SteveTheElder

I had the Primacy 4 on my 70 plate 1.5tsi when I got it. Lasted well and found them to be plenty good enough for my style of driving and the areas I travel (little, if any, snow). However, I switched to Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance which I ran on my previous car (1.4 mk2 superb, 16” wheels). I find them quieter, sidewalls a little softer, and returned slightly better fuel economy. The 205/55-17s on the Octavia every bit as good as I’d hoped. Currently on my second set of the Goodyears, first set did about 38k miles.

Does the buttton (the one below the infotainment screen) lock the doors when you press it? And to the doors lock with the keys? Assuming they do, then it must be a s/ware glitch. Maybe use the settings to turn off auto lock for a couple of trips then re-enable it. See if that makes a difference. Never experienced it in any car with the feature so I’m in the dark too.

There is lots of info in this thread for a DIY update via USB-C drive. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/522574-update-to-version-1969/ I haven’t done it myself but plenty on here have.

My 70 plate (2020) SE L FE has an adjustable height armrest. Lift to its highest point and it drops down all the way; lift to intermediate points and it stays there. Also slides back and forth as you describe.

Had mine regassed about 18 months ago, reduced the whine when the AC was working hard and made it more effective.

AIUI, the early cars don’t have the remote lock/unlock capability; mine certainly doesn’t. I think it may be to do with the comms unit; mine can’t do OTA updates of the infotainment system itself, only apps and maps. Later builds can.

Either that or it is still set to the variable service schedule which needs long-life oil and best for high mileage users. Your dealer ought to be able to tell you which oil was used and reset the car 'counters' and alerts accordingly.

I know what you mean about the infotainment system; I got mine in March ‘21 when it was 6 months old; an early-ish build 2020 SE L First Edition. Took about 18 months for the infotainment system to stabilise. Like you, I love the car and will keep it for a while yet. Looking at the current Škoda range I think there is more shared components and systems across all the cars so probably simplified their software development and support cycles. The Octavia mk4 was relatively early in their adoption of such systems and we early adopters paid the price. Having said that, Škoda/VAG are not the only brand(s) to suffer issues of this kind. I have friends with Mazda, Range Rover, Tesla, Polestar, Hyundai, BMW, … all of which have given grief too. I think might have said before somewhere on Briskoda, a while back when buying a car we fussed about handling, ride, 0-60 times; now it’s the usability of the infotainment system!

Short answer - yes, but… There must be a way of turning it off because I haven’t seen it on mine for about four years - but cannot remember how I got rid of it 🙄 I had a look through settings this morning and couldn’t see anything; my only suggestion is that it may be due to the privacy setting in your user profile - maybe try a higher or lower level of privacy and see if the message changes or stops appearing. Sorry I can’t be more definitive.

Yes. Open the map to full screen, then tap the North symbol in the top left corner. First tap will give a perspective type display; second tap is a vertical view with North to the top; third tap back to original direction of travel at the top. Tapping cycles through those three views. Sadly, these view changes don’t apply to the map view in the virtual cockpit (in my car at least (I’m aware later versions have additional capabilities in the virtual cockpit)).

I agree, the manual needs a review by people who don’t know the system so it’s more of a ‘user guide’ than a reference manual. Naming a Favourite I find quite handy. A location called ‘Uncle Bob’ is more meaningful than 10 Acacia Avenue, for example. But agree, POIs that are already named don’t need it.

I’ll have a look in mine too. I have done it successfully a little while back but not had need since. A short road trip next month is an opportunity for me to try again… Just had a fiddle… At the ‘Save’ prompt, type in a name for your favourite.

Once you have the location set in the map, tap on it and you should get the destination details (may have to drag the details screen using the 'handle' on the right side of the screen). Then tap the star.

Eleven months on from my last post here (at 56789 miles) passenger got this for me in case I missed a round number… … then I did miss it 🙄 Doh! 😩

I’ve had daily update notices and selected update each time - and logged is as Primary User. However, today, no update notification and it had plenty of time as I had a 300 mile drive. Maybe I got the fixed version @JamesK mentioned. Hopefully nothing tomorrow.

Solar diverter for hot water can be very beneficial - but it all depends on individual circumstances. Our solar array was installed when batteries were prohibitively expensive so we had a diverter installed (Solar iBoost). Most years we have able to turn off the gas off in early May and back on in late October; with only two or three times when we need to manually switch on the immersion for half an hour. Our ancient gas space and water heating have what appear to me as very large flames on both of the pilot lights which at current prices I have calculated to cost us about £200/yr on their own! So, the solar diverter gives us zero gas consumption for almost 6 months of the year and near free heating of the water. Those benefits of the solar diverter are very welcome indeed, the downside is that it now makes the ROI of a battery less inviting because we already have a significant saving. Having said that, when we change the heating system (this year) and potentially swapping Mrs Steve's CitiGo for a small EV, installing a battery may well become a more attractive proposition (unless we use the EV as the battery to power the house during peak times). Oh for the simplicity of my childhood days with a coal fire and Baxi boiler 😉

Hmmm... Not sure how I would do my 1500 - 3000 mile road trips without using a public charger; I have at least two of these a year plus elderly parents living 400 miles away. "Never need to use a public charger..." is just not true. I would need to give very serious consideration before switching to an EV for financial and practical reasons. BIK is not relevant when retired so it would be all my own money. EVs are horses for courses though. Swapping SWMBO's CitiGo for a relatively small EV does make a lot of sense and may well happen if the right deal pops up at a suitable time. I am preparing a spreadsheet to estimate the capital cost outlays, running cost savings, depreciation, which will influence timing of any change. Other factors are domestic heating update/upgrade and mains battery storage for our 10yo solar panels. Could end up spending lots of £££££ and not recovering the investment.

A fairly predictable response to my email of yesterday.... "As the first troubleshooting step, please perform the following steps in your vehicle's Infotainment system: – press and hold the “Power” button in the bottom left corner of your Infotainment system; – wait until the screen goes dark and release the button. Afterwards, please verify if the software update notification keeps appearing. If the issue persists, please include the following information for our investigation: – a photo of the Settings > System Information page in the Infotainment system, to display your current software version; – a photo of the Settings > System Information > All updates page in the Infotainment system, to show any pending updates. This information will help us analyze this situation with our technical team. We apologize for the confusing issue and will do our best to resolve it." A modicum of encouragement in that they're mentioning "... analyse the situation..." At least they did apologize 😜

My 70-plate estate is a couple of hundred miles short of 70,000; 65k of which in the last 4 years. Mechanically never missed a beat; on today’s 200 mile journey from Bicester to N Wales, pretty much all motorway and dual carriageways at legal limits, it returned 60.8 mpg (2 up and a full boot). Its on variable service interval, with Long Life oil, which in practice has been about 19k intervals, all done at main dealer.

@Thomas_Toget the I read that chart is that your 2021 Octavia comes on the row “MOD3 UNECE“ - which shows your car will be fine post ‘2G,3G sunset’.

Care Connect subscription is needed for things like Honk & Flash, remote lock/unlock (if your car supports that), notifications about alarm triggers, etc. Infotainment Online includes goodies such as map updates, traffic updates, and a bunch of other stuff - which may or may not be useful 😂 Take a look at this Škoda page and enter your VIN - should give you what features are available for your specific car should you decide to pay the subscription. Availability list"...do others use it?..." Yes and no! Having been on this forum about 4 years opinion is very much divided as to the value of one or other, or both the subscriptions. I do subscribe to both, perhaps more interesting than useful though; and I have to admit, it is NOT essential. I am one of the [seemingly few] who uses the built in SatNav feature so the online updates are beneficial - others swear by Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze etc. eschewing the built in system. Each to their own. This page gives a marketing view of the Connect Services - https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/skoda-connect If you have a spare bit of cash it may be worth signing up for a year and seeing how much value you get from it. Periodically it is discounted by about 1/3rd so keep an eye on that too.

Unlikely; Škoda have told me the SIM system in my 2020 build car is 4G. Be interesting to hear what they come up with.

Mine is currently asking me to ‘Update now’ for the fourth time 🙄 The infotainment system also on v.1941. My plan is to ignore it…

Seems it has changed then, when I go my car back in 2021 I could create an account in the car. Many updates since then! Anyway, pleased to hear you have it working now. Other than car data being visible in the App and using that app to check lock status etc, the biggest benefit that I can see is that with an account your settings are saved to your account. So, when you get your wife's account set up (yes, she needs a Skoda ID account too) and personalises the car, each user has their customised settings. Also, each key can be associated with a different user so when unlocking the car it has the appropriate settings. Those settings will include things like favourites and shortcuts set up in the Infotainment system (e.g. radio stations and, I think, temperature; if you have electrically adjustable seats then they can be associated with the key and user too). I've not tried this yet, but I believe that as the settings are sync'd back to the Škoda servers, should you get a second Škoda, or loan or hire car and login, then any compatible settings will be sync'd to that car too.

Thanks for your comments on fuel economy. There are so many variables but I did notice an improvement when I switched from Continental to the Goodyear. Most of my mileage is long trips, often a high proportion of steady speed on dual carriageways and motorways.