[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by madnish30

Now the dilemma on to retain the car longer say 10-15k KMs/1 year more... till such time there are more options in the EV space...(keep to have 1 EV in the garage along with 2 other ICE vehicles

Being in a similar place last year with 2016 TDI MT, I tried out many cars including 3 series, A4 and C class. But could not make up my mind to spend that money. Finally I did a remap and few other mods (suspension, head unit, wheel upsize and some more) which costed me 15 to 20% of the original cost of the car. Now the car feels like new again and nothing less than a 3 series feels like an upgrade. I am planning to keep it for another 4 years minimum. Touch wood car is still very reliable.

Originally Posted by how_you_doing

Fellow Octavia owners, may I know which dash cam you are using?

I talked to Skoda ASS in Bangalore and they are saying they have Blaupunkt front dash cam which they can fit.

I am using the Blaupunkt one since 2 years which I got it from a local accessories shop. No issues till date and works fine. Meets the basic requirements from a Dashcam.
Last week I took delivery of an i20 IVT and got the Dashcam from Hyundai dealer. They also only have Blaupunkt. Now both my cars have the same

[sandygordon]

Is there any way to replace the flimsy ac vent sliders. 2 out of the 4 on the front are already broken. Is it possible to source them online or will Skoda replace it under goodwill warranty?

[how_you_doing]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

I am using the Blaupunkt one since 2 years which I got it from a local accessories shop. No issues till date and works fine. Meets the basic requirements from a Dashcam.

May I know how much did it cost you? Also does it upload it in the cloud? I don't think SD based dash cams are of much use as they can be taken/removed by other person.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by sandygordon

Is there any way to replace the flimsy ac vent sliders. 2 out of the 4 on the front are already broken. Is it possible to source them online or will Skoda replace it under goodwill warranty?

Once they replaced 2 AC vents for me under goodwill warranty of 75%. But I had to push the dealer.

Originally Posted by how_you_doing

May I know how much it costed you? Also does it upload it in the cloud? I don't think SD based dash cams are of much use as they can be taken/removed by other person.

It is a basic SD card one which serves my purpose, doesn’t have WIFI. My requirement is only to capture it while driving and playback / download as required. Mine costed 5k. But WIFI one is better

[sandygordon]

I was planning to replace the halogen fog lamps with H11 LEDs. Contacted a couple of shops in Cochin. None of them had H11 LEDs and were not willing to do so as they say it would show an error. I am no electrical expert and dont want to try a DIY.

They were suggesting to go for HID system which according to them is plug and play. Wont that affect the warranty? One shop quoted 7k and another 7.5k for the same. Is it safe to go ahead and upgrade to HID for the foglamps/ cornering lamps, I mean from a warranty point of view?

[adi_petrolhead]

Hey, here's an exhaustive thread regarding LED bulbs for fog lamps. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...octavia-2.html (Installed! LED Foglamps in my Skoda Octavia)

Coding the LED bulbs is really easy, you need someone with OBDEleven or VCDS to code the new LED's instead of the halogens.

Further, HID is way better than LED, as far as purpose of illuminating the road ahead goes. HID will always perform better in different weather and road conditions, and add to your head lights illumination (or rather the lack of it), my only concern is the cornering feature for the fog lights. You might have to turn this feature off, because the HID's life depends on the number of ignitions a ballast and bulb can take. More the number of ignitions of the bulb, lesser the life and brightness reduces over time. So you can go ahead with HID, but turn the cornering feature off from the HU. I think that is possible.

You could also try slightly better quality of H11 halogens, check out powerbulbs.com this will be the easiest headache free solution. Bear in mind, Halogens perform best in actual FOG conditions.

[sunikkat]

Those who are sitting on fence regarding wheel upsize to 17, sharing my experience after using it for 7k kms.

I am happy that I went for 225 45 17. Though the ride has become stiff, during my last highway drive, couple of emergency braking were very impressive. Infact during one of the overtaking in single lane highway I had to take both the right wheels outside the road and car behaved totally in control in loose gravel. Definitely ESC, suspension came in to play, but the way tyre handled without any damage is great. With this improved stability, aesthetics etc. I would go for upsize 100 out of 100 times

[revsperminute]

My car refuses to connect via bluetooth intermittently and the seat memory is acting up. I have asked my SA to sort these out as these can be done by VCDS. However, the issue has not been sorted/ignored over 2 visits to the service station. Is there any good garage which can do it for me in Navi Mumbai/Mumbai?

Thanks in advance.

[Dr.Vikas]

No Surprise but a Shocker revelation that 'just' surfaced.

Yesterday morning, when I opened the bonnet of my Octavia just to perform routine check up & to add some water to the windshield washer reservoir, a thin layer of dust was observed covering the entire engine bay and that's never a surprise as I hardly give a water wash to it. Instead I just use a blower once in a while to remove the dust but never ever I washed the engine bay.
But this is for the first time, I could notice the typical footprints of rat/s inside the engine bay, visible especially on and around the Air Filter assembly.
Please refer to the 'pic' attatched.

Though absolutely NO any apparent harm/ damage has yet been observed, just seeing the tiny footprints suggestive of the 'supposed' intrusion of that small nocturnal creature who likes to bite/ chew almost everything irrespective of its blend or taste that comes it's way, into the engine bay of my Octavia, was enough for me to feel some chilling sensation of fear running down my spine.

Thankfully, no any sign of chewing/ biting anything was noticed even on a thorough inspection. Touchwood !

Now my first and foremost task is to deploy some ultimate, trustworthy and full proof solution to retaliate any such undesired intrusion henceforth.

So friends, please do suggest some time tested and effective Rat Repellent for me.
I'm thinking of this product.

Thanks in advance,

[sunikkat]

Always had this problem when I visit my native (Kerala) and park it outside. Now have got Rat Attack repellent and seems to be working fine. Also use the Rat Axe spray from Amazon if parking for longer days without use.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

So friends, please do suggest some time tested and effective Rat Repellent for me.

Hi Dr. Vikas, sorry to hear this. These modern turbo-petrol engines get insanely hot and then retain the heat for a long time (when parked), thereby attracting rodents during cold winter nights.

While I don't have any personal experience about these repellers but a couple of things you can consider:

1. Get your engine bay professionally cleaned with something like a 3M engine treatment. They generally leave a chemical glossy residue which will automatically deter rodents

2. Scatter PCI Roban rat cakes (https://www.amazon.in/ROBAN-RAT-KILL...s%2C444&sr=8-1) cakes in nearby areas unless there are dimwitted pets who may eat them.

3. Buy tobacco leaves and keep them on the engine cover.

Let us know how it goes!

[SLK]

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Now my first and foremost task is to deploy some ultimate, trustworthy and full proof solution to retaliate any such undesired intrusion henceforth.

I have the same issue at my location both my Octavia and Polo have loads of rat shit on the Engine cover everytime I check. They have never bitten anything, but the car had bitten and killed one of them once.

Based on my observations, these rats like non-Japanese cars more, like I have no issues with all Marutis in family.

I don't like the idea of putting in something which drains battery directly, in a car loaded with electricals. I've tried many sprays from Amazon but nothing is an absolute solution, so the only way is to keep spraying frequently, like almost once a week.

I currently use this spray https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

^ it keeps rats away, till I'm religiously regular at spraying every 5 days or so.

The good part about Delhi weather is that rats go into hibernation for a few cold months .

[Gannu_1]

The engine bay is like a full-course, buffet spread for the rodents - paper, plastic, rubber, foam, metal.

Keep the parking area clean + spray Hit/Baygon on the ground where the car’s parked, periodically (say twice or thrice a week). Has worked for me for the last 5 years.

[itwasntme]

Quoting my own post:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-...ml#post5239451 (VW Jetta : Tyre & wheel upgrade thread)

225/50/16 is back in stock in Yokohama Blue Earth! BLR price is around 10K with ready recently manufactured stock. Upsize away now in peace

[adi_petrolhead]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Quoting my own post:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-...ml#post5239451 (VW Jetta : Tyre & wheel upgrade thread)

225/50/16 is back in stock in Yokohama Blue Earth! BLR price is around 10K with ready recently manufactured stock. Upsize away now in peace

Yes they’re the bluearth GT tyres AE51. Been using them since about 10k kms, already had two punctures and a sidewall tear. Tyre was replaced on pro rata basis. Not as good as the michelins, but no other option right now.