Ruxpin

80k and no problems

I was under the impression that although HID's require a higher load to "start up" once running the current draw is lower as they are more efficient than standard lights. So if anything you should see improved mpg with HID's. In reality the effect will be so small and other driving variables large that i doubt you will notice a difference you can attribute to the HID

So the front screen on my VRS cracked this morning. :thumbdwn: Didn't sound like a large stone and i wasn't going very fast but ended up with a nice 6inch crack by the time i got to work. This will be my 3rd screen in 60k!! Is it just bad luck? or poor design / quality of glass? I've never had a chipped or cracked screen in any other car.

Car was at approx 20k miles when i bought it so should have been fairly loosened up?? 'BP' miles were therefore approx 20-30k 'BP Ultimate' 30-60k 'BP Ultimate + Millers' 60-70k Car was serviced with Millers PD semi synthetic oil at 30, 40, 50 and 60k Millers fully synthetic at 70k Tyres have always been Michelin Pilot Exaltos at standard pressures

Costs shown allow for Millers. I agree in theory that you will probably get even better benefits (financially) putting Millers in supermarket diesel. If i can be bothered with the hassle of filling up at ASDA i will give it a try - my local one is unattended and it's nearly always out of receipt roll which i need to claim costs back from work

Being the geek that i am i have calculated the mpg my Fabia vRS has achieved using the brim to brim method for most of the past 2 years and approx 50k miles. During this time i have mainly used BP Diesel, BP Ultimate and more recently BP Ultimate with a standard dose of Millers Power Sport 4 - the results have been interesting. My driving is a mix of B road commute and motorway runs. Fuel Type; Mileage Covered; Average MPG BP; 4042miles; 45.487mpg BP Ultimate; 32408miles; 46.640mpg BP Ultimate + Millers Power Sport 4; 6308miles; 47.578mpg So what does this mean??? Going by today's price at my local garage BP = 109.9p, Ultimate = 113.9p and Millers is £11.49 per 500ml bottle Based on my 25k miles per year my fuel costs and savings/increase are as follows: Mileage; BP; BP Ultimate; Difference 25000; £2745.86; £2775.43; £-29.58 Mileage; BP; BP Ultimate + Millers; Difference 25000; £2745.86; £2721.28; £24.58 The costs are surprisingly close. It costs a little more to run BP Ultimate compared to BP but BP Ultimate and Millers gives a small saving................Obviously the results are not very scientific but real world if that term makes sense. Anyone done anything similar?? I'll leave it to someone else to work out if there is any performance increase with any of the options..... Rich *UPDATE* Following on from this thread I switched to BP + Millers Power Sport 4. Economy was slightly better than BP Ultimate but not as good at BP Ultimate + Millers: Fuel Type; Mileage Covered; Average MPG BP + Millers Power Sport 4; 5314miles; 46.7371mpg Over 25k miles I would therefore save £59.24 compared to straight BP fuel + you get the performance benefit (if there is one??) Summary of all results below:

I did the figures quickly for mine and got similar results of about 30p per mile. Cost per mile is very dependant on the mileage you cover . Someone else at work calculated their costs for a mondeo tdci but only doing 10k a year at nearer 45p per mile My figures: 2 Years 50k miles 108.0p/l 45mpg Fuel cost (gulp!) 5455.20 Depreciation 6000.00 Insurance 1000.00 Tyres 2sets at £500 1000.00 Service 5 at £200 1000.00 Tax 2 at £115 230.00 14685.20 Cost per mile 0.293704

Depends whether you're taking it to a main dealer. I paid just over £300 but that was from a local mechanic. A main dealer would probably be double.

Fog light can be replaced without removing the bumper... My mechanic managed it by taking the head light unit out. Still a pretty long job though - such a stupid design. And they're expensive ~ £40/£50 The other fog light cracked about a week later...grrrr Haven't bothered to replace it - to be honest in 2 years of owning the car the fog lights could only have been used 2 or 3 times and even then they are pretty rubbish

Have had 2 replaced by RAC. First was replaced fine - lasted about 12 months until i got another chip and crack Second time they had to have 2 attempts. First time they left the surround to the VIN number off (it was on the seat when i picked the car up) causing the VIN plate to slip down. They had to take the screen out to put it back. All done FOC and with an apology so ok in the end. Screen looks the same to me so can't complain.

Just had the bill for my 60k service inc cambelt -

VW / Skoda require the oil to meet VAG Spec 505.01 However this requires the oil to be tested by VW at great expense to the oil company. Hence why Millers XFE-PD SAE 5W-40 (semi-synthetic) is pretty expensive stuff. Also i bet they can't then market this same oil for the Merc or BMW without re-branding it to remove the PD or VW references!! Millers do a better fully synthetic oil (can't remember the code) for only slightly higher cost as they do not have to recover the cost of passing VAG 505.01. When my car's 3yrs 60k i'll be swapping to this as recommended by my mechanic/millers.

In the year and a half i've owned the vrs: Total Miles 37528 Total Gallons of Fuel 811.49 Average MPG 46.25 B road 22 mile commute each way to work plus a few trips down the M1 Quite impressed with the economy/performance balance Rich

They didn't have all the bit either. Also

Having my 60k service done at the moment. It would appear that the cambelt kit isn't available from skoda (atleast from the 2 dealers in leicestershire) might be 2 weeks! :thumbdwn: After much running around, being supplied the wrong kit initially etc my mechanic had to go to VW after getting the part codes from skoda..........muppets Anyone else had this problem? Anyone else about due a cambelt?

Cheapest option for the 6speed 130pd engine. (Golf +

As above not recommended - i think it confirms this in the hand book. Although my skoda dealer obviously thought it was ok - they swapped a single rear tyre prior to the car being supplied to me leaving the car with 3 contis and 1 michelin - thanks.....

yep mine does this

If you plan to keep the car for a couple of years doing 30k a year the car isn't going to be worth much come trade so you might as well save your money IMO. You're specialist will probably do a better more thorough job too

Older cars being lighter and with skinny tyres were probably better in the snow though

My conclusion after some driving on the ungritted roads round me - the vrs is rubbish in the snow :thumbdwn: ASR isn't much help - nearly stopped going up a hill. Made better progress without ASR but there isn't much traction. The drive home will be interesting.

I just had a phone cradle changed and the glovebox light now doesn't work. Whilst unscrewing the glovebox it fell into the footwell no doubt damaging something. I have taken a look at the light and switch. The car phone place apears to have tried to bodge it back together - the black switch? in the above 2 photos isn't there and the copper contacts have been bent and i can't see where they are supposed to go. Does anyone have or are they able to take some better images of the lamp holder and switch so i can try and find all the parts and put it back together. If not any ideas on cost for replacement of the whole lamp and switch assembly Cheers Rich

If you remove the headlight it can be done without taking the bumper off. It's still a tight squeeze and a bit of a pain but i watched my mechanic do it to my 04 VRS

I run Michelin Pilot Exalto's and have been pleased with the change from the Conti's it came with Dry grip appears the same, wet grip much better Wear / noise similar

I just wondered if it was a genuine requirement to have a VAT registered garage do the work. I'm not sure it is, but i understand your reasoning and realise it may be easier to argue your case with skoda in the event of a warranty claim if the garage is VAT registered. I use a very competent, fully qualified mechanic to do my work. He, however, is not VAT registered as he is a small business. FWIW Audi completed warranty work when required on my fathers car which had been maintained by this non VAT registered mechanic. I still get invoices for work - they just don't show a VAT breakdown.