Jim2015

This is an edited version of a post I've put on another forum. It may interest Skoda owners considering buying a car from another manufacturer. I have had twenty years of Skoda ownership and have had excellent service from both the cars and the dealerships. However our last Skoda was a disappointment, being a mix of the best car I've ever owned and the worst from a reliability stance. So it's a reluctant farewell to Skoda but a delight to find a car in which everything works as it should. For the last 20 years, I’ve driven or owned 6 Skoda models and have enjoyed them all, as well as receiving excellent service from the dealers. Unfortunately, our last Skoda, an Octavia PHEV estate, was a disappointment. Everything was good: acceleration, comfort, style and economy: the real-world mpg over 11600 miles was 78mpg. However, it was plagued by software issues: numerous error warnings, Skoda Connect never worked and most seriously, the 12-volt Battery dropped below 10 volts several times, meaning that nothing worked, including the door key, so I had to use the emergency key, open the bonnet and recharge the 12-volt Battery. We liked the car so much that we put up with the failings, until I was due to go out urgently and the car would not start. I’d been looking at CarWow for offers on a Toyota Corolla and found exactly the model we wanted, a 2-litre Hybrid Touring Sport 5-door Excel 5 door CVT, at a dealership 40 miles from home. I contacted them on December 6th, inspected the car on the 7th and collected it on the 9th. The CarWow price was more than £3500 below list and the offer for our Octavia was £1500 more than WBAC and as I’ve never wanted the hassle of a private sale, I accepted the deal. The car is the top of the range and as well as the usual features, it has a panoramic sunroof. My first Skoda had a sunroof and despite aircon, it’s lovely on a warm day to have the roof open to fresh air, so it’s a bonus. The car has many good points. The head-up display (HUD) is brilliant: it displays speed, the current speed limit and when the excellent satnav is in use, it projects details of the next junction. The primary controls are assessed by buttons or knobs, so for example, setting the temperature is done without the distraction of searching for an icon on a screen. The virtual instrumentation is good, because the display can be changed according to preference. Our last three cars have had a DSG, but the Toyota’s CVT is extremely smooth in operation and I am unaware of any disadvantages. The fuel gauge shows both the tank level and the remaining range. The auto headlight option automatically dips the headlights. The collision warning is a bonus,when I park the car in the garage. I’ve put a soft buffer on the central brick column, but when the HUD shows ‘BRAKE’ and stops the car, I’m just touching the buffer, so preventing damage. The satnav is brilliant: the head up display gives details of the next junction and the spoken instructions are both clear and well in advance of the junction. Other favourable comments include the led strip lights either side of the boot, which provide good illumination and the fact that door sill guards and floor mats are included at no extra cost. The automatic rear hatch opener concerned me slightly as our greyhound (the gorgeous Rosie) travels in there, but it’s not an issue because I open the door with the key fob, press on the hatch to stop it moving, grab her collar and then push the door the rest of the way up. I like having a 12-volt socket in the front of the car as well as the boot. The other main reasons for buying the Toyota are the company’s reputation for reliability and the 10-year warranty, as long as the vehicle is serviced by a Toyota dealer. I’ve taken out a service plan as it’s approximately equivalent to the cost of three years servicing and extends the roadside assistance from one year to three. The fuel consumption is about 40 mpg overall, but most of our recent journeys have been short runs to and from the supermarket. On a long run, we have averaged between 52 and 58mpg. After the first refuel, the real world mpg was almost identical to the car’s stated overall mpg, so it seems to be accurate. Conclusions: I was reluctant to leave Skoda, but their current range of vehicles are unsuitable for us and the software glitches with the Octy were infuriating. . Another Octavia PHEV might have been an option, assuming software glitches had been sorted, but it’s not available. The all-electric options are not acceptable as I like the option of refuelling quickly and I don’t like their clunky designs. The Toyota meets all our expectations, the design is lovely, everything has worked as it should right from the start and I can highly recommend the Corolla as being a wonderful car. 13

Although our Octy Mk4 has been the best car we've driven, because of long delivery times I was hoping to order a new iV estate for delivery before the warranty runs out in May 2023. When I visited the dealer, I was informed that the Octavia and Superb are currently not being made owing to materials shortage. I was offered a look at an Enyaq, but I don't like it: it's too chunky, too expensive and I don't want a car which cannot be refuelled in a few minutes. None of the other conventional cars in the present Skoda range are suitable, nor are the PHEVS offered by Kia, Citroen and Peugeot: all are too chunky and bland. I had a final check with Skoda Customer Services and they confirmed that it's unlikely an Octavia would be available next year. So after twenty years and six Skodas, we have placed an order for a Toyota Corolla Hybrid estate. It was a great test drive with some clever technology because, despite the two litre engine, over a seven mile journey on a mix of 30mph and unrestricted roads, the car averaged 65mpg with 74% of the time using the battery. I hadn't driven a car with CVT since the dreadful DAF55 many years ago, but it was faultless, although the different engine noise under acceleration will take a little time to get used to. The delivery time is about five months, but as second hand car prices are strong at present I don't mind changing early. Because of the software issues with our Octy for the first year, I'd never keep it (or any PHEV for that matter) beyond the three year warranty as a warranty extension is quite expensive and I'm wary of more expensive software or hardware faults developing.. Also, as long as the Toyota is serviced by a Toyota dealer, the warranty extends after three years by a year per service up to ten years and the battery is guaranteed for fifteen years. I am very sorry to move on from Skoda: until now, the cars have been reliable (except the Octy for its first few months) and our dealer for the last 12 years, Derek Slack Motors, have been excellent. Unfortunately, Skoda has lost the plot as far as I'm concerned and is moving too upmarket as regards pricing, whilst dropping its most suitable cars: the wonderful Yeti (we had two) and the Octy (we also had two). I just hope we don't regret the change and that Toyota's reputation for reliability, as vouched for by Which? magazine, proves to be the case for us. So it's good bye Briskoda and thanks for all the interesting posts and helpful advice since I joined.

I have received two letters dated May and December regarding the battery insulating mat. My dealer cannot help, so I sent an e-mail to Skoda Customer Services asking why this 'safety critical' issue was taking so long to fix. I received a reply stating that the following three items are issues to be fixed: the insulating mat, S-Update Gateway control unit software and OCU control unit. Our car is already booked in on February 8th for a software update to address the 12-volt battery problem (discharged twice overnight) but what is the OCU control unit and what does it control? Skoda UK will put me in touch with a 'Battery Competence Centre' to arrange for the insulating mat to be fitted and I've e-mailed the dealer to ask whether they can replace the OCU control unit at the same time as the software update. I'll post an update once these issues have been seen to.

Ours is going in for the software update on February 8th but no mention of a new battery.

I always change cars before the warranty runs out and in any case I am not confident that the Combi iV will be fault-free in future.

I asked our dealer about delivery times for the Mk 4 Octavia iV and was told that it was 18 months but orders are no longer being taken. It's also disappeared from the brochure. I was considering buying a new fully-sorted iV but now it will be a 1.5 IC engine version. Here's hoping the insulating mat will be fitted by the dealer before selling it on!

Interesting. I contacted a nearby dealership to ask about the fitment of the battery insulating mat and was told that the nearest dealer who can do this is in Leeds, about 2 hours away. If they can do the work, I'll ask whether they can also fix the 12-volt battery discharge issue. I can anticipate a problem when I say that I don't want the car to be driven to and fro and will insist on it being transported by a trailer.

I've had two 12 volt battery overnight discharges. The first time, Skoda Assist came out and the second time I knew what to do. So now I plug the main charger in every night, which keeps the 12-volt battery resting voltage between 11.6 and 12v.

That's an interesting article Roottoot. I have our regen set to maximum and can confirm that the brake lights came on whenever the accelerator pedal was released, even if the regen level was low.

I rarely drive at night these days but yesterday I drove to and from Scarborough in the dark. In this area, traffic is generally light at night, so out of built-up areas I had the headlights on full beam most of the way. It was like driving in daylight and I was most impressed. The Bi-Xenon lights fitted to our Yeti were brighter, but the LED's are almost as good.The dipped light has quite a sharp cut off and no oncoming vehicles flashed me. I've often wondered whether the brake lights operate when the regen braking is working, but I saw the rear lights brighten and reflected in road signs behind me when it was regenerating. This is another impressive feature of the Octy iV - the regen braking can be quite significant, so at least vehicles behind are warned.

Following the recent fault with the 12v battery, which discharged overnight, I've plugged the main charger in every night. However, I noticed a couple of days ago that the 12v battery voltage had dropped to 11.5 volts overnight, whilst the 400v battery was at 99%. What I suspect is that when the 400v battery is fully charged, the 12v battery is no longer charged separately. Can anyone confirm this?

The basic charger is limited to 10 amps, or 2 1/2 kW so on the Octopus Energy four-hour off-peak rate of 7.5p/kWh, from flat the 400v battery will charge to about 80%. In summer I get about 27 miles range with aircon cooling but in winter with heating it drops to around 23 miles. We do mainly local motoring at present, so we use little petrol. Our mpg since new is 87mpg for 6800 miles.

Great photos AllanDJ! I have had software glitches with our Octavia iV Combo but if you hold the on button until the screen image disappears (bottom left of your head unit display) then press it to come on again, it will reboot the unit and this clears any minor issues. As for the aircon, the +/- buttons can set temperatures with only a brief glance to locate them or even better the voice control works well and understands plain English.

I rebooted the head unit (display panel) by holding down the on switch until the display disappeared. The car will be booked in by the garage when the battery fire-proof mat can be done at the same time. For now, I'll be leaving the 400v charging cable connected overnight.

The12 volt battery discharged overnight down to 4.8v. Using the emergency key to access the bonnet opener, I charged the 12v battery for 18 hours. Several error messages including loss of hill assist, parking sensors etc. Re-booted head unit and all now working. I'll leave the charging cable connected every night from now on.