Lewwy

My Skoda Dealer is approx. 2 min drive. Don't use them too much. Dad took his Yeti in for a service recently and checked it when he went home to find the oil on the bottom of the dipstick. Called in there the next day to complain for a mechanic to come out, dip it and say that's fine. My Dad retorted that he had only just turned engine off so needed to drain oil into the sump for an accurate reading, the mechanic then proceeded to try and argue with him that you should always check the oil with the engine hot and just turned off. Dad dropped the bonnet and said forget it. Bought oil and topped up himself. Its quite scary the lack of knowledge in the dealers, and also the customer service and attitudes can be disgusting.

All being well!, my Dad should be picking a pre-reg '15 plate Yeti on Saturday. Its a 2.0 TDI 110 SE in Silver. Has a couple of extras on it with front parking sensors and the Supersport steering wheel upgrade. It was registered 3 weeks ago and has got 10miles on the clock, so I was wondering peoples opinions on engine running in periods and what they have done with their new Yetis when they had them. Its the first new car my Dad has ever had, and I am yet to buy a brand new car so I was interested in people opinions on running in a new engine. Any input gratefully received, Lewwy

Wow, that's some serious amount of stick on weights on that rim

With a car on a ramp (most likely a 2 poster), if it takes a decent mechanic 30mins using a windy gun to remove and swap over the wheels he needs his ar$e kicking. 10mins work tops. They should be doing this as a matter of goodwill and to keep your custom. How the hell can you correctly check everything during a service without talking the weeks off? Joke.

I have seen a guy that shorted a battery (disconnecting incorrectly) and managed to touch his metal watch strap, which managed to quarterise main arteries in his wrist, do not underestimate the dangers of messing about with a vehicle battery. Have also worked with another guy who had a battery explode in his face, he wears glasses and luckily his glasses saved his eyes. Its ok saying people shouldn't be messing about with things they don't understand, like car batteries, but the thing is people will have a go and change there own batteries and not everyone is as experienced or understands vehicle electrics or the risks. So as someone who is experienced in vehicle electrics, you shouldn't be dishing out advice like removing positive first. I for one wouldn't like to think anyone on here had injured themselves doing some of things i have seen. We are all on here to help each other and give useful and safe advice on doing things to our cars.

You don't have a clue what you are talking about. As has been said if you take the positive off first leaving the neg connected and touch the spanner (while undoing the positive) to anywhere on the car metallic you will effectively short the positive to ground, and therefore short the battery out, As has been stated a dead short can be catastrophic with infinite current flowing. Get your facts straight before giving people dangerous information, and don't be so quick to diss the people telling it the correct way.

I would say that doesnt look like something to stress over too much, Do you have pics of the rest of the car? How much is it up for?

This is NOT the first time this has happened, have read of this happening quite a lot where a small leak on the fuel filter housing causes it to perish the fan belt and then it takes the cambelt out. I was aware how easy it is to get a small fuel leak on the fuel filter when I changed mine. You have to be extra careful to ensure that it seals correctly. I am afraid you have learnt of this the hard way - I feel for you - you must be gutted. I would definitely try and take it up with the garage that changed the fuel filter as they have not checked the housing has sealed properly. You may be looking at a bill in excess of £2k for this. Lewwy

I think I am correct in saying that the throttle control is overruled by the brake pedal signal on Octavia's? Correct me if I am wrong. Are you sure it is not a problem with the brake pedal sensor, I have seen it on a friends Picasso where the brake pedal sensor was breaking down and the brake lights were flickering on/off, he wasn't aware of this (i observed it while following him), but he was aware that when the car thought the brake pedal was being depressed it over rides the throttle pedal and he had a similar effect to what you are experiencing. The throttle pedal having no effect.The car does not expect you to accelerate and brake at the same time, so braking takes president and ECU cuts the throttle pedal signal. It may not be this - but just an idea to explore. Lewwy

I dont agree, i think the 16's fitted to the Elegance are seriously dull looking wheels and think the L&K should have something different to the Elegance. I am sure they are a lot more comfortable, particularly as the 17 Pegasus's have sports suspension. As for looks I know the vRS with the factory 18's looks a hell of a lot smarter than the early ones with the smaller alloys. Bigger wheels generally look a lot better than small ones.

Isnt this why its got heated seats?

My Octavia 2 L&K has the Pegasus alloys upgrade from factory, and this come with sports suspension - which I would guess is similar to the vRS suspension. It certainly handles very well, BUT the ride is quite firm, quite 'vRS like'. If you go for an L&K (assuming its a pre-FL) for the softer ride get one with 16's as I think it will be a bit smoother. Personally I think the 16's look cr*p on the L&K and so I have taken the trade off of a harder ride, but I think the Pegasus alloys look much nicer. You will definitely be better with an L&K with no DPF, and a remap if that's what you need.

One of the reasons I bought a 2.0, instead of a 1.9, difference in insurance between the two was £15, I am sure it would have been more had I remapped a 1.9. It's always worth being honest with insurance companies about remaps and mods.

I didn't think the 2.0 lent itself to SMF conversion too well?

Good to see you bought the genuine item, good choice, worth it, and better than that counterfeit cr*p

I think charging £100 extra for the water pump is taking the p*ss, its an exchange item at approx cost of £40, and it very straight forward to do when the belt is off, certainly not £60 of labour charge. Most independents wont charge anywhere near £100 extra to do the water pump as well.

I like the mudflaps too, think they suit the car really well

Not if you take the insides out and keep the housing for the DPF

Yeh I think Skoda are being quite short sighted only offering the Rapid with the 122 TSI engine, and then only with DSG. The 140 TSI manual would have been very nice in that car. Its also a real shame that they seem to have dropped the performance models in the new Fabia. a 1.4 140hp TSI in that would be a cracking car I am sure. That engine is running low 8 secs on the 0-60 in the Octavia, and is quite good on fuel in the Octy too. endmra, what are your general impressions of the 140 TSI Octy that you are getting? Did it feel a lot slower than your 1.8 TSI? What was your impression of the mk3 build quality in comparison to the mk2? I am quite interested in the 1.4 TSI 140hp engine in the Octy 3 as it is better on fuel (on paper at least!) than the old PD 2.0 TDI 140 that I have, it is also quicker. So seems like a good choice. I am wondering how it would feel though in comparison to the 2.0 TDI engine. Lewwy

A genuine cambelt and water pump fitted by Skoda will have a 2 year VAG warranty against any defects.

You wont get a Bolero from a pre-facelift to my knowledge they were only fitted to facelift models (with the exception of the Limited Edition vRS's - which was a bit of a mix of pre and post facelift equipment wise)

Had stalk changed on warranty at main dealer. Got a print out Price was £125, supply and fit new stalk. So £175 just to fit is very steep

You could try Just VW in Coventry, (iAuto as it is now called). Its the same people that have always ran it, and used to be based in Bulkington. It has won some Garage of the Year award for the last 2 years. When I had cambelt done there it as about £320 ish inc. new coolant and new water pump. All the guys there are ex main dealer technicians (don't know whether that it good or bad?! lol) http://iautouk.com/coventry/ Lewwy

Nice car you got there Reed, then again I am slightly biased As stated by countryboy, 170 bhp from your engine should be easy enough to achieve with a map / tuning box.

sound more like a slipping clutch