Had car since 31st oct its been at mechanics place untill thurs evening just gone .Its had new rear spring found when dismantling brakes ,new discs and pads and 2 calipers and pipes ,Oil and filter change , drove it to work and back today with a detour and it drives nice ,brakes could be better but i expect them to improve over next few days as rear pads bed in . Car has been stood for getting on 5 yrs only being started and moved now and then , it has 2 tyres with cracks in the sidewalls one was punctured yesterday i had to put the new spare on.I went to purchase 2 new tyres today but tyre bay was shut,Car may have an issue with damp as windscreen took a while to clear inside of tailgate glass was wet and even had some mist on dash clocks .Car has only done 68k and its an 09,I wonder where to start with moisture ingress i do wonder about tailgate rubber as it doesnt seem cushioned enough when closing it makes a sound as if no rubber present .I did worry about this car being stood inactive for a long period there is visible rust on the underside components but car is pretty much mint internal and external ,there is a scratch on rear wing that i may be able to tcut out and on rear bumper another scratch that mat just touch in.I wonder whats next ?

Well done about 400 miles in the 1.8 TSi  not the most frugal at 31MPG mixed driving ,spent a few quid so far 3 new tyres  one coil spring new rear discs calipers and pads + a couple of brake pipes,new key fob as car only came with one key £100 plus i bought all new wheel bolts and caps so almost £700 so far . Various problems dash lights up  left indicator not full brightness and low oil again not full brightness whenever i put headlights on  if i use cruise the other indicator right lights up half brightness ,boot lid seemed to clang when i shut it so adjusted the rubber bungs now and its a bit better , today low coolant light came on i investigated and it had lost about half a pint so topped up see how it goes i did notice some pinky water on the engine undertray ,does this point to waterpump .I love driving this car its very quiet and quite quick although i rarely put my foot down . Is this car going to be a nightmare after my last 2 skodas being outstandingly reliable and trouble free,Car has a new battery but a couple of times i went to start car and just a click turned key off and it started no problem on next turn  Starter motor ?.

just to add i cant find any damp anywhere all carpets are dry as is boot but water must have got in somewhere 

25 minutes ago, davidbird said:

Various problems dash lights up  left indicator not full brightness and low oil again not full brightness whenever i put headlights on  if i use cruise the other indicator right lights up half brightness

This happens when the car has condensation inside from not being used for a while. Different combinations of lights will come on with use.

 

To fix this problem on mine I left all the windows open on a dry sunny day. However, if you are going to use the car daily on not short journeys, there is a better way.

Assuming your car has Climatronic climate control, then you can let that do the work for you.

Switch on the air con and set the temperature controls to hot. The hot air will increase the humidy inside the car and the air con will replace this with dry air from outside. It will eventually settle at a comfortable preset humidty.

 

At first sight it seems daft to have the heater and air con on at the same time but this is how the system works. Air from outside is first cooled to remove excess humidy as condensed water. The air is then heated to the temperature you have set.

Note the air con is inhibited below about 5C.

 

I leave my air con on almost all the time because the compressor has variable capacity control which draws hardly any power most of the time - completely different to bang-bang compressors of old.

 

One advantage of doing this is that window condensation on rainy days is removed automatically within minutes.

 

 

 

thing is the condensation seems over the top like i said i cant find any damp inside the car but inside of rear screen can get quite wet overnight under certain weather conditions and i have even had a foggy speedo clock and demister sometimes struggles with condense on inside of windscreen . most days glass is clear and if not the max demist normally clears things in a couple of mins .How did moisture get into car is it just months of changing conditions especially rain that cause condensation thats not cleared because car is not being used .as for combination of air con and heater i can never be sure aircon is working ,this car only did about 1000 miles in 4/5 years,i am expecting other things to fail including exhaust .How do i know if car has climatronic , its an 09  car Elegance spec with Bolero radio .I need summer to arrive quickly to dry out naturally.

Edited 11 December, 20241 yr by davidbird

Be sure there is no water left trapped in the doors. Or the spare tyre well.

Get as much out of the car when you can leave the doors or windows open.  Do not have the mats in.

 

Get some damp traps.   in the car and in the boot.  Once full of H20 replace them. 

yes i did wonder where water might be hiding  as i said all carpets are dry but i still have one of those water soakers in boot and a different type on dash (like a pillow about 6 inches long if it changes colour you microwave it to dry out, i did wonder wether doors could have water swilling about inside them ,wheel well is dry - how would water get near the dash clocks ??? .I do wonder whats going to cause problems next ,car looks fantastic and interior is immaculate and hardly looks used ,i do wonder wether car was valeted just before i bought it including seats and carpets shampoed  they look so clean i did pull rear seat squabs forward and signs of unclean so pretty certain its been seriously valeted ,could this have caused dampness somewhere.Just approaching 69 thousand miles rather low for a 14 yr old car.Still got the intermittent prob go to start car and just get a click ,second attempt car always starts up to now ,i checked battery lead tightness and they were fine so now i get to thinking is it a bad connection on starter solenoid or maybe even bad connection on earth strap as car is quite rusty underneath very flakey ,I need to wait for some better weather to try and improve that .

23 minutes ago, davidbird said:

how would water get near the dash clocks ???

It is just condensation. I don't think it is necessarly in the dash.

 

Yeah, condensation is a thing with these older cars. Mine's 20 and I've grown used to it now.  I change my pollen filter regularly, carpets are dry, door seals lubed with silicone spray, aircon running most days, windscreen kept scrupulously clean inside and out and yet some mornings I have thick condensation on the inside and have to wait 5 or more mins for it to clear.

One annoying thing is on those days where there might have been condensation or there is a tiny bit and I drive off and the aircon kicks it it immediately obscures my windows!! So much so I have to stop and let it clear.  Only in extreme situations do I use a Squeegee on the inside of the window.

Yeah same.  I could park it in the Sahara in summer and I swear it'd still be misty in the morning.

49 minutes ago, JamieH86 said:

Yeah same.  I could park it in the Sahara in summer and I swear it'd still be misty in the morning.

Well, it gets cold there overnight. Cold enough that you can evolve drinking water in a sand still.

never had the problem with my octavia estates 05 and 08 and this is 09