Sir_Ron_Norris

Ye Gods! All this is appalling. Skoda sabotaging their own cars with seriously faulty upgrades? Thankfully I got rid of my Octavia iV three weeks ago. The icon top left says I am enthusiast. Certainly not - quite the opposite!

I wouldn't do this. The dealer is very likely to make things worse, as they did with mine. IMO they simply don't know what they are doing.

Funny you should say this. In about 10 days time I am trading in my iV for a new fully EV (Not VAG!). This was my third and last Octavia and by a long way the worst of the lot. When I arrive at the dealer to pick up the new car I am going to take the Octavia round the back and give it a damned good BasilFawlty-style thrashing.

Like you, I had a new battery fitted but no improvement. What does ffs mean?

Sorry, Mr McCririck, I can't help, only sympathise with you. I have had four years of having to tolerate this crap. A very weak 12v battery that is likely to let me down at any time. So much so that when it is parked in my garage I always pop the bonnet so that when it doesn't start I can get in and hook up my CTEK battery conditioner without going through the farce of trying to get into the car by the official method of prising off part of the NSF door handle. Honestly, who designs these ridiculous systems? And they call it progress! I have been warned (by Skoda, no less) not to sit in the car when stationary listening to the radio as half an hour of that will flatten the 12v battery. Unbelievable! Anyway, after three Octavias since 2002 I am trading in this iV dud for a new all-electric EV from another manufacturer who, by the way, is as gobsmacked as I am about these VAG-originated faults. My final act on trade-in day will be to take the car behind the supplying dealership and give it a good BasilFawlty-style thrashing. There, I feel better already... PS, the only positive I can offer is that if you haven't got one already, buy a CTEK battery conditioner. Assuming you have a garage or, at least, a drive connect it when leaving the car parked for even two days.

Sorry to hear that and, as you say, hope it's not a sign of future troubles. Given the 12v battery (on mine at least) is basically inaccessible sealed in its own "tomb" beneath the boot floor, how did you disconnect it?

This happened on all four Skodas I have owned - three Octavias and one Fabia - especially being parked after a power wash. You did what I do - give it a bit of throttle to unstick the brakes and away you go.

My 1.5 SEL is a little over three years old. For most of its life a full charge provided 29-33 miles range. For several months now that full charge gives a range of 25 miles only. Does the efficiency of these batteries erode over time - over just three years?

Turn them off? Only to find they come on again at every subsequent start-up. And have you ever wondered about the bright sparks at Skoda who dream up this unnecessary stuff just so they can charge more money? It surprises me that I have come so far (and others, too, I guess) in my driving career without the need for all this electronic frippery.

I think you must understand that the car is in charge; not you! Remember, Skoda (and others) are aiming towards autonomous cars and we are the guinea pigs. These so-called eco tips drive me wild. 55 years of driving and my car treats me like a novice 😠 .

I agree. In fact the best I have had in S-mode is a re-charge to 8 miles of electric, but usually it is 5-6 miles. You need a long-ish trip and a light touch on the accelerator to achieve this.

After almost three years of often frustrating ownership I have learnt that when any malfunction occurs, switch off, wait a few minutes and switch on again. All is then generally well. It is, after all, a computer on wheels - and that's what we do when our computers, printers, digital devices etc go on the blink, isn't it? The very last thing I would advise is to take into a Skoda dealer. In my experience their ignorance is astounding and they are likely to introduce more errors than they solve.

Just like it used to be! 🙄

I read today that Skoda is closing its Colchester dealership. They are quoted as saying “Skoda has decided to reduce the number of dealers in their network, with an increased focus towards online sales.” Well, they might as well close them because over 21 years of being a loyal Skoda customer (4 purchases of new models) in my experience the quality of accredited dealers has deteriorated sharply. And regular readers of these columns will know the frustrations of interactions with these dealers who appear to be totally ignorant of what they are selling. Online sales...? Well, maybe, but I can't see after-sales going well. If we can't get credible answers and remedies face-to-face then there is little chance with an online "service".