New Scout Coming!

[Baldgerry]

Well after some little time considering and weighing up the options I've decided I've had enough of big bills and poor fuel consumption and traded in my Disco 4 HSE for a new (well pre-registered) Scout DSG. I'll miss some of the toys but I'm looking forward to being able to fit in parking spaces again and not having to warn the bank I'm going to fill up with diesel!

The Scout has Sat Nav and bluetooth, so I guess from that you guys will know what model of box is nailed into the dash? What do I need to do to add an iPod connector to it, is it plug and play or is there a bit more to it?

Thanks in advance

[vrs777]

You will need a MDI lead/link. When you get it just post some more info up and someone will point you in the right direction depending on your sat nav unit.

You did the right thing with the disco. They are great when new under a warranty or if a business is paying for it but after that they start to show the classic signs poorly made jags and land rovers of years gone by. They never age well compared to a good German car. You're Scout will be a better long term car without doubt.

[silver1011]

The sat nav will be a Columbus...

...or an Amundsen...

[Baldgerry]

Cheers guys. Yes, I took the Disco in for a few bits of warranty work last week before the warranty runs out and there was £1200 worth of work to be done before they replaced the discs and pads as the discs had warped! That was what clinched it for me, that and £475 to tax it!

It's got a Columbus then as I remember the SD slot along the bottom, is it half decent? The car hadn't been PDId so it wouldn't fire up so I didn't get chance to see what it was like. Is it just plug the MDI lead in the back and off you go?

[vrs777]

Pretty much yeah, but the fitting is tight and you need to route it into the glove box.

The Columbus is very good. You can add voice control to it too if it hasn't already got it. Great for sat nav, just shout and go!

[Baldgerry]

Excellent, ta. I pick it up tomorrow so I've put some music on an SD card to see me through.

Voice control sounds good, how do you add that?

[silver1011]

No, ask yourself how many new models are cheaper than the outgoing version? Not many, if any.

Skoda prices are only going one way, and that isn't down, especially on a highly desirable model such as the Scout, even more so on all new models.

Besides the OP has bought the current version of the Scout. We don't have a confirmed launch date for the MkIII yet.

[BOBW]

Skoda have said in car.uk.msn.com."a new mk3 version of the scout will be out in 2014" I hope so. I changed from the octavia Scout to the 4x4 superb SE estate, but I miss the ground clearance.

Edited 9 May, 2013 by BOBW

[Baldgerry]

yeah but for that kinda money I could buy a subaru or rav4 or whatever...

I did wonder myself, when chatting with the sales guy he said the new model Elegance was about £2.5k dearer than the outgoing which meant with a quick bit of mental arithmetic that if the new Scout goes up by the same then a DSG with a few extras could easily reach £30k!

[vrs777]

To add voice control you need to add the mic. Of you're doing that you could also add the Bluetooth module. But it may have both already?

[mannyo]

You can tell if you have bluetooth. Press the phone button, if the audio mutes then you do not have bluetooth. If a large picture of a phone appears then you have bluetooth.

The columbus is the current top of the range headunit, and has the SD card slot which will play MP3 or unprotected WMA files. The columbus also has its own internal HDD, where you can copy music in mp3 format from CDR's and DVDR's, and SD cards onto the internal HDD. You can also play DVD movies as well.

[BOBW]

The outdoor Superb 4x4 with no raised suspension or protective underside is about 26K.

I would think the Octavia Scout with height ,and protection would probably be about the same price.

[Baldgerry]

The outdoor Superb 4x4 with no raised suspension or protective underside is about 26K.

I would think the Octavia Scout with height ,and protection would probably be about the same price.

Plus DSG, plus a few options and hey presto £30k!!!

[silver1011]

yeah but for that kinda money I could buy a subaru or rav4 or whatever...

People will still pay it as Skoda's dodgy image is fast becoming a thing of the past.

The Rav4 isn't really a direct competitor and Subaru's aren't exactly cheap either.

If you want a scare look at the price of the VW Passat Alltrack.

Then compare this with the price of a Scout and you soon realise that compared with the competition a Scout is still good value for money.

All this is pure speculation until prices are released.

[Baldgerry]

True, and in fairness it's looking like a lot of the expensive options, such as Xenons and Sat Nav will be standard anyway

Edited 10 May, 2013 by Baldgerry

[pipsyp]

You can tell if you have bluetooth. Press the phone button, if the audio mutes then you do not have bluetooth. If a large picture of a phone appears then you have bluetooth.

The columbus is the current top of the range headunit, and has the SD card slot which will play MP3 or unprotected WMA files. The columbus also has its own internal HDD, where you can copy music in mp3 format from CDR's and DVDR's, and SD cards onto the internal HDD. You can also play DVD movies as well.

Amundsen + is also v good. Yes smaller screen and misses out on a couple of features but the sat nav is more or less the same and in some areas betters the Columbus IMO. Inclusion of a touch and central scroll controller interface is nice and debateably the user interface is a bit cleverer, nav memory is flash memory based so quicker access times than HDD and less likely to corrupt. There is also the fact that if you get the right model you can add DAB and Bluetooth to your car in one hit too, no Columbus has these features built in.

Thing I love most about the Amundsen + is its ability to play AAC and MP4A files, therefore anything youve downloaded or ripped in iTunes in recent times (after they dropped DRM) can literally be copied to an SD card and it will play, no file conversion necessary.

Knowing what i know now if I bought a lower spec car without Nav, BT etc, i'd probably get one of these fitted with a 3 spoke MFSW, install a DAB aerial and the VAG OEM BT microphone and code it all up. Thankfully I have all of this on my Blackline anyway.

The units are quite rare though as they havent really been fitted to too many cars and those who have them i suspect generally havent swapped them for a Columbus so they are hard to come by....sadly Skoda charge 1200 for one as an official accessory!

Edited 10 May, 2013 by pipsyp

[Kiwibacon]

yeah but for that kinda money I could buy a subaru or rav4 or whatever...

And why would you ever buy either?

When I was looking for a scout I had salesmen offer me both subarus and rav4's in a sheepish kind of way.

Skoda has Subaru beat for design, build quality, fuel consumption, parts prices, driving dynamics etc etc etc. The worst new car I have driven was a subaru XV.

Edited 12 May, 2013 by Kiwibacon