travs

^^^ This man knows!

World of difference between the suppleness of an old one and new one for sure!

Welcome to the forum and enjoy the car! Definitely a positive move into Skoda ownership I reckon 👍🏼

The Mk1? It’s definitely getting on a bit now but they are great cars. There are a few around being sold so keep an eye on the cars for sale forum!

Looks a great car and nice pic too. Do you have any more plans for it? Once you start tinkering it’s hard to stop!

Welcome Ábel - I’m pretty sure this place will hold the key to what you need. It’s a goldmine of info. Enjoy the car!

Sounds like it’ll be worth the wait; welcome back!

I contacted Skoda HQ on their chat feature and when giving the private plate (had been on there for at least a year by that point) they couldn’t find it. So I gave the original plate which confirmed to the VIN. At which point the guy at the other end quoted a different black colour. I said I thought it was Black Magic and he basically said they’re all black, there won’t be much difference 🤯🤯

Thanks for that - I was originally going to run the winters and then switch to all-seasons, but given I've got the storage space and switching wheels stops me getting bored with the look of the car I thought I'd keep both sets of wheels; but yes does mean getting off the winters when the temps come up. Longer ranger forecast doesn't look like there is any cold snap aside from the odd overnight so still looks like about now. Cheers all!

Ah ok - sorry! 😬

What about this bit at the bottom?

Isn’t there a setting to do with automatically resetting it on refuelling? Still on the MIB on Car Settings rather than the dash but it could be automatic?

Cheers. We definitely have winter temps through Dec to Feb even where we are; but I was thinking we’re through the worst of it here. Will research the lambing snow thing to see if it’s relevant to the climate as far down here and we get a cold snap too

Cheers chaps. Sounds like I’m in the window (London so basically warmest for UK). That’ll be a job for this weekend I think.

To those that switch, are you off your winters yet? I've held off so far as its not unheard of to get a drop and even snow this late in the winter/spring - otherwise, starting to feel like temps are averaging upwards these days - am I way behind the curve and everyone else is back on summer tyres? I read that 7 degrees is the switchover point, which feels low to me - but also there is still the odd frosty morning. Then there's always the point that I'm overthinking it. What are people's thoughts/habits?

Very humble buddy. I would have said the same thing about heater on full (think it was to get rid of any air bubbles in the system?) so shows my old-skool process too.

Having a ceramic element on the glass is useful for sure; Soft99 Glaco do some products that get good feedback also. Even where I use Hydro2 it leaves a decent effect. But that’s not my point - it’s where there are glass cleaners which also leave the ceramic on the glass. Like a 2-in-1…but it doesn’t really do a good enough job of cleaning the glass.

Oh yes, front windscreens are as difficult to clean as satisfying to have clean! That or saloon cars with a sloped rear - need a thin wedge to put the microfibre cloth on to get down to the parcel shelf! When cleaning inside, wipe left to right (matches the old heated rear screen element); when cleaning outside, wipe up and down. When you see streaks or marks, you know instantly which side of the glass its on.

The tint film is on the inside so anything cleaning the outside of the glass getting external grime off won't touch it anyway. Dedicated glass cleaner products will be fine for inside and out. It'll only be tar remover solvents that will attack the bonding for any sort of film be it PPF or window tint). Types: Glass-cleaner products are largely sorted into 3 categories (forget No.3): Surfactants: Acid-based products that works to break the bonds of the contaminant from the surface and then surround/encapsulate the contaminant to be wiped away. Solvents: Alcohol-based that work as a solvent dissolving greases and oils into them. Some glass cleaners are very similar to IPAs/Panel Wipes (Carpro Clarify and Eraser smell suspiciously similar) (The rest: Anything with Limonene in is alkali and that won't be as effective on oils and greases. It'll leave the glass feeling slicker though so put these in the snake oil drawer for the most part). Action: Acids will be dissolved in a solvent carrier. Spread the cleaner out on the glass, give it a mo to work and then remove before the solvent flashes off. @OccyVRS that's why you're left with streaks and smudges on a hot day. Think of it that you're wiping off the product. Alcohol-based products you can wipe over the surface - the more you move it around the more it will dissolve the oil and grease. Dilution: For both of these types, the active product can only clean so much; how well it cleans is determined by how diluted it is (hint: the cheaper the product, the more diluted it is). If you clean and still have streaks and smudges, its down to one of two things: There was more contaminant than the product could remove and you simply need more. You'll need to use more and have more passes using cheaper products. The cloth is dirty. Microfibre cloths are made of two different plastic fibres - Polyester (really good at capturing water) and Polyamide (really good at capturing oils) - once they're full of stuff, they're full. That's why most products talk about using a clean cloth at the end; to capture the last remnants of oil/water/product. The point about Limonene: Limonene is exceptionally commonplace. Its an alkali degreaser that is extracted from the peel of citrus fruit (or D-Limonene which is a cheaper manufactured version). It forms the basis of Citrus Pre-Washes but is also in a million household cleaning products. I also spotted it in toothpaste the other day. Its good, but alkalis are chosen as much for their slick quality acting as a natural lubricant on fragile clearcoat. This also gives a bit of shine to give that psychological effect of looking and feeling clean. Test it on your black-glass induction hob and you'll see what I mean. Looks ok until the light catches it then its smear-central. Cleaners including ceramics: These are starting to become more common but, imho, they're a bit of a fallacy. The glass needs to be clean to use these; they're not a cleaner as such, a bit of cleaning power but moreso a way of giving the glass a hydrophobic effect. I've used a couple with largely disappointing results. Effectively, get the glass clean using a proper product, then use one of these for a final effect if desired.

Just responding to this point about detailing; in Chesterfield you have the Detailing Detectives. The fella who runs it is Craig and he's very well-trained and very-experienced. He sits on the Board of the UK chapter for the International Detailers Association and approved member on the Professional Detailers and Valeters Association. Wouldn't think twice about giving my car to him to sort out however was needed. https://pro-valets.co.uk/member/mobile-car-valeting-chesterfield-detailing/https://pro-valets.co.uk/member/mobile-car-valeting-chesterfield-detailing/

Thanks Colin - as much as the original finish looks lovely, I’m not that sentimentally attached to it. I like the anthracite colour - has a nice bluey tone to it, so might see if I can get the guy to powder that colour and then clear powder over the top.

Had some time to get the summer wheels out and give them a clean while they’re off the car. The barrels and back of the spokes were awful and still not great. Carpro Retyre for the tyre walls, Koch-Chemie Greenstar (an APC) 1:10 for general cleaning, then thoroughly rinsed and followed up with Carpro Tri-X (Iron Fallout remover and Tar remover combined). I hoped the Tri-X would shift more. Not sure it’s not compromised but even tried Carpro Spotless (waterspot remover) on a couple of stains but no go. Can confirm the wheels are also in a shocking state and will be reconditioned before going back on the car!

I’ve found that too - driving in sport mode and still got healthy economy; guess it’s about the way you drive rather than the mode of the car.

Winner winner

Ha I was thinking of suggesting the haldex test - but I think OP’s car is FWD. It’s definitely a good sign if someone who knows and wants to do the right thing. Ironically some dealer techs must be aware but won’t do it as it’s work they can’t charge for I guess?