Vagtastic

You're not the only one, my grey combi is nicknamed The Titanic because it's a "big old boat". I got it when I was 31. Love it.

I've got a TDI CR 170 estate and have seen an indicated 73mpg after my 17 mile drive home from work. It's a mix if motorway and A roads. Air con was on, but did stick to 55mph max and 1500rpm rev limit

This feature was added for the Chinese market where the Superb is very popular and considered as a rival to the long wheel base versions of the Audi A6 and BMW 5 series. Cars with lots of rear legroom are popular in China because people like to be driven rather than drive. In fact, BMW even do a long wheelbase 3 series just for the China market. This feature is commonly seen on high end luxury limos, such as the Mercedes S-class and Jaguar XJL.

2.0 TSI only ever available as front wheel drive DSG in the UK. Shame. 4x4 manual would have been nice.

Tow bar prep just means that they run the wires from the dashboard fuse box to the back of the car for the wiring to connect into, which just means that whoever fits the electrics doesn't have to take lots of interior trims off to run cables. General opinion is that it's a waste of money. When I did mine I bought the OEM detachable towbar and the full wiring kit, fitted it all myself and just got my friend (a VAG technician) to connect into the fuse box under the dash and do the coding with the diagnostic computer. Depends if you are handy with spanners but fitting the towbar is pretty straight forward. Alternatively just get a local towbar fitter to do it all for you. Main dealers are best avoided as they generally charge you the earth but farm the job out to a local towbar specialist anyway.

Probably just a mis-build, it's not uncommon but should have been spotted at PDI. Warranty should cover it as technically it's a manufacturing defect

I've got an SE on 17"s and have just gone onto Michelin Primacy. Bought from Costco for £390 for 4 fitted. They are excellent - very quiet. As others have said, the Dunlops were disappointing - terrible saw-toothing and poor wear rates. Grip ok, bit noisy though.

My CR170 doesn't use a drop. Done 21k now (had 1 service).

Gliptone. Have rubbed it into my knob many times and it keeps it clean and soft.

Just ordered my winter wheels and tyres from Bickerton Skoda. 4 x OEM 16" steels with 205/55 Conti TS850's on a 94 load rating. They were advertising a full set for £599.99 + delivery but I paid a touch extra to get the Conti's instead of a budget tyre. I did look at getting a set of Michelin Alpin from Costco but even with the deal they are currently doing they were going to be £494 just for the tyres. It seems the higher load rating is quite a bit more expensive. However, Costco did come up trumps with winter tyres for my wife's car - 4 x 185/65 R15 88T Michelin Aplin A4's for £209 fitted! Bargain.

I've done it to fit towbar wiring. The sill trims that go under the doors inside the car just pop off. I recommend you buy a trim removal tool to avoid damaging the trim or clips. Be warned, the b pillar trim is a b&stard to get back on thanks to the rear seat air vent in the upper trim. Good luck.

Autosmart Tardis is available from eBay and is the most effective tar remover I have found. Make sure the surface is cool, don't let the product dry on the car, and rinse it off really really well.....and wear gloves!

Yep, Gliptone is great stuff for conditioning the leather. If you just want to clean it though, a soft cloth with some warm soapy water will do the trick.

Megs Last Touch, used neat, is very very good indeed. Recently been using Zaino Z8 which is slightly better but costs a fortune.

It attaches the boot floor to something above it, to hold it out of the way whilst you lift out the spare wheel etc. Useful!

I've got the Genuine Skoda rubber one in my estate. Brilliant quality, really heavy and thick rubber. £38 plus delivery off eBay. No brainier.

Not replaced yet but I did treat the leather on the steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake with Gliptone yesterday and it looks and feels much better. My plan is to get the gear knob replaced shortly before the warranty expires.

Out of interest is it possible to change just the knob or does it come as one part with the gaitor attached?

Done this mod and it works a treat. Cost less than a tenner so well worth it

They do whistle a bit but well chuffed for the price as I only intend to use a few times a year

Hoped to provoke a few well worded replies! Next time I am at the dealer I will get them to take a look at my knob. Hopefully the warranty will cover a new one, and hopefully the new one will last a bit longer. I do wear a wedding ring so maybe that has been scratching the leather?

Got my 170 Manual Combi a year ago brand new, have done 15k miles in it. I'm incredibly careful with the car, also do mainly motorway miles so not too many gear changes. The plastic "chrome" on the gear knob started flaking away a few months ago and today I noticed that the leather top coat on the gear knob is worn away and looking really shabby. Very disappointed after only one year of light use. The quality of leather seems really poor. Has anyone else had this issue? Hoping that I can get it sorted under warranty but it doesn't fill me with confidence. Leather on the steering wheel seems poor quality too - might need to give it some TLC with the Gliptone.

Top man. Thank you!

I am having the same problem with the coding issue. Last year I had a detachable toward fitted with the 13pin electrics, both genuine Skoda parts. Trailer lights work fine but despite them attempting to code it when it was fitted the parking sensors do not turn off and I have no trailer symbol on the Bolero. Annoying, given the money spent. Yesterday, the car went into my local main stealer for its first service. They had to flash some new PAS software for a recall so I twisted their arm to correct the towbar coding whilst it was plugged in (dealer who fitted the towbar is a long way from home). They obliged, and duly informed me that they had sorted the towbar coding but having tested it today it still does not work! Hopeless! Add to that the fact that it took them 3 hours to do the software flash due to it apparently failing (or more likely a technician that can't use the VAS machine correctly.....) Gizmo - is it terribly complicated to do this coding? I am astounded that 2 main dealers have tried and failed to do this correctly. Is there more than one module that needs to be coded?

^what he said! Those lights might clear if you reset the steering angle sensor. With the engine running try turning the steering wheel from lock to lock and driving slowly for 20 yards or so. In order for the ESP to work, the steering angle sensor needs to know the angle of the front wheels and it may have lost where it was when you disconnected the power. Normally wouldn't expect that unless you'd had the steering wheel off though. I had to do this on my MK5 Golf. P.s. you try this at your own risk!