I ordered my R.3 with a few bits and pieces (see below) in early August. The dealer told me it was built by mid September. The next five weeks got it from the Czech Rep. to the dealer, transferred my cherished number (OK, OK, me putting my ego on the front of my motor), and this morning I collected it. It only took 20 minutes to get my VisaDebit authorised, and I was ready to drive it away.

Thanks to a remarkably ineffective dealer (NOT the one I purchased from) I never did get my two-day test drive. But I've been driving long enough, and far enough, to be able to assess a car from its spec. The Roomster replaced an Almera diesel - 2.2L turbo with as much torque as a 3L BMW six. I was immediately impressed by the petrol-ish feel of the 1.9 PD. It doesn't have the ability of the Nissan to drive off with the right foot anchored to the floor rather than the throttle, but gosh is it smooth and quiet! Handlind and silence on the road is superb. As an extra I ordered what I thought were cornering foglights. I was delighted and surprised to discover the package included cornering headlamps; one thing we old farts need is well-directed light, and I am utterly chuffed with the performance of the Roomster illuminations. Not so the "horn": my wife's mobility scooter makes more noise (particularly when she runs over someone's foot). I have tried to source the Bosch Airmaster, but without success. Fortunately, Car Accessories Car Styling Car Interior Car Exterior Car Parts Winter Motoring FREE UK Delivery has an exact clone in the guise of a Stebel Nautilus. One is now on order. I put a pair of twin wind-tones on the Almera, but the Stebel should be even more raucous.

One of my speculative extras was the Maxi-Dot display. No-one at Skoda Auto was able to tell me just what this did, but being an inveterate gadget freak I ordered it nonetheless. It turns out to be remarkably similar to the trip etc. computer tackle I had on a Golf GTI back in 1999. A sort of twin-channel trip computer.

The one thing I miss from the Nissan is Prince Henry - the excellent sat nav system. I have searched for a good-sized-screen add-on, and the one which I am most likely to go for I found on the A-Z map site: - NAVIGATION MASTER - At last an add-on screen the size of an original equipment sat-nav.

(ps, Prince Henry - the Navigator!)

At the risk of boring everyone rigid I'll post occasional updates.

John

You found the PD quiet???

That Nissan must sound like a bag of spanners!

Btw you can get a Skoda MFD2 Sat Nav system from some sellers on ebay. Reasonably easy to fit, cost around £3-400

Enjoy your car!

Enjoy your new car.

Btw you can get a Skoda MFD2 Sat Nav system from some sellers on ebay. Reasonably easy to fit, cost around £3-400

I've looked this up and feel comfortable with the actual fitting of the unit and it's GPS aerial. However I'm worried about the bit where you have to configure the on board computer to accept the new addition. How exactly do you do that and what equipment is required ?

I assume once that is done that since I have ordered maxidot then it will interface with that to ?

Also is the audio better with that unit as opposed to the Dance one. That Dance unit is kind of OK but I feel it could do with a bit more power, or is that due to the speakers and changing the head unit won't help ?

I'm fairly computer literate and I guess it has to be via OBD but I've never used that before and just want some more guidance on the procedure and equipment to do it.