DaveFromSydney

That is certainly happening here. To get the Octavia I sold my previous car for 60% more than what I had thought it would fetch a year before. And Golf 7.5 R wagons, which were out of stock new, that I considered before settling for the Octavia VRS, were available 1 year old with 10-20000 kms for 95% of the new price, which I did not consider a sufficient discount. Probably should have got one anyway. It was the last model before all of this buttonless, knobless VAG touchscreen system with its incurable software faults. With so many models out of stock due to worldwide shortages people are prepared, at least here in Australia, to pay more than they would have to secure a vehicle immediately. Not that we can drive anywhere at present .

In Australia all options are bundled into one "Premium Pack" for $6000+ so I have all of the options. Except here they do not offer the Skoda Connect so the mobile connection is my phone - which is fine by me since that is already paid for. I find that the traffic updates, such as warnings of parked cars or police ahead, come through. The Skoda satnav works too, and I prefer it to Android Auto, although I do have some faults with it for which have been waiting over 2 months for a fix. And, when I do use Android Auto, it works wirelessly with my Google Pixel 3a.

I do like them. They look very classy. They feel comfortable. I cannot tell about the sweatiness etc because I have only had this car from late Autumn to the end of our (very mild) winter. I do worry about how easy the Alcantara will be to clean (and to avoid getting solied by the leather conditioner that I might use on the learther parts. I would have preferred 100% leather on the parts that face people. Our Golf AllTrack has that and it is very easy to clean. Luckily we do not have little children and our grandchildren, who will be carried occasionally, are getting older and less messy. Still it is good that the seatbacks, where they kick, are in leather (or maybe its vinyl) and easy to wipe. Also we have the Skoda rubber mats which fit great and even cover the central hump.

Here in Australia my vRS had an optional "Premium Pack" which included the leather/alcantara seats.

This is from the brochure that applied here in Australia when I bought my car back in May 2021. And also, it does actually work in my car.

VRS (Moon white) with DCC

It is true that frost, snow and ice are not a problem where I live but poor quality roads are common. Nevertheless I normally get 30000-60000 kms from the tyres (varies depending on FWD/RWD, front/back, tyre type etc). When I did get < 10000kms from a tyre I always found that the wheel alignment with the new tyres showed a significant misalignment. I have mostly used Bridgestone such as RE003.

Could it be that your wheel alignment is out? Perhaps after an encounter with a gutter or a pot-hole. I have had tyres wear out in a few thousand KMs on my other cars and always it was due to the alignment being off.

I reported my issues after 2 days. It has had a total of 10 days at the dealer. But, unlike many of you, my faults are in less essential areas (satnav + voice control) so I get to use my car while I wait. Not that I can go anywhere much during lockdown in Sydney. It has done only 1300kms in my 11 weeks of ownership.

Since software updates did not fix anything they ordered a new infotainment controller for mine back on 25th June. Still waiting after 7 weeks.

Mine claims to have them - they are part of the Premium Pack here in Australia. I have never tried them.

And in some markets, e.g. Australia, Travel Assist in not offered. My car has everything you can get but there is no Travel Assist. The Lane Assist stuff gives you a nudge of you stray across the lane markings but it won't automatically steer you down the middle of the lane. The button on the wheel brings up the menu for all assistance systems - not specifically Travel Assist.

I know this is almost 6 weeks ago now but did that inability to use the smart AC functions persist? I find that the "warm my feet" function is not available for a minute or two until the car is warm enough to do it. Could it just be that?

I can see why you might think that although to me it it clearly different. Strangely as I took that I was thinking how bright and shiny it looked in the sunshine. However it was around 3pm on a wintery afternoon so the sun was low, as you can see from the shadows. I will see if I can capture one that shows it off better. Meanwhile here is the same one with a bit of enhancing.

Moon white RS Wagon.

You are right. I have that setting but never noticed it before. I just tried it and I guess it works: opening the rear door retracts the cover from fully closed to half closed. Closing the rear door again does not reverse the action but I suppose that makes sense since I could do it myself when my hands are not full of packages. Not a feature I would have paid for, although I do like the hands-free opening feature. I suppose it is because I only use the cover, if at all, on the rare long voyages where I have luggage on display at fuel and food stops. From what I can see it need not be "electrically-operated" as in there being a motor. Perhaps just something gives the rearmost edge a little push up and over the detent and the retracting spring takes over.

I have the virtual pedal (great idea) but not the electrically operated cover. In Australia we do not get to choose from a list of options. There is just a Premium Pack for $6500 that includes the items below. I found several of them desirable so I bought the pack but there were several that are of little interest to me.

I have seen it do that in some Youtube videos. But it is not in all RS estates, at least not in mine, here in Australia.

In addition the video shows that he had the same problem as many UK users in this forum (a LHD/RHD issue) with being unable to pass a slower vehicle even though he was in the passing lane - not undertaking.

You might be interested in this video from a Golf 8 GTI user. He had MPH/KPH issues which were not fixed as yet by software upgrades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmpHkvxg7Pk&ab_channel=volkswizard I have included a screen shot from the video of a response he received from VW that confirms there is no fix yet.

For comparison, here is a page put out by VW Australia to explain the issues. https://www.volkswagen.com.au/en/vehicle-delivery-delays.html

Isn't there another step as well: 0. Wait for infotainment system to start-up sufficiently to respond to steps 1-3.

If I thought I could affect VAG's development process I would gladly offer it to them free. It could even get into our cars as a software update - I doubt any hardware change would be required.

Yes I do have the DSG. And if I was intending to drive with auto start/stop enabled then I would blip the accelerator first to wake up the engine. I blame myself a bit - particularly for forgetting to turn off auto stop/start immediately before setting off. But as far as I can recall I had ample time to cross the piece of road that I had scanned for oncoming cars in both directions. Possibly I did not notice the bike in the distance due to it being much smaller than a car, and black - which would be my fault also. Possibly also he came of of a side street or drive onto the main road. Possibly he was travelling too fast. In which case he also should take into account the likelihood of not being seen in time. But what I did not take into account at all was my effectively stalling in the middle of the road. If I was in a "busy urban context" I might agree with you about pollution etc but that is rarely my situation, being a retired person who potters around the outer suburbs. Today, a Sunday afternoon, the number of cars in this area was around 1-2 every minute. Anyway like getting your fingers burnt touching a hot pan, I expect this will serve to teach me a lesson. Turn this ??!@# feature off at the beginning of EVERY journey BEFORE moving off. Actually I just thought of idea for the manufacturers to take up: If the indicators are on, then even though I am stopped now I am intending to move off AND turn, so do not stop the engine. It already has several similar rules, e.g. for Lane Assist which knows not to warn you about crossing lane lines when it should know you are intending to change lanes, e.g. to overtake. Think of another situation where this is dangerous: You are parked in the kerb lane, waiting for a break in the traffic in the centre lane long enough to allow you to slip in without causing any cars to have to slow down. You get out ok but the car has bogged down and now a car does have to brake heavily for you. In that case too the right indicator should be on thereby disabling the stop/start system.

I always turn it off too - except today I forgot. And had a very nasty moment. I was stopped, wanting to turn right into a bigger road, having to cross a lane of oncoming traffic. There was a motorbike coming in that lane. I checked both directions but I did not see him when I launched into my turn. And the car took that moment to stop, then start, then bog down, so there was very little response to accelerator for a second or two. So there I was, side-on in his lane, with him approaching at 60-70 km/h. Luckily he slowed a little and I finally got going. I had to put up with a few expletives from him though. So stupid of the authorities to make this mandatory. A lot of danger for a tiny saving in fuel or emissions. And then of Skoda to make it hidden in sub-menus from the touchscreen, instead of being a physical button with a light, as on our Golf.