brenno_au

100%. This is an exercise in bad design. I've just put in an order for one of the last manual Mk3 Octavias and I suspect it will be my last Skoda if this is the direction they are going.

Strange. I thought I read somewhere you could get conventional dials in the base model. Can't see that in the configurator.

OP - you don't have a Swing head unit by chance? Not the new silly touchscreen model, the old one with buttons. Imagine my dismay when I plugged my phone into the 'USB' port of my day old Skoda Octavia and having it not charge. The Skoda dealer advised it should charge, and so did the national distributor (Volkswagen, here in Australia). After much prodding and poking behind the dashboard the local distributor shyly admitted that this particular model of head unit will not charge a phone contrary to what is stated in the brochure. All is not lost thought. I was curious how much power the 'USB' port actually put out, so I purchased a USB power meter off eBay. Less than A$10 delivered. It showed me that the port was able to supply around 900 mA to power my phone. The best bit about this little device is that I can actually charge my phone through it while connected to the strange 'USB' port in the Skoda. So I just leave the USB power meter permanently connected. Works for me. Next time I won't trust the salesman or the brochure.

That would be me I agree a comparison with a Xantia would obviously not favour the Octavia, but that is not the basis for my criticism towards the ride in the Skoda. I've also owned cars with a notoriously bad ride (Suzuki Sierra!), and worked in the automotive industry driving many many makes and models. I find it hard to believe any manufacturer could offer for sale a mid-sized, garden-variety car that could be considered uncomfortable to drive, but Skoda has managed to do it. Perhaps I should have test driven one before buying. This was not an option in Australia - no cars were available to test drive. Funnily enough I took the Octavia out on some known bad roads on the weekends. On bad, corrugated and poorly maintained roads, it is rather good. The bad ride only really presents itself on well maintained roads/motorways (the majority of my driving) where the vertical pitching from the rear is quite tiring. There is a section of road nearby where this pitching is pronounced. In all other cars I have been in recently over this same stretch of road, among them the Octavia's cousin - a Mk7 Golf 1.4 TSI, a current Camry, XTrail, Passat there is no such pitching. The road can't even be felt. I'm yet to work out whether to import Volkswagen dampers, experiment with Bilstein/Koni, try some 15" rims, or get rid of it. Or just deal with it. We're quite happy with the car otherwise.

This sounds like the perfect remedy for the incessant jiggling sensation at the rear of my 103TSI Octavia wagon. Thankyou Spacenace for taking the plunge and trying it out. I always wondered why the Mk7 Golf in the family felt so different to the Octavia. Now....how to get these parts to Australia. We don't get any torsion beam Golfs here so I can't exactly order from the local VW dealer.

Apparently it can charge Android devices, but I'm not going to switch phones for this. Skoda called back today and backtracked on their assertion it should charge an iPhone, even though it says otherwise in the brochure. I find it astonishing they would sell a car that could not charge an iPhone. Wow. I can even use the firmware upload USB port on my ten year old satelite TV box to charge my phone, but a new car will not support it. Poor form.

Just a small update for those with the same issue. I went back to the dealer today to rectify some other build defects and the USB port was one of them. After over five hours of pulling apart the dash looking for poor connections etc, the technician advised this model does not support charging of an iPhone. Charging of devices is available for the Bolero and Columbus, not the Swing apparently. I called Skoda customer case on the spot and they confirmed it definitely should charge - I agree! It is what is printed in the brochure! The standoff between the importer of Skoda and the dealer technicians continue. Can anyone else confirm they can charge an iPhone through the USB with a Swing unit?

My Aus-spec Octavia with Swing doesn't charge my iPhone 4 or 5 either. Pretty frustrating. My dealer has indicated it should supply power and charge an iPhone, albeit slowly. The brochure mentions it can charge devices.