StuartAB

Received my letter from Skoda UK today (2.00CR engine). Have booked in for the end of August; can always cancel if others' experiences suggest problems. Stuart

Ah! "S" spec without the Maxidot, unfortunately.

About once every six months, I find that all the windows in my Superb sitting on my drive have suddenly opened themselves. I suspect that I've inadvertently depressed a combination of buttons on the key-fob, perhaps when it was squashed in a tight trouser pocket. Have others experienced this, please, and is there way to stop it happening? I'm worried it might happen in a downpour and wreck the interior. Thanks, Stuart

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/advice/the-best-estate-car-of-2015/ :-) Stuart

Wavering!

"After prepping the car to the letter of the regulations, the lab ran the standard Euro 5 emissions test. It's the same exam this model of car would have had to have passed before it went on sale. And it passed. Emitting just 167 mg/km of poisonous NOx gases. The Euro 5 limit is 180 mg/km. VW's clever software knows when it's being tested, because the routine is the same every single time. Starting with a cold engine, in a lab that's between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, it's then driven for six miles on a rolling road, no turns, with exactly the same gear changes at exactly the same times, and all within a speed at two km/h either side of set limits. The whole thing, including some idle time, always lasts 20 minutes and 20 seconds. So, we then tried to trick the computer into thinking it was out of the lab, by simply accelerating hard a few times, taking it above motorway speeds. Straight afterwards, we ran the Euro 5 test again, but with one simple difference. We started with a hot engine this time. The same car failed, spectacularly. Emitting 435 mg/km of NOx (remember the EU limit is 180 mg/km). So, drive the same drive, but fool the car into thinking it's on a real road, and it chucks out two-and-a-half times the amount of pollution as before." Ouch! Stuart

That's an offence under data protection law - remember the issue when a clinic wrote to its patients about HIV earlier this year, using 'cc:' ? I'd be tempted to use that as a bargaining chip!

Not sure I understand why I have to accept any patches, given I use an independent VAG specialist for servicing. A car without the performance-limiting patch might actually be easier to sell as long as it's not to a Skoda dealer.

The bottom line is that my Superb runs as well as it did three months ago, with an excellent economy/performance balance. I don't plan to sell it for another four years, when it will be eight years old, and I don't plan to let them tinker with it. As I use a VAG specialist independent garage, that's not an issue.

It's $500 to spend with VAG garages and $500 to spend anywhere, and no requirement to sign away any rights to sue, etc. I'd be happy with that for the UK. Stuart

Skoda sales down 3% last month. Vauxhall sales down 16%. Hmm. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34731703 Stuart

So shareholders sue their own company, which then pays out money, reducing dividends and consequently the value of shares held by the shareholders? Am I missing something?

There'll be hundreds of thousands of people in that situation; I can't see it being an issue; the cars should pass. Stuart

Reportedly, at least 30 people involved in the software cheat: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/14/us-volkswagen-emissions-investigation-idUSKCN0S81F720151014

Or is this a devious scheme for "in-flight" refilling of the urea tanks?