SkOmk4

After receiving three negative answers from different Skoda dealerships following my requests for reversing camera installation offers, I searched for an alternate solution. I found a small company specialized in VAG retrofits and I have an appointment with them at noon tomorrow for the installation (price ~550 Euro). They claim it's an original VAG camera; how can I make sure it really is? The price is significantly higher than yours, but you are a bit too far from me @East_Yorkshire_Retrofits 😉 Any tips for what should I keep my eyes on, or what to check during/after the installation? You can imagine I'm quite stressed - the car being 1 month old...

AFAIK the VIN is generated when they plan the production of the car, not when they actually start building it. So probably the system "evaluated" that the car could be built about >1 month before it actually entered into production. What I know from the dealer is that mine didn't wait for parts

Yep, I followed the progress you presented on the dedicated topic - impressive work! I would have guessed you've practically eliminated most of the noise coming from the front and floor areas (not to mention the doors).

No, not really; but you'll know when the car is completed - that's about the moment when it will be shown in the App with the correct image. This was the timeline in my case:

That is really pushing all my buttons... I'm probably paying too much attention to that, but I fail to understand how a 2022 new car generates more rolling-noise inside the car, compared to a 2008 much cheaper car. It'd definitely coming from the tire-asphalt contact, because I can clearly hear the noise difference when the asphalt structure changes (e.g. patches of new asphalt along the road). I wonder if it is some sort of acoustic resonance generated into the plastic arches surrounding the wheels; I've noticed those are made of other materials (with better sound properties) in some cars. I'm surprised Skoda is still using plastic.

In fact, there are several cars with factory rear-DRL, without tweaking/playing with the car settings. One example is my last Megane GT - it had permanent rear lights ON - similar to the front DRL. However, from time to time I occasionally notice some Megane 4 with rear lights off - so I guess sometimes the factory decides to configure the car differently. Another example I know about is the Kia CEED - it also had rear DRL from factory. I doubt the rear DRLs partially obscure the brake lights; if this would be true, it would also be a safety risk in dim light, when the car (or the driver) decides to start the front&rear lighting.

My question is not really about the "VRS Audio upgrade", but I hate opening new topics for very similar issues... I have a Style trim with stock audio (not Canton) and I noticed a HUGE discrepancy in the sound quality between different levels of volume. At low volume the sound is extremely crappy - sounds like a cheap empty tin-can; the higher the volume, the better the sound quality... Is this the general perception? Or is-there something wrong with my ears? Comparing to my previous cars, I can say without any doubt that the standard audio of my 2008 Megane sounds much, much better than the Octavia, only at low volume; they become comparable at higher volume and at some point the Octavia sound quality goes above the Megane one. There's no comparison between the 2018 Megane GT that had a factory fitted Bose system and the Octavia...

Thanks for that, I though I was paranoid... This noise is one of the biggest issue I have with my new car (I have several other small complains, but this one proudly sits in top 3). The ride is overall quite silent, since I also added the soundproof front-side windows, but the main noise comes from the front wheels - at least that's how I perceive it. I checked the tire pressures - they are not that high (about 2.5 if I remember correctly) and then I searched for the certification of the Goodyear EfficientGrip tires - it's supposed to be 70dB. The noise is really annoying, I'd say it's above the one I can hear in my ~15 years old Megane. Looking forward to compare the noise level with the winter tire set - I already purchased Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 16" and it's supposed to generate 71dB. Anyone else bothered by the Goodyear EfficientGrip being too loud?

I was joking with some friends years ago about those wheel safety bolts: "If someone is interested in steeling your wheels, be sure that he'll have the necessary keys to remove the anti-theft bolts". So why bother?

I had the same feeling of "soft" brake pedal in my new Octavia, but not for a moment did it feel unsafe; the braking is excellent - it only requires a longer travel of the pedal. Compared to my Renault daily-drive, it's a huge difference: the travel is a lot shorter in the Renault and the pedal is harder. That doesn't mean any of the two creates any discomfort, it's just the need two slightly "re-calibrate" my right foot when switching cars. It's most obvious when I park one and directly jump into the other one; otherwise I don't feel such a dramatic difference. With the accelerator pedal I also have the feeling it's really artificial and "disconnected" from the car... That's why I keep the DSG in S, not in D; that changes not only the behavior of the gearbox, but also the feeling & response of the accelerator pedal. Indeed, when in D there are situations when you really press for 1-2-3 cm on the accelerator and there's no feedback from the engine. You really need to floor-it to get an instantaneous response. That never happens when DSG is in S. (to clarify: I'm referring to the S-mode of the gearbox, not to the Sport driving mode that also affects the engine and steering behavior)

This is the sequence in my case (I wrote down everything in the .xls of my Octavia 😉 ) - 13/07 - VIN received; - 23/08 - VIN accepted in SkodaConnect App; - 31/08 - car correctly identified in SkodaConnect App; The very same day (31.08) the dealer wrote to me saying the car was completed. - 27/09 - car was with the dealer; - 01/10 - picked up the car. p.s. Happy Anniversary to my car!!! It's 2 months old, and 1 month with me! How time flies...

Existing topic:

On the way back home this afternoon I tried exactly what you described. First, I activated "navigation directions" in the list of items to be displayed on the right side of the dashboard. Then I scrolled until I had the Waze directions shown; exactly as you pointed out, each time I was playing with that right side of the display to replace the navi-directions with something else, that information would be displayed for 1-2 seconds on the position of the clock. This behavior is reproduced every time. What I described above was completely different. I had those Waze directions on the top-center position (replacing the clock) for about 30 minutes/50 km drive, until I stopped the car. And it was surely not the outcome of me pressing some magic button on the steering wheel or MIB. I don't play at all with the dashboard display while I'm driving; at least not after I decided what info to keep showing, after my first weekend with the car. The only buttons I use after each start are: "Car" then "Start/Stop Off" and then "Assist" (on the steering wheel) -> "Lane assist Off".

That's the strange story... Each time it happened (only last weekend) I never touched the "content" of the gauges. I decided a while ago on what I keep in there as info, and I rarely scroll through those info. As a matter of fact, I don't even have "navi directions" activated in any of the left or right gauges. On one occasion last weekend, I was trying to force the central display to show me waze-directions, because I was already almost convinced it was randomly working. I was on cable connection (wireless charging giving me less power than the consumption of wireless AA), I had those directions shown for more than 30 minutes and I stopped at a gas station. When I restarted I had the clock on display, so I tried to restart the AA connection. I tried from the car's MIB, but it didn't help. So I went on the Phone into Settings -> Apps -> AndroidAuto -> ForceStop. After that disconnected and reconnected the cable on the phone, AA started with Waze still keeping the old destination I previously set. The instant it restarted I had the waze directions on the dashboard (replacing the HH:MM) for a couple of seconds - not more that 5 - and then it came back to clock display...

That's the nice thing about it: you don't loose any of the Info inside the two gauges (or the left&right sides - for those using the other virtual dashboards). The driving directions are displayed on the center-top side of the dash, where you normally have the clock showing. I don't have a problem to loose the click against those detailed Waze-directions. I'll upload a picture when I get the opportunity; this weekend I wasn't lucky enough to have it displayed - I was stuck with the clock HH:MM. The one attached is found online - only to show what's the region I'm referring to - the clock display; Waze directions use an impressively large area, much more than the clock size!

Well, on the previous diesel engines I had, I knew that low revs aren't great for the cat-converter and for the EGR. I'm not sure if the newer technologies included in this last version of the 2.0 TDI solved those potential issues. Indeed, the fuel consumption is great; mine is in the 4.4 - 4.6 interval for most of my drives.

No, it's not that it is too slow for me, but most of the time it keeps the engine at very low revs and I don't really like that. Furthermore, if you need the engine in higher revs (e.g. you prepare an overtake) you need to really press the gas pedal - almost floor it. In "S" the gearbox is in Sport mode, so revs are higher, but never too high (unless you request it by accelerator); and for the kick-down you don't need to push the gas to the floor - the accelerator is more sensitive. AFAIK it is not; the engine and steering are still in "Normal" mode, only the gearbox response is different. Today I passed the 1.500 km milestone, and didn't use the Sport mode yet, only the DSG-S for most of the time. BTW, S will also show you the gear number; I hate not knowing what gear it's in...

Really happy you finally got the car, ENJOY IT!!! I also noticed this happening: removed the phone protection for testing purposes and it still stops&resumes charging every few minutes. I think it's caused by the phone moving around inside the charger tray... Anyway, I found the wireless charging too slow, so I recommend using the cable for the long drives. Are you happy with the engine revs in "D"? I keep mine in "S" (the gearbox, not the driving mode)... I sometimes use the ACC, but I find that most of the time the braking is quite late and strong for my taste... That's what I noticed on most of the cars with ACC I drove so far. The driver is anticipating a lot better the traffic flow in front.

I also noticed something similar, and it's occurring quite seldom; however, it doesn't do it when there's no car in front, but it does it when there's actually no real collision risk. For instance, the car in front who is already quite far from me, slows down for a right turn; I start reducing the speed gradually, but because I'm still approaching the car in front the "crash warning" shows up. A second scenario is when a car pulls out in front of me from a different lane; I react to that before there's any warning. In this case, what surprises me is the reaction delay of the system... It's already too late when it gives the warning. I disable the lane assist almost immediately after start because of this behavior. I only find it useful over long distances on the highway, otherwise, I fail to see it's purpose.

About that... I've been searching for a free VIN decoder to give me all the details for my car, but nothing seems to work in what I found online. The website I used to decode VIN for my previous cars, doesn't work for my Octavia. It does have an option to decode Skoda VIN, but it says "VIN not found" for mine... Any suggestions?

During the 3 weeks (4 weekends) spent with my new Octavia, I had two phones connecting straight forward wirelessly to AA (both Samsung: a S20+ and a S21 Ultra). Over a 2-3 hours drive, both are not able to charge as fast as they drain battery, hence having a lower battery at the end of the trip than in the beginning; that's with the original wireless charging pad of the car. If I'm using the cable (the original Samsung) the battery will be quite constant - charging the amount it uses... On the other hand, with the wireless charging the phone will become quite hot; so for longer trips I think cable connection should be used. This weekend I noticed for the first time directions from Waze showing up on the dashboard - the center-up position, where the clock is usually shown. However, what's extremely annoying is the fact that those directions come and go. Once they are shown, they will stay on the dashboard for the rest of the trip. But if you stop for a gas station or whatever other reason and you leave you car, AA disconnects and it reconnects when you return inside the car. The new AA connection might now show Waze directions on the dashboard. The statistics I have so far show a 50-50% probability. And that's for this weekend only; I never saw the Waze directions before, and I use Waze all the time. Any ideas???

I don't know about you guys, but in my case, with the wireless AA running straight forward when I picked up the car, there's an issue with the wireless charging. My S20+ phone charging on the original charger of the car and running AA and occasionally a phone call, is not able to charge during a trip of ~200 km. It actually looses charge - about 10% of the battery - over the 2.5 hours of driving those 200 km. On top of that, it becomes hot as a Saharan summer day... If I use a cable it will actually charge and not get that hot, no matter how much I would exploit it. Anyone else having this kind of problem? p.s. the phone case is not an issue; it was the 1st thing I thought about and removed the phone's silicon case to reduce the phone-charger distance.

Not sure exactly, but from what I've seen in traffic on this part of the continent the ratio would be somewhere around 1/4 laser.vs.radar. However, modern radar detectors are also detecting laser signal. Probably just to let you know that your speed was just measured 😊 - 'cause at that point it's already too late... Now concerning my earlier question: I received my new radar detector yesterday and today I had a ~200km drive that gave me the chance to test the signal through the windscreen. Nothing - no signal at all. I also tried placing it above (and to the side) the rear-view mirror - behind the two "patches" that are more transparent - still nothing. The user manual of the car says nothing about any area on the windshield for better GPS reception (e.g. for a traffic camera with GPS). So I'll probably have to return the detector and live without...

Happy birthday to you AND your car!!! Enjoy your Octy! Where could you find the service intervals? I'm also happy with the app (both phone- and web-based), but I can't have any service interval or related information. I know the App does have More->Service-Overview, but it's basically a link to the Shop with extra-options available for the car. Anything else? A similar App for mu Renault used to show me time/km for the next service and all the operations to be performed...

I had the rough road package for many years on the Megane 2 (still using it since 2008) and really had nothing to complain about. It was raising the car by about 20mm; some users mentioned the car is not as stable on speedy corners as the standard suspension, but it's a choice one makes depending on the way the car will be exploited. I was so happy with the rough road package, that I ordered it on the newly arrived Octavia; it's not a PHEV, but I thought you might use any opinion. For my taste it is great; I drove the car for only 250 km this weekend, but it was mainly on express roads, so I was able to push it a little around some curves - no problems at all and no boat-like behavior on slightly wavy roads. I'm really happy with the extra ground-clearance (they told me it's close to 25 mm extra) since I sometimes get outside the asphalt on bumpy roads while wondering around on vacations. L.E. sorry, I forgot to mention: the rough road package involves not only different springs, but also different dampers. However, not sure those are stiffer or not than the standard ones.