StuartB

I'm in West Sheffield as well so will keep a look out for it.

The halfords AGMs are rebadged Yuasa and are good quality.

I had the very same battery fitted at a Halfords Autocentre a couple of months ago and it wasn't a good experience. First off, they fitted a different battery with a lesser rating and warranty instead of this one with the 5 year warranty. They didn't tell me they had done this, but I made a point of checking under the bonnet before leaving the premises and found out. When I complained about this, I also asked about coding the new battery to the car and found that they failed to do this, despite this being a part of their 'standard' installation service - probably because the lad who fitted it was new in the job and didn't know how. As I replacing a non-AGM battery with an AGM, I was keen to get this done to avoid any issues with battery charging. They did eventually sort this out and gave me a discount on the job, but it didn't give me any confidence in their service capability.

It seems that I have a non- functioning four wheel drive on my Scout, with my OBD scan giving a 16671 code that indicates a Haldex pump failure. I suspect that the fixed gauze filter on the end of the pump is blocked as this doesn't get looked at /cleaned as part of the official service schedule. According to Skoda, as there is no changeable filter on the Haldex 5 pump the service just means an oil change. Has anyone else had a problem such as this? A look at some of the other VAG fora tells me that this is a common problem on Audis and MK7 VWs.

Thank you Bjorn - useful advice

Mine is 5 years old, just under 39,000 miles - so definitely needs looking at.

It hasn't been mentioned as being necessary in any of my routine services on my Scout (including one by a Skoda main dealer) but it seems that there is a requirement for an oil change / service after 3 years - which makes mine rather overdue. Anyone familiar with what is involved and the likely consequences of leaving it undone? I'm presuming that most of the time the Haldex does nothing and only throws power to the rear axle if front wheel slip is detected. I haven't been aware of any deficiency, but with the mild winters we have been having there probably wouldn't have been many occasions when it would have been called into play.

Yes - better safe than sorry. I'd rather do this early than bear the consequences of belt failure!

I've had them on my Scout for the past two years and overall I'm pretty pleased with them. They cope well enough in the slippery stuff but obviously not as well as a full winter tyre and I also find it quite easy to spin the wheels if I try to pull away too enthusiastically on any sort of surface, including dry roads. They seem to be quite hard wearing - I've done over 18,000 miles on them and there's loads of tread left, even on the front ones.

Michelin Cross Climate + All round, all year. Nowhere to store separate summer and winter sets!

Back to the original thread start for a moment - has anybody actually used Celtic Tuning?

I can't comment on the Superb, but I've had 4 Octavias including a MK1 and a MK2 VRS and I now have a 184 DSG Scout. The ride is certainly much more forgiving than the VRS and the seat comfort is good. The Alcantara seat material is also a lot more robust than the leather / mesh covering that was used in my last VRS. The Scout is much better than the VRS in slippery conditions and has better ground clearance so more usable on rough ground.

I fitted Michelin Cross Climate Plus tyres all round on my 184DSG Scout a couple of weeks ago, so this was a good opprortunity to test them out!. Had no trouble dealing with the snow, including doing a three point turn on a steepish hill, but still couldn't get anywhere as the road was blocked by everyone else!

My Scout has the Bi-Xenons and they are well worth it if you are planning on doing a lot of night driving. They are clear (not yellow) and give very good distance and coverage even on dimmed beam.

Agreed - mixing them isn't good - I tried fitting 2 cross climates to the front of my Scout - the rears were Continentals and had loads of tread left. However, the car felt very wrong with this mix and is now much better with cross climates fitted all round. Haven't had a chance to try them in snow as yet, but they run quieter then the Contis and handle nicely.