chrisgreen

Car is going in this Friday. Earliest booking I could get out of the rude and grumpy guy on the service desk at my main dealer. Still no idea of what is wrong or what it’s going to cost to fix. Also, unlike the Fabia, there appears to be no manual way to spring the boot on the Spaceback from the inside.

Well, it’s taken a while but tonight I have my first failure on the car - the boot won’t open. Rest of the central locking is fine, but pressing the boot release handle on the tailgate won’t open the boot. You can hear a relay clicking in the car, but there is no whirring noise for the lock motor. Don’t suppose anyone else has had similar and had it fixed? As the rest of the central locking is working it would seem to me to be one of the following: 1) Issue with boot release button on the tailgate 2) boot lock motor failure 3) broken wire brining power to said motor Anyway, if anyone has any advice or experience of this issue they can share before I book it in to the dealer to get it fixed, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Chris

Very simple - got a 12v accessory socket with a cable already attached - like this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154044491878 Connect it to the fuse board Under the steering wheel using a piggy back blade connector, tapping off the rear wiper fuse. The ground goes to a screw on the bottom of the fuse board. The 12v socket is then stashed behind the dashboard, by removing the drivers-side side panel on the dash (it just pops off, held on by three clips). There is tonnes of room in there for the socket and any excess cables from the camera charging lead. The cable for the charging lead runs up the drivers side A panel and along the roof lining, popping out level with the rear view mirror. All completely neat and hidden and zero trim damage. Have a look at my previous posts for more info and pictures. Thanks Chris

The part is 5JA 861 388 9B9

Hi all Does anyone know if the bug that was present in the V10 and V11 map software for the RNS315 Amundsen (the one that would cause the head unit to constantly reboot) has been fixed in the latest v12 software? I'm currently running v9 (which is stable), and wondering whether it is safe to risk the v12 upgrade. Thanks Chris

Afternoon all Been trying to find the time to write this post for a few months. In early October I made the final payment on my Rapid Spaceback, marking five years of ownership and the point at which the car is finally all mine My Spaceback is a January 2014 model, one of the very first in the UK, and it pulled about six months service as a demonstrator before I rescued it from a terrible main dealer (one which subsequetly had its franchise pulled). Over five years of use (initially as a daily driver for commuting for work, for the last four years its been a weekend and evening car for personal use only), I've concluded the following: The good bits: Fairly economical to drive (averaging about 42.5 mpg) Cheap to service (if you steer clear of main dealers) Decent size boot Amazing rear legroom Handles well Plenty of power from the 105TSI petrol engine Amundsen Nav is good (retrofitted to replace a Swing) and integrates well with dash and steering controls The bad bits: Uncomfortable front seats Trim rattles Rear doors filling with water (this was eventually fixed) Takes too long to warm up and produce hot air from the heater matrix (nothing wrong with the car or the thermostat - which has been replaced - it's just a quirk) Noisy factory fitted tyres (replaced them with better/quieter ones) MDI interface is very fiddly to use Big issues with moisture in the cabin (I have to use dehumidifier bags most of the year) Top of centre armrest broke twice (latch once, hinges once - both replaced with stronger and cheaper non-OEM parts) Like others here, I've taken the opportunity to mod and upgrade my car with OEM features as well as accessories and my own custom mods. In the last year I was able to take advantage of a lot of price cuts on previously expensive genuine accessory items as dealers were clearing out stock ahead of the launch of the Scala: The mods: Genuine Skoda raised boot floor Genuine Skoda under-seat umbrella holders fitted to both front seats (used for water bottles) Amundsen Sat Nav retrofit Genuine Skoda Boot luggage hooks Genuine Skoda Boot nets Genuine Skoda Boot storage cubby inserts Genuine Skoda Boot divider tray Genuine Skoda passenger door rubbish bin Genuine Skoda 2019 cup holder phone holder (which can hold an iPhone 11 Pro Max) Genuine Skoda washer bottle cover with integrated funnel Genuine Skoda parcel shelf net retrofit Hidden 12v power socket fitted behind the dashboard 4G Wi-Fi hotspot fitted behind the dashboard Amazon Echo Dot fitted (powered via MDI) Dashcam with hidden power cable Audi boot parcel holders Audi back seat storage box (bought becase it matches the fabric of the car seats) Wireless phone charger fitted in centre armrest All in all, the Spaceback has been extremely reliable and economical. While some parts have been built down to a very low price, the core stuff appears to be put together to a high standard and it has been robust (even surviving being rear-ended twice by an idiot in an Audi in a McDonalds car park with no damage whatsoever). Some of the aspects I have flagged as bad I know were addressed in the facelift (like the uncomfortable seats, the lack of a seat valance on the front seats), but a fair few were not, which likely led to the introduction of the Scala as a chance to learn and improve. Would I buy another Skoda - absolutely! But for now I have no plans to get rid of the Spaceback. At the time of writing it's only done 42,000 miles, so it's got plenty of life left in it. Happy to answer any questions about mods, upgrades, retrofits and general ownership. Thanks Chris