DRLs have gone off

[philhoward]

Yep - DRL gets dimmer when you put on side lights (sorry if thats not the correct term, but I've always called them that).

[PDIBK]

But no sidelight in the main headlight unit, just dipped and main beam bulbs?

Is that to do with them being xenons or soemthing? Or just a different light unit to the other Fabias?

Still no DRLs, in next Tuesday. Also picking up a spare wheel and tyre changing kit. And a touch up paint pen.

Nice.

[philhoward]

I think (and could be wrong) there's only one bulb in a Projector?

My DRL had to be ordered in; took a couple of days (took them longer than they thought to fit though as the wiring was corroded....).

[MartynVRS]

I don't get the fuss over fogs. I've been driving 7 years and not had one reason to use them. I've had foggy days but they don't help much. Asked my parents and the Octavia they last had was the first car they owned in 30 years to even have front fogs and even then they've never used them. They don't even know where the switch for them is on the Swift.

[PDIBK]

I have driven in "proper" fog, where dipped beam is even too much to not bounce back and blind you, but not often enough to justify having them.

I have used them more at night, on rural roads, as "driving" lights, to give more illumination of the road edges.

Then you have to switch them on and off for oncoming, as they are fogs and not driving lights. That said, the genius switch to turn on rear fogs has to go past the front fogs on position to turn them on, so on days foggy enough to have your rear fogs on, you have the fronts on regardless.

[PDIBK]

Right.

Monte dropped off at Winchetser Skoda this morning. Instructed to find the cause of no DRLs and blown fuses. Also to check the surface corrosion on the drum brakes at the rear.

As a courtesy car, I have their 12 plate Monte Carlo, in grey (looks good outside, interior's a bit drab though). Also has "rusty" drums. BUT, bizarrely, it doesn't feel like it has concrete for shock absorbers.

I will check it out more when they say my car is fixed.

When I collect, I shall have a spare wheel and a touch up stick in the boot too! No more worries about the ****e roads leaving me (and more importantly, my daughter on nursery runs) in the lurch. Following my wife's blow out, on much more sensible tyres, the risk of no spare was too great to take.

[PDIBK]

SO.

The fault they found was a blown fuse. They changed it, the DRLs worked. They did a fault find and "had the front out" and couldn't find anything else. Fair enough, says I.

They won't do anything about the rusty drums on warranty "as it's a functional part, not cosmetic, not covered under warranty". Again, fair enough, I shall be writing to Skoda UK.

Finally, the spare wheel and change kit. The assistant almost let me drive off without paying for it. I should have heard the alarm bells...

I was honest, paid for the spar eand the kit, also the touch up pen I ordered. There was a queue forming behind my car, where the assistant had left it outside the service desk. I drove off, thinking I ought to check. Sure enough, no spare, or kit...I mean they only had all day to fit it, after I reminded them in the morning it was on my job card...

Back to dealer, fit spare, fit kit (took the foreman - I was that important by then - 30 seconds), drive away a second time.

In all, a relatively painless experience, no fault found beyond the twice blown fuse (maybe the auto factors non-original part I used the second time was dodgy) and I now have a full sized spare with ContiSportContact2 fitted - which definitely fits in the spare wheel cut out with no problems.

Now, about that letter to customer services...