JohnGarth

I probably have as I have tried just about every brand on the market in 8 years of ownership. Supermarket own brands don't usually work, so I buy premium batteries such as Duracell and Energiser. My Karoq appears to have the same kessy system but not the same problem. I should add that the key is stored in a Faraday bag when not in the car. Also the garage can't find a fault during servicing.

This is a continuous problem with our 2015 Skoda Fabia. It constantly and inconsistently whinges about "key not found" and there doesn't seem to be a permanent fix. It always responds to a click from 100+ yards away. It starts and drives OK so the key is found otherwise it wouldn't drive for any distance. I've tried all sorts of makes of CR2025 batteries, latest being brand new Duracell Plus with a 10-year shelf life. Installing decent CR2032 doesn't make much difference. For a long time now I've changed the key batteries about every month, although there was a 6-month period when all was well. I now carry a couple of spare CR2025 batteries in the car. As I've had a couple of other random electrical issues I've recently had a new 12 volt battery installed so they've gone away but not the "key not found" issue. I store the key in the cup holder in the centre console when inside the car, so no distance from the s/s button. Any permanent fix welcome, short of buying new remote keys which I believe are very expensive.

I have recently bought a 2019 Karoq Scout and noticed yesterday that the bonnet doesn’t have a sound deadening panel clipped to it, which is a first for me as all the previous Skodas I have had has had a panel fitted. Is it simply missing or don’t some Karoq have this any longer?

We have now had a replacement 1.2 engine fitted and got the Fabia back after parting with £3,400. The replacement is claimed to be from a Polo with 17,000 miles on the clock and comes with a 6 month warranty. The repairers appear to have done a good job and the car looks like new under the bonnet with everything clean and shiny, but so it should for the money. One week on and the engine is very quiet running so perhaps there was an ongoing problem in the old engine which I hadn’t noticed in time. I will be writing to Škoda customer service re this problem although the garage has said that I haven’t a hope of squeezing any money out of them as the car was made in 2015, despite the low mileage.

I've just had a phone call re our Fabia and it wasn't good news. The short story is that we need a replacement engine. The garage has diagnosed low oil pressure feeding the variable valve timing so that the camshaft timing goes awry. They have already noted the lower than expected compression so believe that the valves and pistons have met, and to strip the engine completely down to find the cause of the lack of oil pressure - and fix it - will at an educated guess be more expensive than replacing the engine. So we have authorised them to find a decent engine out of a scrap Fabia/Polo etc and fit it. Total bill is estimated to be £3,000+ which includes the time and cost of the work already done. We are now considering whether to keep the car when fixed, as it will have the same design engine. I can hardly believe that our well-maintained Fabia which has covered around 23,000 miles requires this. The garage said that they also have a Fabia in of the same age (2015) with the same 1.2 engine in and the same fault but this has done 91,000 miles. It's more than 50 years of motoring with a variety of cars since any car of mine has required major engine work, and that was on a 10-year-old Morris 1000 which had done over 80,000 and burnt a piston. We've had good service for some 20 years from several Skoda cars but this experience has tested our confidence in their petrol-engined range as the same design of engine is still being used in all VAG cars.

Today the independent garage said that they have all the new bits they need, costing around £550, plus labour and VAT to make the bill up to about £1,100. They hope to complete the work by the end of next week. They diagnosed a failure of the camshaft pulley so are to replace that plus associated parts, plus fit a new cambelt as this needs to come off as part of the repair. I must admit to first not thinking that the camshaft has a pulley, but of course it must have as otherwise the camshaft wouldn't turn. Pity these car manufacturers have never developed gear-driven camshafts as in my Honda VFR V4 pictured above which gives the engine it's distinctive sound, and the engine just goes on, and on, and on. Mileages of over 250,000 without repair are not unknown. Camchains do wear out (despite complaints about cambelts) and get very rattly as in my old Favorit after 40,000 miles. They said that in their view it was a waste of time complaining to Skoda Customer Service as they are highly unlikely to pay out on an 8-year-old car, especially one repaired by an independent specialist garage. Next plan is to buy a replacement battery for my Octavia which is on it's original Varta battery after more than 7 years, just for peace of mind. I though this would be an easy swap but apparently the car has to be told that it has a new battery which to me is just plain wierd!

The Fabia has always been main dealer serviced and is on a fixed 12 month service plan. We bought it at 6 months old from a Skoda main dealer as their demonstrator so it hasn't been looked after outside the dealer network until now. I don't know what oil is used. I have never needed to top it up between services, and I do check oil, water and tyre pressures regularly on both our Skodas. The current engine repair is being done at a local VAG specialist instead of the main dealer as the latter couldn't even look at the car for weeks. Perhaps we should think about going to a different brand come replacement time. I've been a biker for more than 40 years and have owned a succession of motorbikes, almost all Hondas, including my current Honda VFR 800 made in 1998 and owned by me since 2002. It's totally brilliant still, and all the Honda bikes have been very reliable and well made. I've also owned 2 Honda-engined Rovers in the past with sweet engines and cracking slick gearboxes.

I understand that cambelts on both our Fabia and Octavia should be changed at 5 years regardless of mileage due to deterioration. It is cheaper than the catastrophic result if a cam belt fails. I have had to replace all tyres on both cars at 4 years due to cracking when there was lots of tread left. The latest news on the Fabia engine is that parts associated with the variable valve timing need replacing as they have excessive wear. We have been told to expect a bill of over £1,000! They will also change the cambelt again as it has to come off as part of the repair. I will ask for a fully detailed invoice which I intend to send off to Škoda Customer Service to see if they will foot some of the bill as I wouldn’t expect a bill as large as this for repairs to a low mileage car. About 10 years ago we owned a Fabia 2 which failed the mot on excessive wear to the suspension at a low mileage, and Škoda paid for most of the bill as the mileage was low, although out of warranty, so fingers and toes crossed!

Our Fabia now languishing at a VAG specialist garage. It has been diagnosed with a "camshaft positioning fault" which I'm assured is not a quick fix. and will be looked at in depth in a few days time. They have ruled out any battery problems.

Latest is that the battery voltage is now 12.65v after an overnight charge. As I don't have time for most of today to do any more with the car. I've left it charging at 13.6v. Both readings with the battery disconnected from the car. Battery is a Halfords Advanced AGM 60ah battery bought in 2019 or 2020. I will check late today to see if it's charged any more, then I think I will call the breakdown service to see if they can check the codes before I attempt to start the Fabia. I will also check the charging with the engine running to ensure that's OK.

Battery voltage was exactly 12.0v after a few hours rest so I've put it on charge. I'm not convinced that's the cause of the Fabia's faults but I will let you know.

Cambelt changed in 2020, but not the water pump as the mileage was low at 13,813. Spark plugs changed in 2019 at a mileage of 12,239. Air filter changed last year at 19,371. The Fabia has been fully serviced annually as per Skoda recommendations with Skoda approved parts at the local Skoda dealer. I usually run it on E10 but it currently has E5 petrol in the tank. Car battery replaced in 2020 with a Halfords 5-year warranty battery, but this doesn't stop it being low in charge of course. Incidentally the picture of the Octavia doesn't tell the full story as I've since fitted front and rear mudflaps. According to the Skoda dealer they don't fit, but they do with a bit of fettling to the mounting holes, as per advice elsewhere on Briskoda.

Thanks for your advice. I will check the battery which is about 2 years old, but it's not given any sign of needing charging as the start/stop system appears to work OK up to now. Currently I'm somewhat worried about running the Fabia with all it's faults as I don't want to risk engine damage. I will speak to the dealer on Monday to see what they recommend. I called in my breakdown people when the EPC warning symbol appeared suddenly on Friday and they couldn't find anything seriously amiss so cleared the code, but within half-a-mile today all the faults appeared so I drove back home. The KESSY key is an annoying problem that we've lived with for several years. The Fabia constantly complains that the key battery needs replacing and will only last about 1-2 months with a new battery, but it's getting progressively worse. I took the advice of other forum members when trying a CR2032 instead of the normal CR2025 as it has extra capacity and will fit the keyfob with a bit of persuasion. The keyfob lives in a Faraday bag when not in the car, and the Fabia key components and sensors have supposedly been checked by the dealer when serviced, and no fault found. I've tried all types of makes of replacement CR2025 batteries, and the Duracell brand seems to last the longest, including the current CR2032 recently purchased. It's a right royal pain! Our 100% reliable and brilliant Octavia Scout fortunately doesn't have KESSY keys so the key battery is replaced once in a blue moon. Also it has the original car battery from new in October 2015 and still working well, and indeed so is the rest of the car! We're on our third Fabia and third Octavia in about 20 years. The Octavias have amassed just two car faults in all that time - a rear window wiper motor that wasn't working when new, and a failed glowplug, both fixed under warranty. Annoyingly the Octavia Scout is no longer available new so our current one will probably be run into the ground. The Fabias haven't been anything like as reliable although they haven't done the mileage nor the hard work of the Octavias (used as towcars). Fabia Mk 2 only broke down once with a minor fault, but was otherwise quite expensive to maintain with faults to suspension and aircon which cost hundreds to repair. However the current Mk 3 has been a lot more reliable - until now!

Hi, Our Fabia III 1.2 has suddenly developed a series of faults after being 100% reliable for 6 years. EPC, exhaust inspection system warning lights, start/stop error all just happened but the engine still goes although idles very roughly. Also it can't find the key battery which is an almost new CR2032. Our local Skoda dealer is booked for weeks ahead. Any ideas? Car fully serviced, regularly used for mainly short journeys and has done about 23,000 miles.

We have a Fabia iii SEL 2015 model and the brilliant Octavia Scout iii estate 2015 model. The Octavia keyfob batteries last for years before needing replacement. The Fabia batteries last for around 3 months if I'm lucky. The difference is that the Fabia has keyless go while the Octavia doesn't so the Fabia wants to talk to the keyfob all the time. We put the Fabia keys in Faraday wallets when not in use in the car but even with this precaution, the Fabia batteries don't last very long. Cheap batteries sometimes don't work at all. Currently the Fabia has a Duracell CR2025 with a long shelflife which I fitted about 6 weeks ago and the car has told me for about a week that the battery needs replacing. Today the message was "key not found" even after I unlocked the Fabia from some distance away and started it. This is total nonsense and I agree with G Woodhouse that keyless go is a solution to a non-existent problem. I've just forced a CR2032 into the keyfob to see if that makes any difference. It was reluctant to fit but did eventually so let's hope the keyfob stays together with the thicker battery. I believe new KESSY keyfobs are several hundred pounds to replace! Incidentally, the Octavia Scout is still on it's original 12v battery which is quite amazing. Indeed nothing has needed replacing apart from tyres and service items and we've had it from virtually new. I believe that Skoda is no longer supplying the Octavia Scout which means that we will probably run this car into the ground, which may be quite a while!

For info, our Fabia which had the new cambelt has 13,700 miles registered after 5 years as it's a second car to our brilliant 2015 Skoda Octavia Scout. Clearly belts and other similar items can deteriorate due to age rather than wear. We've had to replace the original tyres on the Fabia this year as they were cracking, but they had loads of tread left. Similar story with the Octavia tyres last year. Also I've replaced the Fabia's original battery as it was failing to hold it's charge, but this could also be due to the low mileage and little use. On my 1998 Honda VFR 800, the camshafts are gear-driven so the gears are unlikely to ever wear out, and also gives the engine it's distinctive whine when in the higher reaches of the rev counter. Honda VFR's from 2002 (VTEC model) have chain-driven camshafts. Great bike!

Many thanks for explaining that. Re cambelt failure - I can never understand why all engines are not designed so that if the cambelt breaks, the valves don't meet the pistons, i.e. non-interference engines. I know that some are non-interference, so why not all?

We have a 2015 Skoda Fabia III with the 80 bhp 1.2l 4-cylinder engine. It's just had a routine cambelt change (together with a service, MOT etc.) at our Skoda main dealer. When I booked the car in I was told that they may need to replace the water pump as it's driven by the cambelt, but on collecting the car, I was told that they didn't need to "because the water pump is at the opposite end of the engine to the cambelt". Which is correct?

Excellent! I feel an email to Skoda Customer Services coming on............

Hi Rab-k, The photos above show the Skoda Octavia Mk III 5E mudflaps fitted to my Skoda Octavia Scout Mk III, and they will fit with holes relocated. So far I've found that they reduce the mud thrown onto the lower black cladding behind the wheelarches, as you would expect, so I think they are worth doing. I found my genuine Skoda mudflaps on Ebay for around half the dealer price. I'm now thinking about fitting mudflaps to our Fabia III hatchback although this does far less miles.

I've now fitted the standard Octavia Mk III front and rear Skoda mudflaps to my Scout - see attached pictures. They fit quite well but need minor mods as has been mentioned. New holes have to be drilled in the mudflaps for the mounting screws. The Skoda rear mudflaps are supplied with small metal clips for extra support for the inner part of the mudflap, and these clips attach to the bottom of the wheel arch liner. The front mudflaps are supplied with extra plastic studs which locate similarly in the wheel arch liner once a hole has been drilled. I have also cut off the lug at the top of the mudflap (shown) which would clip into the edge of the wheelarch on a standard Octavia to give a better fit. This still leaves a slight gap between the mudflaps and the cladding, so for a finishing touch I've used exterior-grade black sealant to fill the gap.

Thanks, that's really useful information.

"Can you take a picture of your wheel arch showing where you mean please?" I've already posted a couple of pictures on Weds at 17:24. I bought my 65-reg Scout as an ex-Skoda management car, 4 months old from a dealer. Having decided on the colour/engine/gear combination I wanted, I tracked this car down through the Skoda UK Used Cars website at a hefty discount. It was fitted with a pile of extras such as the extra side sensors in the rear wheel arch linked to auto-parking, and has the standard-fit sensors front and rear. It also has satnav, lane assist, cruise and climate, spare wheel, electric heated front seats and xenon cornering headlights, probably a few more extras as well as the dealer wasn't absolutely sure of all the extras. I had a Westfalia towbar fitted (and electrics) which has a removable swan-neck towhook. I think this is the standard Skoda-supplied towbar. I have a part of the rear suspension in my garage as apparently the towbar gets in the way! Could be an anti-roll bar but I'm not absolutely sure. I'm planning to fit all-season tyres when the original fit Michelins wear out, but at 22,000 miles they're hanging on well with 4-5 mm tread left. Must drive faster!

I contacted Skoda Customer Service re Scout mudflaps. This is what they said: Dear Mr Williams Thank you for your recent contact regarding purchasing some mud flaps for your ŠKODA OCTAVIA Scout. Please accept my apologies for the delay in my response. I have discussed your query with our Parts Support Team, they have confirmed that there are no recommended mud flaps available to be fitted to your OCTAVIA Scout. I apologise for any disappointment that this may cause. I have forwarded your comments to our Product Marketing Team for their consideration in the future to release mud flaps for the OCTAVIA Scout. It is only through feedback such as yours that we can ensure that we reach the highest standards to which we aspire. I hope you find this information useful and thank you for contacting ŠKODA UK. Kind regards Dean Goodwin Customer Relations Advisor ŠKODA UK | Selectapost 34 | Sheffield | S97 3FA Tel: 0333 0037504 [email protected] | www.skoda.co.uk | www.skoda-auto.com Photo of my Scout follows (clean for once!), and photo of rear wheelarch showing position of sensor which may get in the way of mudflaps. This Octavia Estate is the third I've owned after a Mk 1 and Mk 2, and the first Scout. Also in the family we have a Skoda Fabia Mk 3, and have previously owned a Favorit and 2 other Fabia's. My cousin has just bought a CitiGo and previously had a Fabia estate. I think you could say that we are Skoda fans and the Scout is the second best car I've ever had. Best car is a Morris Minor 1000, obviously!

Thanks for the response which is encouraging. My race blue scout is fitted with park assist so it has a sensors all round, including in the rear wheel arch close to where the mudflap would fit. Can you measure the distance from the join of the rear wheel arch moulding and the lower cladding, to the top of your mudflap. This would check whether the mudflap will be too close to the sensor. I really want to fit rear mudflaps to cut down on the stones and mud thrown from the rear wheels onto the front of my caravan when towing. I live in Worcester which is not too far from you. In 2 years of Scout ownership I've only ever seen another race blue scout so this appears to be a rare combination!