JayLibove

The Autopista.es article pointed out that, while it will be up to the ministry to clarify whether 2G-being-dead-causing-failure-of-the-eCall-system should matter, it is presently a commonly checked thing in ITV inspections in Spain, and that until clarification is issued, someone somewhere will almost surely be told that they'd "failed". (This is Spain, after all. "The computer told me so"...). The article quoted a German car industry source as having specifically applied to the regulator to ensure that this won't cause a problem for these cars' TÜV tests. [ I repeat my own assertion/ assumption that, of course it won't, because that would just be stupid. But, of course, no government anywhere has tried to push back on Microsoft telling owners to junk approximately 250 million computers, also a type of general crime against the consumer, but cars seem to have a bigger owner lobby than computers 😅 - see https://therestartproject.org/right-to-repair/lets-stop-microsoft-creating-millions-of-tonnes-of-e-waste-this-october/ and yes I'll get off my soapbox now ] Back to the other question, was I correct in my understanding that "manufactured in 2020" was not the key to whether eCall was supposed to have been standardized into the car, but rather "homologated prior to entry to the market in 2017" (and eCall became required for cars homologated from 2018) ?

The Spanish automotive press "Autopista.es" (which has a bad habit of using lots of empty words and maybe/couldbe scare tactics to get people to read articles that in the end don't matter) posted this article warning that, depending on how national car safety equipment compliance regulations are interpreted, "millions of cars" may no longer be able to pass annual(-ish) technical inspections (e.g. "ITV" in Spain, "TÜV" in Germany) once the mobile carriers put the final nails in the coffin of 2G signals, because "Cars homologated from 2018" were required to include "eCall", and many cars' eCall function has 2G-only hardware: AutopistaMillones de coches pueden suspender pronto la ITV por un...El apagón y la interrupción de las redes 2G va a paralizar el sistema eCall de muchos vehículos, y recordamos que es obligatorio ya en coches nuevos por norm...My April 2020-manufactured last-of-the-2019 Octavia III facelift Scout does not have eCall. But, I suppose this car was "homologated" prior to its 2017 year introduction, so the eCall requirement never applied to Octavia III facelift vehicles? I consider it quite unlikely that any national car safety authority would make millions of vehicles unable to comply because this technology became obsolete. That would be like refusing to issue new road permits for cars older than three-point seatbelts or airbags, which as far as I know no country ever did. saludos desde España, -Jay

I thought about that, although I think I should be about as equally likely to notice the missing bicycle rack/ towbar/ etc as I would the flashing lights? (Well, if it's just a towbar, with nothing attached, I guess its lack could go unnoticed).

Well, that's a new one on me (and I had read the owner's guide and maintenance manuals cover to cover, though of course I may have forgotten)... I just unplugged the trailer wiring harness while my early-2020 (last of the Octavia MkIII facelift) Scout was turned off and locked. The emergency flashers (all four turn signal lights) started blinking, and continued blinking for several minutes until I hit the unlock button on the key fob. Any explanation as to why this feature exists?

Thank you @Aldfort , that's very practical information. So, for VAG cars at least, the attack surface is very limited (must be in pairing mode, requires interaction by the authorized user of the car to approve the new pairing request).

Be that as it may, as this did affect at least a Superb III, our not-entirely-so-modern vehicles may be vulnerable, and my original question stands, about whether anyone has/can get their Skoda/VW dealer to admit that an update is available and to offer to apply it. For example, as this is a security vulnerability, I would expect it to be offered without cost regardless of warranty status. (I've just called a Skoda workshop to ask; I'll report back here when I hear from them).

I explicitly stated that these things usually are not much real-world risk. But yes you are missing something - since this allows a complete takeover of the car computer systems, it's possible that it could be used for theft, and it's almost certain to be used for mischief. (People suck, basically). So since this is a "set up a device to carry out the attack, walk through a parking garage seeing how many cars I can muck up" vulnerability, yes, it would be better to get it patched the next time each of us happen to be taking our cars to a dealer/service shop.

BleepingComputerPerfektBlue Bluetooth flaws impact Mercedes, Volkswagen,...Four vulnerabilities dubbed PerfektBlue and affecting the BlueSDK Bluetooth stack from OpenSynergy can be exploited to achieve remote code execution and potentially allow access to critical element...Has anyone gotten (as this is recent, can anyone find/get) updates from VW/Skoda to patch this vulnerability? In short: "Four vulnerabilities dubbed PerfektBlue and affecting the BlueSDK Bluetooth stack from OpenSynergy can be exploited to achieve remote code execution and potentially allow access to critical elements in vehicles from multiple vendors, including Mercedes-Benz AG, Volkswagen, and Skoda." The vulnerability was found in late 2024 and then reported to VW Group and other carmakers which use the vulnerable software; public disclosure was only made recently as it took too f*cking long for manufacturers to bubble this up (down?) through their supply chains. It is unclear to me exactly which cars are affected, but at a minimum a Superb with a MIB3 head unit was included in the demonstration - a remote, unauthenticated attacker was able to get full administrative control of the car's computers. Physical proximity (say, within less than 10m) is required; human interaction is NOT required for some of the attacks; and sometimes the car doesn't even have to be on for the attack to be able to be carried out. Vulnerabilities like this are usually more proof-of-concept than real-world risk for typical drivers, but this is one (as a lifetime infosec person) that I'd prefer to patch...

Old topic, but, old problem. This has happened to me (early 2020-manufactured last-of-the-MkIII's Octavia wagon "Scout" model) three or four times over the years, always when the car has sat out in the sun for some hours and the car has gotten quite hot. (Which is problematic because here in southern Europe such hot days quite often end with rainy afternoons...) Sometimes the reset procedure worked right away, sometimes it took a couple of tries, sometimes it took letting the car cool down. I did take the car to a Skoda shop once and of course since they couldn't reproduce the problem they brushed me off. Anyone know whether this has ever been challenged to VW Group as a design defect requiring a recall to replace (I don't know what part) with an improved design? How would owners' forums even try to force a recall for such a thing? regards,

Oh, there's no question that I have the Scout - it's specifically what I bought new: higher suspension, less aggressive styling. The thing that I'm trying to figure out is exactly "as what" to insure the car, on my (please tell me if I'm wrong) assumption that an RS (especially if "RS" means "more powerful engine", which from your post above, maybe it doesn't [always] mean that?) should cost notably more to insure than a non-RS ? It's driving me a bit crazy that the Spanish insurance companies ask me for the model (and then DON'T come up wiht a Scout, but rather an Octavia wagon "RS") rather than getting the precise, correct model-to-insure from manufacturers' databases based on the Vehicle ID number...

I found an old discussion which described "CR" as "common rail", but I'm not sure whether that's 'the' "CR" I'm looking for ... I live in Spain and am switching car insurance companies, and I notice the same thing now that I did four years ago when I first bought my Octavia "Scout" (2.0TDI DSG-7, 184cv, manufactured April 2020, one of the last of the 2017-2020 MkIII) -- ALL of the insurance companies label ALL of the 2.0TDI Octavias a "RS" ... but I was pretty sure that "RS" meant the 245cv model (which I assume should be more expensive to insure). I dug around in an insurance company policy confiurator and I found one alternative - a 2.0TDI Scout "CR". So, for insurance purposes, am I right that it should be possible to insure my (NOT an RS!) Scout (possibly as a "CR") for less money than I've been quoted for things that the insurers call "RS"? (I live in Spain, for whatever that's worth relating to this question). How do your insurance companies classify your 2.0TDI 184cv Octavias -- "CR"? "RS"? something else? thanks,

That theory makes sense. I think I did try lowering the temperature by one degree and the system began to cool again. I was in traffic and couldn't focus on the experiment at the time. I'm away in (mostly!) cooler climes until October, but when I'm back I'll see if I can test it again on a nice sunny Mediterranean day!

When I noticed this effect, I'd been driving for 100km or so, and the A/C had done a fine job of maintaining the cabin temperature except for the few occasions throughout the length of the drive when I'd switched on recirculate mode (due to being in a tunnel, or following a smoke-belching car or small motorcycle). And even on recirculate, it's not that the cabin got hotter and hotter and hotter; I just fairly quickly noticed the difference. (What I should have done was dropped the temperature several degrees in the moment, with recirculate still on, to see if the A/C resumed effectively cooling; but exactly these moments were times of traffic or road complexity and I was otherwise occupied). I had just earlier today sent a request to the shop for more details about the A/C repair; Spain is a place where work orders do not tend to be very detailed unless/until you demand it 🙄. Waiting for their answer.

The problem is that insurance is an actuarial statistics business, and insurance is usually very tightly regulated to avoid market abuses. When an insurance product, in the ability of the consumer to assess whether it's worth buying, is based on "Must pay starting early and must maintain over a long period of time, against the possibility of a major expense much later", but the insurance company can just decide "gee, we miscalculated", then the consumer is put in a lose-lose situation where buying a risk-mitigation product *does not mitigate the risk*.

All true, but I'm not sure how it relates to my specific question, which is that when recirculate is on, the system seems to choose to supply just slightly warmer air than it supplies when recirculate is off, something that I hadn't happened to have noticed before, and I wonder whether it suggests that something might be failing.

*grin* I guess I'm "friolero" (Spanish: sensitive to being too cold). Well, not really; but depending on whether the outside air temperature (which was around 35°C) is accompanied by direct Mediterranean sun, or if I'm in shadow at the time, I'll keep the cabin temperature set to cool to anything between 23° and 25°, and that's quite enough for me. I tend to dress lightly, and to some degree the already very large difference between outside and inside temperatures I guess is enough for me. I haven't tested how recirculate mode treats the cabin at far lower temperature setpoints.

My 2019 (mfr April 2020) Octavia III (Scout, 2.0 DGS-7), recently I think (because I don't use A/C recirculate often, but it's been brutally hot here in Spain lately) when the A/C is on, the cabin temperature has already reached the desired set point (e.g. 24°C), *and I have recirculate set on* (e.g. I'm driving through a tunnel and I don't want outside air), seems to blow slightly warm-ish air. If I switch off recirculate it immediately cools adequately. I hadn't noticed this during the previous four years since I bought the car new. Have you encountered this, that on recirculate when the cabin temperature is already cooled adequately to the set point, that it will a bit too aggressively avoid blowing even colder air into the cabin, but with recirculate off/ taking in (much hotter) outside air, it will cool just fine? (I'm asking in part because I noticed this, and in part because the last time I had my car in the Skoda shop for an unrelated minor bit of maintenance, they told me that they had done a small repair on the A/C under extended warranty). thanks,

I sincerely hope that this violates either consumer and/or insurance law in Spain where I live. I (per thread https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/505898-2020-octavia-combi-scout-4x4-20tdi-dsg-7-extended-warranty-worth-it/ ) decided to contract VWFS' "Long Drive" _insurance_ policy against major maintenance problems. It's an insurance plan, not an extended warranty, legally speaking. A requirement was to agree to contract this insurance no later than the end of the original factory warranty. So it's a bit like Long-Term Care medical insurance - you start buying it when you(r car is) "young and healthy" in the expectation that later in life you might need major care. The contract terms do include what I hope is an unconscionable statement that VWFS may unilaterally cease providing the product. Unconscionable because this puts an unquantifiable risk of a fundamental change in the value proposition of the insurance product on the consumer. I am filing a regulatory complaint in Spain about this, though my experience with Spanish regulators in various sectors has been .. less than stellar. Not sure if there's even a question to ask here about this, but if anyone has any similar experience (with VWFS just up and cancelling something that you bought on the basis of being able to continue it for years), I'm interested in hearing it. regards, -Jay Here's their actual text (Google Translated from the original Spanish): "On 14-10-2024, your contract number xxxxxxxxxx, with policy number xxxxxx, expires. We cannot renew it under the same conditions that we agreed due to the increase in costs related to the effects of inflation, which has led to a significant increase in expenses. For this reason, we are regrettably forced to exercise our right to oppose the automatic renewal of your guarantee insurance contract, as stated in point 3.4.2. of the Conditions of the same. In any case, we would love for you to continue enjoying all its benefits with the same convenience as before, so we invite you to contact your Official Dealer from the expiration date so that they can offer you new alternatives of interest to you."

So, two years on; I did decide to buy the VWFS extended warranty on my Scout starting at the end of its original warranty in October 2022. (The cost is about €28,50/month; the version that I chose extends the bumper-to-bumper warranty out to the end of the 5th year, then drops back somewhat through the end of the 8th year, then for the final two years is major components only; the price stays the same). It's already paid for itself. The water pump (of course), an A/C compressor, something that translates (my shop works in Català) as a 'crankshaft flange', the parking brake cable/handle, some kind of engine gasket leak, and a piece of the underbody armor. All of this by 60000Km. Hm.

I spent a lot of my life working either in software engineering or information security. In any product or process, there's the obvious "what it IS supposed to do" (functional requirements), and the less-obvious "what it's NOT supposed to do" (non-functional requirements). I _hope_ that in automotive engineering they think of those things (mostly, experience suggests that they do - they default for the assistive systems [when they're seeing ghosts and shrieking that the car is about to collide with something that isn't there 🙄] is to turn off and return full control to the human driver whenever any parameter is outside of the defined operational range)... But, hey, if I can magnet-stick a mirror on the *ss of my car to check out the brake lights when the (forward!) ACC has to slow down hard, I suppose someone else could re-aim the ACC sensor backwards into the engine compartment just to see what it would do 😁

OOOOorrrrrr, it would have to see allll the way around the world until it catches up with itself from behind!

My car's infotainment system version seems to be older: Device part number: 565035840 Hardware: H41 Software: 0478 Media Codec: 4101.00.0.0 Based on the information that you had posted about this update, it would apply to my vehicle (manufacturer approximately week 16/2020). But I haven't encountered any of the problems that the 0480 update is meant to fix (also, my unit does not have navigation). I notice that the hardware version in the other thread that you referenced is H31; mine says H41. And the device part numbers are meaningfully different (a 5Q... series in the other thread that you referenced, 56... in mine). Although, the image of the system information in that other thread mentions Amundsen, so I suppose I shouldn't expect any comparability of the hardware and part numbers? I tend to prefer to apply patches when they're available, but since I haven't actually had any of the problems, I'll probably leave it alone. I mostly use it only for Android Auto anyway, and that's more on my Android device than about the car head unit I guess. thanks,

Back when I lived in the US, that would have been an everyday opportunity. But ever since I moved to Spain (sixteen years ago now) I don't drive much, and I essentially never team drive with another vehicle. Interesting how our habits can change. Actually, thinkging about it, this coming Monday I might have the opportunity. I still kind of like the idea of a 1950s-era SciFi-looking think-Martian-bendy-neck chrome mirror magetically stuck to the side of the car to let me look at my own *ss 😁

Thanks for that - sorry, I try very hard never to ask questions that can be answered by R'ing TFM (and I have R'd TFM) but apparently the long-COVID brain fog is really getting me sometimes these days 😞 Okay, so, it *should* do the right thing... (I still want to test it; I wonder if there are magnetic stick-on mirrors that will hold up to 100km/hr+ speeds at least long enough to see my own brake lights? 😸). -Jay

This is hard (impossible?) to see from inside the moving vehicle (and I keep forgetting, on the very rare occasions that I team drive with another car, to ask the other drive to look at it), so I've never been able to see if for myself; I wonder - When Adaptive Cruise Control slows the car to avoid getting too close to a slower car in front, does it turn on the brake lights? I think it should, at least if the ACC slows the car more than extremely gently/ especially if ACC slows the car somewhat abruptly or very abruptly because some idiot has pulled into the lane in front going noticeably slower. My car happens to be a 2019 model year (mfr Apr 2020) Octavia Scout (2.0L diesel, DSG-7), for what it's worth. thanks, -Jay