kyber

Thanks everyone, feeling reassured. I put Vredestein Quatrac 5 tyres on my Audi and have been pretty happy with them. Certainly more sure footed than whatever was on originally (can't remember). Was tempted to do same for Skoda but decided to give the Michelin CrossClimates a go instead. They will be fitted on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.

Thanks MD, good to hear. I should have given that a go. Hopefully (!) there will be more bad weather so I can try that out. Do you have standard tyres? (Bridgestones?)

Now I find I am paranoid about every little noise :notme: I hope your fault diff made a very obvious noise.

No idea why I said the old car was from 2013. It was a 2009 model!

Eek. The diff problem is not good news. Fingers crossed for your collection tomorrow. My car was used by the dealership, not a demo model though. Hopefully they've spotted any problems. Thanks for info about 4x4 system. Will do some research.

Hi, Just bought (somewhat unplanned) a 6 month old "Skoda Octavia Estate vRS 2.0 TDI 184 PS 4x4 DSG" (to quote the invoice) to replace a more basic 2009 Octavia estate. Thought I'd take a browse through the owner's manual to find out something about the 4x4 system (which I appreciate has no user selection options) but was surprised to find, well, nothing. The only references to 4x4 are in some of the schedules (weight, etc) in the rear of the manual. What's the best source of information about how it works, under what conditions, what to expect, etc. My other car is an Audi Quattro for which I have loads of information regarding the 4x4 workings. I'm guessing that Skoda didn't get to use the same system as the Audi from the VW parts bin. Surprised there is no information about the system in the manual. (Admittedly, I always find car owner manuals incredibly frustrating to read as, despite manufacturing a specific model and configuration, they insist on providing a manual covering every option available and not really making it clear exactly what your model does have and doesn't have) - I generally download the PDF version as well, so I can a) read it using larger "type" and b) search for stuff. Maybe I just haven't found the information required yet. I'm still trying to figure out what's in the included "Winter Pack" - I was pleasantly surprised that it has wire filaments in the screen to melt snow/ice - I always thought this was a Ford only thing (and something I've missed since seeing the light and moving to VW products). Hope someone can point me in the right direction regarding 4x4 information. Hope my rather quick decision to buy the car wasn't a mistake as well for that matter - there do not seem to be that many of my specific model around, and you can't buy new versions now according to the local dealer. Says will be available once the facelifted version of the Octavia comes out later in the year. Hope there are no major changes coming to fix problems with what I've just bought. In the few hours I've had it though, I really like it (but not the Bridgestone tyres - but that could have more to do with collecting it at 5.30pm last night when the first of the snow for my region hit). I'm going to put Michelin Cross Climate tyres on it.

Decided to upgrade the old work horse of a 2013 model to something just 6 months old. This now feels not that dissimilar to drive to our main car, an Audi A5 Sportback 3ltr Auto quattro. No doubt many of the components under the bonnet are from the same VW parts bin. I did try a Passat as well, but the Skoda was much better value for money and more fun, and who wants marginally better plastic anyway! Timing was a little off, as did the swap around 5.30PM last night, so drove it out of the bright, warm, shiny showroom into a developing snowstorm! (Immediately decided that I'm going to have to get better tyres than the standard fit Bridgestone summer tyres currently on it.)

Gulp. Just booked mine for a Shark remap by agents in Telford. Never tried anything like this before. Should I be worried?

I'm using a Note 3 and haptic feedback is working. Can't see anything I'm doing different other than I don't use Touchwiz (much prefer Nova Launcher). What duration have you set the haptic feedback to in the SwiftKey settings?

Nope. Pretty much standard layout (unlike some keyboards that are really weird with steep learning curves) but generally it guesses better than most what you meant to type (better correction than most based on your usual vocabulary) and what you are about to type (so you just tap word, or spacebar if set that way, to enter the guessed word). My personal preference, and speed advantages, come from using swipe/flow mode which is better than that in the Google or Swype keyboards in my view. In this mode you do not lift your finger from the keyboard but flow from key to key. On my tablet screen I also like using the floating keyboard mode so the keyboard is wherever you want to put it on the screen and overlayed rather always pushing up from bottom.

Wiilydog that sounds very interesting. My current seat is manual not heated. Is it a straight swap, just loosen a few bolts? Or is it more complicated? I'd have to get someone to do it anyway, but the complexity dictates who that someone is. I suppose I need to sit in a few used VAGs to confirm the most comfortable options. I think someone on the forum has installed a seat for an A6 which I would have expected to be too large. My other option would be to buy a specific aftermarket seat I guess. Could take that with me from car to car maybe.

I really like the AppRadio unit but I don't think it supports display of parking sensors or air conditioning on my Octavia MkII. I can live without the a/c bit (does not tell you anything that is not obvious on the a/c controls anyway) but I do like the visual representation of the reversing sensors (do you still get audio warning) and was also wondering about putting in front sensors as well. An alternative perhaps would be to fit the AppRadio anyway, and put in some alternative LED type display for the parking sensors.

I'm 6'2", so have similar issues. Incidentally, how do you find the seat in the mk2? Perhaps I am wider than you, but I am not finding it that comfortable on longer drives. Wondering about changing it. I have pretty much given up camping, but used to do a lot with a very large family tent years ago. However, the sudden switch to this car will save be hundreds as I have two daughters about to finish university both of whom need all of their stuff dragging home. If I hadn't swapped cars, would have had to have hired something, twice as they are at different ends of the country (central London and Hull, and I am starting from Shropshire).

Thanks for detail Steve. Good point about paying for decent support. I'm very tempted by some of the new Android head units though. Just too ignorant at the moment to risk it and would not want to fit myself. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

I've just bought Nov 2009 version of near same car (1.4 TSi elegance DSG estate) . Just went for a chat and a bit of a look around at Faintree Skoda, Telford last Saturday. Never really looked at a Skoda before let alone drive one and hadn't gone out with intention of buying anything. A few hours later, I handed them the keys to my near banger Megane Cabriolet (a whim purchase nearly a year ago) and drove off in a really surprisingly impressive estate. Dealer had a bit of a run around to get car taxed and they owe me a valet. Very happy. Wife is amazed how much more grunt the car has compared to her Fiesta of same age with 1.4ltr engine. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

I could but as I said initially the cost of that seems similar to that of a complete new modern unit (rather than something five years old and am investment I can't take with me). Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Steve thanks, that looks interesting. Worth keeping an eye on ebay for. Two things, what is the OS? I would prefer Android over WinCE or proprietary. I didn't realise the 2010 models were different again from the late 2009 FL models. I have rear parking sensors, that show up as a graphic on the Bolero, is that different to OPS (Optical Parking Sensors?) that you have? Air conditioning settings also show up on the Bolero. I could probably live without these feature but SWMBO likes them. Aren't the Kenwood units made in China now?

Yes, but not ideal for phone use which I left out of the use case. Oops. (Kind of took that as default use for bluetooth with a phone.) I have though ordered a bluetooth aux adapter to keep me going in the meantime. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008XMV05G

I have just purchased a Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI Elegance (140BHP) DSG 5-Dr Estate, registered November 2009 - this is the face lifted model I believe. No bluetooth on head unit and sounds expensive to add. No buttons on steering wheel and the display above it does not look particularly multi-functional dot display like although it does let me cycle how much fuel, temperature, etc. I like to listen to my Android phone (podcasts, audiobooks, navigation - Copilot). Use radio ad hoc, but not fussed about DAB. Don't listen to CDs (music is on my phone if I want it). Want standard hands-free phone use over bluetooth as well. Know nothing about ICE and have zero DIY skills. Do standard din 2 units fit this car, and support the reversing sensors and air conditioning display? Seems for same money as adding bluetooth I could go for some modern Chinese android unit, if I knew which to buy and could find and trust someone to fit it. Read through the forum, and got very confused. How, for example, do I figure out what version of canbus I have (do I need to know)? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks. What's wrong with a valet from them?

Nearly a year ago, I purchased a car (Megane Cabriolet) on a whim. That's a story for another time. That car though was starting to feel tired so thought I should maybe start looking at potential replacements. A couple of friends suggest I really should take a look at Skoda, especially the Octavia. As it happens, I've experienced these from the back seat a lot recently having been working in Helsinki during the week where they are a pretty common taxi. I've never owned a Skoda. My Dad has a small one many years ago and liked it, and my Father-in-law bought a Yeti recently and spoke highly of it. Long story short, I now have a 2009 (November) Octavia 1.4 TSI Elegance DSG 5 door estate with around 47k on the clock from a franchise dealer in Telford. My wife and I had nothing to do last Saturday morning, so I suggested we go look for a Skoda dealer. Found one just 20 minutes away (that's handy), wandered around the lot for a while then spoke to one of the salesmen. I was minded to go with an Octavia as we had had several estates before including a modern Mondeo and a BMW 5 Series Tourer. Was missing the space. As I often drive in very busy places, I was keen to return to an automatic or CVT system as well. So, far from trying a range of cars of various makes over a couple of months or so, I was surprised to discover I really liked the Skoda. So much so that we did a deal and I swapped cars later that day. (Dealer had a bit of a rush on to get a new tax disc, but he managed it.) Car looked clean enough to me, so agreed that they owed me a full valet at some future point. I really like the car. Clearly. Don't like the manual much. I thought Elegance was top of the range, but there are a lot of unused switch positions, and lots of stuff in the manual does not seem to apply. I don't think the information display is the matrix type (find it hard to tell which is which from the manual though) - the rocker switch certainly does not bring up a menu of settings, just goes through some standard info. Disappointed that the Bolero system does not include bluetooth. More astounded at cost of getting it added (was quoted £450 for a Fiscon + ... I think that's right)). I've ordered a bluetooth aux unit for now. I am not a DIY kind of guy, so whatever I do, will have to find an auto-sparky to do the fitting. Well, i've done it now, and here I am. Looks like there are lots of topics to follow up on this forum. Hopefully somewhere will tell me exactly which model I really have in terms of facelifts, features, etc. Anything in particular I should look out for?