italiastar

I can recommend this one from this dealer who are excellent - http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product_in...roducts_id=3029 I've got the previous model which cost me

Sorry I can't help, but this is just another example of dealer incompetance who charge

I suppose it could be worse - they could have insisted selling you a whole front end to fix it to - Rip-off Britain or what!

Looks like before we book one of these cars in, we'll have to carry out a full check with the service manager, take digital photos and get them to sign an agreement in blood as to what's on the car and that the sills haven't been damaged. Maybe we could put a proforma on this forum?

I had my Spacewagon mirror broken in France a few years ago - No problem I thought - go to Le Mitsubishi dealer. First the good news - no need to buy the complete unit they could supply the actual mirror for around

Rather than converting 12v to 240v and then using the laptop transformer to step it down - Maplin do variable output 12 volt converters with different plugs which can plug straight into the laptop.

Seat Kid, I think it depends on whom you speak to - just I always get the wrong ones. My neighbour bought his Alhambra privately and one month out of warranty the wipers failed. He waited several weeks for a replacement motor and during this period they gave him a Fiat Stylo (Yes they are a Seat main dealer!). The replaced the wiper motor and then found that it wasn't the motor, but the linkage, which had seized (please don't ask the obvious question). At this point he asked for a Alhambra courtesy car and they provided a used one. In total he had four Alhambra's - the last one was a brand new one registered for him to use and the repair took FOUR MONTHS to complete. At the end of this they presented him with a bill for

What has happened to the car industry - hoses on order???? My neighbour had to wait 4 yes FOUR months for a wiper linkage for his Alhambra. Looking at the amount of "dealers excess stock" on eBay there is some thing very wrong!

Spoke to SEAT again and problem sorted! It's all my fault! They've had no other complaints so it's me who's got the problem - there's nothing wrong with the flaps. If they are causing a problem then they suggest I remove them as it's me who's got the problem - it's my fault because I wanted the flaps. They can't give me the correct measurements as this depends on load, tyre pressure etc etc etc. They can't say why the dealer agrees with my findings and suggest I waste an hour taking the car to the dealer so they can measure it and phone the techinical department to get the measurements they can't give me because the teccies are not customer facing. So at the end of the day it's all my fault - probably my fault because I bought the car in the first place! If only everything in life was as reliable as a .....................

Are Ford having a laugh - the luggage cover an option on the Ghia !!!!! - It doesn't even get the auto dipping mirror - I admit I like the ford for looks, but you real VFM - you know what I'm going to say - just don't try fitting mudflaps to one. Do you really need the luggage cover - I took mine out when I bought the car and it's been cluttering up the halway ever since. The problem is that it can't be fitted behind the two rearmost seats (unlike my previous Spacewagon) so unless you are using you Galaxy in 4/5 seat mode, it just introduces a storage problem. If you want to buy one try ebay - theres one currently advertised.

Reading through this has explained why my car has started to sound like Concord on start-up - Quite impressive really!, but should it tick or not - that is the question? It seems that Ford have a fix for it, but SEAT haven't - as I can't even get SEAT to acknowledge my mudflap issue (see separate post), what chance have I got with this????

Nice one "Seatkid" - you sound just like someone in the trade that we love so much! I think to mudflap or not is a personal thing - I've always had them, from self fitted universal ones, to factory fit and never had any problems (until now) and actually like the look of them - other people have had problems and can't stand the sight of them. I wound up SEAT again today and asked them to provide me with the measurements. Adding if they say that the S and SE are the same, they'll have to change my suspension and if they confirm they are different then I'll question why they gave me the wrong advice in the first place. They'll love me!

Thank you all for this valuable information. Armed with this I contacted my dealer (who incidentally appear to be knowledgeable) and they confirmed that the SE was approx 2.5 inches lower than the S and that there was only one size of flaps. They suggested I contacted SEAT and as the dealer wasn't to blame I did so. I spoke to a person whom I last spoke to last June before I bought the car - I wanted to know whether the 2004 model which I'd ordered still had cruise control as the website said it hadn't - she told me that she couldn't tell me adding that I should wait until the car arrived - bit late then eh! Anyway, today she told me that there was no height difference between the S and SE - when I told her that I'd obtained the information from a very reliable source (this site) and it had been confirmed by the dealer she re-iterated that there was no difference. When I asked her source, she said the brochure - I'd already checked that last night and therefore knew it said that. She therefore told me to bring the car to the dealer and get them to check that the flaps had been fitted correctly - I asked if she was doubting the ability of highly factory trained and expensive technicians, but she declined to answer. I therefore said that they were fitted correctly as you could not fit them wrong and that I'd be wasting my time bringing to the dealer as the car was lower than standard. After some (healthy) discussion she asked me if I knew where the car was made (this had nothing to do with anything, but I think she was trying to prove a point as I'd mentioned that it was a VW) I quickly responded Portugal, to which she said I was wrong - she insisted they were made in Spain. I could go on, but can we really believe people who don't even know where the car is made. After further arguing they confirmed that my low flaps were within tolerance and if I didn't want them to scrape I could get them removed. How will they treat me when something really goes wrong? I plan to take this further, but don't think I'll solve anything. I think the best I'll be able to get is a set of Galaxy flaps as I think they are shorter - that'll be interesting, SEAT getting flaps from Ford (logo less of course) to fit my car. Watch this space............

My Seat also has the same covers, so it might be worth checking a Seat dealer if you have one nearby.

Ivor, Thank you very much - you're a star! I've been busy this weekend and didn't get a chance to take detailed photos like yours, but you have definately confirmed that the bottom of my flaps are lower - distance between bottom of flap and ground - Front 3" / rear 5". The distance from the top of flap to ground - Front 18" / Rear 20.5" - I also took the distance from highest point of the wheel arch to the ground - Front 27" / rear 28" . I think this proves that the SEAT is about 2.5 " lower than the Galaxy, but the flaps add another 1.5" - no wonder the poor thing scapes all over the place. I guess that these must be standard VW Sharan flaps and that the Sharan is of similar height to the Galaxy - odd as 2.5 inches is quiet a difference (yesy it was unloaded). As I said they are genuine VW fitted by highly trained, expensive and manufacturer certified technicians (Even they couldn't fit them incorrectly). Looks like SEAT is going to get some serious ear bashing tomorrow. Thank you again very much for your help.

Thanks to everyone. They are genuine as they have the VW logo on them and I cannot see how they could have fitted them incorrectly as they basically can only be fitted correctly. I also checked the part numbers with a VW dealer to see if they had been fitted front to back a vice versa, but they were OK. They were fitted by the supplying main dealer - I have a slight bend in my sill to prove it! I can only assume that it's the lowered suspension of the SEAT to blame, but surely it can't be as much as 2 inches lower - A suspension problem? all rouund??? May I please ask a favour of one of you who has them fitted? could you please take some measurements, such as sill to ground, sill to bottom of flap and exposed flap length and I'll compare them with mine. Many Thanks, Gerald

Nimrod - you're a star!!! - Thanks for the quick reply. :lol:

I have an issue with the mud flaps. They are very close to the ground and keep scraping when I go over humps. Looking at mud flaps on Sharans and Galaxys, they are much higher. Could this be a problem with the lowered suspension of the Alhambra as they are genuine VW flaps - has anyone else experienced this?

Having recently re-fitted my scala unit ( thank fully for 1 week and I didn't use the car, so didn't have to put up with the poor quality) I did notice that it picked up many more stations. I read else where about the powered aerial amplifier and wondered if anyone knows how to power it. I called SEAT who put me through to the main dealer - they didn't have a clue, but offered to sell me an uprated unit - I didn't even ask the price. I went back to SEAT who said it was powered through the aerial co-ax lead, but couldn't offer any further advice, for obvious reasons - any ideas?

The Scala in my 03 Alhambra needed special flat pullers (not the old u shaped ones) which the dealer would not sell because of "security reasons" - who'd want to nick a scala unit anyway?

Ivor, I totally agree, it's a superb design, but surely it must also be maintainable - If it is difficult, then dealers will charge the earth and are less likely to carry out the work. How can I trust a dealer to change the Cambelt when I can even see where it might be. In addition, european Police tend to give people the opportunity to change blown bulbs instead of imposing a fine - hence why they have to carry bulb kits - I'm sure the friendly Gendarme will wait whilst I take the engine out. With regard to Vauxhalls Zafira's, my experience of them makes our beloved cars seem very reliable.

Interesting - I've never had any problems - I put the nozzle in fully and squeeze fully, having said that I've only filled it about 10 times. Hoever, my wife (yes I do let her drive it sometimes) filled it up last week and experienced the same problem you describe. The attendant evetually came out to assist and said it was caused by air in the fuel delivery pipe and that holding the pipe high would solve it. She tried it, but still no luck, so he eventually took over and filled it OK (probably dripping it all over the place in the meantime) - I must admit this sounded like (Ford / VW main dealer talk) to me and this post seems to confirm this. Still does not explain why it works for me ???? Interesting about French supermarket fuel - I oftern wondered why you often found a petrol station right outside the supermarket, selling fuel 1 franc (15 cents or 10p) more. I presume if the fuel is not so good that you get poorer performance from it, which would explain my 30mpg when returning fully loaded from France, poorer performance, and possibly some very minimal possibility of engine damage - hardly worth wasting valuable holiday time queuing up to get the stuff to save a few euros. I'd be interested to know you views. Does the same apply to UK supermarkets? I must admit I have noticed a difference in the smell when filling up of "city" fuels and ones bought in rural areas or France.

After seeing a replacement bulb kit in Lidl for

Can I add http://www.caraudiodirect.com/ - great prices and suberb levels of customer service - look at my Scala Radio post for details.

I gets better. The engineer phoned me at work on Fiday afternoon. He explained that he'd come accross omething in the trade press which explained this "feature" with the kenwood - it was basically RDS interference under certain conditions (the CD sound cuts out VERY intermittently). The workaround is to switch off AF Search or switch to AM when listening to CD's. He said he put it on soak test over the weekend and I'll have it back by Tuesday - how's that for service! Has anyone else experienced this with the kenwood? If you've got a radio that needs fixing outside warranty, they do it for a fixed