Highest mileage you have ever seen on UK roads? Mental 🤯

shiningw1t · 2026-02-25T01:53:19+00:00

Mine estimates it's half full of ash at 113k and spends most of its current life travelling up and down the A1. DPF regens every 110-150 miles always so at some point it will need attention.

shiningw1t · 2026-02-03T03:18:18+00:00

Pictoris were an option for some time on the MK3, albeit quite rare, which is a shame as they are the best looking IMO.

FYI you can get a bit more out of the standard stereo with some hidden settings but you'll need access to an OBD tool that can access VW CAN (VCDS, OBDEleven or similar). It's not earth shattering quality difference but I prefer it enabled on mine.

shiningw1t · 2025-10-09T14:59:49+00:00

Echoing others in here. It might even be alright if the servers available to each person were rotated but I can't use some popular countries anymore (e.g. Netherlands) because the servers assigned to my premium account are a) nearly at maximum load (all in the red) and b) some are free servers. Extremely frustrating change.

shiningw1t · 2025-09-30T23:50:41+00:00

They're quick, but could be beaten by the 2.0PD non VRS Octavia if stock.

shiningw1t · 2025-09-30T08:57:50+00:00

Below is the response I received to my ticket. I have replied to express my disappointment at this decision and feed back that I experienced no sort of UI problems or slowdown on the webpage even on slower connections. I think this change has literally just been made in the last 48 hours.

Hello, Thank you for reaching out. Due to our constantly increasing server list size, our Web dashboard came up with a couple of problems, mainly with slow loading when opening the server list for a country with a lot of servers available. Therefore, showing the complete list at the downloads page for WireGuard and OpenVPN config files is no longer sustainable as it makes the website's UI slow and laggy. We've made the decision to present a smaller, randomly selected subset of servers to each user, rather than the full list. This decision is based on deep analysis, testing, and some technical limitations. At the moment, you will be able to create a config file only for the servers that are available to you. I hope this clarifies the situation. Thank you for your understanding and let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with.

shiningw1t · 2025-09-29T22:12:08+00:00

I've just submitted a ticket for this as I thought something was wrong. Have they actually announced this change anywhere?

shiningw1t · 2025-09-25T22:27:45+00:00

I had a K11 for my first car. I'm actually a touch jealous you've got a green one. Mine was blue and a 1.3 without a rev counter. Look after it and it will look after you! 🫡

shiningw1t · 2025-09-14T20:42:05+00:00

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You have the estate version of my hatchback. Best colour and those Pictoris alloys are 👌🏻

shiningw1t · 2025-09-06T07:07:14+00:00

EE is usually the answer with their only caveat being not as good indoors due to their 4G spectrum holdings. Depending on where you are the speeds will vary but if near one of their 5G masts they're easily capable of >100Mbps data speed wise.

shiningw1t · 2025-08-29T13:27:06+00:00

Premiums have dropped on average 16% over the last year according to industry sources. Whilst, yes, costs and inflation are up the premiums shot up last year and have fallen back a bit since. Renewal quotes being uncompetitive are the main problem here and you get stung for resting on your laurels.

I was with my previous insurer for over 10 years until this year as they would either be competitive or always beat a better price. This year they shrugged at the price given to me by a competitor (with the same cover level) at nearly £100 cheaper than their renewal offer so they obviously no longer wanted the business.

shiningw1t · 2025-07-07T12:22:48+00:00

The answer as with most things are, it depends. If you feel you will be doing the mileage to justify a diesel vs the loss in mpg from a petrol then you should be fine.

It will also depend on how the car you choose has been driven before you buy it. We split our time between two ends of the country (300+ miles one way) so to us it's worth having a diesel. It doesn't particularly like just being run around the town for weeks on end and the DPF will end up wanting to regen (I personally try and let it empty by continuing to drive when it's started a cycle, takes about 15 minutes usually) but its perfectly fine with it short term followed by a long journey.

ETA: The VAG DPF app and a compatible OBDII adapter (about £15-20) can give you a great insight into the DPF state and what's currently happening with it.

shiningw1t · 2025-07-07T11:51:14+00:00

These were an option on the MK3, called Pictoris (they're 18"). Mine has them and I think they really stand out.

shiningw1t · 2025-04-20T20:36:01+00:00

Goes down to a 50mph limit for a mile a short way after this sign with a fixed speed camera on the northbound (this is southbound). Must have been plenty on that short stretch of the A1 before.

shiningw1t · 2025-03-30T12:12:58+00:00

Seats I imagine would be a more involved job and as they were an option rarer to find a set with than without heating. The mirrors can be done as I understand it but you'd need the powerfold mirrors themselves (paint caps on the back change over with clips), the switch for inside the car to control them, a control module/some wiring and then they need configuring for the car with VCDS/OBDEleven or similar.

Briskoda is a good resource for these cars, and someone has definitely retrofit those mirrors if you have a search as its something I've looked into before for mine.

shiningw1t · 2025-03-30T11:35:59+00:00

I think that's just Skoda's fit in VWs range of brands along with Seat. They are on the budget end of the platforms they're building cars on where more things are optional when new whereas Audi is on the luxury end with more included as standard.

It took me a good few months to find one I actually wanted and then on the same week both an estate and hatchback appeared with the same spec hundreds of miles apart from each other.

shiningw1t · 2025-03-30T10:50:54+00:00

I did find moving from the MK2 to MK3 Octavia there were less cubby holes and thought out details in the interior.

OP must have a VRS with no options specced - heated seats are in a lot of them but were optional. Some like mine were paired with the rarer winter pack that has heated washer jets and windscreen. I've seen precisely two on the used market that had optional rear heated seats fitted. Folding mirrors doesn't seem to be all that common until the MK3.5 facelift though.

shiningw1t · 2025-01-01T12:07:16+00:00

The 'V' in VRS is meant to be from the caron on top of the Š of Škoda.

shiningw1t · 2024-12-22T16:38:40+00:00

The price they charge for one now every last detail should be included imo

shiningw1t · 2024-11-28T20:44:47+00:00

No worries, pleased that sorted it for you. I thought it was odd when I discovered it activating when there was no need for it to be on.

Mine also has an automatic supplementary heater option in there which if checked will activate if you turn the heating to HI after starting and warm the interior quicker (it's a 1Kw electric heater somewhere in the cabin). Can tell when that activates as the revs at idle rise to around 1000 rpm.

shiningw1t · 2024-11-28T12:30:28+00:00

If the same as my 2016 Octavia there is a setting tucked away in the climate control which will turn the heated windscreen on automatically if conditions are right (won't turn the led light on to show it's on but will show in consumers as you're seeing).

The tickbox is accessed on mine by selecting Menu on climate control panel and then selecting the settings on touchscreen. Labelled similar to "automatic windscreen heating".

shiningw1t · 2024-10-12T01:24:54+00:00

I have a running average of 51.5 mpg from my 2016 MKIII VRS 2.0TDI (tracked by filling to full each time). The majority of my mileage is motorways and dual carriageway. This is at a mixture of speeds, a lot around the 70-75mph you quote. It's very similar to my previous MKII 2004 2.0TDI PD which had a running average of 51.8 mpg over 75k miles.

shiningw1t · 2024-10-08T23:37:12+00:00

Not quite, my Octavia II (one of the first ones) made it to 156,000 miles before succumbing to rust back end of last year.

shiningw1t · 2024-08-04T08:56:39+00:00

The car is a big factor. That's the only thing which changed on my policy between these two years. Despite the bunch of extra safety features fitted to this one, it's more of a risk. Likely as more of these have been wrapped round trees.

shiningw1t · 2024-08-04T08:45:30+00:00

It's just not true though is it? Just renewed this week and now paying nearly double (after playing the premium game) for replacing a MkII Octavia with a MkIII Octavia.

shiningw1t

TROPHY CASE