A couple of things happened last night as I arrived home late (and in the dark):

1: The car didn't know that the driver's door was open (there was no warning on the dash as I drove away last night with the door slightly open);

2: The seatbelt warning light / buzzer didn't work (I forgot to put my seatbelt back on after stopping to open / close the door);

These two things made me think during the rest of the journey and be more observant of other things going wrong (I think it's called paranoia) and I notice the following:

3: The headlight on warning buzzer didn't go off when I got home even though I had turned the engine off and left the lights on (so I could see to close the gate);

4: The boot didn't auto unlock like it normally does after getting out of the car;

5: The courtesy light in the drivers door didn't come on (passenger side did and I did checked the bulb today).

Can anyone see any patterns to these five things or any reasons as to why they should all occur at the same time?

This will all be caused by a faulty microswitch not detecting that the door has been opened or even closed, nothing as serious as an ecu failure. They all occurred at the same time as the switch is common to all of them.

Get a scan done with VCDS, should confirm the microswitch issue.

This will all be caused by a faulty microswitch not detecting that the door has been opened or even closed, nothing as serious as an ecu failure. They all occurred at the same time as the switch is common to all of them.

Many thanks for a quick response and the good news(?) Can you confirm that the microswitch is located within the lock on the drivers side door?

It was the seatbelt warning not going off that confused me! If the vehicle is in motion and the seatbelt not plugged in, surely it does not matter whether the door is open or not?

Edited 31 July, 201114 yr by KBPhoto

That all makes sense except that I got in the car this morning and checked out the seatbelt warning.

The light comes on if the seatbelt us MOT plugged in, but no warning sound.

Should there be one or am I imagining it?

How is this related to the door switch?

That all makes sense except that I got in the car this morning and checked out the seatbelt warning.

The light comes on if the seatbelt us MOT plugged in, but no warning sound.

Should there be one or am I imagining it?

How is this related to the door switch?

I think this must be one of those options set within the mysterious depths of VCDS. In my first Octy (2006) the seatbelt not fastened warning bonged 6 times if I switched on the ignition before I fastened my seat belt. If I drove off without fastening it, it would bong incessantly.

In the new Octy (2010) I get the light but no bong.

Thanks for that, but what could have caused this to change?

It has 'bonged' in the past but, as I generally remember to put the belt on before driving off, I have not heard it for quite a while.

Update & an admission to being a numpty!

The seatbelt warning light comes on when the ignition is switched on or the engine started. No 'bongs' at this point.

I only get an audible warning if I drive the vehicle at over 15/20mph.

That rules out any further problems and I'll look into getting the door lock / microswitch fixed / replaced ASAP: hopefully my 3rd party warranty will class this as 'premature failure' and fix it for me as it looks to be around £200-250 to have it replaced by the dealers!

Will update with an outcome and, hopefully, a positive outcome.

Just back from Skoda stealer and it is definitely the door locking mechanism that is at fault (read that as being the microswitch).

'Fortunately' I have a third party warranty that I took out when the one from the trader ran out and they have agreed to pay for the replacement part and fitting (c.£230), although not until Wednesday as it will take 2 days to get the part in!

However, my warranty company WILL NOT pay for any exploratory work in order to find out what was actually wrong: So there goes c.£120 on top of parts and labour.

And the warranty company have refused to pay for the clips to hold the door card / panel in place. That really took the biscuit!

Is there a moral to this story?

Yes.

Briskoda members are a knowledgeable bunch on the whole and, had I listened to mannyo & m0bov (see above) I could have saved c.£100 by having a local with VCDS investigate for me and then telling the garage and warranty company what needs doing myself.

C'est la vie!

Just back from the garage today and everything seems to be functioning correctly apart from a loose part (probably part of one of the pot rivets) floating around in the door!

Will have to call them and see what they say about that...

Thanks to everyone for their advice and I'd suggest if anyone has similar problems, find a member with VCDS to scan for fault codes and search for the post in Octavia I regarding repairing the microswitch.

You could save yourself over £200...