 3 emails for the next 2 without explanation. I'll wait and see what happens next. Its interesting to note that the EU is considering extending product liabilty from the current max 15 years to 20 years and to cover products manufactured outside the EU https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-a-europe-fit-for-the-digital-age/file-new-product-liability-directive

I drove a 1.0tsi Kamiq 6 speed manual hire car in Poland last year. It was surprisingly smooth and tractable. You could pull away with virtually nil gas pedal input. It had great acceleration, only flooring it at low revs (<1800 rpm) gave away it was the 3 cylinder, but not in an unpleasant way. I did notice the idle speed changing and adapting when pulling away from a standstill. But didn't interfere with the experience. I'm guessing there may be clutch related issues at play here as others have posted.

I decided to order Goodyear 4seasons gen 3 £272 for 2 tyres fitted at home by tyresonthedrive.com Michelin CCs would have been £350+ and involve driving to a fitting centre.

Indeed when I bought some Bosch Discs about 4 years ago it said made on China on the box. I returned them, I will not use safety critical parts made in China or India regardless of Brand. Not that it stops the true country of origin being obfuscated. i.e. if stuff is made in china but packed or "finished" in the EU, what can they get away with as far as labelling? Having said that, I know a lot of new cars now contain Chinese etc manufactured components.

ECP responded very quickly and it seemed they were keen to trace the batch of pads and pass information to the Bosch product manager. I had long since binned the invoice so there followed half a dozen email exchanges to trace when/where they were bought. It turned out that I bought them in my local store on 13/6/19 Meanwhile after several days Bosch contacted me Make of that what you will... So I thought ECP would actually be the ones to take the matter seriously until I got this This was from another adviser to the original I had been corresponding with. The issue has suddenly been turned around from identifying potential faulty batch of pads to warranty periods. I made clear that my concern was to inform Bosch of serious manufacturing defects in a safety critical product. I think I will remind them of applicable liability law regarding defective products (10 year liabilty for dangerous defects) but I don't think anything will be done. https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/dealing-with-customers/consumer-contracts-guarantees/defective-products/index_en.htm If I can motivate myself I will drop the faulty pads into the ECP branch and ask them to be returned to Bosch as a safety concern issue. As I originally posted, I will no no longer use Bosch aftermarket brake parts.

The analysis presented here is very sobering.

Something I noted from my mk2 estate. If the boot was not fully closed the washer and wiper is inhibited. So it may be something to do with the boot closed microswitch.

There was a Skoda procedure of how to assess chain stretch that was used for warranty claims. It involved removing the hydraulic tensioner at the rear of the engine and measuring the position of the internal moveable chain guide. I recall the limit for earlier engines was 78mm and mine was at 74mm so no warranty repair was authorised, despite the "death rattle" on many mornings. It took them over 2 hours to do it, don't ask me why. In hindsight it's a flawed way of measuring chain stretch. Theres absolutely no guarantee the chain can be held taut on the return side when measuring, in fact I can guarantee it wont be. So don't bother asking them to check your chain. Your ear is the better guide. As I said earlier, the engine was revised in early 2012 with a number of design tweaks including a 12.5% increase in oil capacity. Our 2013 Fabia did 120,000 without chain issues, whereas the 2011 Octavia we had to change it every 50,000 miles or so. If you want to know, why not just ask your dealer to quote you to fit a complete new chain kit? Dont forget to also include a new timing cover crankshaft seal, unless you like oil leaks. Both times I had it done, it was surprisingly cheaper than a cambelt change. Not sure why but there is some history that came into play. It costs nothing to ask for a quote.

My concern would be your car not only has ABS but other automated brake functions, hill/brake hold ASR, ESP, EDL etc. It is imperative that the braking system is kept scrupulously clean and fluid does not cause any internal corrosion. In my experience, brake caliper pistons are prone to fill with crud and initial fluid discharged when bleeding tends to be dark and dirty, not sure how this happens. So contamination could build up after the ABS control block. Your reservoir may be clean and water free, but it may be a different story at the piston end. Changing the fluid is called preventative maintenance. And it could save you all sorts of very expensive issues later, sticking caliper pistons, premature pad and disc wear, faulty ABS etc.

On the basis the leak was present when the car was bought and it has not been resolved in a satisfactory fashion under the consumer rights act 2015 you have rights. If the car is financed, contact the finance company concerned. They will persue it as the car is still legally theirs. Section 75 protection applies if any credit card was involved. If debit card, chargeback rules may apply. Check if your insurance has legal cover included maybe. Etc etc

The 1.4tsi being discussed here has a standard VAG steel sump plug and a pressed steel sump. I'd be worried about the oversized sump plug they reportedly fitted. There's no such thing afaik. Sounds like an incompetent mechanic making matters worse. Negligence occured during servicing. Probably at the recent service. Just because it was leaking prior doesnt mean the sump threads were stripped. Highly unlikely and I cite my experience which had similar symptoms. The OP needs to speak directly to Skoda and threaten legal action. The correct solution now is to fit a new sump pan, at the cost of the dealer involved. Or reject the car for a full refund. https://www.skoda-parts.com/spare-part/04e103602b-oil-pan-1-4tsi-skoda-31107.html

ECP replied today, asking for the order no. and a description of the fault. Obviously the bot didn't read this thread which I sent them a link for.