I have "inherited" my brothers Octavia 1.4 16V, X - Plate (UK), approx 2002 vintage. It will be our 2nd car and the car in which my 17yo son will practise his driving. The car shows it has covered 67K miles however the wear on the driver seat suggests that this may not be correct or at least all of the 67K has been done at slow speed.

There a few things which could be better, can anyone help:

1. Radio/Cassette - This has been disconnected for some time and when I reconnected the message on the display is "SAFE" which I assume means it is looking for a security code? Is there a generic one or ar they all specific? It is a Grundig unit.

(This is for when I drive the car not my sone)

2. The fan only works when on full. At this time of year the screen mists resgularly however my son needs to listen for the engine tone whilst he gets used to the car. Of course the fan at full masks the engine sound. I had a similar problem wtih a previous car and it was the switch rheostat. Any throughts?

3. The gear box is very stiff and unforgiving. Finding first as opposed to third or reverse even is hit and miss. Is there anything I can do to loosen it up a bit?

0) Mine, also 2002, has done 104k, and the seats still look like new.

1) A Grundig stereo is aftermarket, sorry.

2) This is probably a fault with the fan switch (presumes it's a rotary switch). So you're on the money there.

3) Start by checking the dogbone mount (underneath, looks like a cartoon bone). This might be worn.

If that's good, adjust the gear linkage.

If it's not that, change the gearbox oil.

If it's still not fixed, you may need a new box!

X = 2000 ?

My 2001 Y has done just short of 200k and the drivers seat looks fine (a spring has dropped off the bottom though - common fault).

Cheapo replacement stereos can be obtained from Lidl and the like for about £40 if you can't find the radio code for it.....

Ooops. Calculated the year wrong.

Ooops. Calculated the year wrong.

Ah, that maybe makes a difference to (0). If it's a pre-facelift car (badged LX, SX or SLX) the seat trim materials may be different to the post-facelift cars.

Grundig makes the factory fit unit, so it probably needs to be decoded somewhere. Alternatively, the dealer that originally sold the car may be able to tell you the code.

Does it have climate control or manual heating? If it's climatronic, it could be the fan speed rheostat/controller that's at fault. It's behinf the glovebox and it bright red. If it's a manual control jobbie, then the speed control resistor will have burnt out, but I'm not sure where it is.

As for the gearchange, there's a video on youtube how to align the cables.

Many thanks