JamesK

Thanks @SurreyJohn for this. I actually had not considered all season tyres before. I had a quick look at the prices, they certainly seem to command a price premium for the all season tyre! 😒

Hi All, At my recent service the dealer pointed out a couple of cuts in the tyres. One in one of the front wheels, and a couple in one of the rears. The dealer went on to say they couldn't see the cords in any of the cuts. The first MOT is due mid-May, so I'm now wondering if the cuts will cause an MOT fail. I'm thinking I may need to replace all 4 tyres. My SE L has got the 18" Perseus alloys on it, and currently has the factory supplied Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 tyres. I could get the newer Asymmetric 6 fitted, but was wondering if anyone on here had any 18" tyre recommendations? Many Thanks...

Excellent news. Did you have to really push them to perform the update, or was it something they are now updating as standard?

Just in case you're not aware for doing a manual update of the maps, the on-line portal speaks of using an SD card. There is no SD card reader on the Octavia IV, so you'll need to load the maps onto a USB-C memory stick instead. I quite like these memory sticks as they have both USB-A and USB-C connectors built in: Link to Amazon On a side note, hopefully your supplying dealer updated the cars infotainment software to 1941, as that's the big update which gives a far more stable Infotainment experience.

It does show it in the car. If you go Settings > System Information, look for the Navigation database version. It's basically a date, YY.MM, so my maps were updated December 2023 as I have version 23.12. I still have an active Infotainment Online package, so for me the maps automatically download to the car.

I've not had it at all since I had the firmware updates on my car, but I'm also aware on my car they effectively re-coded the entire car after the updates were done - which may make a difference.

I had all of these issues with my 1st edition. All of the issues are now resolved, and I was told that they had not replaced any hardware, and only software updates were applied. However, they told me that Skoda Technical had asked them after the updates to effectively 'factory reset' my car and 're-code' the entire car. This happened during a 3 week period where they'd asked to have my car, as Skoda Technical were trying to get a full understanding and resolution of the issues with early Mk 4 Octavia's. When I got the car back the issues POP POP did cease completely, along with the satnav offsetting my position. It wasn't until 1941 came along that the other infotainment issues were completely fixed though.

Climate Control SYNC feature The climate control SYNC feature would only remain active while the car was running. If the car was switched off and on again, SYNC would no longer be displayed on the left temperature indicator. A workaround was to use the left climate control and it would also update the right side as well. However, if the right temperature control was used, then the sync was broken, and the controls would be working independently, and SYNC would need to be re-established from the settings screen. I eventually managed to get an update to the climate control unit to fix the issue from the dealer, but I do not believe this has been pushed out OTA to other affected users. My dealer would also not provide me with further information on the fix to share on this forum. Matrix Lights I had two issues with the Matrix lights dazzling oncoming drivers. On my first visit to the dealer I was informed the matrix system was set-up for a left hand drive car, and they had changed it right-hand drive. However, the issue persisted. Re-calibration of the camera at a VW dealer was required to resolve fully. Bluetooth In addition to CarPlay not auto-connecting, I also had issues in general with Bluetooth not automatically re-connecting. Several times a week I had to manually select my phone in the Bluetooth settings screen. A software update resolved this issue. I also had issues with Adaptive Cruise Control, SOS errors, Auto-reconnect CarPlay which were resolved. The Skoda Connect App is also not fully functional in the same manner mentioned by @SteveTheElder. I was told by the dealer the app would be fully functional if I had my identify 'verified' by a Skoda dealer, but even getting that done didn't change any functionality within the app.

Take a look at my thread on this issue here My car is finally sorted. It required re-calibration of the camera, and that has to be done with specific equipment that many Skoda dealers do not have. Marshall Skoda Letchworth had to take it down to their Volkswagen dealer which does have the equipment, but for some reason they have use the equipment with a laptop loaded with Skoda software. I think the Skoda dealer in Milton Keynes is also Marshall. If you get any trouble with them, or get fobbed off about how they took it to an MOT testing station to check the levels, insist they get the camera re-calibrated, and to call their Letchworth branch for details on getting it done. The dealer commented yesterday that they've had to do a few re-calibrations on cameras recently.

I got the car back yesterday evening. I drove the car back from the dealer for around an hour with the Matrix Lights activated and so far I've not had any oncoming cars flashing me. So the re-alignment at VW seems to have worked so far. At the moment I'm still using them and half expecting to get flashed.. but I'll see what happens over the coming weeks, but hopefully after 2 years of ownership the last of the initial faults is now rectified.

A quick update on this. My car is going into the VW dealer to have Matrix Lights aligned. Apparently they are able to do it, so long as the Skoda dealer "sends their laptop" with the car... So I'm letting them have the car early January for a few days to do that and service it at the same time. I'll report back on how successful this is....

Does anyone know of a Skoda dealer, preferably one in the South East that can definitely carry out the Matrix light calibration? Marshall Skoda in Letchworth are saying that is what needs to happen, but they don't have the equipment. They *think* their VW dealership has the equipment but are not sure whether it will accept a Skoda being attached to it. I've contacted Citygate, but their Watford, Slough and West London centres do not have the equipment either. They've suggested I contact Skoda UK - which I have done, but not heard anything back from them yet.

That would make sense. I was half asleep, freezing cold, and happened to notice it. Initially I thought it was a fault, but then thought it looked like it was deliberate, and probably a sensible explanation. Thanks for this. 😀

Hi All, While standing in the freezing cold this morning de-icing the car I happened to notice that not all of the elements on the heated rear screen were working. All the elements up to the brake light were working, and the elements within the brake light. However the elements either side of it were not. Within the car you can't see it, because for me, the highest parts of the rear screen aren't visible in the rear view mirror, so never noticed it before. I was wondering if this is intentional that these elements either side of the brake light aren't working, or I've just got a faulty heated rear screen.

I've had really mixed experiences with Marshall Skoda Letchworth. There seems to be a huge turnover on the customer facing side of the service and after sales department. In the end I had to get the Skoda Executive Office involved which did improve matters, and dealing directly with the general manager, Nicholas Hutton direct. It took over 10 visits to finally get the car sorted, but in the end they have sorted everything out. Their head technician, Mick was the one doing the work. Mick asked to have the car back in January for a month so he could work with Skoda Technical direct as apparently they wanted to use my car as a test platform to try and understand why so many cars were having software issues. The only outstanding issue I have is the Matrix Lights causing oncoming drivers to flash me. Again, going thro the service department team it's impossible to get the car booked in. They don't call back when they say they will, don't respond to e-mails, etc. It used to be a great dealer, and I've used them for all my servicing over the past 12 years. It is a shame what's happened to them. I am really surprised they're trying fob you off with the amount of times my car has been in. If I were you I'd complain to the general manager, and ask that they assign Mick to your car. With the experience he's had with my car, he will know exactly how to fix yours - and if yours has the climate sync issue - he knows how to fix that too. PM me if you want the general manager's e-mail address.

The frustration here is that I think it's safe to assume that most early Octavias are all suffering from this issue. Some people won't have noticed, some won't care, and others are using the left side control to use climate sync. So, if they know it's a problem why not just push it OTA rather than waiting for customers to book a service visit for it? When you book a visit the car then has to be investigated, details sent off to Skoda Technical, and the dealer wait for a resolution to come back. All this is just wasting the customer and dealers time... when they could push the update OTA and save everyone time.

Yes, I completely understand. I've sent an e-mail to another dealer to ask them about the issue, and see if they can offer some guidance about how the calibration should be done.

I would say the incoming car is in the middle of the dimmed area. However your comment about calibration does give me cause for concern, as the dealer commented last year when the applied the software fix to the lights, they took it to the local MOT testing station to double check the lights. I'm not sure an MOT testing would be equipped to calibrate these lights.

I did wonder that as I know LED lights are much brighter, so it could be assumed I’m driving around with a standard full beam on. The concern for me was the number of oncoming drivers in quick succession flashing me.

That’s a good video, many thanks. My lights work exactly like the video shows. You can see it activating when I come out of a 30mph lit town area onto the unlit country roads around where I live. I can also see it actively dimming sections of road for oncoming traffic, and any cars that I’m following. It is really clever to watch how the dimming tracks the cars as they approach. The problem I have is that when I last used them there was just too many oncoming drivers flashing me. When I deactivated them there was no issue with oncoming traffic. I’ll try them again later this week and download the video footage from my dashcam. But I’m also not entirely comfortable using them again if the car really is dazzling other drivers.

Hi All, Has anyone on here got issues with the matrix lights dazzling oncoming drivers? My car had this issue and went into the dealer about it. They identified the system as being setup for a left hand drive car, and told me they had rectified the issue. I really had to take their word for it, as I’d rarely used the car at night during the summer months. Now the clocks have gone back, and it getting dark earlier I had the chance to try them in full auto mode. On the first country lane I got to where the matrix lights activated I had about 4 oncoming drivers flashing me within a few minutes. My wife also asked why other cars were constantly flashing me. At that point I turned them off. I know there were posts on the forum a while ago about the issue, so wasn’t sure if the issues had been resolved, or people had given up and stopped using them. I’m not sure I can cope with another round of visits to my local Skoda dealer…

There is a software update available for the climate sync issue. I've had it applied to my car. I did ask the dealer to provide details of the fix so I could let people know on this forum. However, they told they were not allowed to disclose details of the update applied. But if you goto your dealer they should be able to find the relevant update.

So after the car having the grey globe / red X all day I post on the forum... and then go out in the car again, and find the problem has resolved itself and the globe is white again.

Hi All, For the past day the infotainment has been showing a dark grey globe with a red X next to it (see attached image), instead of the usual white globe. The Infotainment Online and Care Connect Remote Access features are all licensed into mid 2024, so I know that's not the issue. Is this the same issue as previously mentioned here? Forum Link

@toot I’m going to try and see both cars this weekend, and ask to see the service record. If the 80k car has a full main dealer service history should I be able to get details from my local Skoda dealer as to the work carried out if invoices are not available?