Anti-luck braking

The week before Christmas I was struck with the ESP light stuck on, on my 06 Skoda Octavia 1.9 4x4 estate, with 30,500 miles. Took it to the dealers that I bought the car from and who have done all the...

Octaplussy?

I purchased a Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI DSG in October 09. Performance is surprisingly good for such a small engine and economy 39-40 mpg. What bothers me is that, after the car has been left out in the rain,...

Tax banned

I am starting to wonder where the logic is in the current car tax band system. My understanding of the government's stance on this is to get older, heavier polluting vehicles off the road. If this is the...

Taxi breaks

The warranty is about to run out on my 2007/57 Octavia, which has been a taxi since new. So far the DMF has been replaced under warranty once at 30,000mls and more recently at 55,000 miles. My current...

Shiftless attitiude

Further to M.B.'s recent letter and your reply re Octavia/Yeti I am also thinking of changing my Octavia TDI estate for a 4x4 to cope with Scottish winters next year. Whilst the new Yeti looks good I have...

Something in particulate

Just recently (in this cold weather) I have had great difficulty starting my Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI. When it eventually has started a cloud of back particulates belches out of the exhaust. I have normally...

Crusher, or Russia?

I bought a brand new Skoda Octavia Elegance Estate costing £15,665 after a total Scrappage/Dealer/Manufacturer allowance of £3,500. This will bring a gleam into the eyes of the Dealer, the Manufacturer,...

Back door

I have a Peugeot 206 SW that offers wide, low loading access. Please can you suggest a similar vehicle that has a similar good rear access?

Greenhouse crass?

In their short-term efforts to stop the planet warming, more and more manufacturers are introducing small capacity pressurised petrol engines. Renault, VW Group and the new Astra all offer turbos of 1.2...

Brake chancing

We saw and test-drove a VW Touran just under 3 weeks ago. There was a light on the dashboard, which I thought was the traction control light, and the ESP light near the gearstick was also on. The dealer...