BoxerBoy

With great difficulty. Let us know how you get on.

I think the HID/LED rule regarding MOT tests was knocked on the head very quickly after the GOV was reminded how many old Classic vehicles had been fitted with such lights which were far more efficient (read green too). My HID lamps have passed many MOT tests.

I haven’t blown a bulb for many years. But on my bike I replaced H7 headlamp bulbs with HID bulbs and turned night into day.

Out with the old, in with the new. £12.99 I’ll concede it took 2 minutes longer because the rack and pinion wheel on the RH glove box damper bracket fell out and had to be refitted.

Pollen filter lives behind glove box. Same as our Polo that I did recently. Drop glove box lid. Remove filter cover. Slide out filter cartridge. Install in reverse order. It is so easy. A U toob clip will clarify the process. 2 minutes max.

I’m planning for a 2nd service plus first MOT and noticed that there are several Extras that may or may not be offered. Things are quite confusing online with regard to what you get and don’t get. Or maybe. Or if you want it. Pollen Filter for one at a mere £35. £12.99 has just got me one on order from Euro Car Parts as I desperately need one. It’s a 2 minute job. (I just popped mine out for a look)

Today I bit the bullet and placed an order for yet another Kodiaq. Can't see past them. Number 3. Taxi. Skip truck. Holiday bus. Chauffeur drive taxi. All in one. And hard to beat for value for money. I really can't face paying More For Less - no matter what "more" might mean. Whether with a Skoda badge or any Premium brand. Surprised myself by placing order with nearest dealer. From whom I bought my first Skoda (Superb Estate) in 2011. A week ago I thought I had a deal stitched up with a very efficient and friendly online leasing agent. But - it all fell through when the "price was reviewed" next day and jumped to match dealer prices. So today I drove my first petrol Bear demo car to confirm my suspicions that I would feel short changed in 1.5 Kodiaq. 2.0 TSi SEL for me. ps - example pic added Had forgotten how quiet the petrol models are. And nicely responsive when you press the Go pedal. The Demo was a Race Blue Sportline without any useful extras - just playing "fur coat and nae knickers" as we say north of the wall. I need to replicate my useful toys - DCC, VC, Virtual Pedal and Winter Pack. Having enjoyed a lovely red one, I decline the £1,000+ Skoda ask for paint now and settled for FOC blue. Roll on summer 2023.

Did you reach a conclusion?

Stick a Garmin on your screen 😀 I do.

If you’ve ordered one VWFS car to replace a current VWFS car then you can simply click a few buttons on your VWFS account page and ask to extend your present car for X months. I’ve just done it for our Polo that terminates in December while replacement won’t arrive till January or February. And the exact same issue will arise for my Kodiaq that terminates in March and I haven’t ordered a new one yet. ps - I’ve declined the offer to buy the car from BCA - the VWFS disposal company - because their buying price is top dollar in line with every car showing on Auto Trader. No surprise there.

You can link the hot wheel to the hot seats just as you can link rear wiper to reverse gear and folding mirrors to locking vehicle. I check the boxes to avoid all of these unwanted features. Simply pressing the hot seat switch brings up both the hot seat setting and the hot wheel setting. Quickest way in for me.

On my old banger 2020 Bear the seats and wheel work perfectly with a brisk warm up 🙂 And it's very noticeable in a few minutes. I usually turn heat down after a short period. As an aside, I find the heated seat button is the quickest and easiest way to access the hot wheel settings.

Good luck 🙂

Strolled over to my nearby Tesco store this morning and noted that there were zero cars on the 4 bay charging pad. That's a first. What a surprise! Nothing's for free.

I’m sorry you’re struggling. I was simply suggesting that had I taken the Octavia all the way to a Skoda dealer for it’s 1st MOT, then had said Skoda dealer found minor leakage from a front strut and failed the MoT, then I would have argued that the OEM Skoda strut had not been fit for purpose. Strut seal failure after a gentle 3 years with less than 21,000 miles is not acceptable to me. I would have argued for new strut(s) under warranty. But that conversation never happened. The car was being tested a few hundred yards from home at a (trusted) popular chain of tyre, exhaust, servicing garages, so the MOT garage fitted new struts at full cost to me. I was merely offering an example to your point “Not sure a warranty would cover any potential MOT failure on a 3yr old car.”

BTW - it ain’t rocket science to work out MOT dates. I think one post above explained it, but I also see a awful lot of confusing interpretations above. Im glad I’ve got mine planned right.

My Lesson Learned in 2019 with our outgoing mint, low miles Octavia involved me getting an MOT fail at my nearby local garage and it cost me 2 new front struts due to oil leaking. Was I an unhappy bunny! Obviously no chance of arguing “poor quality shocks” with the dealer as they didn’t have the car. I reckon I could have negotiated some discounted new shocks if the car was sitting in a dealer’s workshop. I didn’t want the hassle of visiting a distant dealer. Never want a dealer for basic things like MOT, wipers, lamps, etc. So guess where our current cars will be getting MOTd in next few months.

I’m at the stage where I’m down to only 2 out of 5 grandchildren needing a seat or booster cushion, so I’ve shuffled an awful lot of child seats over 40 plus years. It’s been mentioned above that 2 Isofix will present a challenge. I do like my Recaro Isofix chairs but they’re pretty wide. I then acquired a couple of lightweight, narrower non-Isofix seats for ease of car swapping. Halford brand. I could get the 2 lightweight seats plus a booster cushion in row 2 no problem. I could never remove the row 3 headrests, but maybe they can be overcome somehow. I’ve rarely used a booster cushion in row 3. I enjoy the flexibility with 7 seats to separate bodies, though 1 certain chap is always disappointed when I’m not using row 3. It all depends on the load being carried.

The basic principles of selecting different wheel sizes remains the same for any car. Diameter, width, ET offset and tyre profile of course have to be selected with care to ensure a suitable fitting for the vehicle in question.

comfort quality is subjective. I can notice a big difference when rolling on higher sidewall 17s compared with 19s. The higher sidewalls are pretty flexible in comparison. The 19s are not firm like low profile cars with hardly any sidewall to take the bumps and potholes that are on most of today’s roads. Heaven help those running on 20 or 21 inch rims. Plus the ££££ for bigger tyres. My bonus is the DCC suspension that lets me Pik N Mix between 3 suspension settings when added to the 19” summer tyres (shallower sidewalls) and the 17” winter tyres (higher sidewalls). I flip flop drive modes and suspension frequently on every journey. M-way, speed bump roads, country roads, passengers, my mood - all influence my choices.

It’s easy. I run 19” summer tyres and 17” winter tyres on my Kodiaq and I’m sure you can select appropriate 17, 18 or 19 as needed. Compare the Skoda brochure wheel sizes for all the vehicles and you’ll get an idea. As long as overall diameters are close then your speedo will be good enough. I’ve used this site to check sizes. There are others. https://www.willtheyfit.com/wheels/

I asked VWFS the same question regarding my current PCH car. Yes you can (I could) reduce your monthly payment. There is a £60 fee for the pleasure. But, the change in annual mileage must be at least 5,000 miles. And I think maybe multiples of. So it wasn’t a feasible option for me. Next time I’ll go for a lower annual allowance and simply pay the excess should I go over.

“They” don’t love us. And we don’t have to love them.

I don’t think you can get a hot screen on many/any small cars. On the Polo I’ve ticked boxes for hot seats, KESSY and spare wheel. And paint. Black, white and primer grey are not colours.

I gave up on a new Fabia as the spec options were not to my liking at all. Silly pricing. We have a Polo R on order. And that needed 3 extras. Oh plus paint too.