well the mystery deepens...got a call from the dealer today to say they were going to swap the seat control unit from their demo car to mine to try and pinpoint the fault. They didnt do this as they discovered their demo has the same fault as mine !!! Whenever you mave the angle of the backrest the systems refuses to store the seat position. You can move any other part of the seat and it will store and give the confirmation "bong" but as soon as you touch the backrest it will not play ball.

So they contacted skoda UK technical to discuss and tech said they had recently been made aware of two head office cars with the same fault !! Skoda UK are now wondering if it is a "feature" of the car and not a fault !! I told my dealer that this cannot be right - i have tried another demo car in at another dealer and it worked with the backrest being adjusted.

Just so I have some concrete evidence I woudl be extremely grateful if you elegance owners could try moving your backrest and then storing the position on one of the buttons (maybe button 3 if you dont use it regularly). Tell me if the position stores and you get the "bong" to confirm it.

If i can get lots of replies on here confirming this fact then I can send these to skoda UK. The service chap at Hortons (Chris) has looked on this forum to see if there are any threads discussing the topic. He found all the stuff about my electrical "gremlins" but nothing explicitly details the operation of the back rest and subsequent storing to memory.

I must just say that Hortons are being very good about this issue - they are as baffled as I am . They are doing their best and have certainly not washed their hands of the situation. They have returned the car to me for now (Chris even brought it to my house at 6.30pm as he lives nearby and took the courtesy tin box...erm i mean Fabia..away thats what I call good service !)

I would be extremely grateful if as many of you as possible could find the time to run this very quick "test" and post the results on here

cheers

Jonathan

I've just run the test and mine works fine, ie it will remember a new backrest position....don't let them tell you any different!

Dan

As the only driver I set memory 1 on collecting the car and have not had need to reset so far.

I have just gone out and tested mine, set backrest on 2 & 3 memory set o.k. checked all three buttons and seat moved to all preset positions each time.

Ian

hello

just tried to adjust the backrest on 3 memory set OK checked all three buttons no problem

regard

Nils

hello

just tried to adjust the backrest on 3 memory set OK checked all three buttons no problem

regard

Nils

Nils - you need to change your profile as it still says you drive a volvo !!!

Jonathan, I have just tested mine, all ok...however when I tried putting the back rest back much farther than I would normally it would not accept the setting,, no bong!

I wonder if there is a maximum recline angle beyond which you cannot set the seat memory.

Try a very upright back rest position and see if it can then be saved to memory.

Jonathan, I have just tested mine, all ok...however when I tried putting the back rest back much farther than I would normally it would not accept the setting,, no bong!

I wonder if there is a maximum recline angle beyond which you cannot set the seat memory.

Try a very upright back rest position and see if it can then be saved to memory.

I think there is indded a safety feature to prevent the angle being too far back but I dont have it that far back. it could be that the position sensor that sends the info that the seat is too far back is playing up ?

if i move the seat backrest forwards it wont store so i suspect this is not the case. i will test it tonight. thanks

right then....it gets more interesting...

just got my wife to play about with the seat. If she moves the backrest forward so that she is "folded in half" (her quote !) then the position will memorise. If you move it back in small increments it continues to be memorised however there comes a point where it will not store. This implies that grahamelegance is correct that there is a point at which is is deemed unsafe and will not store.

However this point is way too far forward in our car. It is nowhere near where I normally drive. I do have the backrest further reclined than some people but I would suggest this is not that far back and nowehere near where the safety point should be.

So I am wondering if this sensor that gives the position of the seat is misaligned or if the ECU is confused ?

I am on the phone right now to the dealer !

Edited 25 February, 200917 yr by jcblincs
typos

I have just adjusted the back rest and moved the seat backwards, stored to memory 3 and it works!!!! However, has mentioned already there is a limit beyond which the system will not store the position on the pre set button.

I have just adjusted the back rest and moved the seat backwards, stored to memory 3 and it works!!!! However, has mentioned already there is a limit beyond which the system will not store the position on the pre set button.

give me idea of where this is ...standing out side the car looking toward the seat what is the angle between the base and backrest when it stops being memorised. we are at about 100degress ie just beyond the vertical , toward the back seats. this is nowhere near enough for me to drive and believe it must be wrong

Have a play Jon, move the seat base into different positions and try the back then, it could be that certain parameter's only work within certain area's, i.e a 7ft bloke won't have the back of the seat adjusted to far towards the wheel, or a 5ft woman won't want it too far reclined, if it works on some and not the other positions I'd say the seat isn't aligning due to the control box not recognising the config you have set, i.e like having a speedo that can read to 100mph in a car that does 150mph if that makes sense.

just thought i would bump this post back to the top...

I could really do with some info on where the point at which the backrest position fails to memorise is. I am convinced mine is faulty as its way too vertical but I could do with other owners' evidence to take to the dealer ....PLEASE !!!

Is there not a Superb Elegance in the dealer's showroom that you could have a play with and hopefully demonstrate where the point should be?

I am thinking that the backrest has a vertical limit so that the WOKS(that Whiplash) system is more efficient.When the backrest is in vertical position,your head is very close to the head restraint.

I am thinking that the backrest has a vertical limit so that the WOKS(that Whiplash) system is more efficient.When the backrest is in vertical position,your head is very close to the head restraint.

thats an interesting point. However its annoying as the seat is not comfortable in the limted position for me and thus I am more likely to have an accident as I will be distracted by not being comfy !!!

the one in the showroom is the same as mine. However skoda technical are saying they are getting mixed reports about this problem .It could be there is nowt wrong with mine and its supposed to be like that else there are several cars with a fault and bad luck means the dealer one has the same fault as mine. I am sure the ones I have test driven elsewhere did not have this problem . maybe I will pop into a skoda dealer somewhere else and see !

Overall,if this is a fault I think it can be fixed with a small Vag-Com coding,I don't think there is a fault at those buttons,I'm 90% sure that they are working like they should,it's just that the module rejects the storing command.

There's 3 people who drive my car.

Male - 5'10" with a "lazy" style of driving (back, low, seatback reasonably reclined)

Female - 5''7" seat in mid position (I guess about average for most people)

Female - 5'2" seat in "can I see over the steering wheel" position (high, forward, almost upright)

None of us have any problems with the position of the seat (front/back) or reclining setting, and the system remembers all 3 positions fine.

Does that mean we have a faulty unit, or is there more tolerance in ours ?

Officially,this is a safery feature,so it's not a fault.

Answer from Skoda:

"The movement of the driver seat,

which you can memorize, is limited. The reason, why you cannot set the seat in position which you have described, is simple:

there could be problem with safety of sitting people inside of the vehicle. The backrests must not be angled too far back when

driving otherwise this will affect proper operation of the seat belts and of the airbag system - risk of injury! Adjusting the

front seats without care can lead to bruises or injuries of people sitting on the rear seats."

Officially,this is a safery feature,so it's not a fault.

Answer from Skoda:

"The movement of the driver seat,

which you can memorize, is limited. The reason, why you cannot set the seat in position which you have described, is simple:

there could be problem with safety of sitting people inside of the vehicle. The backrests must not be angled too far back when

driving otherwise this will affect proper operation of the seat belts and of the airbag system - risk of injury! Adjusting the

front seats without care can lead to bruises or injuries of people sitting on the rear seats."

what a load of sh*te - i have a brain and will decided what is safe or not. i cant set my seat to my normal driving postion as it will no memorise. i do recline a bit more than some people but its not dangerous. anyway all i do is move it to where i want manually so why not let me store this on the memory. surely its more dangerous to be too close to the airbag but it doesnt stop you memorising a position too close. also its not consistent as the position can be memorised in some cars.

its a fault/bug/**** up but they wont admit it !!

Well,we all have brains,but I think a few years of experiments are better than our brains.It is dangerous to drive too close to the airbag,but I don't think that would be a comfortable position.Anyway,imo I think this is a very good feature(fault if you want to call it like that),as I was aware of the fact that I was driving in a position so that my head was way too far from the airbag.Now,I got used to the new position,and I can say this one is also good for my back.Again,this is just my own opinion and I have a right to keep it.

but there are loads of drivers who sit too close (often older females). Having my seat too far back is not dangerous - on the contrary having it too upright is dangerous as I am simply not comfortable anh it distracts my driving. its the most ridiculous feature i have come across on any car. as i said it doesnt stop me putting it where i want as I move the back rest manually so what is the point of this "feature" / fault ?