SteveTheElder

@Niamh you mention holidaying more now the world is opening up a bit - it's great! I'm just back from a road-trip of 2500 miles to Tuscany over 3 1/2 weeks 😁 I was driving the 1.5TSi, if it were a 1.4TSi iV I'd probably have relied on energy recovery unless there was a low-cost/free charging facility, of which there seemed to be plenty except when out in the sticks. I guess a 130kph blast down the AutoRoute/AutoStrada would soon get through the battery range though. BTW, my 1.5TSi averaged 59.2mpg, and petrol costs worked out at 12.8p/mile (yes, I am daft enough to work it all out in a spreadsheet 🙄)

And then factor in the extra £.pp/mile of the initial purchase price or monthly lease cost. Of course, the tax benefit for company car drivers is a big plus for those lucky enough to be in that category and a complete rip off for the rest of us mere mortals (ooops, getting a bit political if I’m not careful…).

The voice control is surprisingly good when changing the air-con, I hardly use the touch screen for it.

I’ve had it from time to time. Usually ‘cos the Škoda servers are down or the car has lost connection. The other possibility is that the app needs a reset - about a year ago I had to delete the app and reinstall after an app update.

@Greezy56 makes a good point, but it’s not so clear cut. I have an early build SE L 1st Edition with a head unit with no suffix letter and system s/w of 166x - BUT the issues I had are fixed, only the odd niggle remains. Fixed are the units (see KPH/MPH thread) and ACC preventing overtaking rather than undertaking. I was lucky enough to get a fix applied back in September and ok since then (and am just back from a 2500 mile road trip to Tuscany via France, Germany & Switzerland). Guess my point is that you need to check the vehicle thoroughly for s/ware glitches on an extended test drive before committing. Make a list of things to check. More generally, the MkIV is a great to drive, a big step up from earlier models, and the 1.5TSI manual is very economical on fuel (road trip average of 59mpg). Your specifics - no SD slot, but USB-C stick works fine (in the front ports, rear charging only, as is the one by the mirror).

So good to hear! Thanks for the update. Once these cars work properly they are great! Hopefully the newer builds came/come out of the factory working ok.

Must admit I was disappointed that they didn't adjust (either manually or automatically) - but as mentioned above, it's only the Matrix lights that do. Thought about using isopropyl alcohol but wasn't sure it would be OK. I know some solvents can damage the headlight lens but not/wasn't sure which; figured out that screen wash should be OK as it gets squirted at the headlights every now and then 🙂

For anyone using the Eurolites deflectors on their mk4, it’s worth noting that the LEDs do not warm up the adhesive before removal. Mine were in situ for 25 days and on removing them found that most the adhesive remained on the headlight. Previous times I’ve used them with halogen lights it’s warmed enough to remove them cleanly. Used neat screenwash on a soft cloth to ge rid of the adhesive. Other than that, they were perfect.

Agreed, and I bet that any h/w upgrade won’t happen as a matter of course. As with most computer based systems a small h/w revision can have significant impacts on s/w compatibility & capability. Mine seems to be working pretty well so no worries. (Long may it continue…)

I’m not sure all Mk4 Octavia are equal. Not all can support s/w 18xx, as I understand it, my 1st Edition can only support 16xx, and doesn’t do things like remote lock/unlock via the My Škoda app.

I reckon it’ll for cooling it when the AirCon is on. You can select the level of chilling in the glovebox - ideal for that bottle of fizz for the picnic on the beach 😊

Totally agree. Always best to use fresh premium brand batteries. @Davidr1986 your dealer may have had them lying around for a while or be bulk buying in-branded ones.

We seem to have had mixed responses from Škoda UK. In contrast to some, my experience was fine, albeit with a frustrating 5 months whilst they got my car sorted during which time I had a perfectly good loan Octy 4 estate. Since I got mine back, last September, it’s been great, a few minor niggles that’s all. I’ve had a few OTA updates just lately and it has greatly improved the CarPlay reconnect niggle. Another update awaits so will see what that does for me next time out.

CarPlay needs both a WiFi and Bluetooth connection to fully function; ensure both are enabled in the car and initiate the connection from the car not the phone.

And that’s why I put it all in a spreadsheet 🙄

Good to know, thanks.

I bought a used, low mileage, SEL first edition in March last year. Had several s/w issues so Škoda UK had it back at the dealer for 5 months while they did loads of diagnostics and developed a trial fix - which was applied in September. Main issue was the kph/mph couldn’t be selected; speed only in mph and satnav only in Kms! Other issue was the ACC ‘seeing’ cars in the lane to the left and slowing, as though I were driving in mainland Europe. Both fixed. Since then, a few niggles including the SOS system fault but a further s/w update fixed that. I’ve cover best part of 10k miles since then four minor niggles remain, they are… - rear courtesy lights come on and off at random intervals, like a ghost is fiddling with the switch 😉 - iPhone doesn’t always auto reconnect to CarPlay ( but with recent OTA updates it’s getting better) - passenger heated seat doesn’t stay on if the driver seat is on, ok otherwise - occasionally the fuel & temperature gauges flicker (about 1 in 50 drives). I’m very pleased with my car now. Comfortable, quiet, roomy. On a recent road trip (2 up and boot full) cover 1150 miles at 58.8mpg with some long motorway stretches accounting for the majority of the mileage. So, before you buy, get a good long test drive and check the s/w does what it should with regard to these SEL FE bugs. Škoda know they exist/existed so should be fixed/fixable on the car you’re looking at.

My iPhone XR heats up significantly with CarPlay and wireless charging, it’s usually streaming audio too; and yes, it is slow to charge, faster if wired. No lag issues with wireless CarPlay though.

Got the answer to my own question. In short, it does work. However, a little tedious. Any appointment has to be in your main Google Calendar (not any additional ones you may create), and the calendar app in the car is a little slow to load. When it does, a nice list of entries shows up as you’d expect and any with an address has a green arrow symbol alongside it. Tapping that symbol loads the address in to the SatNav system and away you go. How’s that tedious? Well in itself it isn’t, BUT the car MUST be stationary else the link from Calendar to Nav app wont work. That means that even a passenger can’t do for you. Fair enough as the driver shouldn’t be poking around in calendars and Nav system whilst driving though.

Welcome to the forums. I had the same question as you, and eventually worked out that deflectors ARE needed for the standard full LEDs when driving in continental Europe. Bought the Eurolights ones and they work very well, diagram 177 if I remember correctly. The headlights shape is very curved so it seems odd when positioning them, kneel down directly in front of each headlight to get the alignment correct. A few hundred Km of night driving, visibility was good and no one flashed their lights at me so presumably they’re in an OK position.

Obviously in forums such as this there will be a disproportionate number of people with issues, either looking for answers or having a moan - myself included. Mine, since September ‘21, is almost fault free, a few niggles remain which I don’t need to peruse till it goes in for service. The dealer is aware and on alert from Skoda should there be a relevant update released. I bought it in March ‘21 but soon noted a few key errors and reported/escalated to Skoda Uk. They asked me to leave it at teh dealers for investigation/fix and provided a loan car (1.0eTec SE FE Estate) - which I ran for five months until the fix in September. That car was 100% fault free. Why am I blathering on about this? Well, whilst there are real issues with some cars, there are many out there that have none. As for the infotainment system, yes, I’d like buttons but as @inspectorman mentioned, so many functions would leave a wall of buttons. The voice control is surprisingly good at what it does - for example, I never use a button to control the radio or media other than the knob on the steering wheel for volume & pause/start. And with CarPlay and Siri all those functions are easy too.

My car is also running 1668, and have issues with the CarPlay auto-reconnect not doing so, sometimes. Can’t comment on Matrix Lights ‘cos I don’t have them fitted. For the climate Sync memory, it seems that Škoda forgot to change it from LHD to RHD. If I put it to Sync and adjust the temp on the drivers side it loose Sync - but if change temp on the passenger side it’s fine, even on the next journey after parking up (though the word Sync doesn’t display). Tedious I know - but I never normally use the Sync function so doesn’t bother me.

Based on past (long time past) history, I have not liked Bridgestone tyres so have avoided them since. I prefer Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance - plenty of grip, comfortable ride and quiet. My Mk4 Octavia came with Michelin Primacy which I wont be putting on again. They feel hard and noisy. Next time round I’m going to look at all-season tyres though.

I’ve got a Mk4 1.5TSI 150 EVO manual Estate, to be honest I am very impressed with the fuel economy. Over the last 9500 miles I’ve averaged 54.2mpg (brim to brim calculations in Excel). Best I have had is in excess of 71mpg for a trundle along the M3/M27 from near Eastleigh to Hayling Island and back - OK, speed limits on the M27 were set to 60 & 50mph for lengthy stretches but even so I was very impressed. At more normal motorway speeds it’s returning in the region of 55mpg upwards. Subjectively I’d say the engine is pretty good. It’s not as flexible at low revs as my old 14-plate 1.4TSI (125PS) Superb Mk2 which is a shame - but I am comparing a fairly new 1.5 engine (~12k miles) with a well run-in 1.4 (75k miles). For comparison, prior to the Superb I had a 12-plate Mk2 Octavia Estate 1.6TDI manual. Over the 65+K miles I had that I averaged 59.3mpg. Driving style and journey type differences will clearly make a big difference but given that I had a similar age 1.6TDI to yours, you can draw some parallels I guess.

So, when I posed my question yesterday I was reminded of the wise advice written on fireworks when I was a kid “Light blue touch paper and retire immediately “ 😉 Reading through the comments since it’s interesting it’s mainly about the legality of minimising tax liability and how it can be done within the rules. However, my point was about the moral debate. Anyway, as a few have said, we’re now miles off the topic of speeds, fuel consumption, Russian oil imports and supporting Ukraine (however indirectly all that may be). Thanks all for an interesting, lively and, in parts, unexpected debate which has probably now run its course. For my part, I’ll take a few mph off my usual cruising speed, saving a few drops of fuel, slightly reducing imports of oil, save a few £ over each tankful to add more directly to my support the Ukrainian appeal.