james_19742000

indeed, I agree, I’ll get another opinion but I was just curious as to what brand people were buying if I needed to buy them

Hi all, my Octavia has been in for its service this morning and they are saying front discs and pads are 75% worn and saying replacement is required, quoted me a price just shy of £500, seems expensive to me! I can get them done by one of the mechanics where I work, but, ideally he’d want me to buy them, so what ones do I need and what brands are people buying and giving good reviews on? It’s a 2019 TDI vRS 4x4 DSG Estate Octavia. Suggestions etc appreciated, thanks

ha ha! Just read it back, phew im glad it can’t do that stuff!!! Could put you off driving!! 🙈 Brilliant, great explanation that’s a huge help, thank you 👍

Hi all Recently bought a 69 plate vRS with Columbus, it has the SIM card slot in the glove box, how do I connect it to the net for ‘love’ services? I’ve tried registering it with Skoda online but it won’t connect as it’s not online? Do I just buy a small gigabyte pay as you go SIM or sonething?? Any ideas? Thanks

wow, definitely interested in those upgrades! Sounds like you done some nice things with the car, must admit only a couple of days into my ownership and I love it!! What VCDS upgrades did you do? no idea on the tow hitch fault as I don’t do towing, but overall a really great car!

Cheers Steve, yes I collected it from them yesterday, love it! I’ll PM you later as I’m at work at the minute. Thanks

Hi, did you sell or trade this car in the end? Just curious as I’ve just bought a Velvet Red VRS with pretty much exact same spec so thinking it might be this car?? Just curious if it is the same car really!

so it’s not a universal key then? It’s specific to that tow ball is it?

Brilliant, so I can just remove it and have the clean look and pop it back on should the need ever arise, bit of a bonus then really

I used to have a 2014 TDI VRS DSG Estste, but had to sell it due to a divorce etc at the time, I’ve just done a deal on a 69 plate TDI DSG VRS 4x4 estste, and it feels great to be having a Skoda agsin really missed mine, pick it up in a couple of weeks once it’s had a few jobs done on it! Anyway, it has a tow bar, I won’t need that but I’m curious to know if this is one of the tow bars that can have the actual tow hitch unclipped then it will look clean at that back, then at least in the unlikely event I ever had to tow anything then I can just clip it back in and away I go!!! Thanks in advance

I was talking to mate of mine in a VW dealer last night,me said you wouldn't believe the amount of people that have come in ethe last few days asking for great deal son affected cars!!!!

Where did I state I ran the tyres at over the recommended pressure? I didn't, I said I had the tyres fitted and then went straight to the nearest garage with a tyre gauge and adjusted them to the figures recommended, so I know they are right as we all know how many times tyre garages put incorrect tyre pressures in tyres don't we? And, no I didn't 'expect' the Skoda dealer to update the sat nav for free, it was explained to me at the time of purchase that free updates were part of the upgrade I paid for and they would update the maps at the time of service for me, so no, I didn't expect anything for free, I merely requested that they done something which I had been told they would do for me, I perfectly accept that dealers want and need to make money, but if they didn't want to update it for me, then they should of stated that at the time of purchase. So andyvee I suggest you get of your high horse and stop spouting such crap at me, I have been a member on here for a good few years and like to think I have given and received some good advice, and have contributed to what is a very well managed and good quality forum, unfortunately, attitudes like yours are the ones that can and do give forums bad names. I think in the future I won't bother with contributing or requesting advice as I can't be arsed to get responses like that when you don't have the facts, if you want the facts, then by all means ask away I will give you the facts and then make your sweeping statements.

Well, here we are a couple of months further down the line. Skoda rang me and asked me if I was going to take the 'gesture of goodwill' of discounted tyres, that were still more expensive than you could buy at any high street tyre shop, so I explained that I wouldn't as I wasn't prepared to pay over the top for no reason, so they said they were going to close the case, so I asked them that I was surprised that as a repeat customer with both Skoda and my local dealer that they were treating me in such a way that left me feeling let down with the car, the reply I received from them was them saying that perhaps I should vote with my feet and wallet and go elsewhere next time, that doesnt sound like the highly praised Skoda Customer Services we read about in the press all the time! So, thats what I will do, I won't be returning to Skoda or VW at my local dealer, Skoda I won't buy again, and brands from with the VAG group will be considered but not at my local dealer, overall feel let down over the whole thing! Anyway, back to the tyres, I decided to nurse them through and get as much as I could out of them, so eventually earlier this week I had to replace them they had got to 9800 miles and they were really bad by that point, so after reading the reports on here and looking at overall price and the new wet, economy and wear ratings I went with the Goodyear Asymetrics, had them put on the rear of the car, the sport contact 2's from the back moved to the front, the tracking checked, and then drove the car straight to local garage and set up all the tyre pressures as per the sticker inside the fuel cap, and now I have my car 'back' its quiet, feels slightly more responsive, is holding well on the road, and even at this point there is a noticeable difference showing on the MPG computer in the car, more economical, so overall really pleased at this early stage with my replacement tyres so hopefully, thats the end of it now and I can forget about, enjoy the car! :-) I just feel a bit annoyed at the attitude of Skoda CS, also, my local dealer which I have faithfully used and recommended for around 10 years or so, they have not backed me up on this at any point nor have they shown any sympathy for my issue, nor has anyone from my dealer contacted me to discuss it to see if anything could of been resolved amicably, yet the service and the sales department were aware of the problems I had been having, anyway, my wife car is due for renewal early next year, lets see if they ring me to discuss the change then, I suppose they will be able to use a phone then as they think they will be getting a sale from a regular 'repeat' customer, got news for them!!!!!

Well being honest it seems a bit of a stale mate, as far as Skoda are concerned they feel the tyres and the car are operating correctly and as it should, they feel just over 7k is acceptable for a set of 'branded' tyres on a car of this type, personally I feel its not, but, like has been said, if its a geometry fault etc proving it was there from the start is all but impossible, so this is something that unfortunately is probably only going to be resolved with getting new tyres and having the geometry etc all set up 'properly' by the local 4 wheel alignment place and that will be that. I feel that I have checked and adjusted tyre pressures to what Skoda say it should be for the minimal loading as that is generally all the car carries, 50-60% of the time its just myself in the car, the rest of the time my wife is sometimes in the car with me and/or my 10 year old daughter as well, plus the weekly shop. What I feel aggrieved about at the moment is the 'goodwill' gesture, yes I am pleased they have decided to discount some new tyres for me for the car, but, to 'discount' them to a price that is more expensive than you can easily obtain them for after a 5 minute search on the internet as far as I am concerned is an insult to my intelligence, I suppose some people may roll over and have there tummy tickled and think they have got a good deal in a case like this but me, I feel they are treating me as though I am daft. As for the sat nav update, yes you are quite right, I could do that quite easily over the internet, however, I was also informed at the time of purchasing the car that the car came with 3 years worth of map updates and I could have these done as part of my annual service, I requested it was done, they simply did not do it, so therefore the work that was requested was not carried out to my satisfaction! Its not a case of whether something is easy or not, is a case of what was requested, and also to use Skoda's customer service person, map updates are not free, I have to pay for them....... so therefore how can I update them myself for free if I have to pay for them (I know they are a free download of the net). I have also had conversations with my local dealer and am awaiting for them to come back to me to see if my loyalty to the brands that they sell that I have been loyal to for around 10 years now, for 3 new cars for myself, plus 4 new cars for my wife, plus all the servicing and repair work, plus all the accessories I have bought over the years, plus the recommendations I have made about them mean anything or not, if it doesnt then I will vote with my feet. What I see as a sensible resolution to this is a pair of new front tyres on the car at my expense, but, at a discounted 'cost' price, plus a full 4 wheel alignment again at the price it costs the garage to be done by the local tyre place that does 4 wheel alignment, so the car is fully set up properly for the new tyres when they go on, so this type of unreasonable wear does not happen in the future. Personally, for me buying a brand new car is about two things, having a new car as I enjoy having a new car and having reasonable predictable running costs, I want to be able to pay my finance, have the servicing built in to my finance (be it by a free or priced service contract), know that I don't have to worry about any repair costs, know that I don't have to pay for brakes, exhausts etc as I do mileage that means I should not have to encounter those issues, and as for tyres, I know I would need to factor those in but I feel the replacement cost for those has come far too early, in a car that will go back with approx 20-24K miles on it I expect to replace the tyres once, not possibly 3 or 4 times, and these aren't cheap ditch finders, these are so called 'branded quality tyres' that you can go online and look at articles about why you should buy branded tyres opposed to budget and whats one of the selling points 'longevity' longer lasting tyres!!! Overall, I am not expecting something for nothing, I am just looking for Skoda and/or the dealer to accept that the tyres on my car have probably lasted not as long as what they should of done and accept that and adjust the price of replacement tyres accordingly and assist in making sure the geometry etc on the car is set up so as providing the car is driven in the proper manner, with proper maintainance, and barring any obvious issues to knock tyre alignment etc out then they would last longer than what this set have. Maybe I am seeking the unachievable, but I just generally feel totally let down by the whole Skoda/dealer/new car experience. Just for some sort of comparison, and I accept its a different car with different weight distribution, engine weights, set up etc, but my wife has a 13 plate VW Beetle, with 7k miles on it, which from the factory has had Hankook tyres on it and the tread on those has hardly worn at all, there is a good 6mm left on them, and thats driven by my wife who uses kerb etc as parking assistants etc!

Ok chaps, been a few days since I replied to this thread but initially Skoda CS contacted me took all my details and asked what my problem was etc so I detailed that I felt the tyre wear was excessive and to be thinking about new front tyres after 7.5k was somewhat silly, I also detailed the issue I had with the sat nav not being updated as requested at the time of service. A few days later they came back and have stated that the tyre wear is normal, and that my inflations etc were all correct and that they will not replace the tyres etc as they feel that mileage is appropriate for the car, they did however, give a goodwill gesture to discount replacement tyres, they will reduce the cost from £146 to £106, to which I replied I can go on any of the main tyre centres website and get top branded tyres at a similar or lesser price, he couldnt reply, he basically said thats it, thats all they will do and I have to accept the poor mileage on the tyres, its characteristics of the car and they feel the car is not under performing at all in regard to the tyres. I then asked why my sat nav was not updated and the reply was well when you bought the car the sat nav would of been out of date anyway, so if you want updates then you have to pay for them, at that point I lost all interest in the conversation, as not only was I being treated as though I was stupid by them doing me a favour by discounting tyres to more expensive than they can be bought pretty much everywhere, but then they tell me I have to pay for sat nav updates, hang on a second, I recall that my car came with 3 years worth of free updates for the sat nav. I lost all interest, and ended the call, I am annoyed at people treating me as though I am stupid, they are trying to make out I am doing them a favour by accepting the goodwill gesture, like I am going to pay more for tyres than I should do because they say they are doing me a favour? Overall, I have been loyal to Skoda, plus the VAG group of companies and my local dealer, I have always spoken very highly of Skoda etc but I am afraid that this time they have not done themselves proud, and in all honesty people say vote with your feet and go elsewhere and I really do feel that way, so maybe next time I might buy another brand, who knows! It may sound daft over something which is considered a 'wear and tear' which I accept, but, for a wear and tear item to get to this stage so soon is madness! Then to top it all off I returned to my car yesterday and noticed someone has hit it and caused damage to the far bumper, scratches, small dents and broken paint, smart repair will be unto £200 I expect?!?!?! So overall feeling pretty annoyed at cars at the moment!!!

So it seems from the discussions on here that I am not too far of what other people have experienced, yet some are showing much better mileages than myself and others, the discrepancies just seem to be so far different its untrue, I drive the car carefully, my boy racing days are way behind me etc, so thats why I feel a bit peeved with it, I could totally understand if I just ragged it senseless everywhere, but there you go, **** happens! So, this brings me onto my next question, if I am to have to buy some new tyres, I would be looking for a good compromise between wear and comfort, I have been a fan of these Conti 2's and they do seem to be noisy, I had a quick look last night and there was Michelin Sport 3 I think it was around £100 per tyre fitted and they had good ratings on the wear and the noise, so they look like possible candidates, or are there any other options out there that people have had fitted and have offered good mileage, comfort and noise? In the past I have on older cars had Avons, Falken and Goodyear, I never liked the Falken but the others I thought were OK, my wife on her car which has done 7k and look like they have virtually no wear (again 18' tyres on a 2013 VW Beetle) are Hankooks from new, so they could be a possibility maybe?

Thanks for the feedback people, interesting that a couple of people mentioned mileages much higher than the 7.5k I have got on mine, I looked at them today and there is definite difference in tread wear across the tyre, outer still have reasonable tread left, centre pretty much on the marker. I do the tyre pressures fairly regularly, I fill my car up usually around once a month and top up with a little bit during the month as and when, so when I do the big fill I check the tyres etc then, I check them and adjust to what it says for the lower load setting on the inside of the filler cap, I very rarely have more than me and the wife and pccasionally our daughter in the car and in the boot, nothing out of the ordinary, the weekly shop etc so whilst I agree with the inflation comments, I would understand the irregular wear if they were vastly over inflated, but they are kept to the required pressures as Skoda want. The geometry definitely needs checking, and yes with the proper hunter 4 wheel alignment, luckily the local tyre place across the road from the dealer uses that system, so it will be going there to eb checked, are there updated settings or something that the tyre place should be working to or can the tyre man physically adjust the geometry manually to bring it all in line properly? I have lodged a case with Skoda this afternoon, and am awaiting them coming back to me, they have said 24hours, will they call back or not? How reliable are they at calling back? They have asked what I expect them to do, I replied I expected the car to be delivered to me in a state that was perfect, and in a state where such things as premature tyre wear etc would be minimised. They have asked if I am expecting the tyres to be replaced, I said regardless of whether Skoda decide to replace the tyres the root cause i.e. geometry etc needs to be addressed otherwise new tyres are a waste of time. So, we will see what they say. I accept that I bought a car that in theory has sporty characteristics and that is part and parcel of choosing that car, but as has been demonstrated I should be expecting the car to get better wear from those tyres, I bought the car more for the nicer looks and the sporty looks of it rather than the performance so I actually drive it like a little old lady at times!!!! Anyway, lets see what they say!

Ok, took my 2014 vRS Estate into the garage fot its first service on Monday this week, they done the service fine, no problems in that respect. However, I looked at the front tyres a couple of weeks ago and thought they looked low, but asked the garage to confirm the tread depths left on them, they came back with 5mm across the whole tyre on the rear, but on the front 2mm centre, and various unto 4mm on the outers, I have only done 7500 miles, to say I am annoyed is an understatement. I told the service chap that this was unacceptable, its a brand new (12months) car, and that this should not be happening after that length of time, the reply was basically, sorry but your tracking is obviously out and that isn't covered by Skoda, you must of hit a kerb, my reply, hang on a second the car has never hit a bloody kerb the car is immaculate, go and find me tyre damage or a herbed wheel or any evidence that the premature wear on my tyres is my fault and I will gladly pay for new ones, he admitted that my car was immaculate, but still kept banging on about the tracking being fault, then he states well it has independent suspension, so all the tyres run on the ground differently hence how the tyre wear is uneven etc etc etc Now, I know Skodas have had issues with tyre wear in the past, but, quite frankly I am not prepared to be going out and paying in excess of £100 per tyre for a half decent branded tyre when the car has only done 7500, thats is my rough annual mileage so every 12 months for new tyres is a joke, imagine if I was a high mileage driver, 30K per year, that would be tyres every 3 months! Joke! I will not be letting this go, I will take this to Skoda and get it registered etc, but I am interested to hear from others on here that might of had a similar problem and how it was resolved or did you have to just replace the tyres and put it down to experience, I love my Skodas, they offer great value for money and do all that I want them to, but this is seriously putting me of the brand unfortunately. I have always got on with the people in my dealership and like them, but, I feel the are trying to pass the buck onto me and thats not on as far as I am concerned. The car in my opinion 'should be set up properly at the factory and as such premature tyre wear etc should not happen' thats why we buy new cars! If I was a traffic light racer, or foot to the floor driver etc then I would accept that its my fault, but being told that my choice of car will always lead to premature tyre wear and this is an expense I have to accept is not a suitable response. For info my tyres are the Conti Sport 2, so its not a mickey mouse brand, and I feel dam sure that this wear should not have happened this early! Any thoughts or advice from anyone before I go to Skoda, the dealer etc and start what I suspect will be a long process of them blaming me!!! Thanks in advance.

19" wheels too, looks good, enjoy :-)

My opinion on that would be to plead a bit of ignorance, as far as you are concerned you are buying a brand new car at this years spec, they haven't told you its been sat around for 6 months or so, so there for you should be right to expect this years model and things like cruise to be standard, if they aren't then get them to retrofit or order you a new factory order, its the sam price. As for what they have lying around, could be anything, I guess Skoda UK do a bull order of what they think people will want to buy in the near future, but its not in there interests to have things lying around too long, so hopefully it will be a relatoively new car and will have all that you want, and most importantly, enjoy the car!!

The house encumber thing works if you do it by entering, Town, then Street and it will finally offer you the number screen to enter a number, but, if you enter your destination by post code it doesn't offer the house number function, so a bit of a daft one really if you ask me. My only gripe is with the maxi dot screen, when you are approaching a junction or something that it wants you to turn into I find the way the colour changes to represents getting closer to be not very good to see and isn't always 'up to date' so it has meant a few times me despite slowing down knowing the turning was coming up going past the junction, on my Mk2 with sat nav it was much clearer it has very clear defined lines that were very clear when you were getting to the junction and it made sailing past more difficult. Couple of things that are minor but frustrating all the same. I am sure there are inbuilt phone apps, Tom Toms etc that are far far better etc than the Amundsen, but for me its all about not having wires trailing everywhere around the car, so paying for it was worth it for that for me, so its downsides are worth putting up with, however, I accept that some people aren't as OCD as me about wires etc, so for those people the Tom Toms etc are probably far better, more accurate etc

And seeing what you have on order from your profile thing next to your post, I am sure you will enjoy it, I have a similar spec but Candy White and an Estate, its a very good car, you will enjoy it I am sure :-)

I am happy with mine, as its a 'compromise' car isn't it after all? If I wanted top end leather, posh plastics, 19" wheels, LED reg light etc I would of bought a BMW, Audi etc and would of paid £10K or more for it. If I wanted a hot hatch I would of bought a Golf GTI/R or whatever else is out there in the hot hatch sector. I wanted a car that had plenty of room for the family, room to stick the luggage in for a weeks holiday, a car I can to to the tip in on a Sunday morning and not have to worry about doing 3 trips, I wanted a car that returns a reasonable MPG but not one that is so 'eco' that it could hardly move itself or needs plugging in after 20 miles, I also wanted a car that I felt was quite modern inside to drive, had a good engine and gearbox, a car that I was comfortable in, a car that when I put it in S and put my foot down it will give a nice turn of speed etc etc, it is a good car that does a bit of everything, for that I can't fault it, so it does what it says on the tin. As a 'sporty car' it definitely lacks, as a relaxed comfy arm chair cruiser it lacks, as a 7 seat people carrier it obviously lacks. You have to look at it for what it is, it is a budget model in the VAG group of companies, it has some niggles and cheap bits about it, but thats what you get when you are buying a Skoda, thats what we all bought in to, simple as that. Do O like my car, yes I do, am I pleased with it, yes I am, would I change it? No, not at the moment as it does everything I want it to do as a bloke with a wife and kids, would I have this car if I was single and wanted more power etc then no I wouldn't. But, its very good at what to does and the market its aimed at in my view, so no I can't complain about, however, I do accept everyones comments about it and can't really argue with any of them as a car is so many different things to people, but for me, it works and it works very well. Has it had any problems, only the stalling when in Eco mode when I first got it, but that was easily rectified, it does have a niggle with the cruise control where it occasionally stops working for no apparent reason, but I will get it booked in and looked at, other than that it has been fine. Thats my views anyway.

Love that, you have ordered a car without telling the wife! Thats the sort of thing I would do! I have lost count the amount of times things like large screen TV's etc have just turned up and she hasn't got a clue!!! They really get the hump!!!

Personally I would say its 'evolution' not 'revolution', I had a Mk2 VRS CR diesel DSG and it was a lovely car, done everything I wanted it to, however, when I saw the Mk3 initially I was underwhelmed, then the vRS came out, and it had everything on it that I considered essential for a car in the sporty class except cruise control, in my Mk2 I had to add things like Bluetooth, auto wipers etc, but in the Mk3 it was standard, however, there were other nice options to add instead, but because the car was better equipped in the first place the options were generally things I 'wanted' as opposed to things I felt were needed to make the car better. So I ended up with a well equipped nice looking Mk3 VRS Estate with the Diesel engine and DSG box, with a few nice options as well. How do I find it compared to the Mk2? The Mk2 was lovely car, it was quick, comfortable, looked good and had loads of boot space etc, it never left me feeling underwhelmed, overall, it done everything I wanted it to, however, the Mk3 took a car that was already very good and took it to the next level, the car has evolved. It comes with things that I consider are 'must haves' like I said earlier, Bluetooth, auto wipers etc so it immediately feels a better car, the vRS seats are immediately more comfortable and 'hug' you like they should, the space in the car is fantastic for the size of it, the leg room in the back is excellent, no one has ever complained, the boot space is fantastic, the carrier bag hooks are used daily, the feel of the dash board, steering wheel, buttons and switches etc all feel like good quality, the colour maxi dot is nice, not a full on colour screen but highlights certain things in colour which helps when looking at it quickly, the media stuff is good even at a basic level, USB charging etc all things that any modern car must have these days. As for driving it, I can't complain, it does what it says on the tin, and in my opinion does it well, its fast enough for me without being too fast, for a family sized car it has enough poke, the DSG gearbox is lovely and smooth if slightly notchy at times, but if you stick it in drive and decide to do some relaxed driving it does it all very well, the ride I can't complain about, its obviously harder than cars without 'lowered' suspension, but it isn't uncomfortable, my wife is disabled and is in constant pain and feels all the bumps in the road and she says its no worse than any other car. There are obvious cost savings in the car, some of the materials feel slightly cheaper than other cars, some of the storage bins have disappeared which isn't a deal breaker for me, but is annoying, however one thing they have done which makes a huge difference to me is carpet lined the door bins, my wife and kids would constantly leave odds and sods in the mk2 door bins and when on the move on my own in the car I would hear them roll around etc and it drove me nuts, now, things don't roll around and its all peaceful in the cabin. Overall, the car has evolved, yes it could of had other things done differently on it, it could of had X Y Z added etc, but its a Skoda at the end of the day, VW and Audi like to keep certain things to themselves etc! I find it a good upgrade on the Mk2 if not overwhelming. The main reason I bought it was that it worked out cheaper on the monthly than my Mk2, that was with a whopping discount, 0%, free servicing plus a boat load of freebies thrown in, it made it much more appealing, however, would I of changed had it not been for those incentives? Probably not.