Citigo instrument binnacle.

[Ronn]

Yes, Michaelski, you came out with what you wanted ☺️

Lets hope scr64 is equally successful.

[Michaelski]

Brochures apart (& especially dumb Salesmen), & hopefully to be of help to any prospective buyer, below is a comprehensive list of what I finished up with on my recently-acquired SE-L:

 

*** But I have not (repeat NOT) yet summoned up the enthusiasm (or the interest) in actually switching the various lights on, & then doing a lap of honour of the car to see what they look like.

 

Twin headlights - look good, although haven't yet had the chance to try out how good they may be at night.

A  bonnet with a kink in it (a kinky bonnet?) - which looks quite attractive.

LED DRL's, built into the headlights cluster. (But see *** above)

Different-shaped front foglights. Sorta cute, but see ***)

Better looking & more comfy seats - well, I reckon so, but SWMBO reckons that they're the same as before.

3 dial Binnacle, consisting of Rev Counter, Fuel gauge & speedo (Ooooh, naughty, provocative!)

A new display under the speedo - white figures on black background, & which is much more legible.

A two-tone Dash - which raises the quality of the car.

The doors continue to close with a re-assuring "thud".

A much better-quality radio system - looks very good actually.

More speakers - & the sound quality is transformed. (at least to me, but my ears are not what they used to be (all together now, they used to be your eyes)

Rear parking sensors - quite a class piece of kit, & a picture comes up on the radio display.   Impressive!

An automatic light in the Boot.

2 bits of string to raise/lower the rear parcel shelf - works well enough.

New darker rear lights glass, but see ***

No model designation of car now on the boot lid. 

 

Offhand, I can't think of anything else, although doubtless I may have missed the odd enhancement out. 

 

All in all though, I still rate the car very highly, especially as I still have a rev counter & an analogue fuel gauge.

Having had my previous 75PS for almost 3 years, & now having the 60 PS, I strongly maintain that the 60 PS is more than adequate for the car, & I'm glad that I specified the less-strong laggy band.

 

Have to finish off by saying that the Moulah that I shelled out for the Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-D was well spent, & I'm highly pleased with this SN - versatile & most impressive.

 

 

[Michaelski]

I just knew that I'd forget something.

There's now 15" Alloys with Continental Mark 5 Eco tyres fitted - & the Alloys look very smart.

And there's now a collapsible brolly fitted under the front passenger seat.

 

Something??? - that's two things: must be the old Alzheimer's kicking in again.

 

And struck with remorse (makes a change from being struck by just one of SWMBO tongues) I've just switched on the lights & made a lap of honour round the car.    Effectiveness of the new twin headlights apart, the new DRL's & spotlights actually look quite good.   Couldn't see any difference in the rear light clusters though. 

[scr64]

That sounds like £100s of upgrades, but I'm willing to bet the most useful will be the boot light and the 2 bits of string for that bloody parcel shelf I always leave up!

[Jonny118118]

2 hours ago, scr64 said:

That sounds like £100s of upgrades, but I'm willing to bet the most useful will be the boot light and the 2 bits of string for that bloody parcel shelf I always leave up!

One of the reasons I changed mine, the little things are the most annoying! 

[Michaelski]

I reckon that you're probably right with your guestimate of £100's, scr64, but (an eet ees a beeeeeeeeeeeeeeg "but") Mr Skoda has binned the previous in-built SatNav (came in for plenty of flak with other owners, but I personally liked it): the £500 fuel voucher & the zero % PCP Interest, so they're already recouped a lot of that - & if they have indeed decided to offer all Citigo's (without owner's buying the quite pricy Dot Matrix system) with just one tatty instrument cluster, then they'll have probably recouped most of their money.

And remember, these manufacturers are there only to make money from selling as many cars as they can, & to do that, they simply have to keep up with the competition, otherwise buyers will not only buy with their wallets, but with their feet also.   VW (& even more so SEAT) appeal to only a limited range of buyers -  to me, VW is a tad too pricey compared to what they offer compared to Skoda, not to mention their honesty now being in doubt, & SEAT is perhaps a little "quirky"  to many potential customers & don't have the same widespread Dealer coverage as Skoda & VW.    When I was completing the paperwork for this latest car, all the Salesman could whinge about, was having to "meet his targets" - not ensuring that I was happy: bought exactly what I wanted etc etc.

Hyundai offers a cracking little City car, as do many other manufacturers, & VW Group have to compete with these, and offer a similar menu.    Fortunately, IMHO, The Citigo is an absolute peach of a City car, and suits myself & SWMBO to an absolute "T".   But if I had just bought a car with a cheap & nasty one-instrument cluster, I know that it would have grated on me each time that I fired it up.   I shelled out a lot more money to change my previous SE-L at only 15k miles & 2 1/2 years, but I did it willingly & having got the car that I now

have, I'm as happy as a pig in S H One T.  If I'd have finished up with cost cutting economies by removal of the rev counter & tempt gauge, I'd have doubtless kept it for another 2-3 years, but I would not have replaced it with another Citigo - superb though they are.   Like most buyers, I expect enhancements to the car, not relegations in various areas.    VW Group "screw" their customers to maximise profits,: we "bottom feeders" can only vote with our feet & wallets.

 

[Ronn]

With the risk of starting WW3, I do wish car manufacturers would put a Teeny Weeny bit of money aside to provide 2 remotes with their new cars across the range.

I paid £12,354 for my Citigo SE L (with some extras fitted).

My chin hit the floor when the Salesman handed over a Proper Key & a Key from a 1954 Austin Somerset.

[Michaelski]

That's the current rate of exchange at the moment, Ronn.    Even before Brexit was mooted (& the Germans really did wish that they'd have invaded Britain in 1940) on both cars, I was dolled out one "proper" key + a cheap plastic imitation as a 2nd key!!!   They obviously work on the basis that as only one person can drive at any one time, they'll get away with the second key being something that looks like it came out of a (very cheap) Christmas Cracker.

 

And what, may I ask was wrong with the 1954 Austin Somerset?    It was a class piece of kit (in 1954).   Now, if you'd said a 1965 Mini (the very first new car that I bought) I could have identified - what a heap of dunnage!

[Ronn]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Austin Somerset if you were driving in 1954.

 

In the same way that there was nothing wrong with being dragged along on a wooden board by a team of Oxen if you lived in Pre- Roman Britain.

[Michaelski]

I'll have you know that my team of Oxen were the fastest within a 50 league radius of Stonehenge.

What with the ability to lumber into Turbo Mode (induced by a red hot poker skilfully inserted in just the right place)  + the "go-faster" Woad along their flanks Boadicea's local Plod had no chance of catching them.

[Ronn]

I find my wife a better hauler than my Oxen mine.

 

So, my Oxen spend all day watching ‘Homes under the Hammer, A Place in the Country (their favourite), Emmerdale & Corrie’, while the Wife does all the Heavy Lifting.

[Michaelski]

Don't risk your money in betting on whose Missus is the scariest, Ronn.   Mine holds the Black Belt (10th Dan) in "scary" - in fact when on holiday, she was bitten by a Box Jellyfish, and the poor little sod only lived for 2 seconds after stinging her.  

Much better to stick to safer subjects like will all new Citigo's come with just one instrument in the Binnacle.

 

[Ronn]

☺️☺️

[Michaelski]

On ‎05‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 23:07, Ronn said:

Yes, Michaelski, you came out with what you wanted ☺️

Lets hope scr64 is equally successful.

Well, not quite Ronn.

Having a spare moment (what we members of the OFB have in Spades), I made some online enquiries regarding the black rubbery things wot Mr Skoda had fitted - Continental Ecocontact Mark V (or Mark 5's for those amongst us who didn't learn Latin at school). 

Granted, the reviews state that they are much better than the Ecocontact Mark I's that were fitted to my previous SE-L but even so, after reading a whole dose of customers' reviews of them, they don't seem to be either the Bee's Knees, or even highly regarded - in fact I stumbled across one American web site, where the accusations on that, was that these tyres may have been designed in Germany, but were now made in China - & possibly why they go side wards at roundabouts?   What I actually got on mine, I don't know, as it's now too dark (& wet) to be crawling around on my knees to read whatever's on the tyres, but the cynic in me tells me that Mr Skoda (or Mrs Skoda, if she was appointed to source the tyres) bought from wherever they got the best deal. 

The Mark I's that I previously had only lasted with me for 4k miles, before I got fed up, & in desperation, fleetingly borrowed SWMBO's purse & had Goodyear 4 Seasons fitted all round - & what cracking tyres they turned out to be.

It looks as though these new Continentals are continually going to grate on me, & I won't be a happy little Bunny until I've replaced them with something with which I will be content - at the moment, it's a toss up between the same Goodyears': Nokian Weatherproof or Michelin cross climates.     Yeah, it's going to cost me (or possibly SWMBO, if she again leaves her purse lying around) a whole dose of dinero, but one not only has to be safe with their tyres, but have to feel safe as well.  

 

Anyone out there who has any experience of these Continental Mark 5 Ecocontacts?   All comments welcomed.    

Edited 8 February, 2018 by Michaelski
spelling mistake

[Michaelski]

Took SWMBO out for a meal last night, so, & for the 1st time, used the new headlights.   They "seemed" OK, but as the Noshery was in our local town, we also benefited from the street lights, so not really the same as driving through unlit country roads - but I suppose that day will come.

 

Also found out that the Little Tinker who had been involved with the redesigns to the car, had obviously found it essential to tinker about with the interior lights.    Previously, they (from right to left) were in Off mode: Courtesy & then Constant.   Now, they seem to be (also from R to L) Courtesy: Off & Constant.   Can't see that it was really necessary, but little thoughts please little minds, just as little pants fit little behinds.

Edited 11 February, 2018 by Michaelski
spelling error

[Michaelski]

On ‎05‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 23:07, Ronn said:

Yes, Michaelski, you came out with what you wanted ☺️

Lets hope scr64 is equally successful.

At the risk of opening the same old can of worms, & just for the hell of it, I went into Skoda's car configurator & "built" a new  SE-L Citigo.    And at the risk of seeming contentious, it did indeed seem to me, that unless one specified the extra-cost Dot Matrix, one finished up with the one-instrument (ie. just the Speedo) even with the SE-L,i n the Binnacle - at least that's what Skoda's own illustration showed,  so it may (just "may") turn out that scr64 will be chewing on his fingernails, just like me.      Best of luck scr64, & please do keep us Posted.  

[RobA]

New Citigo SEL arrived today.  No Maxidot but I do have 3 dials.

 

Oddly I have also been given a mobile phone cradle and PID although I'm not sure the PID will work as there are no longer any connectors in the car where the cradle sits...

[Ronn]

You shouldn’t have been given the PID.

That’s the ‘old’ system that they employed, you’re correct, it won’t fit your car, sell it on eBay.

This just shows that the Factory haven’t got a clue what they’re doing.

Regarding the 3 Instrument Binacle, they may just be still getting rid of old stock on new cars. We know that Skoda have been ‘fazing in’ the Facelift improvements as they feel fit.

What would be interesting to me is, on your new  3 Instrument Binacle, is the mileage recorder in the ‘window’ below the Speedo still the difficult to read LCD display with black numbers or is it the NEW brighter LED display with bigger white numbers?

[RobA]

52 minutes ago, Ronn said:

You shouldn’t have been given the PID.

That’s the ‘old’ system that they employed, you’re correct, it won’t fit your car, sell it on eBay.

This just shows that the Factory haven’t got a clue what they’re doing.

Regarding the 3 Instrument Binacle, they may just be still getting rid of old stock on new cars. We know that Skoda have been ‘fazing in’ the Facelift improvements as they feel fit.

What would be interesting to me is, on your new  3 Instrument Binacle, is the mileage recorder in the ‘window’ below the Speedo still the difficult to read LCD display with black numbers or is it the NEW brighter LED display with bigger white numbers?

LED.

[Ronn]

LED, well, that’s a great improvement.

Maybe Skoda are still supplying the 3 Instrument Binacle on new SE L models after all.

i do hope so.☺️

[Michaelski]

Hi RobA.

I reckon that Ronn is quite correct (again) - you shouldn't have had the PID, and what perhaps more to the point, it WILL NOT fit in this new Smartphone cradle - you need the "old" type. Even more to the point, without this PID-dedicated cradle, I would not have thought that you'd be able to use the Satnav facility, or even the Trip Computer, Rev Counter/Temp Gauge elements.  It's such a very long time ie. exactly one calendar month (but to a fully paid-up member of the OFB,  that's an extremely long time) since I handed my 2015 SE-L Tonka Toy back, that I can't really remember, but I have this half-remembered notion that the PID fitted into a purpose-built  cradle, & everything was fed through that - ie. no dedicated cradle, no access to any of the facilities fed through the PID - QED!    Mebbe just "suck it & see" - or better still, ask the Dealer to demonstrate how it all works.?

 

But as I was told in early February, that to order a car of my own choice would take a minimum of 3 full months, there is always the distinct possibility that the car that you took delivery of today, actually left the factory in mid/late Feb, and therefore was quite possibly built in late Dec/early Jan.  I reckon that Ronn had put his little pinkie firmly on the navel in an earlier Post, & Skoda were simply utilising all the 3-instrument Binnacles that they held in stock, before starting to use the new cheap-&-anything-but-cheerful single instrument .   scr64 is shortly due to take a delivery of a car that was to be built in week 7 (what? early Feb?) & what he actually receives may be more pertinent - although he's already been told by Mrs Skoda that it will be shipped with the single instrument.  Let's just keep rubbing our Ostrich knuckle bones & hoping, as relying on the info emanating from Dealer/Stealers, is like a blunt pencil - absolutely pointless.

 

Incidentally, I had to brave this "Beast from the East" today, as SWMBO wanted to hit the local Supermarket.   I can most unequivocally state that Continental EcoContact 5 tyres are nothing more than pure Summer tyres & are not suited for driving on hard packed snow.  After the white-knuckle experiences of today, I'll give them but a few Thou, & than lash out on either Michelin Cross Climates, or Goodyear 4 Seasons. - through experience, those I do have faith in.

[RickW]

Wife ordered a Citigo SE L last Friday. It's a factory build and should arrive in May.

Just a tad confused with all this binnacle talk.

Should I now talk to the dealer for clarification? How much extra is maxidot? Do we need to specify it as an extra?

Would be highly disappointed if it didn't have display showing open doors etc.

What should we reasonably expect the binnacle to look like when it arrives?

Sorry if I appear thick!

[Miller73]

Nothing to worry about as only the S spec will have the one instrument binnacle. No evidence supplied yet to prove the contrary.

[RickW]

I've been looking at the optional extras for the Citigo and it says the 'trip computer' is £230 if ordered.

 

Is that maxi dot or something else? Is it worth getting? Anyone else got it?

 

We want the symbol to show open doors etc  like on the current PID she has.

 

The brochure is ambiguous.

[RickW]

I think I may have answered my own question above. I need to get into the dealership ASAP and order maxi dot display. Hope it's not too late.

 

http://ws.skoda-auto.com/TechnicalLexicon/print_techlex.aspx?itemid=416&language=1

Edited 3 March, 2018 by RickW
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