Hi, new here and first post. 

I have inherited my dad's 2011 Octavia which has the Columbus system in it. I also have a box with the original Bolero and fascia inside. I've spoken to Skoda and they have told me that there is no way to test whether the Bolero woks or not without fitting it back in  the car (which they want £75 for) as the radio is coded to the car itself.

I do have a code that my dad has written in the handbook which I presume is the radio code. I'm know that the Bolero worked before he swapped it for the Columbus, so I have no doubt that it will still work, but it would be nice to confirm it

Am I right in thinking, if what Skoda says is true, that the Bolero is now useless unless I put it back in the car? I'm struggling to believe that the Bolero couldn't be sold to be put in to another vehicle?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

It can be fitted to other vehicles assuming it's working, they'll need a 4 digit code to unlock it.

 

Plenty of eBay sellers can get the code from the serial number for not much money.

Just put it back in the car and make sure it works, and then either sell it without the code, or go to an Ebay seller, give him the serial number of the Bolero, and get the correct code for a tenner.

 

Skoda dealers making up nonsense as and when required I'm afraid.

Thanks folks

 

I do have, what I believe, to be the code.

 

Is it easy enough to put it back in the car to test it? It's a 2011 Octavia Elegance

If you put it back in the car then it'll either work or it won't, but that won't validate the code which you think you have. The head unit (and also the Columbus) are remembered by the car, so reinstalling either of them will reactivate the unit without needing to input the code. If it works, then it works. If you want to know if the code works (although I suspect your father will have made a note of the Columbus code when he installed it) then putting it in the same car will be pointless. You need to introduce it to a car it hasn't seen before and it'll then ask for the code, which you can then try to verify if it's correct.

 

 

Ahh, I see what you mean. Many thanks Rustynuts