PetrolDave

PDF version is attached already...

First thing is that the Amundsen will only read maps from a genuine Skoda SD card, so don't bother trying any other SD card. I've successfully used both the maps from the Skoda portal and the VW website to update a MIB1 Amundsen (I did a byte-by-byte comparison of the files, they're identical). For me the key steps were (BTW use a PC not a Mac as the Mac adds files that the Amundsen doesn't like): 1) save the original contents of the SD card onto a PC as a backup 2) do a quick format of the SD card to FAT32 with 4K cluster size 3) unzip the downloaded files onto the PC 4) copy all the newly unzipped files onto the newly formatted Skoda SD card 5) insert SD card into either SD card slot and wait...

+1 I found that turning the handle 90 degrees anti-clockwise to horizontal helped a lot.

Having previously lived in Southampton and used the Skoda dealer there I would suggest not using them based on my experiences with them but instead look slightly further away (Winchester or Portsmouth).

... unless they don't have a smart phone (not everyone does!).

If it's just the screen that's faulty then that's not the head unit (which is in the glovebox).

Better hope they don't do a spot check on him ...

@pab567

The only use I've found for them to stop rain coming in when you have the window slightly open...

Wind deflectors cannot change the basic mechanism - which is higher and varying pressure outside the car, so having the window open at all (whether a wind deflector is present or not) will cause the pulsing sound. It's a side effect of the desire for low drag vehicle designs.

Kessy is a battery gobbler, 10 months life isn't unheard of and is commented on by owners of other Skoda models too.

The 1.4 & 1.5 TSI engines according to advice from Skoda UK should have their cambelt changed regularly, they say every 5 years (or 50,000 miles whichevere comes first IIRC).

I'm not 100% sure that a UK badge on the number plates would be acceptable, since we are no longer a member of the EU the EU approved number plates with country letters no longer apply to us. My understanding is that we need separate UK badges, like we used to have before the number plates with country letters.

It's certainly the recommendation made by Skoda UK that the cambelt be changed after 5 years or 50K miles (whichever comes sooner) - surely that the recommendation comes from Skoda UK that makes it more than "unofficial"?

GM in the US have announced that they will halt production at nearly all their American factories due to the chip shortage General Motors will idle the plants starting Monday for two weeks due to COVID-19 affecting the production of semiconductor chips

+1 My Octavia Mark 3 Elegance with halogen headlights had headlight washers.

I did this tweak on my Mark 3 Octavia, it meant I could choose when/if the headlight washers came on by how long I help the windscreen washers on - seems the best compromise to me?

Whenever I've ordered a new car in the past 30 years the purchase contract has always said that the price and VAT rate will be those on the date of delivery not the date of ordering, although I had a good enough relationship with one dealer that they stood by the price at the time of ordering as a gesture of goodwill despite what the contract said.

The seam sealant is applied in the factory before the shell is painted.

Use standard VW type removals keys, available from any good car parts retailer (e.g. Halfords in the UK).

Skoda stopped fitting the PR code label in the boot several years ago.

In 2016 I changed from an RS4 Avant to an Octavia 3 estate (retirement meant I needed smaller bills). The big plus points of the Octavia for me are the greater rear legroom (due to the longer wheelbase) and the larger "boot" space (due to the more vertical rear hatch). If you're not worried about badge snobs I would go for the Octavia.

It's not uncommon for the radio to start up is a "strange mood" - it happened several times on my Octavia 3, always came back to normal after the ignition was off for more than a few minutes.

That depends on whether mappy is CarPlay compatible - you'll need to ask the developers of Mappy. BTW I use Google maps and find them great, they have one big advantage which is that you can download offline maps while on WiFi which means the only mobile data usage is for traffic information.

My understanding is that the sat nav SD card cannot have anything except the sat nav data and that the music files need to be on a separate SD card.