Sasha's Citigo Monte Carlo

[SashaGrace]

So the Citigo is doing really well still, none of my big ideas have come to anything yet because of the arrival of something else...

 

 

 

 

 

My old Audi A4 Cab is back!!!! I did say I wasn't going to have it back but it was offered at a cracking price and the weather is nice so it didn't take much to twsit my arm  I'm in trouble a little with a certain someone I think lol. Plans are to wet sand the lights again as they've gone dull (again!), give it a proper clean, full serivce, quick refurb of the wheels and just use it for a bit and put it up for sale again for hopefully a profit.

 

That's the plan and it's what's keeping me away from the little Skoda. *Note, some of those images are from when I last had the car*

[nbJubilee]

Nearly two weeks since you bought or loved the Citigo. This is not acceptable. Swanning around in a convertible and ignoring the babe. Perhaps during the quiet period you completed a full carbon wrap?

[SashaGrace]

Those carbon touches look really good!! No I haven't done anything to either the A4 or the Citigo tbh, uni term finishes in a few weeks and maybe then I'll get a change to do something. Been working away on the garden in the nice weather tbh.

 

Has been nice to have the A4 back but although it drives well for a car knocking on the door of 150k, it's nice to jump back in the Skoda with 3500 on the clock haha 

[nbJubilee]

So instead of a Citigo forum you will blog on Gardener's World. Shots fired Sasha.

[nbJubilee]

Not sure a 71 year old Git should be firing words and sparring with a blonde bimbo. Grown old but not grownup. #pervert.

[SashaGrace]

Haha, I can mow a lawn and plant seeds, that's about it! My idea of gardening is jet washing the decking then sitting in the hot tub with a Pimms! I actually bought the Skoda so I could spend less time working on cars but it hasn't worked out that way! It's you lot it is... bad influence

[nbJubilee]

Found a way to combine gardens and car modifications. In north Wales too so you can meet and compare gardening abilities.

[SashaGrace]

Update time, the car has hit 4000 miles and counting, all is well and MPG is comfortable in the mid 50's, got 64 MPG out of it the other day going to IKEA! Happy with that  

 

I have fitted a dash cam the other day which I've had in the box for ages. Used one of these before and they are a great camera with really good picture quality, very discreet and well priced.

 

Here it is

 

 

 

And out of the box

 

 

Tiny!!

 

Time to install

 

 

And from the outside

 

 

All that's left to do now is hardwire it properly which I'll do over the weekend  

 

Hope you are all well people!!!

[Jonny118118]

Your stacking those miles up! 

Mines around the 4500 mark and it's a 65 plate haha, although when I've passed my test I'm sure it'll soon go up 

 

 

[SashaGrace]

It's nice to be doing less miles lol, when I had the Audi the first time I put 19,000 miles on it in a year! The Volvo I couldn't afford to with such terrible MPG haha. It's  creeping up to the mileage limit tbh but if I do t buy it outright my Dad wants it at the end so I'm not worried about the mileage anymore as it won't be going back whatever happens

[Luckypants]

How did you wire that in please?

 

Also photos needed if hardwired.

[SashaGrace]

Haven't done a hardwire on it yet, will hopefully get it done later today and pics will be supplied then

[Luckypants]

If you don't mind, would you post some footage from your dashcam? Those seem to be a very competitive price and the way things are going with driving standards I think dashcams will be needed very soon.

[SashaGrace]

I can do, I didn't get it wired in yesterday but hopefully will do today! If you're after a cheap camera and you don't mind the size, try a Nextbase 402g as they are £60 in Argos right now. You can really reduce the profile with a stealth mount from eBay if you don't like the large suction mount. I went for the Thinkware because I really wanted it to be invisible. Will try and update later today

[Defenderben]

I know it's not a dash cam thread  but

 

I tend to buy the GS8000L type dash cam around £20 incl delivery and fit a 16Gb SD card for another £12 ish. I have 4 or 5 now in various cars and in 5 years of having them only had 1pack up, which was thrown in the bin and replaced with the same again.

 

Installing them tends to take 10-15mins. But I shove mine on to a USB charger never bothered hard wiring into the fuse box

 

Wouldn't be without one TBH with the idiots around today.

Edited 3 June, 2017 by Defenderben

[Jonny118118]

The thing that worries me about dash cams when they're hard wired in, do they drain the battery when you want them to keep going when you've left the car? I'd wanna use it for catching those moments when someone could damage it while parking, walking etc. 

 

 

[Hyphons]

8 minutes ago, Jonny118118 said:

The thing that worries me about dash cams when they're hard wired in, do they drain the battery when you want them to keep going when you've left the car? I'd wanna use it for catching those moments when someone could damage it while parking, walking etc. 

 

 

Highly unlikely if you use one that comes on / records when it detects motion

[Jonny118118]

1 hour ago, Hyphons said:

Highly unlikely if you use one that comes on / records when it detects motion

Ah yeah true, forgot about motion sensors. 

[SashaGrace]

This one (like many) has a motion sensor and is still plugged into the 12v socket as I didn't get chance to hardwire it properly the other day! I'll be sorting it out as soon as I can

[SashaGrace]

Thanks to Photobucket and it's new terms and conditions all the photos on this thread (and many others I've made over the internet) have no pictures so I'll need to fix that at some point in time! But for now I should go over the dash cam install for those interested. It's very easy to do. This is how the kit that I bought comes 

 

I snipped the original hoop of the positive cable and added a micro fuse end with a dual fuse slot using screw connectors (will solder later).

 

I prised off the dash end panel (been off so many times now haha) and quickly found a suitable earth on the dash support bracket

 

 

Once that was attached I ran the positive down to the fuse box and used this fuse for power

 

 

Once the cables were all tidied away and the 12v socket firmly held in with black tape it was time to bundle the wires and cable tie them together and shove them behind the dash and pop the end panel back on. I've also stolen a clip for the wire on the screen from my Dad as he had some left over from his Blackvue install but I forgot to take a picture!!

 

I'll get some footage up soon once it's recorded some as it's been off as I've only just wired it in! Approaching 6000 miles now and still going strong

Edited 2 July, 2017 by SashaGrace

[WaveyDavey]

I take it you have to leave the fuse box cover off once you put a piggyback fuse in there?

[SashaGrace]

Yes you do, it's too big a fuse for the cover to fit over. I covered the lot in black tape so it doesn't get dirty and kept the cover in the cars folder in the house for now. I want a more permanent solution going forward

[SashaGrace]

Thanks to Photobucket, all the pics have gone missing so I've been busy downloading them all and rehosting them, so lets start!

 

Good evening Today was an exciting day as I have put a deposit on this little monster!

 

IMG_6492 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6493 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6494 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6495 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

I drove one on Sunday (driven a few before and know someone with a red 63 plate S model) and decided to go for one. I initially wanted the colour edition as there is a good deal going ATM but the branch manager couldn't get on the group stock network yesterday so I left it and went back after work today to see what they had. As it was they had this Monte Carlo in the showroom and all the extra toys it has including the small leather pack and chrome door handles which make all the touch points much more premium feeling I decided to go for this one in white so the car in the pictures is officially mine now, although in some respects it's a shame it's not an MY17 with the new lights and DAB radio and I'm on the fence with the PID as I haven't used one yet, would rather have the phone holder as I think my big iPhone 6S Plus might be better than the PID but I'm getting it free so I'm not overly fussed, I want the trip computer, gauges, phone and media more than the nav though so I'm looking forward to having music options rather than a broken device my Grandmother reliably informs me is called a tape player. I should be collecting it Friday all being well ready to give it a proper detail and protection over the weekend. Simply put they knocked a fair few £££ off and with the £1000 deposit contribution and £500 fuel card it was worth it and I won't have to wait (I hate waiting!).

Plans so far are simple

LED DRL's

Paint callipers red and drums black

Order rubber mats and boot mat

Order mudflaps for at least the back (maybe front as well)

Order boot side carpet from Germany

Possibilities to come include

Variable boot floor

Cruise control if possible

Maybe wrap the roof black

Otherwise just use it for the next 3.5 years. It will be a nice upgrade from my £95 2002 Fiat Punto lol, have been using that a few months since I sold my last 'decent' car, my Volvo C30 T5. With now being in Uni it makes sense to have something cheap but nicer than the Fiat which is pretty foul. I am surprised how well the 60ps Citigo drives compared to how I remember my 230ps Volvo going!!

Looking forward to getting to know the car and I'm not the only Skoda owner in the family either, my mother has a 14 plate Fabia TDi and my brother a 51 plate Fabia SDi so I'll be around and about.

Cheers

[SashaGrace]

Still lost me sorry, I'm a bit thick

Also whoever said it should have parcel shelf strings was right, it does have them, must just have been the one I drove that didn't have them, I got confused!

Well, the whole handover was a bit shoddy tbh but I'm not fussed about that sort of stuff really. I nicked the cover for the PID mount from another car and they won't be touching anything. Will be sorted Thursday which isn't that far out of the way and tbf I was quite insistent I wanted it yesterday as the Punto's MoT runs out next week and I wanted chance to prepare it properly. If I had more time I wouldn't have rushed it and made sure the car was 100%. Also I arrived late in the afternoon on a Friday which slows it all down.

Anyway, another annoyance is the lack of parts arriving today!! No bulbs have arrived even though they should have come on Thursday but I do have the gel plates and all the main dealer bits I ordered ready to fit.

So this morning here is how the car looked

 

IMG_6498 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

These mahoosive stoppers will be going red

 

IMG_6499 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And the drums black

 

IMG_6500 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

I have to say the cheap wheel bolt caps are horrible and the tool to remove them is a joke! I do miss the chrome bolts from the Volvo now, might look into doing something about those

 

IMG_6501 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6502 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Not bad as it now has 34 miles on the clock

 

IMG_6503 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Up in the air it goes

IMG_6504 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Welcome to Anglesey!!

 

IMG_6505 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Got the snow foam out, Dodo Juice Apple iFoam and whipped off the cheap dealer plates I asked them not to fit and soaked the leftover stickies in CarPro Tar-X applied with make up application pads and pressed them on. Give it 10 mins and pull them off, always works a treat

 

IMG_6506 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Under the arches

 

IMG_6507 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And all over the wheels

 

IMG_6508 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

After that the car was rinsed and then washed with 2 buckets and GTechniq G Wash shampoo. The car was rinsed again and left to dry. I had a break for lunch and a panad then got the heat gun out and cleaned and prepped the brakes for paint

 

IMG_6509 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

While the paint was drying I went to fit the variable boot floor

 

IMG_6510 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Very easy to do

 

IMG_6511 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And floor in

 

IMG_6512 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Will be better with the carpet all round. Whilst fitting all the accessories I managed to coat the car with a layer of Auto Finesse Tripple during the course of the day

Time to take a brave pill and fit the mudflaps

 

IMG_6513 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

These are the ones I'm worried about

 

IMG_6514 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Cut the template and tape it in place

 

IMG_6515 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

This wasn't frightening at all!!

 

IMG_6516 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Both rear flaps fitted

 

IMG_6517 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Brake calliper red and front flap fitted and reattached with the original fixings

 

IMG_6518 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Front and rear done

 

IMG_6519 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

I took the mats in the house as it was going dark and vacuumed them then coated with GTechniq I1 Fabric Guard and let them gas out

 

IMG_6520 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

They are now under my bed until the weather improves haha. I do like the leather binding and red stitching on them

 

IMG_6521 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Finally got these sealed with GTechniq C2V3 and the sticky pads applied ready for tomorrow

 

IMG_6522 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Tomorrow the wheels need sealing up with CarPro CQuartz UK and refitting, the paint needs sealing with something, not sure what and the rubber mats need installing. Once that's done, put the plates on and take it work Monday morning!! And breathe...

[SashaGrace]

Thanks, Skoda maths is worse than my maths; the variable floor is a £65 extra when you order the car but if you buy it after the order has gone through it's £122, £99 for the floor and £11.50 odd each for the side panels and bolts (which are 13mm BTW). What a rip off!! I know I could have got a cheaper one from somewhere else but I wanted it now so the next day parts delivery was worth the extra cost for me.

So today I rolled the wheels in the house (won't be able to do that again!) and begun coating in CQUK and then left them for an hour

 

IMG_6523 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

I went back out to remove the glue from the Velcro tabs on the back

 

IMG_6528 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

I wish they hadn't drilled the bumpers!

 

IMG_6534 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Next I decided to apply my chosen LSP. I have decided I want to have a ceramic on so am looking to go for either an old favorite, Gyeon Q2 MOHS or a new one on me, ArtDeShine Illusion Pro. Either way I haven't made my mind up and haven't got either so for now, time to break out one from the wax collection

 

IMG_6524 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Auto Finesse Desire will do nicely

Checked my painting skills out quickly!

IMG_6525 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6526 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Not bad haha

After buffing the wax we have

 

IMG_6527 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

After an hour or so I went back inside to finish the wheels, coated the CQUK in GTechniq C2V3 as I ran out of Reload. Tyres dressed with Auto Finesse Satin

 

IMG_6529 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Decided to fit the boot mat at this stage

 

IMG_6530 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

That involved cleaning out and polishing the spare wheel well

 

IMG_6532 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And installing the polished and dressed spare. It does not please my inner car harmony knowing that this a Falken tyre and the rest are Bridgestone tyres!

 

IMG_6533 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Mat trimmed and installed over the carpet, much better

 

IMG_6531 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Now for the exciting bit, on go the wheels and the poor little car can touch terra firma again

 

IMG_6535 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

I think these areas look so much better with the paint and flaps on

 

IMG_6536 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And some all over shots

 

IMG_6537 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6538 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6539 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6540 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6541 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6542 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And some inside

 

IMG_6543 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Always handy to have paper mats when cleaning, there wasn't much AG stuff (if any) used on the car though

 

IMG_6544 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

So the finishing touches, starting with the new plates

 

IMG_6546 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6549 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Very impressed with the rubber mats

 

IMG_6550 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

IMG_6552 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

And finally, love the 34 miles!! Needs using now

 

IMG_6553 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Actually not finally as it's just time for old to meet new, happy to be out of the £95 banger haha

 

IMG_6554 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

Thought I'd have to take the Punto for scrap but have actually sold it for £20 lol