Compared to my previous car (Mazda 3) - the level of heat produced is very feeble, as is the distribution particularly around the footwell.  Would be interested to hear of the experience of others.

Is it a petrol or diesel you have?

 

What temp do you run the climatronic on?

Petrol.  23C

Maybe a slightly different system. ...but I have to run the Octavia climate at least 24 no its cold to get anything out of it.

I have an SEL Diesel.

I also find the heating (& cooling) to be, to put it politely, absolutely pathetic.So much so that if we get a hot summer (I can avoid going out in very cold weather) I will swap it for a Fiesta  :|

Seems it is a Skoda design flaw - wish I had known before purchase - but it's not something I would have on my pre-purchase check list .

Just wondering now whether it's also an issue with the  Polo.

Surely its just a case of turning it up higher if you're cold?

Surely its just a case of turning it up higher if you're cold?

 

that gives the same result as turning up the thermostat when you have only got one (very small) radiator in a large room - i e negligible and totally inadequate.

I have a 1.2 TSI and at this weather (~+2 C) I usually turn on the CC to +25 on auto without A/C. It get's warm quite fast, but if I park somewhere and sit inisde the car for 10 minutes or more with the engine off, it gets cold quite fast. But I am very sensitive to cold and hot, if I drive with passengers, they usually complain that it's too hot inisde and want me to set the CC to 22-23 celsius. It also gets warmer alot faster if you use A/C.

Have my SE L climate control set at 24 degrees this time of year.  Car warms up from cold in a few minutes as did my previous 2 petrol Fabias.  Suggest you take the car back to the dealer to get it checked out under warranty.

Probably worth getting it back to a dealer then. Is the coolant topped up to max? Sometimes these cars get airlocks.

Seems it is a Skoda design flaw - wish I had known before purchase - but it's not something I would have on my pre-purchase check list .

Just wondering now whether it's also an issue with the  Polo.

 

Once my Polo diesel is up to full working temperature the interior can get very toasty! However it does take a while to warm up in very cold weather. 

Seems it is a Skoda design flaw - wish I had known before purchase - but it's not something I would have on my pre-purchase check list .

Just wondering now whether it's also an issue with the  Polo.

 

Seems like it is exactly the same with new Polo, I thought that wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI SEL was okay during its first winter, though she complained, but this winter I tend to agree with her! Basic manual AC in daughter's late 2009 Ibiza is excellent - though fully automatic AC systems tend to control where the air gets flowed to, which might not always be to every ones "taste"!

When I started driving in 1963 on some cars a heater was an extra. My first car a ford Anglia with the raked back window had the best heater I ever had on a car now it's a\c and climate control as standard on a lot of cars now plus all the safety features we take for granted which I never had in my first car. You would probably never survive a head on crash no seat belts or airbags makes you think, we never thought of the risk to our families on a day out to the sea side. Joe

The Wife's Mk2 Fabia has climate control is perfectly OK, normally set at 19-20. The climate control in my last Four Octavia's has also been spot on. Set the temperature, set to auto and forget about it.

I've never had a issue with VAG small car heating before, wife's previous car, a late 2002 Polo 1.4 16V had auto AC (Climatic) and it always worked very well and never had failing flapmotor issues, it just seems that the latest versions of Fabia/Polo/Ibiza seem to get a lot of complains about the car's heater performance in winter. It should be noted here that the TSI engines at least, do have a few seperate heating/cooling coolant circuits, well seperate control, so maybe while they are being used for heating other areas of the engine, the cabin heater is being denied some heat, I try to be kind to the engine (economy) and switch the fan off until the temperature gauge reaches 90C, but if I then try to grab a lot of heat for use in the cabin, the indicated coolant temperature drops a bit!  As I said earlier, these auto systems try to control the cabin temperature when some times what you might want is "red hot" air coming/going to a certain spot/zone only - that will never happen with auto AC.

 

Edit:- in contrast, the late 2009 Ibiza with manual AC lets me select HOT, and use its utilitarian/stylish dash air vents to blast this air at me and at the side window, lovely when it is freezing outside!!

 

Second Edit:- Anglia eh, well my first set of wheels was an "E" reg Anglia van maybe a 126E(?) based on the 105E Anglia, exGPO!  Did its job, had a heater but the floor plugs tended to get forced out when you accidentally drove through flooded roads, that was a bit annoying!

Edited 24 December, 20169 yr by rum4mo