I've checked page 215 of the owners manual and it says choose a that wont attack or affect the polycarbonate coating on the headlamps, says nothing about HAVING to use VAG screenwash.

I'm popping off to Halfords later to pick up that pink screenwash that you can use neat. :yes:

Didn't bother with Halfords after all, as their ready mixed stuff only goes down to -5

So I 'popped' into our local VW dealership and picked VAG own brand. :yes:

Got a litre of super concentrate that goes to -70 for £3.98

Had to refill tonight coz the dash warning light came on yesterday afternoon, so now we're sorted (Kitten & I)

Edited 14 December, 201015 yr by Macdemon

Got a litre of super concentrate that goes to -70 for £3.98

What do you know about the weekend weather that we don't?

Oh nothing much Terfyn, I like to have the BEST...............................that's why I drive a Yeti

I've never used the VAG screenwash, not because of the cost but because I don't go anywhere near anywhere that sells it on a daily basis.

The filthy state of the roads round here at the moment mean I'm filling up the washer bottle at least once a week (50 mile round trip each day to work), and so whatever is convenient will do - for a long time I've used Tescos own brand pre-diluted in the summer and add some of their concentrate to that during the winter. Used this for the last 6 or 7 years without it causing any problems in either of my Fabia vRS's or my Octavia.

More recently with the amount of the stuff I'm going through, I've discovered I can buy 25 litre drums of Unipart concentrated screenwash through work for £17 - seems to do the job fine so I'll stick with that for now.

Ive done 17000 miles in 6 months in my yeti and I go thru about 5 litres of screenwash a month, there's some mucky lanes in the midlands! I use halfords ready mixed which is £4.99 for 5 litres and up until recently was on a Bogof deal. Never had an issue with it at all.

I don't think the issue with using VAG screenwash has anything to do with the lens or affecting paintwork. I am pretty sure it is purely about clogging up the nozzles alone.

Thats what I understood. My Octavia clogged up as it wasn't filled with VAG stuff. Cost me a small fortune to get it unblocked, so I have learnt my lesson and will use VAG wherever possible.

Mike

Edited 16 December, 201015 yr by rockhopper

I use halfords ready mixed which is £4.99 for 5 litres and up until recently was on a Bogof deal. Never had an issue with it at all.

Is that the stuff which comes in a blue bottle and is a sort of yellow/green colour? I put 5l of that in my the other day having failed to get any of the VAG stuff. No problems so far - washers work and screen is clean - but it does seem to leave a few suds on the bonnet.

Is that the stuff which comes in a blue bottle and is a sort of yellow/green colour? I put 5l of that in my the other day having failed to get any of the VAG stuff. No problems so far - washers work and screen is clean - but it does seem to leave a few suds on the bonnet.

Don't worry, the snow will wash the suds away. Best of luck for the next few days.

I bought some Lidl stuff and it worked fine.

But not regularly stocked so will have to head for Halfords soon.

Interesting that a DIY squeeze of lemon prevents the nozzles clogging- hence the citrus scent puffery on the bottles.

Interesting that a DIY squeeze of lemon prevents the nozzles clogging- hence the citrus scent puffery on the bottles.

Any acid dissolves the lime deposits at the nozzles, but citric and acetic are the most conveniently available - lemon juice (without pulp ) and vinegar.

It's the hardness in the dilution water that is causing the problem, not the stuff you get in the bottle.

The biggest killer to a screen washer system with fine fan jets is hard water.

Remember your school chemistry?! Hard water is caused by traces of calcium/magnesium sulphate/carbonate/bicarbonate dissolved in the water. When you add your antifreeze screen washer the alcohol content reduces the solubility of these hardness salts and they drop out of solution creating a fine haze that will settle out in your washer tank and form a sludge that will clog the fine jets if it gets that far.

The good washer fluids contain chelating agents that help to hold these salts in solution so preventing the sludge and therefore the nozzle blocking.

Another hard water problem occurs as water evaporates at the nozzle tip (made more rapid by the alcohol content) causing hardness salts to be deposited in exactly the same way as stalagtites are formed.

I am lucky to live in Yorkshire where our water is soft so I can use cheapo mix and not experience any problems. Even so I use the condensed water out of a dehumidifier in my washers. If you live in a hard water area then you will suffer for trying to save a few quid.

Take a look at your kettle!! If it is full of chalk then don't use tap water in your washers!!

This makes a lot of sense to me.

The more expensive screen wash solutions (VAG's for example) contain ingredients that keep any lime scale in the tap water soluble.

The fan jets on moderns cars are more susceptible to clogging if the water contains lots of lime scale - hence Skoda's recommendation to use their own.

So, if you live in an area with soft tap water you'll get away with the cheaper screen wash brands?

A friend who has an Audi (two, in fact) has told me that VAG service centres will kick up a fuss if you use any screenwash apart from that supplied by VAG retailers. Is this true - and if it is, is there any good reason for it beyond trying to persuade you to buy VAG's expensive screenwash?

With the recent weather, my washer reservoir is getting very low. There is a VW dealership just ten minutes walk from the office and I popped in there at lunchtime today to see if they had any screenwash. After spending five minutes being professionally ignored by the woman on the Customer Service reception desk, I turned around and left, having firmly resolved never to go through those particular doors again.

There is an Audi showroom not too far from work that I could call in at. Is it worth trying them? Or should I stop worrying and go with whatever Halfords/supermarket/DIY shop screenwash which claims to be able to cope with the current cold weather?

Actually I've heard that Lidl screenwash is quite good, and there is a Lidl closer to the office than the Audi showroom. Anyone have any opinions on the Lidl stuff?

A friend who has an Audi (two, in fact) has told me that VAG service centres will kick up a fuss if you use any screenwash apart from that supplied by VAG retailers. Is this true - and if it is, is there any good reason for it beyond trying to persuade you to buy VAG's expensive screenwash?

With the recent weather, my washer reservoir is getting very low. There is a VW dealership just ten minutes walk from the office and I popped in there at lunchtime today to see if they had any screenwash. After spending five minutes being professionally ignored by the woman on the Customer Service reception desk, I turned around and left, having firmly resolved never to go through those particular doors again.

There is an Audi showroom not too far from work that I could call in at. Is it worth trying them? Or should I stop worrying and go with whatever Halfords/supermarket/DIY shop screenwash which claims to be able to cope with the current cold weather?

Actually I've heard that Lidl screenwash is quite good, and there is a Lidl closer to the office than the Audi showroom. Anyone have any opinions on the Lidl stuff?

Professionally ignored.......by a Vw dealer how typical. Too up themselves to consider customer relations.........deserve to go bust!!!~

Has anybody any experience of the product shown at heatshot.co.uk with a bit more detail if you search for Alphatherm. Retails I think for about £119 plus p+p.

I must say that until about 3 weeks ago I never bought any vag screenwash apart from the original purchase of the cars which came with it , however after using it during this really cold period I find it fantastic -9 and it still come out happily with the old stuff it froze more times than i can remember in lesser weather at the beginning of this year I used to take a bottle of screenwash mix in the car and pour it on at junctions etc.

The only reason I tried it was TPS phoned up with one of there weekly sales push campaigns and a couple of us at work decided to split a box and try it , yesterday I ordered another box it's really good!

Peter

I must say that until about 3 weeks ago I never bought any vag screenwash apart from the original purchase of the cars which came with it , however after using it during this really cold period I find it fantastic -9 and it still come out happily with the old stuff it froze more times than i can remember in lesser weather at the beginning of this year I used to take a bottle of screenwash mix in the car and pour it on at junctions etc.

The only reason I tried it was TPS phoned up with one of there weekly sales push campaigns and a couple of us at work decided to split a box and try it , yesterday I ordered another box it's really good!

Peter

Likewise at -12 last night. Then it froze on the screen! I mix at 1:5 with water.

John

Has anybody any experience of the product shown at heatshot.co.uk with a bit more detail if you search for Alphatherm. Retails I think for about £119 plus p+p.

I actually have one of these still boxed. I bought it from ebay for a Honda FRV we had some years ago. The washers were a pig for freezing up. I never got around to fitting it.

I keep looking at both the Yeti and son's Rover 25 (his need is greater than mine).

When I bought mine it was sold as a Webasto Hotshot. I think what you've found is the same product.

John

Just bought a job lot of VAG screenwash from Jabbasport as special deal at present - £2.70 per litre although more like £3.25 when adding in delivery. Still good value against Halfords types and a known quality product.

Edited 21 December, 201015 yr by GazzaC

It was only -8 when I drove back last night, not a sign of either front or rear washers freezing using VAG screen wash. It just works! (like the Yeti!)

Mike

I am really amazed at the brand loyalty to the VAG WW screenwash. The real question about when any screenwash might freeze is a simple question of how much ethanol it contains. I do not know about UK price for methylated spirits, but here it costs £1.50 for a liter of bioethanol, which is 100% ethanol and denaturant - no water.

Ethanol/water mixtures freeze at various temperatures, depending on the mixture. 20% ethanol, 80% water freezes at -9°C. 30/70% mixtures at -15°C and 40/60% at -23°C. In the UK and Denmark, we need go no further on the scale. Methylated spirits is probably not destilled as well as bioethnol, but contains 5-7% water. So one liter of meths and three litres of water gets you down to around -12°C for £1.50 for a useable 4 litres. of WW fluid. Add a few drops of dishwashing detergent and a little vinegar of you like, and your problem is solved.

I am really amazed at the brand loyalty to the VAG WW screenwash. The real question about when any screenwash might freeze is a simple question of how much ethanol it contains. I do not know about UK price for methylated spirits, but here it costs £1.50 for a liter of bioethanol, which is 100% ethanol and denaturant - no water.

Ethanol/water mixtures freeze at various temperatures, depending on the mixture. 20% ethanol, 80% water freezes at -9°C. 30/70% mixtures at -15°C and 40/60% at -23°C. In the UK and Denmark, we need go no further on the scale. Methylated spirits is probably not destilled as well as bioethnol, but contains 5-7% water. So one liter of meths and three litres of water gets you down to around -12°C for £1.50 for a useable 4 litres. of WW fluid. Add a few drops of dishwashing detergent and a little vinegar of you like, and your problem is solved.

I'm now 40 and my Dad when I was a wee boy used to add meths to his screenwash to stop it freezing. He was a Cambridge Graduate engineer in the automotive industry so I guess he have known what he was doing. Would it damage the paintwork?

I am really amazed at the brand loyalty to the VAG WW screenwash. The real question about when any screenwash might freeze is a simple question of how much ethanol it contains. I do not know about UK price for methylated spirits, but here it costs £1.50 for a liter of bioethanol, which is 100% ethanol and denaturant - no water.

Ethanol/water mixtures freeze at various temperatures, depending on the mixture. 20% ethanol, 80% water freezes at -9°C. 30/70% mixtures at -15°C and 40/60% at -23°C. In the UK and Denmark, we need go no further on the scale. Methylated spirits is probably not destilled as well as bioethnol, but contains 5-7% water. So one liter of meths and three litres of water gets you down to around -12°C for £1.50 for a useable 4 litres. of WW fluid. Add a few drops of dishwashing detergent and a little vinegar of you like, and your problem is solved.

UK Methylated spirits is usually around 98% alcohol and is mostly ethanol denatured (ie rendered undrinkable) by addition of methanol and something to make it taste nasty - it used to be pyridine but due to toxicity this may now have been superceeded. In addition UK methylated spirits is dyed with methyl violet and it is this that may stain paintwork.

When I worked in the chemical industry and had access to "samples" from industrial quantities of these things I used isopropanol as it is somewhat less volatile than ethanol so reduces the tendency of washer jets to freeze and stays on the screen longer to give the wipers chance to work on it before it freezes. Your recipe is pretty close to what I used otherwise.

VAG screenwash uses isopropanol and is not especially expensive. 1 litre costs around £3 and makes 3 litres of -15°C. 5 litres of ready mixed from Morrisons costs about £4.50.

Personally I like the 'as new' smell of my car rather than the 'as meths' smell; brings back too many bad memories on the streets of good 'ole London

Hey, if you fancy mixing your own then go for it following Agbundsen's instructions but given the cost of the VAG stuff (which really isn't that bad cost wise when compared to other supposedly 'decent' makes) and the fact that we know it works, which is more than can be said of many others which freeze far above the suggested temperatures, then I'll stick with VAG on this occassion. I'm certainly not buying it through brand loyalty, it just does what it says on the tin for a reasonable price.

Now if only we could say that of all VAG parts and accessories :wonder: