tdtony74

I can honestly say there have been no serious problems or issues to report. The only things I can think of are that it’s had to have the climate windscreen replaced twice due to cracks and once it wouldn’t start due to a duff battery after being left at Manchester airport for about 10 days which was slightly inconvenient but that was when it was nearly 4 years old so no massive surprise really. It’s always been serviced as per schedule at Warrington VW and as far as I can remember I haven’t had any problems with them, although it did always seem to be in race mode when I picked it up! That never really bothered me too much but I can understand some people might not be too happy about it. In summary I would say that as long as you service an R regularly you can look forward to many happy miles without too many problems 😎

I did look seriously at the both the M135i and Golf 8R but unfortunately company car tax rules out most “fun” cars these days. Ended up going for an X3 30e M Sport Pro so it’s certainly going to be a change from the Golf.

After 4 1/2 years and 70k miles the time has finally come to say a fond farewell to the R. She should have gone back last Xmas but the delay in getting hold of new cars meant I had the pleasure of keeping her for an extra 7 months. I know some on here frown at ex-lease cars, especially ex-lease company cars but I can honestly say whoever has the good fortune to pick her up for a bargain price when she goes to auction is getting a great example of the short lived “full fat” 310ps version. If anyone on here ends up buying VN67 OSK please feel free to drop me a line with any questions. I’ve really enjoyed reading the banter on this forum and I’ll still check in regularly but sorry to admit the replacement is a BMW 😱 Fingers crossed the guys over on their forum are as friendly and funny as you guys 😘

Sadly this popped up on my FB tonight..... some absolute scumbags broke into this lad’s house and stole his car. I don’t know him personally but a mate shared it. Fingers crossed he gets it back and him and his family are ok.

Took it in to VW for its 3rd service at 39k miles and 2 and half years old. They gave me a 69 plate Golf Match TSi which was a pleasant surprise compared to the usual 1.0 Polo. Lost count of how many times I thought to myself “ooh, this is comfy!” as it sailed over small bumps that I usually try to swerve around and result in a bone shaking thud if I miss them in the R. Maybe I’m getting too old for an R 🤔 ?? Then I picked it up tonight.... sun shining, windows down.... and the first few pops and crackles from the exhaust made me smile more than a comfy ride ever could 😊

Info on the app can be incredibly misleading. Just checked mine and an oil service where they happened to replace the front tyres is just listed as tyres on the app, no mention of the fact it was actually a service as shown on the paperwork 🤷‍♂️

My 7.5R was delivered 4th Jan 2018 so I’m guessing it was built late 2017. There could have still been the odd 7 registered around then that had spent a few months sat in a compound somewhere for whatever reason - maybe damaged in transit then repaired.

Thanks for that James 👍 Feel like a bit of of an idiot now. Just popped outside and found the magic menu button that I’ve never noticed before and there it was staring me in the face, I’ve always gone in through the main menu button then selected air con and turned it on from there. Auto option was ticked but that stopped working after the original screen was replaced as it’s never worked properly since then.

Oh yes, there’s one very easy way to tell if the car has the climate windscreen............ if it’s a got a massive crack in it then it’s definitely a climate screen!!! Need to book mine in to have it replaced for the 3rd time and the car isn’t 2 years old yet after another motorway stone strike yesterday. Can’t remember the exact figures but think it was about £600 as an option followed by about £700 for each replacement. I’ve probably used it less than 5 times because it’s such a rigmarole to go into various menus to turn it on instead of just pressing a button like you do on Fords. I’ll let someone else do the cost per use equation but unless you live somewhere incredibly cold and have shares in a windscreen replacement company I wouldn’t worry too much if you find your dream car and it doesn’t have the climate screen.

Last night when I started the car the main info touchscreen refused to come on in any mode (radio, media, phone, nav, etc) but did work fine when the parking sensors were activated so the screen itself hasn’t failed. Sat nav display was fine on the instrument display and radio sound and volume working ok. Turned the car off and left it about 10 mins but it was still exactly the same when I restarted it. Left it overnight and planned a visit to VW today but this morning everything was fully operational again. Anyone else had any similar problems? It’s a 2018 7.5R with the standard (non pro) LED screen.

Dropped it off this morning at VW for its 2nd service in normal mode and surprise surprise, when I picked it up tonight it was in race mode!! 🤔 That isn’t what actually annoyed me though. While it was there the leasing company approved the worn Michelins on the front to be replaced with 2 new Continentals. That isn’t what annoyed me either. What really annoyed me is why the f*!k are tyre fitters incapable of putting the wheels back on the same corner they came off??? I’ve ended up with the already trashed alloy from the passenger side now on the drivers side and the good as new alloy from the drivers side now on the passenger side awaiting its first damn good kerbing. Before I get every smart arse on here advising a simple solution would be to be more careful I’ll answer that advice with this statement - “Preventing such damage would first require a very expensive divorce followed by the very slim chance of me finding a new wife who is both a good driver and a good cook!!”

I’d strongly advise you do it, like most on here I’m almost certain you won’t regret it. Like you I’m mid 40’s. Mine’s a company car that’s done 26k miles in 18 months so definitely a daily driver rather than a weekend toy. Last week I went from Liverpool to Newcastle and back for a meeting. On the way up on the motorway in comfort mode in atrocious weather it averaged 43mpg. On the way back the sun came out so I took it for a blast through the North Yorkshire dales in race mode and it was a completely different beast. There can’t be many cars on the market that can change their personality so easily to match the conditions and the mood of the driver.

As the operations director I’m responsible for the fleet, there are about 25 of them. 95% of them are on full maintenance lease from Arval so I’m not too worried about them. We had to buy some though because their annual mileage is just too high to get on lease. Needless to say this is one of the ones we own. A quick check today revealed a ticking time bomb - 16 reg Mondeo on 119k miles 💣

Spoke to the local Ford dealer who services the car who confirmed that the car is out of warranty due to the mileage which I already knew. He also confirmed that the scheduled timing belt change is at 125k miles and agreed it is a premature failure so he gave me the number for Ford UK and wished me luck. Ford UK were absolutely useless!! A lady in a call centre who had no idea what I was talking about and just kept quoting “the warranty on new Ford cars in the UK is 3 years or 60000 miles, whichever comes first” like a bloody robot!! Never mind, it was worth a try. It’s gone to an independent engine specialist for diagnosis and repairs now but I am seriously considering having the timing belts replaced on the rest of the fleet at 60k regardless of the recommended interval.

At work we have a fleet of Focuses and Mondeos. Just had a phone call from an employee whose Focus died on the motorway today. AA rescued him and diagnosed a timing belt failure. Bearing in mind the failure occurred at motorway speed I’m guessing it’s likely to have damaged the engine. Does anybody know what warranty Ford give on timing belts? The car is a 66 reg 1.5 TDCI just over 2 years old with full Ford service history but it’s done 83000 miles so obviously over the 60k mile standard warranty but the AA man seemed to think timing belts were covered up to 100k miles?? It would be good to know if this is true before I speak to the Ford dealer on Monday.