Race Blue Facelift vRS230

 

Build

 

I thought I’d start a bit of a blog to share my experiences of living with the vRS on a daily basis.

I’ve now had the Car since new now for 10 weeks and have just done my longest journey - Alfreton, Derbyshire to Snowdon; passing the 3000 mile mark on the way. What a relaxing place to be that cabin is, only niggle is the Accelerator pedal-I loved the floor mounted one in my 2 x Golf GTi I had, the suspended version has left a bit of an ache in my Achilles and shin - not ideal for a dual hike up Snowdon tomorrow.

 

I've only had small issues with the car since new - I think the Paint is very thin and soft and damages far too easily being my main gripe.

The Head unit has reset itself twice and got confused requiring a reboot twice. I’ve a recurring but inconsistent problem in that Spotify connects through CarPlay perfectly when I am on my own but when SWMBO is in the car with her Phone it takes forever, sometimes never. I’m going to keep an eye on it and see if I can find a common set of circumstances or it’s just a coincidence.

 

Finally, although I am delighted with the performance and economy- I’m nowhere near some of the other 230s in terms of fuel economy.

Return journey was slightly better. Faster average speed and the use of cruise control down the A55 and again down the A51 and A500.

Had the first interaction with the dreaded Low Washer Fluid warning! Clucking Bell, who thought that warning should be more severe than Low Fuel!!! Did my swede in!

Head unit rebooted itself tonight. Radio was on and then plugged the iPhone in and couldn’t get CarPlay to connect, 5th try it rebooted and connected straight away.

I too had an issue one evening with apple carplay, Wouldn't recognise the sync'ing but I knew the connection was fine because it was charging my phone. But I updated my phone and it seemed to rectify it.

Just seen @SashaGrace mention the iPhone software bug, I’m running 11.3.1 on my 8+

I have just download the iOS11.4 beta 6, been meaning to, but moaning about it is better than doing it haha. Seems to have solved the voice quality problem. People can hear me now. Let’s hope they don’t mess with it again before iOS11.4 is released!!

I was on the phone to my dad via CarPlay the other day and he said I sounded like I was under water (iPhone 7+ with iOS 11.3.1)  Nobody else has complained though!

Well, the Infotainment gremlins keep occurring, still haven't managed to tie it down to a specific set of events yet.

Yesterday as I got to work I had a new gremlin - I was on the phone using CarPlay and turned the engine off as I parked, ended the call and unplugged the Phone (8+), the head unit has switched back to Radio, all normal. I got out and expected the Sound to stop but it didn't. I got back in and the buttons on the infotainment nor the MFSW did anything, nor did re-starting the engine, idling and stopping it again and getting out. I left it and when I went back at Lunchtime it was quiet.

 

Coming up the A38 on my way home tonight and the Low Fuel Warning comes up along with a Message - "Would you like me to find you the nearest petrol stations?" So I hit yes and the Infotainment said Sainsbury's at Ripley was £1.205 so I exited at the A610 Roundabout and then hit a pothole with an almighty thud -really shook the car. 5 seconds later I got a Passenger Front Tyre Low Pressure Warning and low and behold a couple of seconds later as I got to Police HQ and McD's it was flat. Anyway, pumped it up and got fuel and then put some more air in in Somercotes and it got me home but half an hour later its totally flat.
Can't find any damage to the rim (thank fully) or the tyre but I doubt its repairable. I did find a slight cut in the edge at one point but the air wasn't coming out of it.
I can't find anywhere online that can get me a Bridgestone and fit it tomorrow. Will have to go to work with the wife and get one sorted for first thing Friday.

What a PIA!

 

Good luck getting it sorted! 

2 new Vredestein Ultrac Satin 225/40's fitted at ETS this morning - couldn't get a Bridgestone Potenza S001 for 2 weeks so had to have a pair fitted - £158.

Tyre rated C Economy and A Wet.

Look pretty good and are a deeper darker black than the Bridgestone's. 4 Rain Grooves compared to 3.

Trucking Wheel Nuts!

 

The van in the picture is not involved in any way!

And now they can’t replace it until Monday 12th FFS!

On ‎02‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 17:41, KevC_Derby said:

And now they can’t replace it until Monday 12th FFS!

 

Problems with Payment of deposit (Nationwide suspected suspicious activity on my account and blocked Internet transactions) that never went through confirming my boking now means I've got to take it to Nottingham on 18th as they only calibrate the Cameras in workshops.

Now I’ve had my Tyre and Windscreen Myther  sorted out I decided to give the car a decent wash and polish today. Usual regime with Autoglym stuff.

i don’t think I’ve cleaned it since May so there was probably best part of 2,000 miles of brake and road crud built up on the wheels but I rinsed then with the hose, sprayed with Muc-Off, left for 10 minutes and the pressure washed them. Here’s before, half pressure washed and final washed and chamoised photos.

39MPG?!?! Mine sits around 32.... 

^same for me.

 

40+ only on a run when nannying the car. 

My 20 mile commute regularly returns around 36mpg at about 55mph ave speed. 3 miles urban, 15 miles Dual Carriageway, 2 miles urban.

Nice drive upto Whitby today. M1 had 3 accidents so we re-routed through Mansfield and Warsop to the A1M and traffic very heavy north of York Racecourse on the A64.

 

So we’ve been back to Bristol St Motors today for an Oil Change Service.

10 months old and 10,145 miles on the clock.

Mentioned about the Media issues that have plagued the car but nothing was said about a Software Update. I’ve also had the squeaking front suspension when going low speed over Speed Bumps and when I mentioned this they said this was a known issue and the fix was to regrease the bushes with a new compound. What they didn’t tell me was they’d no replacement Bolts in stock so couldn’t drop the suspension arms to do the work today so we are going back on Thursday.

Front Tyres 6mm ave across the width remaining and Rears 5.7mm ave (Fronts replaced at 4,000)

Brake Discs in good condition and pads 5% worn all round.

Oil changed and filled with 5.7l of Shell Helix 5/30 to VW 504 00

£114.00 made up of £50.09 parts and £44.91 Labour.

Hi Kev did you decide not to go with the factory variable servicing and presume you prefer the fixed 9,400 mile or one servicing?

Well I decided to risk not needing the 2nd services until after the 2 year PCH ends and didn’t take out a service plan but the bloody thing is so much fun to drive and is so flexible we use it most of the time. Will probably be 25k miles when the PCH is up. The extra mileage should only cost me £360 and £300 for a Major Service.

3 minutes ago, KevC_Derby said:

Well I decided to risk not needing the 2nd services until after the 2 year PCH ends and didn’t take out a service plan but the bloody thing is so much fun to drive and is so flexible we use it most of the time. Will probably be 25k miles when the PCH is up. The extra mileage should only cost me £360 and £300 for a Major Service.

Yeah I know what you mean about trying to keep the mileage down. Mine registered 17/08/2017 now showing 17,296 miles and first service indicated sometime in January 2019 at around 18,700 miles. Fortunately took out a 30 month Dealer supplied package covering first 2 services and 1st M.O.T. for £10.52 per month so easy to budget and not had any of your bad luck. Thanks for your honest reply.

I’m putting some cash aside ready for February 2020!

3 minutes ago, KevC_Derby said:

I’m putting some cash aside ready for February 2020!

Looking forward to November 2019 when I turn 55 and can get my hands on about £8,000 from a private pension I paid into during the 1980/1990's.

Coming home last night.....