thamestrader

General ŠKODA/VAG comments as I can’t offer specific Octavia advice. As you will be doing high mileage and likely keep your cars for a while. Avoid any car that has not had regular servicing, every 12 months or 10k miles which comes first, I.e. fixed and not variable servicing. DPF and EGR can cause problems when the diesel is only doing short journeys without the regular long runs to keep things clean. Squeaks and creaks are often dry suspension bushes easily fixed sometimes just by applying WD40. Good luck with your search.

Karoq Matrix headlights are brilliant. They have auto dip bean, so switch to main beam and the headlights automatically alter the beam pattern to prevent dazzling oncoming and traffic in front. They also light up the kerb side of the road and road signs very well.

If you have the pads are binding on one of the front wheels, then both the pads and disc on that side will have worn more than the other side, how much depends how long they have been binding for of course. Both front discs and pads would have to be replaced. I don't quite understand why rear discs and pads require changing some frequently and at low mileages. My last VW did 108,000 and was still on the original rear discs and pads, our Fabia is 10 years old, admittedly only 20,000 miles but still on original discs and pads all round.

With regard to get aftermarket towbars and even Skoda Factory towbar fitted to an existing car with the CANBUS electrics correctly coded; up to MY23 seems to be OK, MY 24 cars seems to have issues regarding coding and MY 25 definitely have issues. For both these years it seems the only option currently is for the towbar to have been fitted by the factory during the build. On a separate point I'm now curious about Trailer Assist. I had the Skoda Factory electric swivelling towbar fitted to my 73 plate Karoq last year, it took 10 days though to get the coding from the factory, but once coded all has been fine. It never occurred to me that the coding might include Trailer Assist, so I've never looked to see if its set up or configured, so I shall have to have to look tomorrow.

And that tool only works if the coil pack rubber/plastic material hasn't attached itself limpet like to the plugs which is what happened with ours.

Had the (4) spark plugs replaced on our 1.2 TSI Fabia in May, Plugs £18.05 +vat, coil pack connectors (4) £14.35 +vat. - so £129.60 +vat for parts - this was my independent who Ive used for 20 years. Maybe they have included the cost of new coil pack extenders with labour ite cost at a dealer could easily be £170 +

@fenlli Regarding whether you have 12 months or 36 months free, on the App under Profile it says paid services and shows an expiry date. If I recall correctly when I got the car in April 24 the expiry was Dec 24, indicating the free 12 months ended on that date. This is what mine shows now. Regarding updates I just got this displayed when going into the App. Which I think refers to App updates although it suggests Infotainment changes so maybe there is a related car software update.

Glad the Karoq is growing on you. I think your right the tech creates a temporary barrier or hurdle to being able to just get in and drive! As a volunteer driver for various organisations I drive a number of different vehicles; cars, vans and minibuses, manual, auto and EV. It’s always the tech that requires delving into the manuals.

@fenlli Bob Newhart Camp Granada wow that’s going back a bit. Was a popular request on Two Way Favourites radio show on Sunday lunch times in the 60s - must have been the light programme!

Might be worth looking at EE/BT. If you have home Broadband and landline with them, then they double the data allowance on the mobile SIMs, I have this combined package, recently arranged for a relative to be moved to the same consolidated package from separate providers. The phone SIM was £10 a month unlimited text, calls and 100 gb doubled up to 200gb. I’ve had the same package since 2023 but the SIM was £15 but I will get £10 SIM at renewal in Nov.

That comment is worthy of Marvin the Paranoid Android from Hitchhikers - and reminds me of “the problem is that the superficial faults mask the underlying fundamental design flaws” Douglas Adams HHGTG. Although I don’t think it applies to my Karoq.

What you experienced with the car hotspot is exactly the same as I did - with Carplay. The phone was getting its Internet access via the hotspot, that was why I switched off the hotspot and only used BT. As my phone has a large data package. Did you consider increasing your phone data package - there are some good deals out there.

Hope no one minds me asking this here. I don't own an EV, I have a 2.0 TSI Karoq, but having just had two days driving a BMW IX, with a very limited experience of chargers I am interested to know what Enyaq owners do for charging. I drove about 130 miles in the IX over two days. I needed to charge it from 50% to 75% which equated to adding 100 miles. Firstly I tried a 7kw charger the estimated time to reach 75% was nearly 5 hours so I found a 50 kw charger and it was charged in just 35 minutes. The cost per mile was 29 pence using the 50 kw charger and 23 pence if I'd used the 7kw charger. Now I know that on street chargers are going to be more expensive than home chargers but unleaded petrol is £1.34 per litre and my Karoq easily does 7 miles per litre which is less than 20 pence per mile. I was rather shocked as I expected the running cost of an EV to be significantly lower. I realise that an IX is a heavy vehicle with a very powerful electric motor, so heavier and more powerful than the Enyaq, so is the per mile cost of an Enyaq lower (i.e. better) than the the IX and what do most owners do for charging.

@RCC49 Thank you for the clarification.

Apologies in advance. I may be missing something really obvious - but I don't understand why a Mobile Wifi dongle is necessary to connect your phone (IOS or Android) to get a data connection for Carplay or Android. Surely both Carplay and Android Auto are simply acting like PCAnywhere (showing my age and historic IT experience) to remotely control the phone and mirror its screen. When I was still using Carplay over BT only - the Carplay controlled Iphone was using its own 5G data connection .

I'm not familiar with Android Auto, but did originally use Carplay - maybe you can adapt or get some clues from my experiences. The Skoda Infotainment system has both Bluetooth (BT) and Wifi. Initially my Phone was connected through Carplay and was using the Cars Wifi hotspot connection. I only realised this when I noticed that my Iphone browser was unable to Goggle anything in the car but worked perfectly 6 feet away when on a 5G connection. The internal SIM in the car is does not have a data allowance and is 3G. With CarPlay I was able to drop the internal Car hotspot wifi and just use BT. So maybe you can isolate your phone from the Cars internal Wifi. I also found that many of the steering wheel controls do not operate with Carplay, that the Virtual Dashboard centre section where you can have Navigation directions, Media listings or Phone call data (contact lists, recent calls etc) do not interface with Carplay either. Maybe Android is better, but I stopped using Carplay. Now I use the inbuilt facilities where everything is integrated and works. I have had Garmin Sat Navs for over 15 years and one does get used to way a specific brand of SatNav works. However I now actually prefer the built in Skoda SatNav, its much quicker to adapt to changing traffic situations and the traffic info is much more up to date than the Garmin I had. The Infotainment GUI for the Sat Nav is not so good but I have been using the Skoda App on my phone to select destinations (which uses Goggle Maps) and then send to the car. Even when sitting in the car its quicker and easier than using the GUI on the Sat Nav! In the last week I have finally worked out how to operate the voice commands for the SatNav - they had me baffled for a year, but this week I found a very helpful config option, in the settings you can 'turn display voice commands on'. This was a game changer for me! Pressing the voice button on the steering wheel displays a graphic with the different functions that can be controlled, choose 'Navigation' by saying the word, further prompt screens are displayed from which you can quickly find the right response. Before I discovered this I had no idea what to 'say' when asked a question. Maybe there is something in my ramblings above that will help with your Android Auto issues. Good luck

I think I am right in saying the All-In-One service plan and warranty is available for cars up to 6 years old. Have you considered remaining with your existing 2 yr dealer warranty until it expires in Dec 25 and then take out the All-In-One service plan with the warranty. Doesn't solve your current need to get the car serviced now, given you have a Marshall 2 yr warranty may be worth sticking with them for this service. My experience is that Marshalls are more receptive to dealing with warranty claims when they are servicing the car. I know it shouldn't be a factor. Even the independent garage I've used for the last 20 years has advised me to that with all the used cars I've bought hat still have manufacturers warranty left.

I think the speedometer is probably driven from the gearbox output shaft.

The mileage for mine has now been updated since my earlier post - its only 50 miles behind the car which is reasonable.

If it makes the noise when stationary it can’t be wheel bearings or transmission related. Possibly fuel pump or exhaust?

Speed Alert - there are I think 3 different alerts. 1st is Speed warning, the speed is configurable and the alert can be on or off and once set off will stay off. I have it On and set to 75mph in case I get carried away! 2nd Is from the Navigation speed limit sign display can be switched on or off, which is permanent. Then there is the warning “bong” which can be on or off but I think it might be linked to the volume of sat nav spoken directions but again this is permanent setting until changed. 3rd is the Traffic Sign Recognition which I do not have so I can’t comment on how that operates. DSG - there are many different DSG boxes produced by VAG. The 1.5 TSI would usually have the DQ200 dry clutch - this should be smooth going through the gears but can be jerky in certain conditions, usually when pulling away from a stop, compared to the wet clutch DSG boxes. Your Audi A3 may not have the same DSG box as your Karoq it will depend on engine torque output. Definitely go back to your dealer ask to drive another 1.5 DSG preferably a 25 plate demo car. If it drives smoother than yours then you can argue that the demo car defines the quality/standard of the DSG transmission and that yours is not of that standard, and thus should be fixed under warranty. Did you buy the car from a Skoda dealer?

As of today mine shows hardware H25, Software 0330 and Map data 25.6. It was serviced at the dealer in March 25 when a software recall update was applied, but it was on H25 and 0330 in Dec 24. The map updates are received OTA, if you have paid the yearly Infotainment subscription. Others may know what software updates are available to download manually.

The sat nav displays the speed as “encoded” in the map data. There’s one 60 mph road locally where the map data display shows one 1/2 km section as 30 mph. There are no road signs indicating a lower speed than 60 for the section, in fact there are small national speed limit repeater signs on the lampposts.

It’s the “what if “ factor, consequent costs and disruption when ones primary and perhaps essential means of transport is out of action for a lengthy period. Cost of a cambelt change on our 2015 1.2 Fabia 110 bhp in 2022 at 18,000 miles was £340, at the local independent garage that I’ve used for the last 20 years. I tend towards preventive maintenance rather than waiting till something fails. But we do keep our cars for a long while, 15-16 years/30,000 miles for the low mileage one, up to 160,000 miles/10 years on the high mileage one.

Typically it’s a slot between 12 & 15 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches deep. It’s not visuals at all o n mine. Look roughly in the middle of the bottom surface of the bumper. They are only cutting out some plastic. Make sure they do the electrics correctly, with coding so that parking sensors, ABS and ESC function correctly when the towbar is in use.