My 70 year old dad has just bought a brand new Octavia vRS, he picked it up from the dealers a week ago. On his way home, after 48 miles he says the steering became difficult to control and felt like he had flat tyres, so he stopped the car to check. There looked to be no problem so he got back in, when he started the engine he had 3 warning lights on the dash, the power steering, ABS and traction control. He drove very slowly home, still with very dodgy steering, (fortunately only another couple of miles) and rang the dealer, and was told to carry out a few basic checks on the fuses and then to call out a breakdown company, who after 2 hours poking around could find nothing wrong. The dealer picked it up on a transporter the next morning.

After the dealer had a look they told him that they had identified the problem and the part would be with them the next day and after a quick test he could bring it home. The next day came and he was told that they needed to test it, when he called to get an update later they told him that they needed another part that had to come from the Czech republic. Today, six days later he sat for six hours in the garage (50 miles away) to be told that the problem has been the CPU, which has been replaced, but a 17 digit PIN code is needed to activate the CPU which the dealer is expecting tomorrow - surely this is just an e mail in this day and age? Is this a familiar story to anyone?

He's understandably very upset that what should have been such a happy experience that he was so much looking forward to has turned rather sour, I've got to the point where I can't ask him any more about whats going on because he's so stressed about it he bites my head off. Incidently the dealer provided him with a Peugeot 308 diesel as a courtesy car, hardly a like for like replacement!!

Luckily at the time of the failure he was driving on a straight bit of road at low speed, if he'd been on a faster more twisty bit of road it might have been a different story.

Can anyone offer any advice or share any similar experiences? Thanks.

Sorry to hear about your Dads probs..i'm on my 3rd skoda now, and not even a blip..a bit of advice though..when i put my car in for a service, the dealer brings a courtesy car to my home..your Dad should keep the courtesy car until his is sorted, and not have to wait about..when it's finally sorted, they can bring it back for him.shocking service from skoda !

Sorry to hear he is having problems. I have had 2 octavias with no major problems but then my local dealer at the time was only 1 mile away so not much of a hassle ot pop in!! I suppose it is a case of the bath tub failure mode (either breaks straight away or last a long time and eventually wears out!!). Hopefully he will get it back soon and can begin to enjoy it.

He should see if he can get some compensation for the time he has spent getting it sorted. Maybe ask for the next service to be free/reduced rate or maybe an assessory or 2 (mat for boot or something).