TsvRS

I think the design weight limit was 70Kg distributed which is like two heavy cases. Anything heavier or pointier and I don't doubt it could fall straight through (but I have hardly ever needed to take mine out).

Did you find somewhere that sells the calipers at a reasonable price? Mine are pretty shot and should really be replaced too.

I am only picking up on this thread because I have been doing the same thing but I did buy the pattern parts at £45 a side. They are easier to fit than pfaffing around with the seized bushes but do I need to replace the bolts ...? Also anyone got the part number for them?

The OEM bushes cost about £6 each and the droplinks can be had pretty cheap too. You can choose OEM bushes that are voided, partially voided or non-voided depending how much less play versus greater comfort you want

I have the same problem with seized bushes but at 100,000 miles. My 4WA is only slightly out but my rear tyres are threepenny bitted and noisy as hell. I suppose it is possible that the seized bushes actually create the poor dynamic geometry that eats the tyres as to be honest my static alignment is almost spot on.

Must be the bathtub curve finally kicking in ...

Mine has always done this. I believe there is an adaptive element to it with input from accelerometers in the car. Basically if the gearbox thinks your are driving in a more assertive/sporty fashion then it will assume you want an earlier change down and later change up in gears. It is not necessarily thinking what we are thinking though - I always use manual when I know I will need a reliable response (running onto roundabouts, fast cornering and especially overtaking). To be fair most of the time it is fine.

I believe the campaign referred to was only in place to save VAG from excessive warranty claims. All affected engines are already outside warranty so Skoda/VAG etc couldn't give a stuff to be honest and when they did care it was only about their own liability. The idea was that if a customer booked a car in with a known defective engine then the campaign would allow the dealer to claim the parts and labour back from VAG (Skoda). To ensure a measured stream of output not all cars were flagged on the system at the same time even if they shared the same engine. Customers were not told but might find an unexpected line-item on their service worksheet if the modification had been applied. It wasn't a recall and it wasn't made public but VAG were explicitly stating that they knew of the engine issue. If you want your money back you have to prove in court that what caused the timing chain to fail was the timing chain issue - that, surprisingly, is not straightforward. First your dealer and then Skoda will allege all sorts of wierd and wonderful possible stories about how the car was used, abused etc all to cast doubt on the obvious explanation i.e. that the engine was simply flawed when it left the factory. Happened to me. Still ****ed about it. Probably shows.

A bit pedantic maybe but because the wheel bolts are (and should be) unlubricated the torque to remove them could be far too high for putting them on.

Any chance you could have selected Sport mode inadvertently? If your usual driving style is taking advantage of the torque and sticking to 2,000 to 3,000 revs in Drive mode then Sport mode might appear as thought it will never change up (it will but at uncomfortably high revs).

Mine does have heated seats - sounds worth checking. Thanks.

Not sure I can contribute much but have a similar problem. After a long time standing doing nothing (first arguing with the dealer and then getting a new engine) my car had what I thought was a battery problem - never really kept charge. New battery improved things but even so after a couple of days the battery was only just starting the car. I measured the current being drawn from the battery with everything off and it was about 3.5 amps which makes sense in as much as that would be quite enough to drain the battery completely. That is a lot of juice though and I would expect to be able to see some evidence of it. I checked all the fuses and relays and it made no difference. Now I have replaced the alternator the drain current is 1.8 amps which is a lot better but in no way a complete fix. I will definitely have a look at drying out the fuse box but am otherwise stumped. Meanwhile I bought another battery which sits fully charged in the passenger seat-well with a set of jump-leads and that has gotten me out of trouble several times - pain in the ass when it is raining though ...

Sounds easy. My battery is still discharging so when I left the car for a few days I thought I would pop the bonnet and leave the battery disconnected whilst I was away. Problem is that having opened the car to pop the bonnet I then cannot lock all the doors once the battery is disconnected. And before you all pipe up - if I close all the doors before disconnecting the battery then the alarm goes off as soon as the battery terminal comes off. I went around this a number of times ... I am guessing the secret must be to disable central locking or disable the bonnet switch but just didn't have time to work it out before I caught my train so when I get back my battery will almost certainly be flat. Let me out of my misery - how should I do it. (should have fixed it by now but have been busy moving house)

I dont think you meant to say Boxster S? I have those and they are a complicated fit to 321, 328 or 330mm discs.

I would generally agree on the jetwash idea but my memory of where the wheel bearing sits in relation to the wheel, top-hat of the disk, and hub assembly would indicate that you would need to be a particularly intrepid jetwash user to get anywhere close to where the bearing sits. Where there is a will there is way though I suppose.

There is an adjustment procedure and I would guess, but it is a guess, that a part of the reason for that procedure is to calibrate for the sensor variation (as well as the variation from car to car in suspension height etc)

I doubt it is anything other than the one slight shortcoming of the DSG. What you describe, without knowing exactly to what degree it is doing it, sounds like what mine does. For instance, if I leave it in Auto and approach a small roundabout in third but have to brake slightly then I know full well that if have to get out promptly there is every chance the damn thing will slam me down into first gear and rev like a demon. By contrast, if I slip it into Manual as I approach, I can then pooter on in third or deliberately use second gear if I need the extra oomph. I still love it but I had to learn to.

If you mean the part of the brake disc that is not swept clean by the pads then Silver Hammerite does the job for me - I do it when I put the Alloys on in spring. I use steelies in Winter so not worth the bother.

To be honest I don't think you are right in saying that £2k is the worst case unless you mean swapping the engine out of a scrapped car - a valid option but with its own risks. The cost of a reconditioned head was about £2K and a new head was just silly money, £3,600, IIRC plus labour.

Sarge is spot on. Low battery warning. Mine has been doing it for ages and I have not nailed the problem down yet but I know it is not the battery itself.

An independent will charge half the price but it will not figure as a VW approved change in the service record. I think any VW place will charge the time units set for the job. I have always gone independent but you are still in warranty so you need think about it. Obviously the oil change could only affect the warranty on the gearbox/clutch but the onus would be on your to prove it.

Been there and full sympathetic but I am not surprised any more. The last thing VAG can afford is for people to think they made faulty engines and didn't own up to it. That would be fraudulent. They wouldn't want people thinking they were systematically fraudulent. Would they? Even if they have already been caught for one thing they are still going to feign innocence. I am still angry - it probably shows. I am inclined to raise this as soon as the current hubbub dies down just to twist the knife.

I don't know what Radio you have but does it have a CD in it or a multi CD player in the boot? Both of those can cause trouble apparently.

my wheel bearings started humming at that mileage. It is slightly more likely to be the nearside bearings that fail first as they get more pothole knocks. It is common for there to be no noise when spinning the wheel unloaded even if the bearing is damaged so it is not a very reliable test. It is not an easy DIY job and I chose not to but it can be done with the right tools.

There are four ways to pass a test: 1.) Legitimately meet the performance standard in principle and practice. Honorable. 2.) See the performance standard as flawed yet accept it in principle and meet it in practice e.g., comply at the exact rev/minute specified but not necessarily at any other engine speed. Practical. 3.) Not accept the performance standard by any means in principle yet meet it in practice e.g., complying only at the exact rev/minute specified but certainly not at any other engine speed. Cynical. 4.) Introduce subterfuge to ignore the performance standard in practice and principle. Fraudulent. If other manufacturers have gone down paths 2.) and/or 3.) then it will be embarrassing for them. Path 4.) is jail-time.