Eddie Deguello

Yeah, I can use Google too

I intend to … once I'm sure of the correct address!

Well, yes. I know of the online contact form. I'd rather use something a little more formal, where I can send a proper letter with attached invoice from the garage that carried out the work. Tends to carry more weight, I find.

Having got the car back the week before last (with a not-as-big-as-it-might-have-been bill), it's about time that I tried to extract some money from Skoda UK. What's the best postal address for Skoda UK customer services? Is it the VAG headquarters in Milton Keynes, or the Selectapost address that I've seen elsewhere? (Or do they end up in the same place?)

Yeah, apparently it was oil contamination that caused the clutch to start slipping. When I spoke to them yesterday, they said they'd had a customer with a VW Tiguan with the same (but worse) problem as ours, who managed to get some money off VW even though the independent garage did the work, so there's some hope there.

From the details I got from our garage today (relayed via my wife), it sounds like we've got this problem too. The clutch on our 2010 Octavia Scout started to slip over Christmas; 117000 miles, so no great surprise. We got it booked in to our local independent VAG specialist to get the clutch and flywheel done a.s.a.p., and it went in today. From the verbal description I've had so far, it seems like we'll be needing a new gearbox bell housing at least, and maybe other parts. I haven't had a chance to have a look for myself, but should be getting photos sent through soon. I've sent the garage the details of the technical bulletin from this thread, hopefully that's helpful for them. I guess I'll get more information tomorrow, and possibly a rather large bill. If anybody's had success with getting a payment from Skoda UK, without having the work or servicing done by an official dealer, I'd be very interested to hear about it …

We got the letter last week, haven't got round to doing anything about it yet.

Hill hold assist? http://www.skoda-auto.com/en/models/hotspotdetail?HotspotName=C18+-+Asistent+rozjezdu+do+kopce+%5BFabia%2CRoomster%2C+Octavia%2C+Yeti%2C+Superb%5D&Page=technology&WebID=1dd4dab9-ae6c-4a36-a123-9b1844cd4225

... and that's why I use a blob of silicone on each nut to make sure the caps don't fall off. :-)

I got a set from mytyres, they've done two north-east winters, and I'll be putting them back on again soon. I put T5 centre caps on to keep the worst of the crud off the nuts and hub; now I've learned the trick of using a blob of silicone on each nut, I shouldn't loose any this winter. They get a good clean when they're taken off in the spring, and a liberal coating of Scottoiler FS 365. If you look really closely there's some slight signs of rust, but they look fine from normal viewing distance.

Not entirely sure... but pushing or pulling on the grab handle seems to stop it temporarily, so I was going to start with that...

Ta, it's worth a go. Even if it only solves it temporarily, at least it might narrow down the problem.

Our Scout has a really annoying squeak that seems to be coming from the passenger grab handle (just above the glove box), or the trim behind it. Anybody know how to get the damn thing off so we can tell if that's the problem?

I've noticed that our Scout (2010 2.0 TDI CR, 3 years old in September) is developing something of a lumpy idle when cold. Seems to drive perfectly fine otherwise, just sounds a bit... "clonky" (to use a technical term) when you first start it up. Any suggestions? It doesn't normally use much oil, but I'll check it tomorrow to make sure. We're off on a long tour around Central Europe next month, so I don't want it it breaking down in the Czech Republic; but at least we should be able to get parts quickly! It needs to go to the dealer to get some corrosion under the front edge of the bonnet looked at anyway; is there anything else we should get them to check while it's there?

Ah, my mistake, I'd assumed you'd be getting the same as the UK one, which definitely doesn't have a snow foam attachment.

I think that just comes with standard nozzles and detergent, not snow foam.

I had the bonnet open on our Octavia Scout this evening, giving things a quick wash off before I cleaned the outside of the car, and I happened to notice a load of rust along the bottom leading edge of the bonnet, just under the main grill. The paint's peeling off, and what's underneath is looking decidedly rusty. See the picture for details. The car was bought new in September 2010, and usually gets cleaned every two weeks, or more frequently if I have time. I don't normally clean under the bonnet though, and I guess I don't usually look up when I'm topping up the washer fluid (usually in the dark, anyway). Would this be covered by the warranty, either generally or on 'body protection'? If not, what's the best thing to do to stop it getting worse?

There's a petrol station in Fir Tree, a few miles south of Tow Law. You could take a short detour off the A68 to go through Corbridge and use the petrol station there, barely out of your way. I think the next one on the A68 north of Corbridge might be Jedburgh.

Apparently they've managed to reduce it by "about 80%", (how they measured that, I'm not quite sure), just by tightening some fasteners, but they're going to replace the glove box catch which they think should eliminate it completely.

We've got something like that. By coincidence, our 2010 Scout is with the dealer today, having a look at that and a couple of other potential warranty issues. If they manage to resolve it, I'll let you know.

Isn't "81KW" a bit of a give-away? From Google: 81 kilowatts = 108.622789 hp

It's for when you change drivers: adjust the right mirror first; the left mirror will automagically move to almost the correct position, and can then be tweaked using the left adjuster. Seems to work pretty well for me and SWMBO, who have very different seat positions.

I've let this drag on far too long without getting round to doing anything about it, and now the prices are starting to go up. Best I've found for tyres on wheels, with some half-decent rubber, is this from mytyres: Steel wheels with winter tyres (LK 5 x 112.00 x 57.00) Nokian WR A3 BSW 205/55 R16 94H Skoda OCTAVIA SCOUT 2.0 TDI 1Z 1968ccm 103 kW 03.2007- £ 127.70 4 £ 510.80 plus 9.90 £ postage and packaging per complete wheel /alloy rim 4 £ 39.60 Total Amount 4 £ 550.40 Rather more than I was originally thinking of paying... has anybody seen any better deals?

I've noticed that, but only with certain albums. It might be that it's doing it with everything, but it's only noticeable on some.

And me; just trying to decide how "inexpensive" a brand of tyre I should go for. Linglong? Goodride? Effiplus? Might have to be the Avons, I think. Reputable brand, and the description ('Ideally suited to rural drivers who need to stay mobile') sounds spot-on. Didn't really want to pay as much as £450 though... :S