ChubbsH

I also meant to add that it really helps to keep with the same dealer when trying to get a proper resolution to the infotainment system malfunctioning. If you don’t stay with the same dealer you go back to square one each time with the reboot/software update merry go round and it’s hard to get beyond this. I also think it’s absolutely essential to email the main Skoda organisation of the country where you are and get a case number assigned to your complaint. Videos of the problem with sound are essential too. Apparently the clicks heard when the screen goes crazy are a good indication that it’s at fault and replacement is the only cure. Good luck with resolving your case!

Hi SZABO, I experienced exactly the same problems that you describe for over three years with my 2020 Octavia. Endless trips to dealers all ended the same way. Lots of software updates, reboots, fuse removals and replacements, none of which worked. The infotainment system just continued to go crazy, doing it’s own thing and making the car essentially unusable and dangerous to drive. Tired of getting nowhere, I resorted to complaining to Skoda UK by email, detailing as much as possible all the occasions when the car displayed infotainment problems and sending several videos (with sound) showing the faults. I then received a phone call from a Skoda UK Customer Service agent who was quite sympathetic, and a case number was raised concerning my complaint. I was advised to book my car in to my local dealer and Skoda UK would liaise with them to decide how to proceed. Almost inevitably yet another reboot, followed by a software update was recommended and carried out. This was done in the early Autumn, and from then on until early April I had little trouble, apart from the radio occasionally starting up spontaneously. Then, on the first really hot day this year, all the old problems cropped up again including the infotainment system becoming permanently live, flattening and damaging the battery. I took more videos of the system malfunctioning and emailed them to Skoda UK once again. I also copied the videos to my local dealer who agreed to liaise with Skoda UK. This time the help and perseverance of my local Skoda dealer paid off and, after another reboot/software update failed whilst the car was still with the dealer, Skoda UK authorised a replacement infotainment screen under warranty. This was done last week. Since then, despite some pretty hot days, I’ve had absolutely no trouble with the infotainment system at all. Early days, I know, but I hope at last that this will be the end of the problem. My dealer was really proactive and helpful in all of this.

Sorry to see that so many Octavia owners (me included) continue to have pretty much identical problems with the Octavia mk4 infotainment system. You’d think that by now Skoda would own up to this widespread manufactured hardware defect and not keep messing about with software reboots and updates, none of which, as far as I am aware, has ever provided a permanent cure to the problem. In my case, after more than two years of total exasperation, submitting several videos of the problem to my dealer and Skoda UK, and writing letters to Skoda UK, at long last they have authorised my local dealer to do a screen swap from a donor car (which I’m assuming doesn’t have any infotainment issues!) as the latest attempt to fix my car. This will happen on the 28th May, so I’ll write and let everyone know how it went. I shall be particularly interested to see if the swap cure the radio starting up spontaneously when the car is left locked up during a spell of very hot weather. I’d be very interested to know too if anyone who has one of the new face-lifted Octavia mk4.5 has had any problems with the infotainment system similar to those of the mk4. I believe the newer model has a larger infotainment screen which might allow for better cooling.

I have a ‘70 Octavia mk4. Owned for nearly 4 yrs. During that time I have experienced endless problems with the infotainment system, particularly in hot weather: radio switching on randomly with increasing volume, random alarm and hazard lights coming on, screen randomly scrolling through different pages, and system unable to be switched off. All this is sometimes accompanied by cracking sounds like a stone thrown up at the windscreen. No Skoda dealer has so far managed to provide a permanent fix. Any and all software updates have ultimately failed. Last week I had to abandon the car after it was packed for a holiday. The automatic brake wouldn’t release and the radio came on randomly. I couldn’t even start the car or get the engine to turn over. Whilst on holiday I had a neighbour call me to say the alarm had come on. Happily it did turn itself off later. When I got home I couldn’t get into the car as the battery seemed to have died. Next week it’s booked in to Skoda’s for yet another diagnostic but I have no faith that any new software updates will cure the problem. As the car is on an extended warranty I’m pushing for a screen change and/or the screen’s computer drive unit. Frankly I’ve had enough.

Thanks Stevo, My Octavia mk4 had a female voice for over 3 years, but after a visit to my local Skoda dealer in September last year in order to rectify massive infotainment problems, it came back with a male voice! I much prefer the female voice so your info was of great help. I’d been through all the menus to try to change it myself, but with no success, and imagined that it must be a dealer only option to change it. Never imagined the fix was buried away in the language menu. Thanks again Best wishes Chubbs H

More trouble again with the radio starting spontaneously when the car was locked! Yesterday was quite hot in the afternoon and, as usual, I had a silver windscreen shade in place in the car together with a thick cloth covering the infotainment screen, hoping to keep the internal temperature of the car relatively low, as, as I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, high temperatures seem to trigger the fault. Unfortunately I’d forgotten to leave the windows open a bit, and that seemed enough to raise the temperature to the point where the radio came on and the volume started to climb. Fortunately, unlike the situation in June, I was able to switch the infotainment screen off and, by leaving the windows open a bit, the radio didn’t come on again. In exasperation I phoned Skoda UK on 0333 003 7504, and received a lot of help from a very sympathetic Skoda agent. I told her this problem had been going on for years so she raised a case number on my behalf and advised me, if possible, to video the infotainment screen, with audio, when the fault reoccurred and then book the car in to my local Skoda dealer. They would then liaise with the Technical Team based in the Czech Republic and determine the next best course of action. Frustratingly the OBD on the Octavia can’t store a record of faults. It only shows what’s wrong with the car if the fault exists when the diagnostic device is plugged into the OBD socket, hence the need to video the infotainment system when it goes haywire. Unless the UK weather gets really hot again, this fault might not recur for some time. Meanwhile I’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out, camera at the ready! I’ll do another post if I have some success (or not!).

Hi CAtk, You mentioned that the problem is in the new model too. Do you mean the new, updated and revised 2024 Octavia Mk4? If so, just wondered where you got that info. Just out of interest, I looked up the last software update that was done in June this year and it was only the 1941 version. Strange, as it would seem that version 1969 was available in June. I have no idea why the dealer didn't upload it. Maybe it doesn't work as well as it should and introduces too many additional problems into the system.

Hi CAtk. You have my sympathy. I’ve had this problem (not the nav switching county and country) for a couple of years and no software updates or trips to Skoda dealers have produced anything other than temporary respites. Radio spontaneously coming on and increasing in volume even when the car is locked and switched off. It’s happened when I’ve been driving too. Info screen going crazy, switching on and off randomly, and randomly showing clock, nav, radio on-screen each time it switches back on. The on/off intervals vary from half a second to several seconds, sometimes accompanied by clicks, sometimes not. The three dealers I’ve used who have all attempted to provide a permanent fix to the car, and failed, have all said that they’ve not encountered Octavias with this problem before, which seems scarcely believable. It seems inconceivable that Skoda are unaware that the problem is as widespread as it obviously is from the various forums complaining of this problem. Might it be that Skoda know about the problem but have no permanent solution and are reluctant to admit it. I would be really interested to know if anybody with an Octavia who has experienced these problems has ever had a permanent fix made through software or hardware updates/replacement. My own feelings are that the internal design of the unit fitted in the Octavia mk4 is inherently faulty, so fitting a new similar unit won’t make the problem go away, nor will any amount of software updates, and Skoda know this. I don’t know if the recently updated new 2024 Octavia mk4 has a different version of the infotainment system, but it would be great to find out if anyone has experienced any problems with it. It’s disgraceful that Skoda can’t offer their dealers any way of sorting this problem, yet still take money from Octavia customers who keep hoping that the next software update will cure all. My car has had this problem from new, has never been permanently fixed, is now out of warranty, and all future potential fixes will have to be paid for. It cost me £100 for the last failed fix when I was away on holiday! As I’ve mentioned previously in another post, very high temperatures inside the car, as you might get when it’s locked and in full sun, seem to trigger the infotainment/radio switching on randomly and going berserk. For the past two years, when it’s been practicable, I’ve been covering the windscreen with a reflective heat panel, putting a heat absorbing cloth over the infotainment screen and also leaving the windows open a smidge whenever possible. Not once when I’ve done this has the infotainment system switched itself on spontaneously. Surely this must be a significant pointer to the problem. I love the car, but wouldn’t ever buy another Octavia until and unless Skoda made the infotainment system utterly reliable and a helluva lot easier to operate on the move. The new Superb has decent controls, why not the Octavia?!

Yup, same thing still going on with my Octavia 2 years down the line. No dealer seems able to fix this and Skoda don’t appear to acknowledge that the fault is as widespread as it obviously is from all the similar complaints in the forum. Just wonder if anyone who’s bought the recent (2024) updated Octavia has experienced the problem, or has Skoda finally found a fix but are keeping quiet about it from a sense of acute embarrassment. My 2020 mk4 threw a complete infotainment hissy fit on holiday in June. Driving along when the radio started up spontaneously and rapidly climbed to max volume. Couldn’t switch it off, and as fast as I scrolled back the volume, it started climbing back up again. At the same time the multimedia screen was switching itself on and off, randomly displaying the nav map, the clock (different variations) or the radio page as it saw fit. The whole system just couldn’t be turned off for more than a few seconds before switching itself back on again. Skoda Assist sent the AA to help. They were able to get the system to stabilise, with just the clock showing, but the car had to go to the local dealer. I got charged over £100 for a complete reboot and update (1941) which appeared to resolve the problem for a while. On the way home, I found that once or twice the radio would start up un-commanded when I started the car but could at least be switched off. Otherwise no problems…… until this week during the hot weather when the radio started coming on again ( thankfully not at max volume) when the car was locked and sitting in the drive. Aaaaaagh!!!. I’m convinced that a design fault and high temperatures have rather more to do with this problem than software, as update ‘fixes’ rarely seem to produce a permanent cure. The only ‘cure’ which seems to have worked for me is to put a reflective screen shield in the windscreen whenever I leave the car, and to put a folded-in-half large soft detailing/cleaning sheet (Supagard) over the whole infotainment screen to absorb the heat. When practical, I also crack open all four windows to try to keep the interior heat down. So far, by doing this, especially in this last week of UK hot weather, I’ve not had a single instance the radio starting. Not the greatest of fixes, but at least the neighbours are happy and I can sleep at night! I do hope Skoda come up soon with something permanent to fix the infotainment problem. It really does ruin what is otherwise an excellent car. Good luck with your own ‘fix’!

Well, the same problem occurred again late yesterday evening, so not temperature related it would seem. Car locked in the drive but the radio came on at high volume so I had to dash out and switch it off. No subsequent repeat in the night, but really annoying. This only seems to happen every few days and also appears to be the only software glitch with the car at moment. Worth repeating that I never experienced this issue prior to the latest OTA upgrade. Other than this, the car is great, except, obviously, for lack of physical control switches for the fundamental operations. This is what you get when you let 21 yr old design ‘experts’ have way too much say in the board room.

Sorry, I should have said I was referring to MCG1975's problem, and something I just remembered which was a bit weird. When I noticed that the car was blaring away in the drive, I went out to unlock it but still had the key in a Faraday pouch. I didn't realise this until I touched the driver's door handle and the 'Kissy' system failed to operate. No problem there. However, what I did notice was that, surprisingly, even though the car didn't unlock, and with the key still firmly in the pouch, the radio stopped playing and the screen went blank, apart from the 'Home' and 'Menu' icons remaining illuminated. This just shouldn't have happened with the pouch preventing any connection to the car. Just wondered if anyone else had had something similar?

Hi, Just read your problem and absolutely the same thing is happening with the my Octavia in August 2023. Car locked, and same hot, sunny conditions in the driveway, and the volume way up above what I would normally select. Doesn't seem to happen at night when the temperature has dropped though. It only seems to have happened since the last OTA update, but that might just be coincidence. No solution found yet but it's driving me nuts! I'm none too popular with the neighbours either.

Anyone had a problem after the last over-the air-update a week or so ago? I keep finding my Octavia's (Dec. 2020 1.5 SEL Mk4) radio coming on after I've left the car and locked it. It's happened 3 times so far and is very disconcerting for me and my neigbours. Anyone found a solution or had the same problem? Any advice greatly appreciated. The continual niggling glitches and the lack of sensible rotary switches to control air-con, heating and fan control just detracts from what is otherwise a really great car. Oh, and who ever thought it was a great idea to do away with a rear wash wipe (yes, I know it's an option, but if you miss adding it to your requested 'spec' it's a big surprise when your car arrives without one, or you don't notice when you've bought secondhand. Anyway, help with the radio problem will be much appreciated.

Oh ta! I’ll check too. I don’t have the car at the moment either.

Please can anyone tell me what the illuminated symbol is in the overhead panel which looks a bit like a car with a door half open. I just can’t find any reference to it in the driver’s manual. Thanks. Chubbs100

Yup! Just been out for a drive and found the same thing. Hadn't realised this before as I've hardly driven the car much. Had too many glitches that needed sorting with diagnostics since I bought the car, so I'm not entirely sure what's right and what's wrong yet when something unusual crops up. Anyway, thanks very much for the confirmation that all's well Skody123. Much appreciated. Now to get to grips with the oddities of the air-con system!

When the 'Classic' selection is made on the digital instrument display, the rev counter and speedometer show their numerals as much less bright than the rest of the display, except for the '10' of the rev counter which is the same brightness as the rest of the displayl. Is this normal? If it isn't, is there a simple way to fix it or will it be back to the agents again for another 'diagnostic' and fix. Any help welcome. My agents won't offer any advice over the phone and want me to 'pop' in, for them to take a look. A round trip of one and a half hours!

Thanks TheUltraRunner and SoupDragon. That helps make sense of the poorly written instructions. Just a shame Škoda couldn’t be bothered to get a decent proof-reader to look at the translation into English before they committed the information to print. It’s all very well the others dismissing a seemingly innocuous query about closing the bonnet, but if people had damaged their bonnets by not following Škoda’s instructions exactly, how many would have accepted responsibility for the damage, and not blamed Škoda. I’ve owned cars for over 50 years and never had a problem closing bonnets before. However, new cars today are increasingly complex and have many built in subtleties which, if not understood properly, can result in damage if correct procedures aren’t observed. Many drivers seem to adopt the old adage ‘if all else fails, read the instructions’. I prefer to read them first. Thanks to all who’ve replied to my call for help. Case (and bonnet!) now closed.

Sorry that should read ‘Do not press down on an unclosed bonnet’

Yeah guys that’s what I’ve always done too, but the handbook says, for closing the bonnet,:- “Closing 1. Pull the flap down with a slight push from a distance of about 20cm. 2. Check that the bonnet is closed Notice Do not press down on an unclogged bonnet Open and close the flap again” Thats the exact wording in the handbook. So, what flap are Škoda talking about. Do they mean ‘bonnet’ or the bonnet catch lever under the bonnet, and what do they mean by “Open and close the flap again’”. Do they mean don’t open and close the flap again? Common sense and the. Octavia mk4 don’t always go together!

The Škoda Handbook information on the correct method of closing the bonnet on the new mk4 Octavia just doesn’t make sense to me. Anyone know how to do it properly without risking damage to the bonnet or lock mechanism? Any info gratefully accepted. Thanks