ClanFanAl

Noticed my rear wiper playing up last night. It came on randomly when I was driving home from the football and wouldn't switch off until I was parked up. It started randomly stopping rather than returning to the neutral position and it only returned to it's home position on turning the ignition off and then on again. Is there a simple fix for this? I'm due to drive to Newcastle next weekend - about 200 miles each way. I can live without a rear wiper but since it looks like the front and rear wipers are run off a single fuse on the Mk 2 Fabia, removing the fuse isnt an option. It's needing serviced in a month. I'm going to try to get my local mechanic to do the service during the week and to look at the rear wiper when it's in. The actual motor still works so I don't know if the motor starting to fail or if its one of the switches that controls the rear wiper? Just wondering if there's a simple fix to disable the rear wiper in case I can't get it in to my local garage? I've never had the boot door trim off - looks like a single screw and some studs so should be easy enough if disconnecting it is an option?

Apparently they had cleaned out the drums when they were doing the service. Henrys just cracked their credit with me. Was thinking of going to them when I eventually change cars. Not now. On another note, it shows how valuable it is to have a good local mechanic who can be trusted.

Never had a car do this before. Fabia seems to be exceptionally bad for it. Sadly my drive has a slight slope so leaving it in gear/without handbrake isnt an option for me.

Car went in to a local garage today to get the rear drum brakes replaced. Imagine my surprise when the local garage mechanic told me that my rear brakes would likely be good for at least another year and that all that was needed was to strip them and re-assemble them to sort out one of the read drums that was seizing. Skoda suggested that they were 80% worn, advised to replace them before my MOT in January and quoted me around £230 for the job. £52.50 in labour costs and they're good for another year with no worries about getting through the MOT. Thats a hell of a difference. Not happy with the dealer who did the initial service and gave the dodgy advice. Not happy at all.

Not chuffed with the dealer I've been using. Not the one I bought the car from (used one closer to my previous office). Car was in for a major service a couple of weeks ago. Standard £259. I went to the dealer rather than my trusted local because even though I've used my free services, its still under warranty and I was concerned at a massive drop in MPG. During the service I was called over by a workshop bloke and told that I needed some extra work. Was recommended to get at least 2 new tyres (£160) and to get the rear brakes done. This was because the brakes had been sticky and the shoes were badly worn. Was told they were 80% worn, that I should get them done before my MOT (due early January) and that they'd do them for around £230 or so. Got the Tyres (I know how much I'd have paid via Black Circles so it wasnt THAT much more). Didn't get the brakes. I knew my local garage would be cheaper. The guy has serviced previous cars I've driven (2x Hondas and a Jag X-Type) and he's always been top notch and very fair with prices. I dropped my car off this morning on my way to work and I'm just home having picked it up. Cost of the job? £52.50. Turns out that, in his view, the rear shoes have at least another year in them. He also found that there was a problem with one of the rear drums seizing. So he stripped it, sorted it and rebuilt it as well as tightening the handbrake cable (something Skoda charge about £30 for). So in the space of 2 weeks I've gone from my car needing £230 of remedial rear brake work done to needing a £52.50 strip and rebuild by my local garage and the advice to come back in a year. I've previously thought the dealer I went to for my warranty services was really pretty good. Never had a problem with them and warranty work was carried out as agreed. First time paying for a service via that dealer and they're advising me to get £230 of work that an hour and a half labour costs at an independent garage sorted. Have to say that my opinion of the dealer has just plummeted.

I had coil packs go at a little over 20k. Engine lights on, misfires and eventually limp home mode. Stuff like that can happen at any time

http://shop.international.nhl.com/stores/nhl/en/product/pittsburgh-penguins-bleacher-creature-10-inch-plush---sidney-crosby/155927 Sadly its nowhere near 1 metre tall. Or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orville-Large-Emperor-Penguin-33/dp/B000KXOQDO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1447182672&sr=8-5&keywords=large+plush+penguin 33 inches. Bit pricey/

Just checked the job sheet from Satuday. Front work required: "Discs Front Worn. slight lip worn into edges. advise recheck 5-6 months" Rear work required: "s80% worn - Rear Shoes Req. (shoes at o/s 80% worn, lever seized, causing excess wear)" Now I'm no mechanic but surely seized levers on the rear brakes that cause excess wear is an issue with the braking system and possibly a warranty job? If the rear brakes are causing excess wear then it's not normal brake wear. Same for the front. A lip worn into the edges in just under 3 years? Really? And the thing that caused me to put the car into the dealer in the first place - poor mpg - still isnt particularly great. It's taking a hell of a long time to get above the mid 30s, even on decent quiet roads where I can sit at a steady 55/60 mph to try and get the fuel economy up. Thought that it was the service needing done that was causing the poor mpg (sparks and air filter) but whils the engine is running quieter following the service, the fuel economy hasn't really returned to decent numbers. Won't really get a chance for a proper longer run til this weekend though.

Appeals office wrote off a £13,500 overpayment. Incorrectly. And told the customer that they didnt owe any money. This one is going to be "interesting" to sort out...

A lot of folk think this was the first appearance of the Rev I M Jolly. It wasn't. The hapless holyman was the Rev David Goodchild. Hogmanay isnt hogmanay any more. Scotch n Wry was an institution.

It wasn't Arnold Shark. I wouldn't touch Arnold with a barge pole. Was Henrys in Glasgow. Didn't buy the car from them (bought from Parks in Hamilton) but I used to work a couple of minutes from Henrys so I got my dealer services there. Was the standard £259 Skoda major service. I don't have the job sheet to hand or I'd tell you whether they replaced the brake fluids or just checked it. I think it was checked as part of the inspection and returned ok. Always been happy with anything Henrys have done with the car. Just came as a bit of a shock that a car that's still a couple of months shy of 3 years old and at 40(ish)K would need rear brakes so quickly and would be developing a lip on the front disc. Out of warranty soon enough that I'll probably be going back to my local independent garage that serviced my previous cars (Jag x-type, Honda Jazz and Honda Civic). All in with the major service, 2 new tyres and front and back brakes, I was looking at just shy of £900. Got the tyres done when they were servicing it with winter in mind (only about £10 a tyre more than Black Circles and saved the hassle of booking another job) but the brakes surprised me a little.

Got my major service today for 40,000 miles. Was told that the rear brakes are 80% worn and was quoted over £200 for replacing them. They mentioned that they cleared out the drum but that it looked like the rear brakes had been a bit sticky, causing increased wear. They also mentioned that one of the front discs is starting to show a lip on it. I know that the friction material is a consumable and it's down to me to pay for replacement but if its being made worse by sticky rear drums then shouldn't that be a warranty issue? Same with the front - replacement pads doesn't faze me but should a set of discs that are less than 3 years old (it's 3 in January) really be developing a lip on them? For both ends I've been quoted around £430 by the dealer. I know a good local garage that will probably cost less and whilst I'm fine paying for the replacement pads, should the discs/drums issues be done under warranty?

Bit of a puzzler. Happy with my Fabia for the best part of 3 years (come december). Regularly serviced by a main dealer. Just gone over 42000 miles. I've been used to getting mid to high 40s MPG in normal driving and even very low 50s if I drive right on longer journeys but in the past couple of weeks I've been struggling to hit 40 mpg on longer trips and in the very low 30s for shorter ones. Tyres seem ok. It was last serviced at 35000 so although theres a recommended service due, it hasn't done 10k between services. I was holding off for another couple of weeks before getting a service and MOT. Is it likely to be something simple like needing it's 40K service urgently? Would end of life spark plugs cause that kind of issue with fuel? I had the coil packs fail on me at around 20k but with them there was a definite feel of misfire and the economy didnt drop through the floor like it's doing now. Bit of an annoying one.

Coil packs. Garage reckon it's the coil packs that have caused my misfire problems and are replacing them now. Car may have been ready for this evening but I'm keeping my courtesy car overnight rather than hanging about or rushing things and I'll pick it up at some point tomorrow, as well has handing the Rapid back. Fingers crossed.

Full tank of V power 97. 100 miles of mixed driving with ongoing misfire problems over the course of 2 days. End result? EPC warning light, exhaust warning light and a massive loss of power to the point where the engine felt, and sounded, like a ride-on lawnmower. Thankfully the power went as I was coming up to traffic lights and it was reasonably quiet. I was able to turn off the main road. The engine struggled to hit 10-15mph and even idling when I parked up, it sounded like it was desparate to stall. Horrible popping/tapping noise when idling too. It just about gave up about 3 miles from my garage so after waitin a couple of minutes for the engine error codes to reset, I was able to nurse it to the dealer. I've got a Rapid as a courtesy car.

23000 on mine so nowhere near the 40k for a spark plug change. The fuel thing is my plan for tomorrow. Different garage. Different brand. Premium unleaded. See if that helps.

I picked up my car and drove it home. Felt punchier following the software update and I made it home without any warning lights but there were a few occasions I thought I felt a judder. I'll give it another day or two to run my fuel through and maybe stick some premium in it. If it's still problematic by the end of the week, I'll start again.

Just had a call from the garage. There was a misfier in cylinder 1. Couldn't find a mechanical cause but they did find an error with my engine management software. They've done a software update and it seems to have sorted the misfire. I'll give it a good test run home.

I'd rather eat my own nether regions than go to AC Linwood I work in the same building as the passport office so it'll be dropped off at Henrys first thing tomorrow morning. I can get the train to work for a couple of days. If its going to take longer then I'll push for a courtesy car. There's already a thread on FF, started by a chap with a fondness for pastry-based consumables who's no fan of Linwood AC

Just checked my car Eldo. It looks like it's the newer HT leads with the extra layer of plastic cover I have.

Afternoon folks. My Fabia (62 plate) felt a bit rough on the way home from work on Friday but I never gave it much thought since it seemed to get me home ok. Local run around on Saturday morning was ok too. Tried to get to work this morning and problems started. I had about 80 miles worth of fuel in the tank so I stuck £25 of BP unleaded in. Within half a mile of the garage, the EPC light was on my dash and my car felt like it was trying to stall. The exhaust warning light flashed a few times but went off and I was able to nurse the car home as I was only about a mile and a half from my house. Skoda Assist came out, ran diagnostics but couldn't find an error. The error codes had reset themselves. The guy took it for a test drive with me and it felt stutter when cold but the fault didn't re-occur (it was maybe a 5 mile test) so he advised running it a little bit longer and if it happened again then taking it to a dealer. Hour later and I test it longer. Again within 5 minutes of leaving the house I've got a shuddery engine, the EPC warning light and what feels like misfiring at low speeds. I tried it in low gear/high revs and higher gear/lower revs but the problem persisted. It also started stuttering when I parked up and sat idling for a few minutes. I turned the engine off and on again and on restarting the engine, the EPC light has switched off again. I know its not a great description but it definitely feels like it's thinking about stalling and even when I'm running at up to about 40/45, it feels like it's skipping a beat. Got up to 55 and it didn't feel any worse. I'm dreading trying to get the car to a main dealer - theres a dealer in Glasgow (Henrys) that's not too bad for getting home from but I bought my car from Parks (Hamilton) and I'm a good 50 miles away should I need to get home.

Feist - Undiscovered First.

I got my Monte 105 petrol on Tuesday and I've done about 300 miles so far. Mixture of motorways and country roads and so far it's been nothing short of fantastic. The VRS is obviously punchier than the Monte but test drive the Monte - it doesnt feel like it lacks power.

Picking mine up in just under 2 hours. Ordered Nov 30th. Built Dec 5th. With the dealer Jan 4th. Not bad at all. Standard Monte 1.2/105ps. Only add on should be a spare tyre.

D3100 is a very nice camera. http://digital-photography-school.com/ Have a look there for some useful beginners tutorials. Not specific to your Nikon but a few decent tips.