SouthernComfort

Most likely the case. Photos often misrepresent real life colours/shades. Mine is white, so there wasn't much to doubt!

I bought that report for mine last year from the same source, quite useful to have. Curiously two or three items are in German, easy to translate so no big deal. For 3 Euro ($5 in my language), it's a bargain.

P.S. Looking back on the posts, my method seems to be much the same as @Novascape described. Numbering each track in the folder is important for the playing sequence.

I don't know how orthodox my method is, or even if I'll be explaining it clearly enough, but I have a simple Sandisk stick and have arranged music into Folders saved to the root. I've individually named each folder as either a dedicated album name, or a compilation name to contain a selection of tracks. From my PC I just drag the tracks (mp3) to the relevant folders on the stick. I don't try and save an entire album by album name, instead I copy all the tracks from an album into the relevant folder. Everything works fine and plays in the order I've saved them, any relevant track or album data shows on the screen as each track plays. When plugged into the car's C drive (using the innermost of the 2 console sockets) , the infotainment menu recognises the stick as 'Partition 1', I click on that and the list of folders appears on the screen ready to open, I can then choose to either 'play all' or scroll down to specific tracks. I ignore the infotainment's 'album' and 'track' menu, and only open 'partition 1'. Never had any issues with this method.

With any new car it takes a few readjustments to find the perfect position. The infinite combinations of rake, lumbar, distance and height settings, plus steering wheel height and reach means a lot of fiddling. Manually adjusted seats generally don't have the same micro-adjusting scope as powered seats, but persist with it and you'll get there. Octavia's seats are among the best of any car I've had.

I'm not experiencing this phenomenon, but inevitably conditions and fuels do vary by region. What I can't understand is why those factors would cause a steady deterioration in performance which suddenly improves after servicing, unless very dusty conditions progressively / prematurely clog the air filter. If the performance improves after a service where the air filter hasn't been changed, then it's a bit of a mystery.

So are you're saying you're still under warranty (i.e. factory warranty)? If so, I'd be expecting it to be fully covered.

Earlier VAG DSG transmissions were plagued with this problem for several production years. I had one replaced under warranty in my previous Golf. If you're out of warranty you may be at the mercy of dealer procing as I'm not sure it's something an independent VAG specialist would tackle, although it's worth shopping around to find out. If you're not long out of warranty, and given that it's well known problem, it might be worth talking to Skoda direct.

All AU/NZ non-RS variants are so equipped, I also understand it's the case in North America too. Shame that the Aisin box isn't available in UK/Europe. I'm not sure why the obsession exists with DSG, having experienced it in the Golf I find the 8sp a much smoother drive and better able to determine which gear it needs to be in, especially at low speeds.

Not familiar with the 1.5 and ACT, but IMHO the 1.4TSI and 8sp torque converter box is a seriously sweet combination. It's one of the best cars I've driven and a great improvement on the Golf DSG I had a while back.

I've always been amazed with the fuel economy in this car. I did a recent 800km round trip to the west of the state and on a combination of highway & freeway running (most of the journey) the car consistently returned 4.8l/100km (59mpg) on cruise set to 100/110kph. 8sp Auto, 2 adults, dog, luggage. Add on the urban driving at each end traversing city and suburbs and of course the overall average obviously gets to 5+l/100km. Even pure urban driving is still around 6.5l/100km. Very pleased with that, and 'slightly' better than my old 6's and V8's used to be 😜

Has it happened ever since you bought the car, or is it something that's developed more recently? I can't pick up a whistle or buzz from your sound bite, but it does sound like wind noise. From what you've described I had the identical problem in another car. One of the front windows wasn't fully closed to it's stop. It looked closed, but was about 1-2mm off the stop. A loud whistle only started from around 60kph and it was solved when the mechanic took it out to listen for himself - very embarrassing! I know you have obviously checked the windows et al, but it still sounds suspiciously like wind. Is there anything, even a tiny foreign object, stuck in one of the upper window channels that you can't see?

I carry the key in my RH pocket as a rule and it works fine, however once or twice the 'key not detected' message has popped up, so that may be the reason. Shifting it to the LH pocket is a good idea, as is never placing it in the console!

So do I. I have a Thermos with a slim bottom end similar to the ones @TheWanderer listed above and it fits fine. Thankfully mine didn't cost anywhere near the equivalent of 25/30 UK pounds though, that is a hell of lot for a coffee mug 😲

Ok, obviously you have read the manual - good. However to cherry pick that particular maneuver is an exception I'll concede, but in performing that (usually called 'rocking' the transmission to free the car stuck in snow, mud etc.) is not the same thing as being on the move. With rocking, the movement is very short, slight and at no speed. Just don't shift between selections while driving unless it's to manually shift from D (Drive) to S (Sport), or to manually use the paddle shifters in D or S.

I agree, there's nothing to be scared of with an auto box of any kind, DSG or not. So long as common sense is applied you can't really do anything wrong that will break it (other than moving the shifter to another setting while on the move!). It always makes sense to me to double check the car has applied the ebrake for you when when parked in P, on a hill particularly. BTW, in case you haven't RTFM in detail yet, it's worth doing so, these car are very sophisticated and it will answer many questions that might be in your mind.

Seems the FL model may have a few minor deletions - no touch lock buttons on the rear doors, now the absence of horned rear headrests? Even my '23 Style model has the latter, doesn't need to be a VRS to get those. But then there's always been the matter of regional differences in equipment levels too.

My car is just on 2 years old (from build date) and the message just came up on Friday, I've now replaced with energizers in all 3 keys. The keys are kept in RFI pouches and get rotated once a quarter to achieve even wear. Lately I've noticed a very faint even 'ticking' sound coming from the car when all is quiet in the garage, it stops on unlocking the car. I'm not sure what it's related to but haven't noticed it before.

You're welcome. You say it's happened twice and you wanted to avoid it happening again, so you got it based on what I do myself. I never place the key in the console or anywhere else in the car, it's always in my pocket. At least until you get it sorted, whatever receptacle you have with you that you wouldn't leave in the car, is a fit place to stow the key. Sometimes you have to go 'old school' to mitigate a problem. BTW, this issue isn't unique to Skoda, it also happens with other makes.

Yes, correct.

You may well need a software update, but the best safeguard is to never place the key in the car, in your pocket is a lot safer.

Have you followed the process in the manual (posted by @DropBear above), you should be able to determine if it works i.e. deactivates, then reactivates.

That's fair comment, the terms are confusing. I have Park Assist on mine (non-vrs), but not the 'Park Steering Assistant' self-parking feature the manual refers to. So what I should have asked, is 'Park Steering Assistant' standard on vrs? It seems not, otherwise all vrs owners would have it, unless regulations in certain countries/regions disallow it...

What I'm not clear on is whether it was standard on the vrs, or an optional extra that had to be ordered.

OK, that clears things up a bit.