Evening all,

 

I finally let my VRS go the other evening.

 

I've known / owned it since it was 2 years old and is undoubtedly the best / most reliable car I've ever owned.

 

It's been an excellent family car and it introduced me to the vag scene which I Will definitely be staying a part of.

 

 

My intentions were to keep it forever but due to buying a new family car for the Mrs to use and me ordering a new golf through work, the skoda had become redundant. I didn't even need it for shows anymore as I can use the company golf when it arrives!

 

It has been purchased by a member on here and I'm confident he will keep it in tip top condition.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the advice and support over the years, I've enjoyed being a briskoda member and I'm sure I'll still log on from time to time.

 

Finally,here's a photo of the skoda's replacement which I have just cleaned using the traditional one bucket method  

 

Edited 18 July, 20178 yr by Paul thornton

Nice replacement, have one myself. By gas the best car I've ever owned. And worryingly reliable if horror stories are to be believed. Service yours regularly to spot potential woes is my advice. Also, they are sensibly designed cars by and large - some odd designs though like rear wiper washer mechanism - so don't hesitate to pick up your tools and have a go. I've saved myself a few £s doing just that. Mine is now a weekend car.....it's every day duties being undertaken by a Mk1 Octavia Vrs!! Enjoy and good luck....

Hi very nice looking car, a great choice of car.

 

I bought mine a couple of years ago, (had a RRclassic for 20 years till it eventually recycled itself).

Try this website: www.FullfatRR.com which I joined. Its for like minded owners, the guys are very helpful.

I also would suggest looking into a GAP diagnostic tool, its not cheap (approx £250-300) but will save you loads in the long run.

You can do scans / clear error codes, turn stuff off etc I recently turned off my TPMS it kept telling me to check tyre pressures and they were all ok including the spare.

 

My Fatty

Edited 25 June, 20179 yr by Silver Bullet

Cheers chaps. I'll look up that forum.

 

I told my Mrs their knick name was full fat and she didn't look too impressed!

 

I am looking at getting a diagnostic tool, just in case... I really want to turn off the stupid function that bongs everytime you open the door without pulling the key out of the ignition first as it's driving me mad!! Plus I'll be doing as much servicing / repairs as possible myself.

 

I was adamant I wanted a black range rover and spent ages looking for one but now I'm seriously regretting it as it's a massive car and a nightmare to keep shiny / swirl mark free, and I'm not even in to this detailing lark!

 

I've just ordered some rear mudflaps in an attempt to keep it a bit cleaner.

 

I'll recon I'll still be logging on to here most days, mainly to check on Rob's Quattro progress amongst other things.

 

Thanks.

Edited 25 June, 20179 yr by Paul thornton

Agree on diagnostic tool....invaluable! Nice to have the capability to bespoke your 'bongs'!! They can drive you nuts... My on board 'assistant' keeps telling me I have a number plate bulb out.....

 

Mine is finished in Adriatic Blue. It's a mare to keep clean, and swirl marks are way too evident. My job for the summer is to flatten the paint and repolish. I've set aside a few days in July...

 

For any L322 diesel owner...renew the crankcase breather filter as often as the air and oil filter! It's only a fiver and can cost you a turbo if it fails.

 

Happy motoring!

 

My on board 'assistant' keeps telling me I have a number plate bulb out.....

 

I made the mistake of getting high intensity LED reversing light bubs, fitted and went behind for a look, much brighter, got in the car, message: "check reversing bulbs". Saying that tho' not all owners have experienced error messages when doing that upgrade. Nice to see more shiny "fattys", mine needs a wash now.

 

I still use my Vrs but only at weekends, its 12 years old now, on a standard map, still surprises me how fast it is, always raises a smile.  

The paint on mine was quite bad when I got it.

 

The previous owner had treated it to regular £5 car washes and nothing else which had left it in a right state.

 

I tried t cut, colour wax, colour restorer but nothing worked, in fact I was just making it worse!

 

I read up on DA polishers and decided to give it a go. I purchased a challenge DA as they have brilliant reviews and attacked it with a medium then soft pad and autoglym super resin polish.

 

To my amazement, after a few passes on each panel it came up like glass with me having to use autoglym paint renovator and a harsher pad on badly swirled areas.

 

I finished it off with autoglym  (again)  ultra gloss protection applied by hand.

 

It's far from perfect but has come up rather well.

 

I usually wash it about every week and a half and every 2nd or 3rd wash I'll apply the ultra gloss protection as it's like water so is really quick and easy to use to keep on top of the shine.

 

I'm no way into autoglym products, in fact the Skoda hated them but I had some in the shed that someone bought me one Christmas so decided to give them a go rather than buying something else!

 

It ocassionaly gets more light scratches caused by the kids brushing past it when it's dirty etc so I just get the DA out and attack the particular area again. Works a treat.

Edited 27 June, 20179 yr by Paul thornton

Hi Paul,

 

would just like to say that it was a pleasure dealing with you mate, the car is so nice and has obviously been well looked after so much so that after bringing it back to Devon I've decided to keep my '04 with mega mileage as a work horse for the winter and all those job's that I don't want to soil Darth with haha.

 

I'll be on here every now and again for some advice I should think but you won't see me in the classified section for a long time. 

 Gone the other direction, sold the rhd FullFat V8 and the rhd Pre-Tata and bought an lhd Octavia .....

 

 

Edited 4 July, 20178 yr by 0ctavist

Hello dude. Just wanted to say thanks for contributing to this forum, it's been a pleasure to have you around. Nice new car too by the way! And finally - don't be a stranger! This may be a Skoda forum but at the end of the day, we're all petrolheads and I'd be equally happy hearing about your Range ownership.

 

Keep smiling!

 

Cheers chaps.

 

New company car arrived yesterday.

 

It's a 2017 se model and I honestly can't believe the spec. VW must be trying really hard to recover from the emmissions scandal!

 

The audio system is incredible, looks like an iPad! Adaptive cruise control, don't know how I've managed without it! Flat bottom steering wheel and then theres the sport button which ups the boost and tightens the steering etc.

 

I love it, as you can probably tell....

Edited 6 July, 20178 yr by Paul thornton

Nice solid looking car Paul

Agreed, that does look bloody lovely!

Update on the Range Rover...

 

Never wanted a modified one but this one came on 22 inch wheels that had just been referbed and had brand New tyres fitted.

 

The ride was quite harsh and my wife hated driving it fear of kerbing one but we both loved how it looked.

 

I always liked the vogue 20 inch 7 spoke wheels so I've spent ages tracking a set down with matching tyres and a recent refurb. Cost me a small fortune!

 

Had my first experience of the standard , previously unused scissor jack collapsing on me so I replaced it with a 5 tonne bottle jack and some 4x2!

 

Anyway, finally got them on, stepped back... Major disappointment.

 

I'm just so used to how aggressive it looked on the previous wheels, now it just looks normal.

 

One of the 22's is currently being repaired and then they will be going on eBay but to be honest if they don't fetch decent money I think I'll have to put them back on rough ride or not.

 

Failing that, I may just get used to the new look.

 

On the plus side it drives so much nicer on the 20's.

Hi Paul,

The scissor jack that comes with the car is a load of dangerious crap, its common knowledge in the FFRR forum, most people get a Merc sprinter van bottle jack, but you seem to have sussed it. Glad you were not hurt when it collapsed, also if you ever put it in off-road height, dont depend on the air suspension to stay put. I always put stands underneath when i crawl under it.

Regarding the wheels I tend to agree with you, there are a number of LR styles that will fit your FF, ie my ones, they are 20" for supercharged 4.2's. Cant remember your cars age, if you did change styles the wheel nuts are different see below:-

Range Rover 4.2 litre Supercharged  (as per my picture)

Alloy Road Wheel….RRC502690XXX   (Made by Cromodora S. P. A, Italy)

(8 1/2J X 20 EH2 – 58)

Max Load 925Kg

Colour…Silver Sparkle. Colour code: MNH (clear lacquer top coat)

Tyres…255/50 R20 109Y XL Pirelli Scorpion Zero (Tread depth when new 8mm)

• Early Range Rover L322 ( 2003 to 2005 ) wheels have a wheel nut hole diameter of approximately 20mm
• Late Range Rover L322 ( 2006 - 2012 ) wheels have a wheel nut hole diameter of approximately 23mm 
• The early nuts ( 2003 to 2005 ) had square ends, ( 2006 - 2012 ) the wheel nuts had chamfered ends.      
•  M14-1.5mm Thread 22mm Hex head ( wheel brace size)

 

Edited 22 July, 20178 yr by Silver Bullet

One thing I would keep an eye on is oil leaks particularly around the secondary turbo drain as I remember there is a rework that was carried out on a lot due to how many leaked

Looks much better on the original LR wheels, very classy. Looked a bit "drug dealer" on the 22" imo

So.... Range Rover has gone and I've got a new toy / project.

 

Yes it's a 1.8t!

 

Few mechanical jobs and a tiny bit of bodywork then hopefully a set of coilovers and Porsche wheels are on the to do list for this year. Next year... try and make it as fast as the Skoda was!!

 

I knew I couldn't have a sensible car for long!

 

 

Edited 28 October, 20187 yr by Paul thornton

I can vouch that the Skoda is still far from sensible Paul!

I'm probably going to moth ball it for a while as I want to clean it up and probably make some changes to the suspension and wheel, I may get a cheap Quattro to stand in for a while 

 

I had two of them Beetles when they first became available in RHD even before VW Uk had them, I can assure you they are strong as I put the first one through a Devon hedge at 95 and then went nose to tail across the field! I even managed to miss every sheep that was in there at the time lol

 

I always wanted to have a play around and quite fancied fitting some elements of this....

http://www.lltek.com/volksgate/html/new_beetle_by_caractere.htm