SteveTheElder

The email address I used back in March now bounces back - as per my comment an hour ago. It does seem, though, that you can post a question through the web site - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk. There's a form on the Ask HJ tab.

@neonplanet40 I did email Honest John with an update - but according to the auto-reply it seems they've tightened things up and a Telegraph Subscription is now needed. Never know, it might get through...

Yes, an interesting one... To date the problems I was experiencing have been fixed without the need for a change to the Infotainment System, which in my case doesn't have any suffix Revision letter and running on software version 1668; and I haven't [yet] experienced the Nav memory, SOS call, etc faults. From what I have read elsewhere in this forum, the latter revisions (E & F) with the latest software seem to have fixed many of the other issues, whereas some intermediate revisions would appear to suffer with them. This would appear to confirm something that Kate Laws said to me way back in April or May - that to swap the system component to a Revision C, or D, was way too simplistic. That wasn't to say these components didn't have faults, just that there are several in the car one or more of which may have faults. It has become clear to me that the later revisions enable some other 'features'. So for example, the App on my iPhone doesn't display the lock & unlock buttons which suggests the car doesn't support that function (if it did, and I wasn't a fully authorised main owner, then the buttons would be there but 'greyed out'). CarPlay displaying directions on the Virtual Cockpit doesn't work for me either, whereas I read that it does on later revisions. I could ask if they'd update mine to Rev. F and 1806 - but I'm in a dilemma; if it ain't broke don't fix it !

Not at all - just a healthy dose of skepticism 😉 Thanks. I think they’re gathering feedback/confirmation from mine and a second car, then plan a roll out. Hopefully not to long now… I’m now so pleased I hung on in there, but there were times I doubted my sanity & the wisdom of doing so!

I was just reading your comments and thought… “hope he’s read through to the end…” - so thanks for this last one. Its been a week since I picked up my car with the replacement dashboard and associated updates - so far, all is well. Covered about 300 miles with no problems. KPH/MPH, ACC, Climate Sync, Škoda Connect, Lane Assist - all working fine. And subjectively, boot up seems quicker than before and the whole infotainment system feels more responsive. oh! And getting about 55mpg too - not bad for a 1.5tsi It’s been a while, but I’ve now got the smile back when I go for a drive😊😊

My dealer wanted to swap the loan car too, but I stuck to my guns as it were, as I wanted a car the size of the Octavia estate or bigger. In the end I kept the Octavia for another few weeks till I got my own back. The dealer hadn’t sold it though, so I feel for you. There are going to be cars somewhere in the Škoda network that suit your needs; perhaps a call to Kate may help in sourcing one? Maybe they’d cover additional fuel cost of a petrol. Worth asking.

Thank you @Pete. It’s been quite a [metaphorical] journey as the saying goes…

To be fair, it could be that she was waiting to get feedback from the test update in my car - but I've been distracted/unavailable due to assorted important family stuff 😟 About to call her...

@Skody123 As I haven't previously used Climat eSync on this nor previous cars, I'm not sure what to expect but my experience in the last day or two is... - Turn on Sync. Driver side display shows 20C, passenger side the word SYNC - Park up and turn off engine/car - Two days later, turn on ignition and let the system boot up. Driver side displays 20C, Passenger side displays 20C I'll try to remember to use Sync a few more times in the coming week and see if the is any difference.

Also worth remembering that there are many components that get updates which aren’t reflected in the version number displayed/photographed.

Ah! Dunno! I never use the Climate Sync but it does remember the temperature settings from one drive top the next. I’ll give it a try over the next few days.

I promised an update following a drive using ACC in my [test] updated SEL 1st Edition. My route included both 2 and 3 lane motorway (M3 J12 - J8), as well as single and dual carriageway roads (A30 west from J8). Pleased to report that the ACC was doing what it should do… Reduced my speed on catching up with a vehicle in my lane Maintaining my speed when catching up with and passing a vehicle in the lane to my Left Reducing my speed when catching up with a vehicle in the lane to my Right Interestingly, in the latter of those three scenarios, I was in Lane 1, reasonably close to a vehicle in Lane 2, being held back by ACC then as we got to a right hand bend that vehicle became outside of the radar field so my car accelerated. This is something mentioned in the car user manual so no great surprise but a reminder that the driver is (should be) in control and that ACC is merely an aid. Approaching a slow moving queue, I ‘allowed’ the ACC to reduce my speed from 70mph to about 35-40mph before I decided to drop a gear or two and take over - a scenario where I think a DSG ‘box would be much better suited. The KPH/MPH settings continue to work as they should and to my surprise the system allowed a change to that setting whilst in motion - I recommend that the driver doesn’t do it though! Subjectively, the system feels quicker than it did before; but I couldn’t be absolutely certain about it (it’s 20 weeks since I previously drove it!). I am convinced that it is quicker than the system fitted in the loan Octavia SE 1st Edition though. Navigation Favourites appear to save OK - but I only have two so far, carried over from March/April time. I will be giving feedback to Kate at Škoda UK this week and I hope that the ‘fix’ can be deployed more widely soon.

I think we’ve reached the limit of my knowledge! So far, I haven’t managed to get the CarPlay - Apple Maps navigation prompts displayed on the cockpit, only the central Infotainment screen - but I believe some others have. And, sorry, but I have no idea about the error message. Hopefully your local dealer or Škoda Technical can help with that one.

Is anyone using Apple AirTags with their KESSY 'key' - with or without problems? I'm considering putting one of my key ring but am concerned that there may be some interference with either the KESSY signal or the AirTag location tracking functionality. I'd be using it with my Octavia Mk4 with keyless entry and keyless start - any thoughts or input most welcome. Thanks.

Short answer - yes. Longer answer - as per the photo at 3.26pm it displays 03:26. A check in the settings and the time is correct, and set to 12 hour display so they forgot the am/pm differentiator! Changing it to 24 hour display it more accurately displays 15:26.

Yep, my car is a test vehicle. Not sure how I/it got selected but hey ho! Nice to have it back. Hopefully it will prove to be an enduring fix and it can be rolled out across other similarly affected cars.

Thanks. SW version still the same 1668; no change to the HW version either (still no A,B,… suffix) Didn’t think to check for a clock - doh! Will take a look when I can and report back.

KPH/MPH - fixed! Well, it is for me anyhow 🙂 Picked up my car this morning and had a drive of about 25 miles, mixture of rural roads and motorway. All working fine - but as I say it’s early days. The fix applied to my vehicle was a replacement of the Virtual Dashboard along with associated coding in to the vehicle and software updates. They also applied the other two software campaigns due for the car (48P9 and 69BN) and it seems some others too; paraphrasing the Master Technician ‘being a First Edition, your car has had lots of updates’. The good news is that changing the settings between MPH & KPH is actually auctioned and remembered when turning off & restarting the car; also, the built in SatNav can now display the distances in Miles (was always stuck in Km previously) - this setting is remembered too. I’m told by both the dealer and Škoda UK that my car is the first in the UK for this particular hardware fix, and they are keen for my feedback after some ‘real world’ driving. Many on here I know have issues with the ACC getting confused with overtaking on the right/left - I didn’t have mine long enough to notice that issue before leaving it at the dealer (for 20 weeks!) so I’ll be monitoring that over the coming journeys. Much to my surprise, on selecting my user in the car, entering my S-PIN all my previous settings (including seat position) were restored and iPhone reconnected to CarPlay quickly. All seemed a bit too good to be true, but as it stands today, I am well pleased with the fix. Clearly time and more miles will tell…

Two advantages that I can think of are… Inbuilt Nav system can display the map on the Virtual Dashboard, either map view or turn by turn graphics on a ‘dial’ (speed & RPM) view It doesn’t use your iPhone mobile data. Downside is that the inbuild Nav doesn’t integrate with your calendar so have to manually input addresses - or save them as favourites (if it works OK). From a navigation perspective, my preferred Nav system is the Waze app, followed by Google Maps, then inbuilt or Apple Maps. Having said that (and a different topic altogether), Waze is owned by Google, and we all know how much [personally attributable] data Google havest to sell on to third parties - hence I don’t use either!

Good effort mate! Pleased it worked out for you.

I've been driving a 1.0 e-Tec loan car for a few months (OK, I know its a different engine but has the same/similar e-Tec) and have noticed that sometimes it changes down but doesn't accelerate very much - unlike in a manual 'box car it would accelerate. Also, sometimes if the car is coasting with the engine at idle speed (700-800rpm) as soon as I touch the gas/accelerator pedal the rpm increases - but needs more pressure to make the car accelerate. With the DSG 'box in S mode, it doesn't drop in to Coasting mode and the gas pedal is much more responsive. If the 1.5 is anything like this 1.0, it changes up a gear quite early so a gentle press on the pedal doesn't do much. Gives great fuel economy though! Hope that helps, but I'm not sure if I've answered your question though!

I had a call this afternoon from the dealer to let me know that my car has a new component (I'm not yet sure which bit) and some software updates; apparently it has fixed the KPH/MPH issue. I'm collecting it tomorrow morning - and will post an update in due course...

I’m one of those that @fox2319 refers to - driving a loan car for four and a half months whilst mine is at the dealer. I much appreciate the support from this forum, indeed it was from here I got the ‘nudge’ I needed to escalate the issues to Honest John and Śkoda UK. Whilst I can understand some of the negative comments others can be a bit irritating. Having said that, we all make comment based on our experiences, both current and past; and some of those experiences are much worse than others! For my part, I massively frustrated by the time it is taking to get a fix (and a few false dawns) but on the whole my expectations have been well managed by Škoda UK and my dealer. All helped by driving a Mk4 Octavia loan car which works absolutely fine.

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol Officially, it seems you’re ok…

Not tried the throttle ‘blip’ technique in the loan 1.0 e-Tec DSG loan car I’m driving at the mo. but what Ive noticed that sometimes the engine will go into coasting and sometimes not… With cruise control on (standard, not [P]ACC) it will coast on downhills until such point the speed limiter function decides the car has accelerated too much. Without cruise control on, I can ‘control’ the coasting function by how quickly i lift my foot OFF the accelerator pedal. A gentle lift, the car seems to think there is little or no load so coasting begins; a sharp/quick lift it doesn’t, keeping in gear so I get engine braking (as though it has determined that I want to slow down a bit). Also, I’ve noticed that sometimes in coasting mode the revs. drop to tick-over whereas most times they drop to zero. I assume this is to do with charging the 48V battery. One day, when (if) I every get my 1.5TSI ACT manual ‘box car back I’ll have a fiddle to see if I can invoke 2-cylinder mode myself. I guess coasting is a function enabled by having a DSG ‘box so won’t occur on a manual (and I’m not going to put it in neutral myself - certainly not at 70mph in the outside lane…).