Ajdude

Make that 4.....I've sent an email as well now. I've also contacted a friend at Which who will take it to the relevant people next week.....

Please could you share with myself as well, I will do the same. I’ll also try and raise it with Which, where I have a personal contact their. It’s a ridiculous situation!

Hopefully final update. Car was returned with a fully fitted westfalia detachable towbar. Cost 750 pounds. It took the Skoda dealer, who sub contracted it out to an independent 14 days from picking up my car and then dropping it back to me. The actual fitting was straight forward, with a new cutaway panel that’s not visible under the bumper (no new bumper). The coding however took hours to do! I’ve yet to fit either my trailer or bike rack to see what happens and if everything is coded properly. First impression is that it seems to be based upon a test drive dropping the kids at school this morning! Except for all the usual infotainment glitches!

Hi PoloPaul. Quick update. The courtesy car had a slight whine after a long journey. Just got mine back and took it for a quick spin and noted my gearbox seemed a little notchier than courtesy car and there was also a slight whine in first and second. The delivery guy acknowledged there was a difference but it’s marginal. Hope that helps.

Hi. Having driven the courtesy car which is also a 1.5 petrol for the last 7 days, I 100% agree that engine is great. It’s just my 1.5 petrol doesn’t behave the same, is sluggish and kangarooing at low speeds. I’ve had the rare luxury of having a long term test in another car to be able to compare which highlighted the issue. With regards to transmission noise. I noticed that today when driving at low speeds through the services mid way through a long journey (for work). It reminded me a lot of my old 1990 mini metro with a whine from the gearbox. It may be a common “feature”. I’ll listen out for it a bit more and report back.

Sorry to hear your frustration leading you to the end of the road. I’ve read your posts and can empathise with you, as I suspect my car may develop or already have same issues. I just haven’t driven that much since owning it due to lock down and because it’s been in the dealer’s garage for the last 12 days. Better luck with you next car!

I’m finding ways to live with some of the infotainment silliness. When I first picked up my car, I thought the initial getaways and sluggish throttle response was just me shifting from diesel to petrol after many years. But having had a courtesy car for the last 8 days whilst my car is in for a towbar made me realise it was the car and not me. The courtesy car is like a different engine (I thought it was diesel before I checked) because it pulled so well at low revs. I’ve asked the dealer to look at my car to see if it has had all the updates whilst he has the car, so I’m hoping it will be sorted when it comes back. I also noted that when started from cold it was making a strange popping noise from the exhaust (this when my wife was taking the car out of our garage and I was standing outside). It sounded like it was maybe in eco mode with only two cylinders working which would be odd! The courtesy car does not do that.

I bought a 2020 1.5 SEL first edition last month, first registered July 2020 from a Skoda dealer. It was their demo and had 3000 miles on the clock. It’s been back with the dealer for the last 10 days having a tow bar fitted and in the meantime they have given me 70 plate SE 1.5 as courtesy car. When I first took that car out it felt like a completely different engine, much better throttle response and no juderring or kangarooing when pulling away when cold. This car feels much better to drive than mine despite being the same Engine. I know early on the 1.5 had this issue on some engines but I thought it had been sorted and would not been an issue with this car. I’ve asked the dealer to check for software updates whilst they have the car but anyone else have any experiences of poor cold engine getaways and sluggish throttle response?

Hi. Think there is some confusion. The independent that I have used previously told me about the bumper replacement. I didn’t go with them. I’m pretty sure they were offering the tow trust bar. The dealer is installing a detachable Westfalia with 13 pin electrics. I don’t believe they are replacing the bumper, just a cut.

That is good news and thanks for confirming it was done without a hitch (pardon the pun). Hope for everyone else. Just to be clear it wasn’t the dealer who saying a new bumper but an independent! I suspect the dealer has mine for a number of days because they are doing it piecemeal rather than 6 hours straight of recoding. I’ll await to see how mine turns out when I get it back next week.

Yes it is very high. But I also went to my local fitter who I’ve used before and they also do all the local dealers including VAG. They originally quoted me 550 and just about to book them and they came across the coding issue and said to wait till the could get access. When I asked them later they said they could sort the coding but now required a new bumper from Skoda with a cutaway. Which would be another 250 to 300. So back to the dealer as it gives that little extra piece of mind over warranty. Given the time taken by the dealer, I suspect independents may also run into coding issues. Its a painful saga for me and seemingly others on this topic. if you do get a towbar fitted from PFJones would be good to share your experiences.

A bargain at 750!pounds!

For those that are interested. Skoda took my car 10 days ago to fit a tow bar. They still have it, and require it for another week. This is because they have to go into every item that is impacted by having a trailer connected and recode it individually so is taking a very long time! To be fair to the dealer, they’re keeping me up to speed, they’ve given me a courtesy car till the job is finished and they’re doing the job at cost price! They’re trying very hard. Seems Skoda are not fully up to speed in making an aftermarket towbar an easy fit, at least not from my experience. The dealers are still learning as well.

Wondering if you managed to get your towbar successfully fitted? Mine went in today with the dealer, who rang me this PM to say they were having a coding issue and needed one of their senior/master coder to do it as it was proving to be tricky. That person would not be in till next week so needed to keep my car in till then. He then proceeded to tell me that as this is a new model that Skoda is waiting for more owners to ask for towbar fitting before they start to make it easier and make more aftermarket parts available. I may have misheard him, because I was spitting feathers by that point!

Our octavia has a black interior however I have a one series with a full beige interior (including carpets). I love it much better than the octavia black and wish I had found one in beige. They only thing is that carpets have been fitted with black rubber mats as I have kids and a dog! So don’t opt for beige carpets! Seats and dash definitely. The leather seats on the bmw clean very easily. Not sure about the octavia just yet!

I’ve been in touch with Titan covers and they say they are aiming for May to get one for the new octavia. Rhino covers say they can do one now.

Thanks - The word traffic in the setting made be rethink that it does not mean right hand drive. So you are correct. RHD car means setting is Left Hand Traffic...best change it back! Doh!.

This is going to sound like a daft question, but anyway...I noted that the headlight setting on my car was set for left-hand traffic, which, being in the UK seemed to be incorrect. So I switched it to right hand traffic. That seems obvious but given that this car is an ex SKODA demo, it got me thinking if this was the correct thing to do, or did SKODA have this set to LHD in error when they were using it as there demo! Maybe an obvious answer but given that SKODA seems to have done some daft things - I wanted to check on this forum. Thanks

The tow bar that will be fitted hopefully in the 23rd is a westfalia detachable. Apparently it’s the same one the Skoda would fit themselves albeit with the Skoda badging on it. Let’s see what happens on fit day. As the Skoda dealer said to me “everyday is a school day”. Which sets alarm bells ringing and leads me to think it won’t be straight forward!

I’m wondering if anyone has managed to get a towbar fitted and the coding done successfully. Mine was due in yesterday but has been delayed till the 23rd because a required part is outstanding. The dealer was originally doing it themselves, but they’ve now subcontracted to a local (to them) independent but they have to do the recoding. I’m waiting confirmation the make of the tow bar to be fitted.

Thanks. I emailed Titan, they are planning to get one for the mk4 by May, which is when they will be able to template the vehicle. COVID has slowed down the process apparently.

They are charging me £835 to fit the tow bar. Like others I had asked the question about aftermarket tow bars and they assured me that I could have one done without a problem. So on discovering the issue I rang them back and told them I was rejecting the car. This could be because this was not a brand new car but a demonstrator they had in stock so had it on a 7 day, 250 mile return guarantee, and I guess they didn’t want the hassle of the paperwork and reselling of the vehicle. I’m not sure what the situation would have been had it been a brand new car, but this dealer has been very accommodating and seems to care about its reputation. This is in contrast to BMW who, frankly could give a monkeys when I’ve had issues with my other car. I also had the perception from my previous cars that fitting a tow bar would be a 200quid job, I was hesitant at £520 originally quoted by our local guys, so being up to 835 just seems ridiculous. I imagine the full price is 1000 as a dealer fitted post market.

My car is going back to the dealer this coming week to have the towbar fitted. They have given it me for cost price including driving the 260 mile round trip to pick up and drop off the car. I haven’t been back to the independent tow bar fitter to ask if they have managed to resolve the issue they indicated they would have. I will do that on Monday and confirm if they were able to resolve it as a reference for others. Would I have bought this car had I known about the cost and hassle of aftermarket tow bars, probably not! Hope others manage to get it resolved.

Thankyou for sending the photo. What brand is the liner?

I have a friend who works for Which.....I'm tempted to ask him if this is something they will investigate and highlight. I'm rather annoyed at this.