Daylight Running Lights & MOT Query

[Cornish_Lad]

Morning All,

 

Just purchased an 2007 Octavia Elegance Estate, 1.9tdi and will be picking it up shortly ... However I have a couple of general queries, that I'm hoping that the good folks on here can enlighten me on.

 

• If I were to have fitted a set of aftermarket DRL's - do these need to be activated via VCDS, or is it a case of just get them wired up ?
• Carista (the iOS app) that allows changing of various convenience settings, would this work on this car ?  Looking to perhaps change the central locking features, and a couple of other things (if it's supported by this model)
• and lastly, it looks the MOT tester had a sticky keyboard when he entered the last odometer reading at MOT stage.  He entered 922,227 instead of (I'm guessing) 92,227.  Can this be corrected by VOSA ?  I'm guessing not .. (as full service history shows service carried out 2 months later, with a stamped service record of 95,968 - I'm pretty confident it was a slip of the finger by the MOT tester).

Appreciate your replies as always, and if anyone knows of any reputable/recommended auto electricians down here in SW Cornwall fee free to send me a PM.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[wiilydog]

 

 

• If I were to have fitted a set of aftermarket DRL's - do these need to be activated via VCDS, or is it a case of just get them wired up ?

 no vcds required if it is an aftermarket kit such as Philips as you just connect +ve and -ve to the battery and then connect the +ve from the side lights so when you switch on the side lights your DRLs will switch off or more expensive systems will dim instead of switching off completely

[Cornish_Lad]

no vcds required if it is an aftermarket kit such as Philips as you just connect +ve and -ve to the battery and then connect the +ve from the side lights so when you switch on the side lights your DRLs will switch off or more expensive systems will dim instead of switching off completely

That's good news, appreciate that. Now just need to find a good auto electrician who understands my request.

Cheers

[silver1011]

As you have an Elegance you will already have the front fog lights fitted.

 

There is a setting in VCDS and Carista that allows you to use the front foglights as DRL's.

 

Once activated you can then reduce the brightness of the fog lights down to a level suitable for use as DRL's. If I remember correctly when I did mine I lowered it to around 60%.

 

The fog lights still operate as normal. As DRL's should they turn off as soon as you turn on side lights or dipped headlights, then turning on the fog lights has them working as they do now i.e. at full brightness.

 

I'm not sure this applies to all cars but it was necessary on mine, I first had to turn on the DRL's before I could change them to using front fogs.

 

Octavia's without front fog lights can still have DRL's activated, instead they use the dipped headlights (much like Volvo's used to do). There are two options:

 

North American - DRL's turn on with the handbrake off, and turn off when the handbrake is applied. Dipped headlight dash icon on when DRL's are on.

Scandinavian - DRL's turn on with the ignition on and off when the ignition is turned off.

 

All cars seem to vary slightly with the set-up in VCDS but I only had the option of North American mode, once this was activated (using the dipped headlights) I was then able to select a tick-box in VCDS that swapped the dipped headlights to the front fog lights (together with the option of dimming them).

 

I quite like it now as it means when the battery is loaded i.e. when starting the car the DRL's are off and if you are sat in the car with the ignition on (and the handbrake on) the DRL's are off thus reducing battery drain.

[silver1011]

Here is my 2008 Octavia Scout with it's front fog lights set up to run as DRL's.

 

These are at 60%...

 

 

Not LED but much cleaner and more OEM than those aftermarket LED strips.

 

Edited 29 March, 2016 by silver1011

[silver1011]

I'm a long way from being a VCDS expert Mike, it could well have been there and I missed it, or I got to it a different way! 

[Cornish_Lad]

Thank you silver1011 and Mike, this is getting better by the minute.  Really like the look of that, especially the North American option. Short term I think I'll have a play with Carista (as the developer is quite happy to send out a 'test' licence so I can have a play to start with, before committing to buying the app).

 

What other options are worth looking into with Carista then ?  I was thinking of activating the anti-bandit feature of the central locking too.  Are there any other worthwhile options (things like welcome home lights, needle sweep, alarm chirp etc).

 

Just wish the odometer reading can be corrected, but I don't think there is much chance of that personally.

Edited 29 March, 2016 by Cornish_Lad

[PerformanceDiesel]

You can do the north american setting in carista and also do the dimming of fogs. I have mine in north american and set at 20% anymore and i think its too bright as drls especially when its wet you get a kickup from the road surface. There are a few good options on carista that are worth doing. Have a play. The test licence keeps it all abit cheaper as I have found out

[DGW]

Reading the following AA article - albeit from 2012 - it would appear that there is only a 7 day window in whcih to have an incorrectly recorded mileage put right.

http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/news-2012/mot-certificate-mileage-record.html

Edited 29 March, 2016 by DGW

[Cornish_Lad]

Reading the following AA article - albeit from 2012 - it would appear that there is only a 7 day window in whcih to have an incorrectly recorded mileage put right.

http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/news-2012/mot-certificate-mileage-record.html

 

Hmm ... not looking hopeful then :(

 

Might email VOSA to see what they say, but not holding my breath after reading that

 

Thanks DGW !

[fordfan]

Odometer readings can be corrected by the testing station within a few days of the paperwork being issued, after that it can't be done by the testing station.  The certificate does state that the details should be checked by you so that mistakes such as incorrect odometer readings can be quickly rectified.

[silver1011]

Not everyone's cup of tea but you could activate the cornering fog lights too...

 

[trundlenut]

Not everyone's cup of tea but you could activate the cornering fog lights too...

If the car is MY07 you can't do cornering fogs. That seemed to come in on MY08 cars.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[Jevpls]

•  He entered 922,227 instead of (I'm guessing) 92,227.  Can this be corrected by VOSA ?  I'm guessing not .. (as full service history shows service carried out 2 months later, with a stamped service record of 95,968 - I'm pretty confident it was a slip of the finger by the MOT tester).

I don't think that it's a big deal. Imagine if you are a car buyer and see:

year x: 85,245;

year x+1: 922,227;

year x+2: 101,660 etc.

 

If you aren't a moron then you see that mileage is increasing every year buy some 10 or 15k miles except the one year that has got highly unbelievable value. So, I don't think that you should think much about that.

 

By the way, when Latvia implemented public database then I checked my father's car. It had like:

2007: 20123 km;

2008: 41454 km;

2009: 22 km;

2010: 82564 km.

 

It was obvious that there's something wrong in year 2009. I sent a message to this institution and asked what's wrong with that year. They answered that it's certainly wrong value and changed record for "faulty data for this year". You may try just to e-mail them but I don't think that's a big deal.

[Cornish_Lad]

As you have an Elegance you will already have the front fog lights fitted.

 

There is a setting in VCDS and Carista that allows you to use the front foglights as DRL's.

 

Once activated you can then reduce the brightness of the fog lights down to a level suitable for use as DRL's. If I remember correctly when I did mine I lowered it to around 60%.

 

The fog lights still operate as normal. As DRL's should they turn off as soon as you turn on side lights or dipped headlights, then turning on the fog lights has them working as they do now i.e. at full brightness.

 

I'm not sure this applies to all cars but it was necessary on mine, I first had to turn on the DRL's before I could change them to using front fogs.

 

Octavia's without front fog lights can still have DRL's activated, instead they use the dipped headlights (much like Volvo's used to do). There are two options:

 

North American - DRL's turn on with the handbrake off, and turn off when the handbrake is applied. Dipped headlight dash icon on when DRL's are on.

Scandinavian - DRL's turn on with the ignition on and off when the ignition is turned off.

 

All cars seem to vary slightly with the set-up in VCDS but I only had the option of North American mode, once this was activated (using the dipped headlights) I was then able to select a tick-box in VCDS that swapped the dipped headlights to the front fog lights (together with the option of dimming them).

 

I quite like it now as it means when the battery is loaded i.e. when starting the car the DRL's are off and if you are sat in the car with the ignition on (and the handbrake on) the DRL's are off thus reducing battery drain.

 

Sorry to bother you again Silver1011 but just wanted to check ... does Carista allow you to reduce the brightness of the fogs when used as DRL's and choose between North American or Scandinavian ?  

 

I was a tad perplexed earlier as the fog lights weren't showing up under lighting customisations, but then I remembered you saying that the fog lights actually had to be switched on.  Once I done that, then bingo, they showed up in Carista

 

Many Thanks

 

Mark

Edited 2 April, 2016 by Cornish_Lad

[silver1011]

Hi Mark,

When I last used Carista (a year or so ago) there were all sorts of anomolies, such as I could activate front fogs as DRL's but only with side lights on too. Eventually after a few updates with plenty of feedback from us lot on Briskoda they made the fixes. When I set mine it was possible to turn them on without sidelights but not adjust their brightness.

I now understand from a few other forum members that this has now changed, so it is now possible.

As for the Scandinavian and NA modes, again I'm not sure, sorry, I borrowed VCDS to do mine before Carista caught up!

Edited 3 April, 2016 by silver1011

[Cornish_Lad]

Sorry to 'resurrect' this thread chaps, but I've got a bit of a weird issue with Carista .. (on Android, running the latest beta version 3.0 beta 9) .... which I purchased today.

 

All the functions I've tried activating work fine (bandit locking, auto unlocking when key is removed, chirp on alarm on/off etc) ... but the one extra I cannot get to work is Fog Lights and DRL :(

 

The functions do appear in the menu, and if I select them (Yes) and press Save ... Carista tells me it's done ... but it isn't (which is annoying) ...

 

It should work, shouldn't it ??  It's the 57 reg Elegance model, with fog-lights built in.  I've done a debug log, and sent it the developers, but I'm stumped.  Am I missing something here ?

 

(Would go through VCDS if I could, but there are only 2 users in my county according to the list, and 1 hasn't been on here for a very long time, and the other has replied that he has lent his copy go VCDS to a mate, and it won't be available until August) ...

 

Any idea's gratefully received ..