Rich_N

OK, I'm a complete newbie at detailing - I've only recently heard of the term and even the two bucket method was unkown to me! I've just bought a new vRS and want to keep it in tip top condition - limited swirls etc. I'm having a full pro detailing job done next week by Midlands Detailing with a sealant (Opti-Seal) rather than wax. I've already purchased the following: Two Buckets and Grit Guard Megs Gold Class Shampoo Sonus Der Wunder drying towls Chemical Guys Quick Detailing Spray Nilfisk Pressure Washer C110 Lambs Wool Wash Mit Billberry Wheel Cleaner and a great little pressure dispenser, like you'd use in a garden on weeds! Now to my question. What other products would the experts on here advise me to buy? Not brand specific but actual products (Clay, Foam etc.)? My plan is to buy a Foam Lance and 5ltr Snow Foam next. Is that a good choice? Any help will be appreciated. Rich

Just upgraded the bulbs in mine and the release lever was tough but as above I wrapped a cloth around it and bob's your uncle - out it popped. Rich

A dealer should provide extra books (they normally have COPY written on them). Rich

Thanks bud.

I've tried searching the forum but get thousands of hits! Does anyone know the price of one Neptune Alloy wheel as fitted to the Octavia vRS (2011)? Cheers, Rich

I've just bought a vRS (TDi) and have not noticed understeer. I'm with a couple of other posters here, if you understeer at low speed there is something amiss with the set-up of the car OR the road was greasy, covered in diesel or both! I've had the back end step out once in the damp but that was taking a bend at 10mph faster than I would have in my ST TDCi Mondeo (the car replaced by the Skoda). The front went round like it was on rails. Having trained on a skid pan several times I'd recommend getting your car checked at a dealer (or if you have the right gear do it yourself) as even in a ford mondeo fitted with slicks on an oily skid pan it didn't understeer at walking pace. Rich

I know, I support the public no end. As for your comment, I report stuff as soon as I see it as I always have the means to take a photo (phone, camera etc). It's advice and not to be taken literally and people can make up their own mind about notification. I also cycle and have had the misfortune of hitting potholes before and ALWAYS reported them so that my fellow cyclists didn't cause themselves injury. I'm a bit miffed that you can judge my public spirit on the back of one post in the forum! Don't be so quick to pass judgement on someone! As for the council - try reporting a deep pothole without stating that it's caused damage or injury and see how long it takes to fill, then contact them informing them of damage or injury and it'll be filled before you put the phone down (and before you take that literally - it's a joke).

Go out NOW and get a photo of the offending pothole - don't contact them before or they might rush out and fill the evidence. Once you have the photo contact them and inform them of the issue and they should help you out. My wife did a tyre years ago on a huge hole - the council paid for a new tyre for her. The next day the hole had bee filled! Rich

The standard of driving in general in the UK is dreadful. There are some very good drivers but there are more that have no idea of how to drive, road position etc. I see a fair bit of bad driving at work and am amazed at some of it. With the foreign drivers - make sure that you always give them a wide birth at all times. As one poster has pointed out they are mostly LHD and as a result they have the blind spot on the offside under the window unless they have one of those lenses fitted. Most of the collisions involving these HGV's on the motorway is due to this - pass them in Lane 3 if possible. Anyway, just drive carefully and observe the road, try not to respond to idiots and you'll be fine. If someone decides to get angry with you just carry on and give them a nice wave, that way there will be no comeback if the authorities get involved at a later date. Rich

Who needs warm weather - washed mine today and then I have the pleasure of telling the old(ish) moaning woman next door to, "Get lost" when she moans about the ice outside my house......it's what cars and winter were made for! Go on - wash it, you know you want to!

My efforts so far: Rich

Love the pics - well spotted location and I love the lighting. Rich

I'm about to try here - Midlands Detailing - got the car booked in for early Feb. I'm in Staffs too and it's not that far into West Mids. Rich

Check out this website - Detailing World - full of useful information, product advice and contacts for detailing and the dreaded swirl removal. Rich

I'm sorry, but it looks dreadful - the owner has NO taste what so ever. So it has power, but compared to a BMW M5 it looks foul. Why do people have to do that to a good looking piece of engineering? Tune away and make it powerful - but for goodness sake make it look stylish - not chavvy and boy/girl (note the non-sexism here ) racer . Rich

Collected my new Octavia vRS from them on the 15th Jan 2011. Superb service, the sales manager came into work on his day off simply so I could collect the car (due to the deal I had) - who could complain about that kind of service. Rich

I had the same in my old Mondeo ST when I had that new. You need to give the seats time to soften up. Rich

With regards the sound quality if you turn up both the phone volume and the Aux level - it's fine, in fact it's quite good using my Desire. Not sure if it's amplified (I suspect not) but there is no loss of sound quality at all - don't forget that this is not some esoteric stereo system in perfect household conditions - it's fitted into a car with road, engine and other noise that all go to reduce the quality. Rich

My wife had it October 2009 and was off work for 3 months. She now has 100% of the movement and no real issues. Rich

It all depends on the speed you were doing at the time of the offence as to what sentence you get. One poster put up that you might get a conditional offer - you'd need to be under a given speed - I'm not sure what that would be for your area but on the motorway it's normally under 96mph - below 96 and you'd get offered 3 points and a £60.00 fine. Over that set speed and you have to go to court but it's not an automatic ban. As per the motorway - 96 to 99 and you should get a larger fine and anything upto 6 points. Over 100mph and the magistrate MAY CONSIDER a short disqualification period (If I remember right it's upto 56 days). But thats not mandatory, it's up to the magistrate. If it's that ban kind of speed an you plead guilty on your first appearance then you might be able to ask the magistrate not to ban you. You can (only once in your driving career and only if you plead guilty) ask the magistrate to take special circumstances into consideration - such as job, family dependants etc. Then the magistrate might take pity and not ban you. Rich

It's stunning up there - and I love those roads. Try the road from Skye to Ullapool along the coast from the Kyle Of Loch Alsh - stunning road. I drove it some years ago while on a climbing holiday and it took me 8 hours to do the trip as I had to keep stopping to take photos! Rich

Cheers dude - it works.....you clever person

Test

I'm trying to post photos from my Flickr page but I keep getting an error - "You are not allowed to use that image extension on this board." I'm clicking the Insert Image button on the tool bar in the topic editor and when I press submit it gives me the above error. Can anyone help me sort it out? Rich