Jim2015

For maximum mpg, I've found that a journey of around 60 miles provides optimum performance. Today we did a 62-mile journey and achieved 104 mpg, with 10% remaining in the battery. Since refuel, we've done 91 miles, with 31 miles on e-power only and have obtained 153 mpg. Not bad!

No, but the regen is a different matter. As it applies braking effect according to gradient (when the DSG also drops gears down) I'd have thought that it would be sensible for the brake lights to come on. The Kia Soul EV brake lights come on if the accelerator is lifted off, but as it has a 62 kW motor, the regen braking is quite sharp.

It's better than either the Karoq satnav or my TomTom. Very accurate and excellent graphics.

I've been asked this question by a friend, but obviously I don't know. When I go downhill or approach a junction and release the accelerator, the regen 'meter' shows how much resistive braking is applied, but at this stage I don't know if the brake lights are on. When I need more regen, a slight pressure on the brake pedal increases it gradually and as I increase the pressure I get maximum regen, so the brake lights will be now on. Until I come to a halt, I don't know how much effort is applied by the disc brakes. Incidentally, regen braking effort is why the Enyaq has rear drum brakes. To quote from a review of the 'yaq: Braking is strong and progressive. Interestingly, the rear brakes are old-school drums, rather than discs, because they’re used so little due to the regenerative braking of the electric motor that discs and pads wouldn’t have been scrubbed enough to keep them in good working order. That’s Skoda’s reasoning, anyway. So Octy iV pad wear should be much reduced.

I assume that the interior of the doors is well-protected. In the old days I'd have squirted Waxoyl through the holes, but nowadays I'm not sure what I'd bung up!

Another strange one. Whenever the rain is heavy (like today) and I open the driver's door, water pours out of the drain holes when I open the door. The holes are obviously not blocked, but somehow water is retained until the door is opened. Has anyone else noticed this quirk?

When I drive past unlined roads, the visual display dims. When there are white lines it brightens and can distinguish between solid and dotted lines. It can't be radar or an acoustic signal, so is there a camera? If so, why doesn't it show a live image? It's very precise, so even if I move slightly over the centre line, I'm prompted to steer back in line.

Have a look at page 31 of the Mk4 brochure, which gives dimensions including the boot, then compare it with your Mk 3 measurements. https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/0bcfc2d5-654f-49b2-a524-91e141293e36

According to the handbook, the Octy iV is 1620kg. I have ours set to maximum regen braking and the amount of regen depends on the brake pressure or the gradient of the road. I find that the regen does most of the braking, coupled with light braking pressure if needed. They are excellent and progressively better as the brake pedal is applied.

I missed your post when I wrote my previous comments. My worry was that during the winter, when we don't go out much, all the motoring would be on e-power, with no alternator charging the 12-volt battery. Modern vehicles seem to gradually drain the 12-volt battery if not used regularly, or only used for short journeys. So during lockdown I had a trickle charger connected our previous car, the Karoq. My test confirmed that the 12-volt battery is charged at the same time as the main 400-volt battery, as stated in the handbook and confirmed by my test. Therefore the car can be driven regularly on e-power without draining the 12-volt battery as any recharging necessary will be done when the car is connected to the main charger. I assume that on hybrid power, with the engine running on occasions, the alternator will top up the 12-volt battery, so it should never go flat in either mode. I've kept the voltmeter plugged in to the 12-volt socket in the boot to do regular checks. Sorry to read about your problems with the battery discharging completely: I hope that the problem has been resolved. Incidentally, when did you buy your car - is it an early model? Ours was bought in early May, but I don't know the build date.

Further thoughts on the Octy. After just over seven weeks, it's a delight to drive and I look forward to going out in it, however long or short the journey may be. It's renewed my enthusiasm for driving. Superb acceleration, useful around here with limited passing places, for example on the A169. The satnav still won't save favourites, bur I can live with that for now because using the search function, or inputting a location or even using voice control to ask the satnav to take me somewhere, it works perfectly. My direct contact at Skoda claims it's not a known issue, but has recorded my problem. (She obviously doesn't read complaints on Briskoda!) The car does have the latest software, so there is no point travelling to the dealer until another update is ready. Also there's no point leaving the car with them for a couple of days because I already know what the fault is: test favourites delete when the stop button is pressed. So I'm not proposing to reject the car as it's so good in every other way. For example, I refuelled the car today for only the second time in seven weeks and over 1186 miles it's averaged 90.7mpg, almost three times better than our Karoq on a similar pattern of driving.

I was slightly concerned about the condition of the 12-volt battery if the car ran on e-power for some time. The dealer couldn't help, so I connected a voltmeter to the 12-volt battery. The resting voltage was 12.4 volts and with the main battery charger connected, it rose to 13.1 volts. So the car could be run on electric power only for some time without the 12-volt battery going flat. It should be like this, but my brother-in-law's hybrid vehicle wouldn't start earlier this year because the 12-volt battery had a low voltage and only started when the AA came to charge the battery. Hence my concern, now sorted.

Our Octavia Estate iV is a fine car, but I cannot save favourites. It went in for a software update on June 17th and favourites could be then saved afterwards for the first time. Four days later all the favourites had gone and I could no longer save favourites. It was due to go in on Thursday for a diagnosis, but after speaking to Skoda UK the dealer was told it's not a known issue and the car has all the latest software updates. Therefore there is no point travelling 30 miles each way. I'm asking for help: how many owners have had problems with the satnav, has it been reported to Skoda UK and has it been fixed? I need some evidence to counter the comment about it not being a known issue. Many thanks Jim

Have a look at the thread I started 'The good, the (not so) bad and definitely not ugly Octavia iV Estate'. it's the best car I've ever driven, but the pleasure is spoilt by a problem with the satnav, which won't save favourites. I had a software update, which fixed it, but it failed again after four days and I lost all the stored favourites, as well as not being able to store new ones. It's in for investigation next Thursday and I'll report back in the aforementioned thread. All the problems seem to be software-related, so I assume they'll all be fixed by the time yours arrives.

How is the heating and cooling achieved? I assume it's electric as the car can be pre-conditioned when parked. Is there any heat obtained from the IC engine when it's operating? On a journey with the various temperatures displayed using hybrid power, the oil temperature and water temperatures were quite low - the oil never exceeded 60 degrees Celsius. I haven't checked the temperatures on a longer run when the IC engine does all the work.

Great to hear you volunteeer for the greyhound trust. They are wonderful, loving dogs and make great pets. They are ideal for older people as greys don't need much exercise, sleep a lot when there's nothing better to do and respond to affection by returning their love with licks and a certain look in their eyes.

A good reply Dave. My sister lent me her 1953 split-screen Morris Minor for a while in the sixties and it was a great little car. You could pracically fix anything with an adjustable spanner and a screwdriver (slight exagerration there!) but despite its age and a noisy diff it was so reliable. Your comment about a car being 100% reliable and fault free has applied to the other five Skodas we've owned in 18 years. None of them ever let us down and there were no warranty claims on any of them - perfect quality control from the start of ownership to selling them on. This is the first Skoda which has needed warranty work, which so far has been unsuccessful. Despite the car being wonderful in every way bar the satnav, I'm concerned about its long-term reliability. I'm due to speak to a contact at Skoda tomorrow, who works for the MD, so I'll post an update. On another tack, how is life Down Under: have the Covid-19 restrictions been lifted yet and is life back to normal? Best wishes Jim (PS 18degrees here today and for me, that's pleasantly warm, being a hardy honorary Yorksireman!)

Hi Dave. It's the best car I've ever driven and I would be disappointed if it had to be returned. Maybe the satnav failure four days after it was 'fixed' is a trivial item (it's only the favourites and home address which disappeared) and the satnav still works, but it's tiresome to drive a round trip of 60 miles and sit around for a couple of hours. My comment about rejecting the car is that we planned to keep it for three years (it's going once the warranty expires) but if they can't fix a simple problem, then what else could go wrong if some more critical software fails? So far I've kept things friendly, but the letter of rejection is ready and waiting!

I waited three hours for the work to be done as because of Covid restrictions they couldn't give me a lift into town and I wasn't prepared to pay for a taxi. We have a greyhound, so it wasn't feasible to go into town with her.

Correction 'his PA replied'. She's have needed a fast jet to get here so quickly! I sent another reply with the following comment: The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires dealers to supply goods that are fit for purpose, as described and of satisfactory quality. However, the vehicle is clearly not satisfactory. You are therefore in breach of contract. As I've owned the car for more than 30 days I am legally entitled to ask that you repair or replace the vehicle at no further cost to me. I have not yet stated that I'll reject the car, but I'm concerned about other software issues during the three years we plan to keep the car, especially as so much is controlled by the software and if a safety critical item fails, I'd be worried about our long-term safety.

See my comment in the thread 'The good, the (not so) bad and definitely not ugly Octavia iV Estate'. The software update failed after four days.

Back to the bad! The software update was done last Thursday 17th June and the satnav worked properly and I was able to save favourites. Yesterday all my favourites were erased and I could no longer add favourites. I've told the dealer I'm not prepared to drive another 60 miles four days after the previous visit with the possibility of further visits. I asked whether a technician could be sent to our address but was told that it's not Skoda policy to do so. So I sent an e-mail to the Skoda MD anjust over 2 1/2 hours later his PA arrived to say it's with the Customer Resolutions Team as a priority.Watch this space!

We visited family yesterday. Most of the journey was high-speed on main roads and motorways, so for much of the time the engine was doing all the work and I was very pleased to get 72mpg for a 258 mile journey. I was able to get a full charge at my brother's, which helped. As there are 75% of Pod Point chargers around the UK not requiring payment, it bodes well for a free top-up on days out. Does anyone know if there is information about some of the technical details ot the iV? For example, the regen braking works well on hills, but when I brake the amount of regen on the display increases - what is changing and what does the regeneration? Also the transition from electric to engine power is unnoticeable, so how does the engine start? Also, the oil temperature on a journey of around 30 miles never goes above 60 degrees, so does it need to have a particular oil to cope with this? My Karoq used to get up to 100 degrees on a fast journey.

Thank you. That is very helpful.

The update took a while at the dealers, so I assume that 'over the air' is not available, although there are options in the menu to download updates. I assume that these are minor file sizes, but perhaps someone more informed can advise?