Chappers.

The same engine was a known fault in the Audi A6 - the oil pump drive wears and can fail at any point after about 50k. This usually leads to a new engine being needed as there is no warning whatsoever.

People have mentioned that if the car is set to fixed servicing then the oil temp facility doesn't work. Mine is on fixed service and the oil temp does work after it's reached a certain temp - I never use it though.

Not quite true. Mine is on fixed servicing and the oil temp works - it just needs to get to a certain temperature to register first. Not that I ever use it.

I'd suggest doing nothing. We use the 1.9tdi's at work - some have noisier turbo's than others. One '08 plate was so loud inside the car that one passenger thought that I still had the sirens activated! 120k miles and it never gave any trouble and was one of the quicker ones on the fleet.

I love my Blackline. I don't really buy into the petrol/diesel argument too much - for 95% of what I use a car for I prefer the way that a diesel delivers it's power over that of a petrol despite the fact that I do a very low annual mileage.

I've just put a set of Schwalbe Land Cruisers on my Trek hard-tail and I'm fairly impressed - compared to the Maxxis Ignitors on my full suspension GT I-drive they have very little rolling resistance on the road. In fact, I'm thinking of getting something less aggressive for the GT.

I work for one of the emergency services and we have been using the 1.9tdi Octavia's as response vehicles since the Mk1 many years ago. They are abused and lead a very hard (albeit relatively short) life, and are usually retired at about 115k. They are generally reliable, occasional issues with DMF (what modern diesel doesn't) and are far more popular & reliable than the Astra's that are now being bought to replace them.

Unless it is giving you any problems then I'd be tempted to leave it alone for now. If you have issues with it in the future then that would be the time to have it removed. Just my own opinion of course.

I think that my Blackine may well be using an older version of the mapping software: Checking it out mine is stating the following - Navigation data: version 0038 Navigation data: data medium EUR_W_0038 Might have to contact the dealer - can anyone confirm that this is the V3 mapping?

I believe that the Mk2 vRS came with 17" alloys until the facelift appeared when it moved to 18". Maxidot - in truth I hardly ever use mine, it gets left on the phone setting most of the time. Rear electric windows - how often do you need them? If you have air-con then opening rear windows will hardly ever get used. Air-con as opposed to dual-zone climate - again it's never been an issue before unless you and your passenger prefer wildly different temperatures. Jumbo-box - I like a centre arm-rest to lean on, but the cars at work don't have them and it's not something that I miss unless I'm on a very long journey. Xenons - very nice addition and provide a useful addition to night visibility. Front & rear PDC - again a useful addition - especially the rear as the back end does stick out quite a way. If it's in good condition, low miles, checks out etc, etc, then I wouldn't let the "lack" of equipment put you off. It would seem that whoever the first owner was ticked quite a few of the options boxes when they ordered it - useful additions and not just the extra "luxury" ones.

Another vote for the Brodit. I've got one that is fitted to the side of the centre console in mine.

I'm not interested in re-mapping mine at the moment (too long still left on the warranty for me to be prepared to risk it), if I keep it after it's run out I could well be tempted by the 208bhp - a very useful increase!

I did a lot of research into some of the top-end phones the other month. In my opinion the HTC One is the best handset out there. Although the specs of the Samsung Galaxy S4 just exceed it, in real world usage the Samsung can be a bit laggy - I don't like Samsung's Touchwizz UI either. The Sony Xperia Z is very large and square and is not worth the same amount of money as either the HTC or Samsung. The screen is inferior (although to be honest you may not notice much difference) and certain aspects of the UI (the camera taking an age to load being one) are under developed and clunky. I settled on the HTC One and was quite happy, although unfortunately the handset that I got was faulty. On return the other handsets had defective screens and I wasn't prepared to spend a lot of cash on something that wasn't perfect (I was buying the handset out-right) so I ended up getting a refund. In the end I bought a Nexus 4 - and I have to admit that for the price it is awesome. I will also be going onto Virgin on a SIM only deal when my contract expires in November. It actually worked out slightly cheaper for me to buy the phone SIM free and then go SIM only with Virgin than it would have done to enter into a new, high cost contract on one of the top line phones.

It could affect your no stains bonus...

I do know how you feel - once the experience has been tarnished it does knock your confidence in the car, probably for the rest of the ownership. I'm lucky that the goodwill gesture from Skoda & the dealer means that my warranty is now 5 years, as is the free servicing. I still could be tempted by something new after the three year period has passed though, although I am in a similar situation to yourself as I'm not sure what I would want - Goodwood reiterated that fact to me as even after sitting in various models/manufacturers I can honestly say that there was nothing (sensible) there that would tempt me to swap what I had in the car park. Now if only I hadn't lost the damned thing in the car park when I went to leave and spent over 30 minutes looking for it - there were a lot of blue vRS's about that day

I'm not a fan of the Focus - the Mk3 vRS is nice but I have to admit that even after sitting in several at Goodwood I'm still not wishing I was near the end of my finance deal so I could rush out and get the new one - and I'm extremely surprised by that fact (the wife is quite relieved as well)! I must add though - if your signature is correct, at only 17 days at the dealers so far, you are still playing at the faulty car ownership

And there was me thinking that I had been lumbered with the last car off the production line on the Friday afternoon before their summer holidays! My initial foray into the world of Blackline ownership wasn't great - it was only on the road (or my driveway) for 2 out of the first 9 weeks before the dealer finally sorted out the excellent security system that refused to let me into the damned thing in a morning. Thankfully both Skoda UK & the dealer came good in the end and offered me a most satisfactory compensation/goodwill package. It's been in once since for a problem with the heater which seems to have been sorted with a reprogramme of the climatronic system (otherwise it would be a dash out job) and the spare wheel had to be replaced for one that would actually fit over the front brakes! Touch wood, apart from the Amundsen unit resetting itself on the way back from Goodwood last month it's all been fine since. I have a similar issue - I even bought her a new car just so I could have mine back but she manages to find any excuse possible to use the BL - usually when I'm still at work so I don't even know about it until I arrive home to find the car has moved - again!

Sharting?

As it's been mentioned, exhaust systems on diesels will usually last a lot longer than their petrol counterparts due to the way the fuel burns and lack of moisture in the exhaust gases. They usually rot from the outside in on diesels - petrols get eaten inside and out. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

If you want a comfortable, well equipped and fairly luxurious cabin & experience then the Passat will win over the vRS by quite a considerable margin. Your Passat would also appear to be dripping with extra equipment over the vRS which, lets face it, in standard trim is quite sparsely specced. If you prefer a tighter handling, quicker and more nimble car to drive, then the vRS is the obvious choice - the usable luggage space is not that much different either. I found that there is a big difference between the cabin in the facelift Octavia as well. I know it is only some of the switchgear, dials & steering wheel that has changed but it looks and feels much nicer than the pre-facelift in my opinion. Your best option would be to take a vRS out for a test drive and make an honest comparison against your existing vehicle to see if the swap would be worth it to you.

1. MartynVRS - Thursday Only 2. IMT - Thursday and Saturday 3. Paul007+SWMBO Thursday only 4. Glynn- Thursday only 5. Scribbler - Thursday only (please someone give me their VRS goodie bag tickets) 6. Rob_Quads - Thursday Only. Shame as I would have liked to see the HIll Climb but sure it will still be fun 7. MATTHEWLONG - Thursday only. 8. Chappers. - Thursday only.

Well done - certainly a lot better than I seem to get as an average on my Blackline - see below for current average Is this the lowest for a vRS diesel I ask?

I'm not prepared to swap

I think I can see what you are trying to achieve, however please don't. The mirrors & roof would work (if done properly) but please please please not the the bonnet stripe.

A light coloured leather trim can look very nice - in the right car - but these tend to be Merc E-Class/Range Rovers etc. A light coloured cloth interior would have me walking away I'm afraid. There is a reason that most cars have dark coloured seats. Light colours stain/mark very easily. As ed209 has also alluded to, I'm very pleased that I managed to get a Blackline as the light patches on the standard vRS seats really put me off. I'd have had to have ordered the dark alcantara pack if I hadn't got the BL.