Hello everyone

 

Been a while since I've posted a thread of my own. The Rapid has been operating as it should and has survived not only a camping trip to the Briskoda National, but also a camping trip to EMF Camp and coped well with both being off-road and my over-packing forth trips.

 

It'll be going in for its third service in early December, which will also be its first MOT (bringing this all forward a month so both things can take place while its still under warranty). Air con needs a service, has been decidedly under-performing this summer. I'm two years into my five-year finance deal so won't be changing cars any time soon, as I still owe more than it's currently worth. That won't swing into the black until about 3.5 years into the finance given the high rate of depreciation on the car.

 

Also took the decision not to fit the chrome trim I bought from Super Skoda to the front grill. Decided it wasn't for me after all, so these will be up for sale soon.

 

So, onto the new purchases:

• I was extremely fortunate to pick up a brand new, still sealed set of genuine Spaceback roof bars on eBay earlier this week (they arrived this morning). Got them for about half UK RRP as well, all because the box was a bit tatty (but everything inside was fine). This will provide a number of useful options in terms of roof boxes and bike carriers, and means I'll be dispensing with my good quality rear cycle carrier soon (look out for a bargain in the For Sale section).
• I also took advantage of a bank holiday offer to buy a second dash cam. Having been impressed with the Nextbase 312GW I've fitted to the front of the car, I bought a Nextbase 212 (which is the 312GW without the GPS and WiFi capabilities) which I plan to fit to the rear of the car. In light of some of the recent near-misses and near road-rage incidents I've encountered, front and rear cameras are looking like a necessity for the future. I've also got the Nextbase hardwire loom for it, which is four metres long and should be more than sufficient to run from the rear of the car to the fuse box in the front.
• I've also bought a new Rapid badge for the tailgate, as the one that was factory fitted to my car is not straight, and it has bugged the hell out of me since I bought the car. Will be fitting that in the next couple of weeks before the weather changes.
• Finally, I've had to buy a new set of Heko wind deflectors after both of my front ones snapped at the end where door meets the B pillar. Clearly a point of significant stress for these, and it would appear that Heko deflectors are not as flexible as they used to be.

I'm also looking at retro fitting the front seat plastic valances that have been added to the facelift cars. Still unclear on how easy this will be to do and it does look like the bracket that needs adding will have to be pop riveted into place rather than screwed or bolted. This could complicate matters a lot.

 

Other than that there's not a lot more to do to the Spaceback other than drive it. I've done 20,000 miles in it since I bought it (roughly 10k a year) which is more than I expected to do, but way down on the 23k a year I was doing in my two previous cars. On that basis I should be around the 56,000 mile mark when I finally finish paying for it, which means I'll either have some residual value to trade in, or a car with enough life left in it to be worth keeping until the doors fall off.

 

Saw that a few more people have sold-up recently. Understandable, but a shame the car didn't work out for them.

Edited 1 September, 20169 yr by chrisgreen

Chrome Grill Kit is now up for sale over in the For Sale section - £25 posted (UK).

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/410282-skoda-rapid-front-grill-chrome-19piece-vertical-insert-kit-from-superskoda-£25/