It's resurrection time for me here (I used to vist as plain old 'RickyBoy')!

Early retired now so should have a good deal more time to play and I currently need some advice/pointers as to where to go to get best deals for new tyres and independent (or sensibly priced) Skoda dealer servicing.

The car is an '03 plate Octavia vRS which I've owned from new and it's just about to hit 56,000. It's my 2nd Octy (previous one was the 1.8 SLXi) and both of them have been pretty much as good as gold to me throughout the 9-years since I was initially converted to the brand. I'm looking for a Long Life Service, possibly within a 50-60 mile radius of Milton Keynes, although it's previous big one was carried out by Farmers in Nottingham (from where I purchased the vehicle). Is there much regional variance in costs (i.e. cheaper 'oop North) or is it set in stone via Skoda menu's?

I've also come across an old thread on here about tyres, where people have been advocating replacing the existing Contisport 205/50R17/93W Contact's with a couple of brands that I'm unfamiliar with – Kumho & Toyo – and also changing to 225/45/17/94Y. Does that advice still hold good?

Again, with the tyres, if the price is right (3'ish for the price of 4?) I'm more than prepared to travel. I've used Micheldever a few times and the Conti's seem to be coming out at around £135 from there down to £123 at EliteDirect in Rainham, Essex.

Any recommendations most gratefully received.

With kind regards...

RickyBoy2

Hello and welcome, again I suppose. The Toyo tyres always seem to get rave reviews and are an excellent tyre. The T1-R seems to be the most popular choice giving good performance.