So far as I know it is in the back of the engine and according to my M.o.T.  guy (whois a mate) it's easy to see, but very hard to get at.     Parts price wise yes I could have bought a pattern part for as little as £10, but the garage insisted on vw only parts and the general consensus was that the pattern ones don't tend to last.      Bearing in mind, I'm an independent taxi driver who has just the one cab and a stack of pre-booked work, when I need repairs done I need them to be done swiftly and ideally in a way that's not going to recur for significant miles.   a breakdown for me can cost me a lot in lost work,  so doing it right the first time is always the preferred option.     Yes it costs me more short term, but  the parts garaunteed and probably wont need attention now for the rest of the cabs life (im hoping for at least another 100k out of it )

...Being a driving instructor with one vehicle, I fully understand and sympathise with that attitude. Pay the higher price, get the better part! The work was done for you so they charged a certain amount of labour for that, along with finding the fault in the first instance. I know a few places that only fir genuine parts or at least, fit parts made by the manufacturer who supply VW/Skoda so they may not be VW logo but are still the same. (They have the branded part name instead).

 

I have had to have Skoda do certain jobs in the past that cost more then a small guy but they die them fast so I can continue working, to pay for the repair quicker. It ends up more cost effective, if not cheaper. 

 

I usually do minor service stuff myself by ordering bits from you know where and fitting them when I have the free time, working around this. It takes me no longer to change oil, filters etc then a dealer and I would only sit on my backside in their waiting room anyway!

 

If I worked in an office, say, I might get them to do this whilst I borrowed a loaner to get to and from work, letting them get the spanners out and get greasy. 

Yup, me too!   if it wasn't my cab I'd be happy enough to trundle around on my pushbike, or heaven forbid, let the missus drive me while the garage take their time.