OCTAVIA III Owners discussion thread

[HAZ79]

Duragloss leather kit from Car care products. I love the Duragloss range.

[afterdarker]

Ok I'm convinced, I will forgo the sheepskin seat covers. Wife is happy which is the most important thing.

Now I am looking at some leather care products. Race Glaze cleaner and balm look like good products but I can only seem to source from the UK and with shipping the costs are bit expensive.

Before I proceed to order the Race Glaze products, can anybody recommend leather care products they have experience with that they have sourced locally and more importantly can recommend?

Look at the manufacturers recommendation. There are a lot of different types of leather, depends on the type of hide and the animal, (usually a cow or a buffalo for upholstery. Lambs used for clothing, dress jackets. Hope you are not vegetarian lol) Also there are many synthetic leathers. Usually it is real leather in the seat pan and synthetic leathers for the rear of the seat.
I personally wear a lot of leather, not because I am kinky - or maybe I am - but because I ride a motorcycle. You get to know your leather care products on a bike. RM Williams leather care lanolin / beeswax is good. But you don't need to do much to leather not exposed to the elements. A bit of warm soapy water now and then. I had leather seats in an Alfa 156 for 6 years from new and never used anything on them other than soapy water, they looked better when I sold it than when it was new, leather gets a certain patina. Same with my bike jackets, look better a bit careworn. The leather seats in the vRS are excellent, comfortable, very good ergonomics, very well finished, they look great. Glad you ditched the fluffy idea.

[woofy]

You need to first ascertain if the leather is coated or not. The leather care regime differs with each.

I usually buy detailing products locally from Car Care Products but have also bought from Waxit & Chem Guys. Your best idea is to contact the vendor & get a recommendation for what suits your type of leather best.

My wife's last car was a Captiva. The leather was coated, about as supple as cardboard & (I believe) made from reconstituted scraps swept up off the factory floor. All it needed was a mild detergent solution & a microfibre rag.

Her current car is a Honda Odyssey. The leather is much higher quality & much more supple. I think it will require a bit more love but she doesn't keep a car long enough to worry about it.

I tried to figure that out from SKoda way back and got nowhere. Nobody seemed to know. I would suspect it is the same type now.

[99Reza]

As per afterdarker, there are heaps of different kind of leather. I'm pretty sure the one they use in the car is the corrected grain one with light coating for durability purpose. The one that touch your skin will be genuine. I seriously hope it's not a bi-cast leather. Skoda tend to cheapen the leather a bit, VW uses kangaroo leather (much stronger compare to cow) on the gear boot whereas Skoda only uses cow leather.

For cleaning, I used to use a product from Autoglym but has since resorted to water & microfibre towel only, does the job well. For moisturizing, I used beeswax base product, very safe as it needs to be applied by hand for maximum penetration. Very greasy for the first few hours but will leave the leather super supple and 'healthier' looking.

[daMama]

I did a quick search and I couldn't seem to find anything, but has anyone changed the head light globes?
Any recommendations, or perils of wisdom?
I have been doing a bit of night driving and im finding the stock globes rubbish-not wide, long or bright enough,to the point where Im double checking that I have the lights on . (Lots of local sts have crap st lights in the older burbs in Cbr).

[Gerrycan]

I did a quick search and I couldn't seem to find anything, but has anyone changed the head light globes?
Any recommendations, or perils of wisdom?
I have been doing a bit of night driving and im finding the stock globes rubbish-not wide, long or bright enough,to the point where Im double checking that I have the lights on . (Lots of local sts have crap st lights in the older burbs in Cbr).

I just have the base halogen lamps and do not find them that bad (far better than the mk2). Have you found the headlamp height adjustment and tried playing with that to optimise what you currently have?

[daMama]

I just have the base halogen lamps and do not find them that bad (far better than the mk2). Have you found the headlamp height adjustment and tried playing with that to optimise what you currently have?

Nope, ill have a look and adjust, but I think I need something brighter!

[brad]

I did a quick search and I couldn't seem to find anything, but has anyone changed the head light globes?
Any recommendations, or perils of wisdom?
I have been doing a bit of night driving and im finding the stock globes rubbish-not wide, long or bright enough,to the point where Im double checking that I have the lights on . (Lots of local sts have crap st lights in the older burbs in Cbr).

Apparently changing the bulbs is a bumper-off job these days. It takes a few hours.

Does your spec have projector or reflector housings?

[STALLED]

Question - under the drivers seat there is a pocket for a high vis vest. When the car arrived, there is no vest located under the seat even though there is a tag for it...

Is this something which is not provided in AU spec cars - I know it is a mandatory item in some EU nations etc...

[brad]

It's not provided as it isn't mandatory. The same as you don't get the warning triangle, First Aid Kit & fire extinguisher.

All the above from Bunnings for <$60

[Fitzall]

It's not provided as it isn't mandatory. The same as you don't get the warning triangle, First Aid Kit & fire extinguisher.

All the above from Bunnings for <$60

And you don't get the ice scraper either !!

[furiousgibbon]

I'm picking up a new RS wagon next week and just wondering how dealers normally attach standard licence plates? I've looked at some pics online and it looks like the two threaded holes on the rear would only match a plate that has holes drilled in the middle. I'm just worried that the dealer will drill holes in the hatch instead.

Also on the front, are holes pre-drilled in the bumper? I'm not even sure yet whether I'm going to run standard WA plates or switch the euro plates I've got on my mk6 GTI across, so I don't want holes drilled where they'll be visible afterwards.

[brad]

I insisted they don't fit my plates.

I took some double sided tape & stuck them on in the showroom. It gave me time to work out how I wanted to attach them.

[juniorgold]

I too was really particular about drilling new holes into the car where the plates would go. The dealer confirmed that the holes on the slim line standard plates line up with the holes on the back of the car, the front (slim line too) didn't. However he had a neat trick up his sleeves. He made new holes on the plate to line up with the holes found on the front of the car and inserted a bracket between the plate and the car's bumper, for what reason I don't know, but no new holes! I'm in Melbourne so the size for standard plates could be different and mine being slim line.

[furiousgibbon]

thanks guys, I went through the same thing when I picked up my GTI, I asked if I could use some double sided automotive tape and then drill them myself when I got home, but was told that was illegal so they wouldn't let me! I then ask if they could be very careful making the plate straight, was assured that their guy knows what he's doing... and ... it's crooked. This is a euro plate on the exact euro size plate mount on the GTI and he still managed to mess it up!

I'll suggest the tape with the Skoda guy and hope he's not a knob.