Gaz

Surely if a repair has been completed under warranty, and you have a receipt, then you have someone to go back to, to ask if the work they completed should be expected to be flaking and peeling already? Gaz

The DQ200 in our 2015 Polo GTI, which we've owned since 2017, has now covered 53k miles and been faultless throughout 👍 Gaz

Mini making its first migratory trip back to the electricity spawning grounds? 😎 Gaz

Hello and welcome Sander Gaz

We had a Sparrowhawk join us for dinner yesterday. We had pizza, he had starling: Phone on full zoom - didn't want to disturb him. Got a video too, but it's a bit grisly. G

The two 1.9TDI’s we’ve had were blooming brilliant 🤩 Fantastic engines. Older than the A4 you’re looking at, but Mrs Gaz’s 90bhp Golf III was a peach. We sold it as drivable scrap and the bloke who bought it was tickled pink as he clearly also loved the 1.9TDI’s 😎

Yeah, common Buzzard 👍 My Brother had a pair many years ago (pair for only a short time, as the somewhat bad tempered female killed the male). Gaz

It's a Target Audio five tier stand. I know it should be on pins, but it's on castors as it's on a laminate floor G

Yeah, I agree with @J.R. too. It's a case of me being overtly cautious. I was thinking back to Jamie's thread, where after an oil warning came on, his dipstick was dry: And the VW website saying to stop asap at the amber warning stage (I appreciate you're responding to a 'Check Oil Level' warning): Obviously at the red pressure warning stage, you're rapidly approaching bad news. As my friend is just about to find out - she drove her Juke two miles to my house, with a red oil pressure warning light on. I got two litres in it to max. (so it wasn't completely empty) and she's now waiting to hear if it's just the timing chain or if there's more damage. As the oil level in the engine reduces, it'll get closer to where the oil pump pick up is in the sump. At some point, there's a risk the pick up will start to be sucking crankcase air as well as oil, at which point you'll start to experience potential oil pressure issues. If the check oil level warning comes on when you've still got plenty of oil, both at cold and when oil is being pumped around the engine, then it's not the issue of 'dangerously low' that I'd previously said it is, and I stand happily corrected 👍 It's probably worth knowing how much oil your engine has when the check oil level warning comes on. The manual says 'Too low', which I take as being a bad thing. Gaz

Just for you Lee, just for you: 😁

Well I planned an assault on the thick black sticky mess, armed to the gunwales with my weapons of choice; cocktail sticks, cotton buds and dental floss. And I'm pleased to say with a positive outcome 👍 But my hand's really not designed for intricate work and I was quite nervous about the amount of dismantling required, particularly for getting the smaller belt past axle pins for pulleys and cogs 😓 Anyway, a picture (or two) paints a thousand words: Better: More gloop: Chuffing messy work: Flossing was nicely effective: New belt: And the fiddly little sucker: And with much relief: IMG_0444.mov All's well that ends well 😁 Gaz

^^^^ What Ootohere says ^^^^ Unless you have a special light, it's not a 'check oil level' warning. It's a 'Your oil pressure is dangerously low' warning! And driving with dangerously low oil pressure can have catastrophic and expensive consequences - like new engine time consequences. Waiting for the light to come on is a bad idea. Gaz

Huge. If you want comfort and cabin space, then it’s a no brainer. Although my Octavia was a vRS, so you can undoubtedly get a more comfortable Octavia than the model I had. Gaz

I went from a 2005 Superb (saloon rather than hatch) to a 2015 Octavia Estate. Then from the Octavia to the Golf I have now. I miss the practicality of an Estate, even though I don't need it very often. I was recently looking to replace the Golf, and drove several very nice Superb hatchbacks, and they really are lovely, spacious cars. Ultimately I realised that for the cost of changing, I could keep the Golf and get an Estate car as well, which is why I ended up with the Volvo V70. Loved my Superb, loved my Octavia Estate. If I had to come down to one car and choose been the Golf and V70, it would be the Golf that goes. An estate car offers all you'll likely need. Gaz

I'd have a good read of the t&c's if I were you. If it's not covered, I wouldn't bother and would DIY it I'd expect their response to be that it's either not covered, has gone beyond it's warrantable life expectancy, is a fair wear and tear item, you've used it too much (customer error), opened the door too much, slammed the door too hard, blah blah etc. But I'm an old cynic and would be delighted to be wrong. For 'diagnostic' if you weren't so far away, I'd happily pop around and tell you it's not working for a mere £40, saving you a ton just like that 😁 Gaz

Longitudinal, but does this help?: Gaz

+1 You're in good company, and I'm along for the ride. Best o'luck with it all 👍 With my last Del Sol, after I found the mouse nest I then stripped everything out that I could, but don't think I got every single dropping out (nor of course the little bits of tissue they wipe their bums with) as they can poo in extraordinary places🙄 Gaz

I am having to be particularly cautious at the moment as my recently excavated finger is still looking for any excuse to start bleeding again 🩸 And the inside of this unit has some particularly nasty edges that are just waiting to pounce. So my survival instincts were running high Dunno what the belts are made of, but it's really gloopy and tar like. Looks like it'd go well under the felt on my garage roof. New belts ordered and due in two to three days. Gaz

Eyes down, look in.... Preparation: No belt here: Something not quite right: Belt remnants around shaft: And on screws: Hooray and out it comes: Found the rest of the belts!: Came out easier than I expected. Suppose I might as well buy a replacement belt kit now 😁 Gaz

I wouldn't mind betting that's the exact same unit as is in my 570 I'm gonna take the lid off and have a mosey 👍 Even if I kill it, at least I'll know! Gaz

Well my Sony TC-K570 did a death squeal this morning and the cassette tray won't open. I'm sure I must've used it at least once in the last decade Watching videos on YT seems to suggest it's the belts, which would be no surprise. A belt kit's only about £7, and I think (ever the optimist) I could do it, but if I won't use it again before the new belts are goo/perished, what's the point. The unit itself isn't worth a light, repaired or not, so I think I'm just being sentimental in not wanting to just throw it away. Sad day 😧 Gaz

I prefer a car over an SUV, so I'm gonna say Superb. Having had a Mk1 when my parents were getting on, they loved the comfort, access, and class-leading rear legroom. Agree with Skomaz about room and access for dogs. I'd imagine the Superb is a better mile muncher than a Kodiaq. My Superb was a 2.5V6 TDI, which I think was a lowly 163bhp, or thereabouts - never felt lacking in grunt, and wafted along effortlessly. Gaz

Nearly missed it, scrabbling to get my phone out in time - it was very pretty: Not totally sure what it was - NSU maybe? Gaz

Congratulations on the new(ish) arrival! 👍 Gaz

You're biased!