--Doug--

My thoughts exactly. I'm glad I found this thread. My previous car (MY2016 Octavia Scout) retained the previously selected drive mode (usually I default to E with auto stop turned off) when turning the ignition back on. My current car (MY2019) Kodiaq reverts to Normal mode which I am finding increasingly irritating when doing journeys involving more than one stop-start. To add to the irritation, it often requires multiple presses of the Mode Select button to bring up the infotainment system menu which allows the different mode to be selected, and when it does work, there seems to be an unreasonably long delay. A colleague has VCDS with a genuine Ross Tech cable to allow ECU adaptation settings to be changed so I could change it if I wanted. Thanks Doug

Thanks Kenny. These are the brand new manufacturer fitted Continental tyres which I inflated to 38 psi all round two weeks ago. I'll re-check the manual regarding the drive mode selection to see if I can work out why it isn't latching. Out of interest, I used https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/tyre-wheel-calculators/tire-size-calculator-tire-dimensions to check the difference in your case and 235/50/R19 tyres have a diameter of 718 mm and rotate 715 revs/mile 215/65/R17 tyres have a diameter of 711 mm and rotate 722 revs/mile So not a lot in it (about 1%). :-/ Doug

Fair enough Andy and thanks for your reply. These issues bother me to a small degree because they’re different to my previous car with no apparent reason why. At work, I respond to alarms and indications which are set at prescribed levels with an appropriate tolerance band and I expect to do the same when driving. +/- 2 mph is reasonable in my judgement, but +/- 4 mph is not. Simple as that. If people stick to the indicated speed and the indicated speed is accurate they shouldn’t get nicked for speeding. It is wholly illogical to set it to overread by nearly 6% IMHO. That would be as daft as Rolex setting all their watches to run 5 minutes fast so their owners are never late for a meeting. Doug

Quick question; my Kodiaq speedometer under-reads by 4 mph at 70 mph (indicated) as checked by GPS signal on my iPhone. So -5.7%. I had to set 74 mph (indicated) speed to achieve a GPS speed of 70 mph. This seems excessive to me because the figures on my previous Octavia were 68 and 72 mph. The car feels slower at a given indicated speed to me and my son also commented on this but I dismissed it because the car is taller and is thus further from the road so the difference is actually perceivable. Q1. Are these figures typical? Q2. Can a correction be applied using VCDS coding? Another minor irritation is that the drive mode selection reverts to Normal after ignition switch off but I’m sure it stayed on the previously selected mode on my Octavia. Again, does anybody know if this can be changed by VCDS coding? Thanks in anticipation. Doug

Welcome Shaun.

Forever associated with eating a hamster he didn't actually eat. Another British institution gone. 😞

Danny Baker has a track record of shooting his mouth or keyboard off without thinking. Two things struck me about this situation: 1. Price Harry and Megan Markle seem to be really nice, fairly down to earth people for their status, as do William & Kate. Nobody should really be flinging 'irreverent' crap their way just because they're in the public eye. Hold public figures accountable for errors of judgement by all means, but I don't see why it's acceptable to attack or mock anybody in the public eye, such as members of the royal family, just because they're paid from the public purse. 2. Maybe I'm just getting old but it seems that the modern way is to offend first and apologise later. People just barge across you and say "sorry" instead of saying "excuse me", e.g. in supermarkets. If Danny Baker had put the same level of effort into forethought about the potential implications of his tweet as he did into the apology, he'd still have a job and modicum of self-respect left. Doug

The first service on my 2016 Octavia Scout 2.0 TDi 184 PS DSG didn't come up until about 19,000 miles either IIRC. Was about £240 at Arnold Clark Skoda, Seafield, Edinburgh. It was a fixed price. Doug

Interesting topic. I've applied opaque black static cling vinyl to my Octavia estate for three years because we travel overnight to our holiday destination and my family sleep better if all the rear windows are completely blacked out. This worked particularly well last year when the only thing I did differently was to completely degrease the windows with isopropyl alcohol before applying. The vinyl has stayed in place since July 2018 even when the car was left in hot sunshine. I just adjust to having the rear windows blacked out by making more careful use of my door mirrors, as most commercial vehicle drivers have to do. This is a low cost solution (usually a roll of static cling vinyl costs around £35) but biggest issue with this method is the complete faff to cut the vinyl to the correct shape. I usually make cardboard templates first. Since we're changing our car next week to a Kodiaq, I'm revisiting options for shading and blacking out the rear windows completely. I like the look and price of the Laitovo shades: https://www.driveden.com/car-accessories-c1/car-sunshades-c166/skoda-kodiaq-2017-2019-tailored-window-shades-p98249 Although I see that the Sonniboy shades offer a similar product: https://www.windesa.com/shop/en/detail/index/sArticle/5959 I figured with these, I could still completely black out the windows by cutting a cardboard template and affixing it to the metal frame with strips of double sided adhesive tape. Once we have completed the overnight journey, I could peel off the cardboard and just deploy the shade as originally designed for sun shading purposes. Doug

I had a couple of scratching problems on the glass on my Octavia Scout. The first was when the front windshield scratched from using the fuel filler door ice scraper! I was surprised and disappointed that the glass could be so easily scratched. The windshield was not dirty and this was a first time use of the scraper which was not dirty either. The second was an approximately 20 mm scratch on the load area side window which I suspect was done by the window cleaners scraping past with their ladder. I successfully softened the latter to the point where it was essentially invisible using a mixture of jeweller's rouge powder (obtained from an eBay seller) and olive oil. It took quite a while of rubbing with a soft cloth but it worked. I would think twice about using this method on the front windshield because it might leave a visible flaw in the surface. Doug

I received an update from Hamza on the Škoda online chat this afternoon. To recap, I was advised that my car was built on 25 March. Today I learned that it arrived at the port of exit on 12th April. I am advised that shipping to the U.K. takes around 2 to 4 days then it will be a further week to unload the ship at the U.K. port of entry. The supplying dealer (in this case Arbury Fleet in the West Midlands unless there is a Škoda franchised dealer in the supply chain too) needs to arrange transport. None of this really assists me in deciding whether I will receive the new car before the two month ad hoc personal lease extension expires on 15th May or whether I will need to extend the lease again. Doug

Welcome to the forum. My car modification days are behind me now but I have fond memories of spending thousands modifying an already nice Mk1 Audi TT Quattro Sport - blue Haldex controller, Blueflame stainless steel full system (catback, mid section and downpipes with 200 cell cats), Revo Technik 270 bhp Stage 2 remap, stainless steel mesh cone air filter, Forge fast road dump valve, Forge silicone pipes, etc. Doug

Welcome Paco! I'm getting a Kodiaq in the next few months and I can't wait! Doug

Oooh. a V8. Every petrolhead, mild or crazy needs to own a V8 something at some point in their life. Good decision but sorry to see you leaving the Skoda community. Doug

I recently bought a ChipEx kit to repair the damage to my front bumper caused the ONE TIME in three years when I decided to put my car in front facing the house on my driveway rather than reversing on. I misjudged the distance and crunched up against the riven block surrounding our garage. The Octavia is Moon White metallic as is the replacement Kodiaq I'm getting in a few months so I though that it would be worth getting a kit. I've had a go at it and while it's certainly better (that wouldn't be difficult), I'm not satisfied with the result (yet). The ChipEx formulation seems to be like a combination of filler, quick drying paint and gloss lacquer. I strongly suspect that I'm going to have treat it like a filler and if I can't achieve a decent flat on it, I'll get a rattle can of Moon White and do it the traditional way. It's a lease hire vehicle so some sort of repair was necessary to avoid a surcharge. I debated with just calling a local repairer then thought I'd take a punt on the ChipEx because I was curious about it. The jury's out on it so far. I think it would benefit if the surface was horizontal but clearly that's not going to be possible for most in situ panel repairs. Hmm. Doug