Gax

When I still had my Octavia, one of the errors I received stated the oil sensor was faulty. That would be one of the more serious issues on a car I guess, yet it didn't appear in the Skoda app either. The diagnostic reporting said the car had a clean bill of health! Conversely however, the service-department of the dealership I had nominated in the app emailed me twice to say that the car had self-reported the fault and wanted me to take it in for inspection (little knowing I had rejected the car by this point anyway). The moral being, the app is a complete waste of time, unless you just want reassurance that the doors are locked and the windows closed...

I needed time away from this forum to help clear my head after a few months of mess and an all round bad experience. I can reflect now to say I am frankly disgusted with: Skoda - for buiding and selling this junk in the first place. Skoda UK - for showing no interest in resolving the issues. Kate Laws comes in for particular scorn for failing to make promised calls to me and getting lackies to pretend she is on another call whenever I tried to call her. My dealership - for childishly pinning all the blame on Skoda, like that is MY problem, instead of acting like men and taking charge of the situation. VW Finance - Who, one month after putting a rejection in writing, still haven't made any contact with me whatsoever. My reject is finished though. Car has gone and got all my money back (I have no idea nor care who put the money up for my refund), no mileage deductions. I had asked for compensation for fuel left in my vehicle, fuel spent travelling to dealership numerous times, bus fares, the £40 cancellation fee on my car insurance. Haven't even had an acknowledgement to that request, let alone receive any compo money. I'm just glad to see the back of the whole thing though, so am content with my deposit and payments having been returned. I'm still onboard with Skoda and having had nothing but an amazing experience in the Superb courtesy car I am currently awaiting an order on a Superb 1.5 SE L DSG with some options fitted and a nice £9k discount as it turns out I am now eligible for the Motorfinity scheme through my employment. So it's actually kinda funny that my Octavia has gone back. Up to a month before that arrives though, so after months of stress in my car I am currently enjoying sitting back and being driven around in the other half's car.

I am (supposedly) in the process of rejecting, having requested this three weeks ago. No progress made. Think I will be looking to expedite this myself.

Yeah, I don't believe a word I am being told frankly. It's actually semi-amusing as I received a written statement from the dealership to me that Skoda had told the dealership to fill out the required paperwork in order to obtain a replacement, followed later by a written statement from Skoda to me stating that Skoda have no responsibility whatsoever for any of this and it is down to the dealer to manage the problem. Which doesn't explain why Skoda are fronting the approximate £680 per month (according to the Europcar website) to hire a car for me. Why do that if it isn't their responsibility? Bizarre. VW FS meanwhile have failed to send me even the most basic update in two weeks. All I have from them is an automated response that they have my complaint. What do we take from that? Probably that VW FS are working nonstop dealing with complaints across the entire range. My dealership is the same as yours, they have expressed a few times to me that they are annoyed with Skoda, and I can appreciate that position of course. I can well imagine how you'd feel having to manage the bottom-line at a franchise that seemingly overnight now absolutely stinks, and there are forums like this where people are coming on asking 'Should I buy an Octavia' and there are countless of us lining up to say NO !!! But, it isn't my problem. I don't expect mine to progress to the point of being given a replacement either if I am honest. I just think they're all going through the motions, playing the blame game, and just possibly waiting on VW FS becoming involved and making any kind of decision on behalf of the whole lot of them. I see a future much like yours, where my hire car will get extended at some point, then yep I will probably abruptly and out of the blue receive an email telling me they can't source a replacement and at this point we cut the finance deal and say our goodbyes.

A replacement is supposedly in the works for me. Very mixed messages though, dealer claiming Skoda have asked them to formally request a replacement, Skoda saying it is nothing to do with them and everything to do with the dealer to sort out. This follows earlier in the week when (after me asking them to do this) nobody involved anywhere in the chain has been able to put in writing that they are acknowledging this as and accept responsibility for the reject. Very interesting, and again thanks to all concerned for helping with my Ombudsman case when it begins. I'm in the same boat of having an SE First Edition, so in theory at least they can't give me a factory-fresh vehicle. So perhaps 'they' (whoever that may be) are trying to source one from stock somewhere. If they find one with zero miles and unregistered and it 100% works then....just maybe I will accept it. How they prove that is beyond me though, given that faults seem to build up exponentially over time. I.E for the first month or so mine would just do the odd strange thing like black-screen, but gradually it got to the point where so many faults and errors occurred and with the amount of frequency, I had no choice but to start seeking assistance from service. If they can't source an SE FE then I don't really see that as my problem to be honest. I won't accept a vehicle of a lower specification while paying the price for the FE spec, so it's their problem to give me an equal or higher spec vehicle and not charge me a penny more on either my monthly price or my final purchase option price if I choose to keep it. I dare say they should pay for any insurance premium increase for the duration I own the vehicle too. It isn't my fault any of this is happening to me after all. And the whole thing is BS really. They could give us a replacement car at the drop of a hat, there will be suitable vehicles sitting around all over the place, it's just that they all know they won't be making any additional money from us by allocating one to us.

I have had number 1, but my car was an absolute mess by the time I rejected it and it was but one of many error messages and faults happening over a two day period. I doubt it even was a sensor failure and more likely just the car's frazzled brain not having a clue what was going on.

Thanks for sharing. My impression from some other forum users is that their process, from formal rejection to finalising the buy back has, been dealt with in terms of weeks as oppose months. I don't really understand where the difference lies however. I've read many differing views online on industry websites, and some say you reject to the dealer (which I did, and they have fallen silent), while others say reject to the finance company as they own the vehicle, not the dealer. And in fairness, so far VW Finance haven't said 'go away', but neither has anything happened yet as a result of contacting them. As for Skoda UK....well, my dealer has appeared to involve them, and Skoda UK (in the form of Kate Laws) involved themselves when she rang me personally to promise me the world, and has extremely rudely failed to contact me since. As I've said elsewhere, none are doing themselves any favours for when I DO escalate this to the Ombudsman, as neither the dealer or Skoda have put anything useful in writing, so really have no defence that they are taking any kind of action for me.

I'd be interested in differing experiences too. My situation is my car went back to the dealer almost two weeks ago after I rejected it. Heard nothing from them since. Skoda/Kate Laws told me they are managing the situation. Not heard from them in two weeks. VW Finance took on my complaint a week ago, they say they are busy and to allow up to eight weeks for investigation. I have zero idea if anything is going on behind the scenes, but in over three weeks since writing to reject my car, the sum total is I no longer have mine parked outside my house, but it is still technically my car, and Skoda are paying for a hire car while who knows what is or is not happening.

Honestly mate, if I (ever) get an update and suggested resolution from No Hope Skoda (TM) and that includes an offer of a replacement MK4 and it works and I take it I'll post an 'honest review' and let everyone know. Customer service is surely as important as the car itself, when it isn't working, and I'm basically being treated like scum at the moment. I'm not a person with an issue they want to fix, I'm a problem they are trying to pretend doesn't exist. That alone should put people off.

It's a toughie as I understand part of the reject process is involving being offered a discount on a new car. If I am offered that and take it up, I'm not sure of the steps I'd be allowed to carry out myself to have confidence. I.E would I be able to sit in a car and go through all the menus and check they work, take it on a test drive far longer than the standard 4 or so miles around the block? I can't really see a new dealer allowing me to do that, when I haven't had a problem with them. My existing dealer however I don't particularly wish to remain with now, as they have ceased communicating with me since taking my car back. Why should I give my money to people who conduct their business so shoddily? I really don't know if part of the issue in delaying my own reject from progressing is that nobody involved actually knows how to give any kind of assurance that a replacement vehicle would be okay. I am guessing they can't, otherwise I'd have one already!!

With no disrespect to the people on the forum saying their cars are fine, people seem to be saying that during the first week or two of ownership. Mine was fine at first, then about two weeks later I had the first black screen and thought it was odd but just reset it. Then a coupe more weeks later another issue spotted, and so on. It got worse the longer time went on, until the point I could take no more of having at least one issue every day. What I'd like is someone saying they have had their car for eight months and not had ONE solitary issue, and I mean NOT ONE. I'd still love to keep a MK4 (if Skoda ever bother progressing my reject...) but nobody has persuaded me thus far to want another one of any build date etc.

I've got a thread about this already here, which didn't particularly receive any responses to say yes they are fine! It doesn't mean they aren't I suppose, as forums are for complaining on mostly, so maybe there just aren't people coming on to praise them. The trick possibly seems to be sourcing an MK4 of a particular build date onwards maybe. My dealer seemed to think he'd be replacing my rejected SE FE but said the problem would be sourcing a working replacement, by which he will mean an FE. That in itself is a funny one, because the Skoda website when I last looked no longer has FE's as a build option, some dealers no longer have them, but others are still selling them. But also there are none FE's had the same issues too. So, how do we determine which version is 'safe', from what date, what software version, what hardware version, which radio system? There are seemingly issues across all of these things. And then good luck to any of us finding a 'safe' version that is actually in stock anywhere, given some are still selling FE's And then there is the apparent long wait times on production now, supposedly related to issues across the car industry, but it would be naive to think that the global Skoda issues is not impacting that as well. I'd love an answer to this, but it seems down to pure pot luck from what I have read the past couple on months on here.

These cars are utter crap, all of them. I have a courtesy Superb at the moment and it is constantly stalling itself for no reason, including once after I'd already gotten as far as engaging second gear leaving a junction. It refused to let me start the engine while coasting (with perplexed drivers behind) and I was given a message telling me to stop the car before attempting to restart it. Yeah, on a 60mph single-lane country road, thank you very much. Someone is going to be hurt or worse in one of these vehicles, there are too many issues at play while actually in motion.

My dealer has had my car twice, once for over two weeks, and both times claimes to have applied numerous software updates that they were absolutely positive would cure all ills. So yeah it is wishful thinking!!! If they knew what the problem was they would have coded the software by now, applied the updates, and told everyone who is trying to reject that actually their car is fixed if you'd like to give it one last chance. There is clearly a serious mismatch somewhere between the vehicle, sensors, wiring, power outputs, computer hardware and the software that runs it (or doesn't run it, as it is now evident). As someone who lived through the 1980s rise of home computers (as a kid, but an interested kid who went on to study computer programming, so I know what I am on about) this absolutely reeks of various computers and game consoles and associated hardware where there were serious glitches with the machinery and the software programmers were unable to code their way around the problems. This resulted in a lot of programmes and games just not being fit for purpose. This just sounds too similar to me. There is something rotten to the core in at least the first iteration of the MK4 launch, and the situation as exactly the same as I experienced growing up: The codies are trying to respond to sub-standard hardware by programming bits and pieces to respond to new faults being identified all the time. I doubt they will ever get a handle on it and I could see this needing either a recall and car replacement or retrofitting new hardware to the vehicles that will successfully interact with the vehicle and software. Skoda haven't got a clue what is going on, it is clear. I would push anyone with issues to reject asap or you're going to regret it when you can't.

Oh and regarding Skoda Connect... The last time my car was in the garage the app showed a couple of journeys in it of 4 miles which each lasted in excess of an hour. For 4 miles! And it also showed a very short duration trip at something like 20:17pm on a Friday night. This trip later vanished from the app. It was still shown as parked at the dealership though. So, either take the app with a complete pinch of salt or be aware that dealers may have the potential to delete entries from the vehicles log somehow, as I have never seen a recorded trip vanish from the app before.

I'm actually starting to find the childish incompetence of all parties as slightly amusing (slightly) and none are doing themselves any favours for if I pursue this with the ombudsman, which I will. This Sunday will be two weeks since I emailed to formally reject the car. I dropped my car a week ago and the dealer service blokes did some shrug of shoulders as to what would happen but yes of course they will be in touch with updates. I haven't had one word from them since. Kate Laws over a week ago promised me rapid action and updates within days. I haven't heard one word from her since. On Monday VW Finance acknowledged my request to them (sent last Friday) for them to take my complaint. I will be a bit more gentle as they are new to the party, however there response said a formal acknowledgement would appear 'soon', which two days later has not materialised so I have emailed them this morning asking what is going on. I don't even want to talk to any of these people by telephone or face to face now, as it is all promises promises promises. Mark my words the adage is true that if it isn't in writing it isn't happening. Don't believe anything they say to you unless they say it in writing. It just helps them with the ombudsman down the line, as anyone can deny the content of a conversation. The laughable part is they could have sweet talked me into a new car deal by now and took some more profit, but instead they are losing £688 per month on hiring me a superior model vehicle. Which does give rise to the thought of yeah just let it drag on then! I'm paying less to have a better car, the insurance excess is lower than mine, I can put unlimited miles on it driving in whatever style I choose and not have to give a second thought to the wear and tear or future maintenance costs of the car. Actually sounds like a reasonable deal to me. Nobody is bothering to update me at all, so maybe I'll fall silent too and we'll just keep this arrangement going! Obviously I am being flippant, but....as a serious point, Skoda are paying more than double my monthly direct debit to hire me a car but are making no attempts at resolving my own car, which would be far cheaper for them. Weird people.

She told me one week ago that she would ring me last Friday. She still hasn't.

Well, I mentioned it back in this thread, but I got mine at the start of December and the very first update the dealer first used to try and fix my car pre-dates the day I bought it. So not only have Skoda not been asking for vehices to be returned by dealers, but the dealers aren't even bothering to apply existing updates to vehicles prior to collection day. What on earth is the point of having a car that exists in the modern-day world of software and updates and not even bother using them?

Dropped mine on Thursday, had nothing in writing from anyone to say they formally accept the reject, promised calls from Skoda never happened. I have a hire car but don't paticularly know why! As in, nobody from any of the parties involved has actually said conclusively what their intention is. So, I have been in touch with VW Finance asking them to take on the complaint and process the reject, given nobody has actually said they accept it. I will give it until sometime later this week, and if I don't have something in writing saying they accept the reject I am going to ask for something in writing to say they do NOT accept the reject. At least with that I can go to the Motor Ombudsman and raise a case. I raised my initial reject complaint one week ago, which may not seem much, but I told them from the outset I will not accept this dragging out for months, and I mean it. I have also asked for all contact to be by email now. Everyone else should insist on it too, when there are phonies who promise to ring you on a set day and not only do not do that, but have staff claim they are unavailable when you end up trying to call them yourself.

To those receiving loan cars, have you rejected your vehicle or are just returning your car temporarily to wait for a fix?

I've been wondering about that actually, as the Skoda website still has the First Edition as an avaiable spec, so they presumably have stock leftover.

I'm told that sourcing a 100% guaranteed non-defective replacement will be the crucial part, which I am taking/hoping as meaning a wait for a new build to come off the line. It surely can't mean trying every Octavia in stock for the UK market until they find one that 'works', although I can't say at this stage that isn't their plan either. I honestly don't know right now, but it would be pointless either side going through the rigmarole of agreeing a new car, only for me to find a week after pick-up that it has the same issues.

Great stuff. It looks like I am headed down the route of a replacement, which is great for me as I love the Octy. So yeah good news if newer builds aren't exhibiting issues. Mine is an SE First Edition, so not entirely like for like with yours, but I can't imagine there are vast disparities with how the software operates. Thanks.

That's a great endorsement and definitely what I want to hear! Although with only 25 miles under it's belt....nah, I'll not say it hahaha! What spec have you got may I ask please? Also, any ideas about when it rolled off the production line etc?

I've got the ball (hopefully) rolling on mine going back, but my next issue is what car is next. I still want an Octavia, hence creating this thread. Problem is, you don't hear from people on the internet when they are happy! I've literally not seen a single MK4 on the road since buying mine, so it's not like there's an abundance of them where I can sidle up to the owner at a petrol station and quiz them about their car. I bought an Octavia because I wanted an Octavia. Surely not every Octavia built since the MK4 relaunch is problematic. Skoda know this is a major problem, they can't still be rolling cars off the production line day after day that don't work can they? I'm not of the opinion that this will all 'get resolved' to be honest, not through dealer visits and software updates anyway. Whatever it is, be it just software, or a mixture non-compatibility between hardware, software, wiring, other, there is something fundamentally wrong with these cars and they shouldn't be on the road. Someone will end up being injured or killed with all the weird stuff going, I mean we have people talking about their cars hitting the brakes as they think there is an object in front of them. It would be nice if an insider had a bit of info to share, and whether we should even be considering a replacement (and if so, what build dates are acceptable, what hardware spec etc) so a decision can be made if a replacement is offered. It's a bit pointless going down the replacement route if we all just receive an identical spec model built at the same time, and end up rejecting the replacement for the same issues.