IainST

Hi I am really sorry to hear this, I did wonder what they would do with the car we rejected and clearly they have just offloaded it. It was a massive hassle for us to sort so I feel your pain. I still don't understand how it is legal to have a car in the UK that is not specified as an Import when it was so clearly built for a different market. I am glad you got your money back and have a sorted a different "UK" model. We ended up with a well spec'd Edition and have come to terms with not having all the bells and whistles! I would also encourage people to check the sat nav of anything they look at and avoid anything called a "style" trim

Hi all, Sorry for the silence we have been waiting for various bits of information and dealing with a whole host of issues. As an update the car is now confirmed as an import that was built for the Australian Market and has no certificate of conformity for use in the UK. It is registered with the DVLA but not as an import. Skoda UK confirmed because of this that they were unable to download any UK maps on to sat nav and weren't able to replace the OCU (Onboard Control Unit) to an EU version as they would not be able to code it to the vehicle. So it Hence we are now getting our money back but this leaves us without a car (our part exchange was sold at auction) and we now need to find something similar at very short notice. They had given us a courtesy car whilst they sorted this but now want it back this week. So all we have had from this experience is a lot of stress and hassle, we are now out of pocket for the cost of changing insurance, and will be carless. No idea how we are supposed to find something at such short notice and potentially without a car to go and view anything. You can understand we are now very cautious about buying something online without seeing it first. Anyway thanks everyone for all your help

So an update.... The Skoda garage (unsurprisingly) failed to sort the sat nav. They have done a full tech download and are going to send this to Skoda technical about how to do it. They have also spotted a number of things that should have been done (engine oil, pollen filter etc) which the garage we bought it from will sort. In our investigations we have been told the original purchaser bought the car directly from Skoda UK online and simply collected it from a Skoda Garage. They had no idea it was an Australian car, although we don't know if the sat nav worked for them and got messed up when they cleared their personal data. We are trying to get more details of the original order from Skoda UK but I presume this means that it was them (Skoda UK) who registered the car with the DVLA in the UK? So if they supplied an Australian car (which is what the ViN says it is) then they have seriously messed up with no certificate of conformity etc. thoughts welcome

That's a really interesting idea, If it were the case you would presume it would have happened to a whole suite of cars. I had a google search but could not find anything that mentions this as a phenomenon but it would explain the long gap

Thanks for this I am glad there is nothing major in terms of safety and EU/UK regulations. So they can reprogram the sat nav which is good news we then just have to work out if it is worth it. I guess it is then a negotiation about what an "import" is worth compared to a UK car.

It was registered November 2020 And the same date for UK registration Declared new at first registration

sorry for my ignorance but what is the SVM code? is this something I can mention to the garage? Iain

So it is booked into the skoda garage on Monday for them to see if they can reprogamme the colombus. The garage we bought it from have given us more time to try and sort this out. Checking thise details it is hard to know if there is anything missing/different from the spec that would cause an issue in UK (other than Nav) can cope without heated washers and presume emissions and safety matches UK/EU standards. If there is anything I need to ask the garage please let me know. Will let you know how we get on and thanks to everyone for their help especially Varooom. 🤩

Will let you know what else I uncover

Wow a lot to digest there thank you so much for this. Wonder why it is RoW for navigation. Have contacted vwg about the details they hold as Skoda UK only had it one database which is apparently odd in itself

"Just contact Skoda UK and get all the info from the system." Cheers roottoot Do you know the best way to get in contact with them or at least the right department to get this info?

"Part are all compatible and mapping can be updated (it's probably been updated by someone who downloaded the wrong set of maps)" It is good to know parts are compatible 😀 Is there any information about how to change the region of the SATNAV anywhere? I searched this site and read a lot about how to update maps but not change the region. The Skoda update portal gives me the ROW map as an update when I put my VIN into it.

Thanks Skomaz, The Weird thing is the Spec on the car pretty much exactly matches the Style trim for AUS with the luxury pack added. It has electric and vented seats but no heated windscreen etc. it has more spec than an Edition let alone an SEL Iain

Hi, We have bought (still in 14 day cancellation period) a 2020 reg Skoda Kodiaq. It was sold by a Jaguar garage (100+ miles away) so they are a bit clueless. It was advertised as an SEL (with loads of add ons) but when I put the VIN into the Skoda app it comes up as a "style" trim, built in Czech Republic. These are obviously not sold in the UK and on trying to use the Columbus SAT NAV the only countries listed are NZ and AUS. the V5 document lists it as a SEL and does not mention being an import. I cant believe someone has shipped a Kodiaq from AUS to the UK but how else has it ended up here? my questions are: Can the Columbus System be reprogrammed to cover the UK and Europe ? would there be an issue with parts for a non standard model?? Any other issues that may cause us problems? I want to keep the car as it is lovely, drives well and had all the bells and whistles (surround cameras, adaptive cruise, virtual cockpit, vented seats, child pack etc) but am worries something is going to bite me further down the line. Any advice would be most welcome Iain