Almost a result... After waiting 2 months for a replacement Columbus unit, you can imagine my joy when my dealer phoned me on Monday to tell me that the replacement had arrived. Car went in Wednesday morning and I went back at lunchtime to collect it with my replacement unit fitted.

Mechanic and workshop foreman both said that sound quality was much improved.

On getting into my Octy I was really looking forward to good sound, no freezing of functions or popping and restarting, so I switched it on. Those with a Columbus will know that there is the intro screen, followed a few seconds later by sound source,ie CD, HDD etc... A few seconds passed ,, no sound. Tried all the sources... Nothing!!. Went back to the workshop, they were quick to check the unit over only to find that they had been sent a faulty unit which must have packed up almost immediatly. Back to square one.

I must take my hat off to my supplying dealer who has been very patient with my moaning and with a trip to Europe (including Poland) happening in less than 3 weeks I was becoming a little bit concerned. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Skoda customer service with a proper apology and an offer of a portable sat nav just in case a replacement cannot be found in time. Under the cicumstances I was most impressed with both the dealer and Skoda UK.

This afternoon Skoda phoned me again to say that there is a good chance that I will get a replacement unit before my trip and the kind fellow also organised the V3 mapping upgrade at the same time.

It has been a long wait but I still stand by the unit being a great piece of kit (when it works properly), easy to use and good navigation.

G.K.

Sorry to hear that but good results from Skoda though.

Good luck hope the next one is ok

I wonder of the faulty units will appear on eBay as some sort of "reconditioned" units :eek:

Might be something of nothing but have they carried out proper check of the wiring in your car? The first one failed with a pop, the second worked briefly and failed with no sound - Makes me wonder if a wiring fault is shorting the speaker out and blowing the amp on the unit. Guess you'll find out if they blow the 3rd unit!!

Good point VRStu. That would be my worst nightmare. Roll on Columbus No3 !!!.

Original Columbus has been re-fitted and works OK to a degree. As long as it doesn't freeze on the Brussells ring road!!

Update ...

Columbus No3 arrived yesterday along with V3 software. Dealer has managed to book car in this morning. It has been a long wait and I hope that this will see an end to all this hassle.

Believe it or not I'm not used to moaning. I far prefer to issue compliments about my Octy so fingers crossed......

G.K.