Hi All,

 

I am envious of you people in the UK. I live in New Zealand and Skoda is a recent arrival to our shores. As our market is small and Skodas are new and rare as hens teeth, options are limited. I have been looking at buying an Octavia wagon. However the Elegance model in our market is without a Sat Nav. It does come with a bolero stereo at least. The only Sat Nav being offered is a Columbus, which, if I were to convert to British pounds, costs an extra 1500 sterling to have installed. Remember this will be instead of the Bolero stereo. Needless to say this cost is prohibitive.

 

I have asked if a sat nav can be retrofitted at a later date. I have considered waiting for the latest model to come on the market and acquiring one at a cheaper price and installing myself. However I cannot get a straight answer if it is possible to do this. I would be keen to know if it is relatively straight forward to unplug the Bolero stereo and plug in a Sat Nav, such as the latest model Columbus, into the car's computer system, so all installed vehicle functions are accessible by the new Sat Nav screen and Sat Nav details can be displayed in the Maxi dot screen?

 

Would anyone know if this is possible, or if anyone has even done it?

 

In the mean time I would have to make do with a Tom Tom, but my desire is to avoid unnecessary cables.

If it's a new model octavia then no it can't be just plugged in, the system won't recognise the replacement radio, and there won't be any gps antenna

Unfortunately at the moment it doesn't appear that this is possible somebody's already tried it but without success so far.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/288090-retrofit-new-columbus/

My SatNav SD card was delayed (2 weeks) so have only used it properly for the 1st time today, on a return journey I undertake every fortnight, so I know the route well !

I usually use a TomTom, but this time tried out the Octy 3 Amundsen system - it offered 3 options, but NONE of my usual (best for me) routes were available. It gave me the option to avoid motorways, which then offered me some weird journeys - I wanted to avoid the M6 but not other M ways en route, but the system wouldn't allow my choice, and leaving the Motor Way option in resulted in constantly directing me to M ways miles off course to the one I knew , and wanted.

For the return journey I resorted to TomTom again, comparing it directly with the Octy system - sad to say, the Tom Tom won hands down. Incidentally, although I know the route well, I always use satnav to guide me in the event of detours caused by accidents, roadworks etc).

Other than that, the car is fabulous in every aspect, & I'm delighted with it !

JKW 

I guess the advantage of a Sat Nav is being able to redirect you around traffic. Would you believe Here in NZ the Amundsen unit is not even offered. The car may be brilliant in all other aspects, but for me, it will have to come without a Sat Nav. I will have to get a Tom Tom or equivalent or use a good old fashioned map book.

I wouldn't be sad to buy and use a Tom Tom or similar instead of a built-in sat-nav system.

OK it doesn't look so smart and trendy BUT

- it is 1/10 the cost
- it is easier/cheaper to update
- it is easier/cheaper to repair/replace
- you can choose which model you buy, with the particular features you may like / want / need / prefer
- electronic devices are getting better / cheaper / smarter all the time.  You will be stuck with a built-in one; a far cheaper third-party one can easily and cheaply be replaced / updated in future years
- a dashboard-top-mounted removeable one is nearer you eye-line and far easier to see safely.

The only advantage I can think of with the ludicrously over-priced built-in ones is that, apart from looking neater, they are hard to steal  

I wouldn't be sad to buy and use a Tom Tom or similar instead of a built-in sat-nav system.

OK it doesn't look so smart and trendy BUT

- it is 1/10 the cost

- it is easier/cheaper to update

- it is easier/cheaper to repair/replace

- you can choose which model you buy, with the particular features you may like / want / need / prefer

- electronic devices are getting better / cheaper / smarter all the time.  You will be stuck with a built-in one; a far cheaper third-party one can easily and cheaply be replaced / updated in future years

- a dashboard-top-mounted removeable one is nearer you eye-line and far easier to see safely.

The only advantage I can think of with the ludicrously over-priced built-in ones is that, apart from looking neater, they are hard to steal  

 

 

That is exactly why I was happy to go for the SE spec - the built in sat nav for all it's neatness does have some draw backs - plus I already had a sat nav anyway! Plus having a smartphone gives me another sat nav option as well so a built in one seemed like overkill.

 

I wonder how much Skoda will charge for updates once the free period has elapsed - my Garmin has free map updates for life plus free traffic updates - the only additional item to pay for is the traffic camera.

I'm currently looking at an Elegance (over an SE) although don't actually want the SatNav - have tried a few factory ones now and none come close to the TomTom for accuracy and ease of use.  Current hire car (Ford) has it and it found a new route to my apartment in Germany this time - slower than both the others.

 

It did try to direct me off the M1 on Monday to avoid traffic....through the centre of Milton Keynes at 8am.  Suicide...

 

Is there a "SatNav delete" option??  Seems a shame to pay for something I don't want or need.

I guess the advantage of a Sat Nav is being able to redirect you around traffic. Would you believe Here in NZ the Amundsen unit is not even offered. The car may be brilliant in all other aspects, but for me, it will have to come without a Sat Nav. I will have to get a Tom Tom or equivalent or use a good old fashioned map book.

 

I've lived in NZ..... you dont need a sat nav, you have about 8 *really long* roads, total