KPH/MPH

[SteveTheElder]

2 hours ago, Nosnehm said:

... and leave them with what undoubtedly will become a pretty worthless 2nd hand vehicle as the trade...

 

Don't be so harsh. A quick look on WeBuyAnyCar to see what they'd offer me for mine - £1k less than I paid for it 10 months and 7000 miles ago.

 

On the topic of compensation, I'm quite happy with what they agreed for me. And before anyone asks, I don't believe it right for me to share the detail of what it was, so I won't. Suffice to say that I started the firm but polite discussion at what turned out to be about 1/2 way in to the 5 months my car was off the road.

[fox2319]

Don't forget that you can always involve The Motor Ombudsmand for complaints against your garage and The Financial Ombudsman for complaints against VWFS. To be honest, I'd encourage everyone who's been affected by this to involve them and build up a volume of cases against Skoda. 

 

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any particular way to complain against Skoda UK directly

[Wonderloaf]

So I had another couple of faults with mine. Worst being the infotainment system failing to turn on. They fixed that with a hard reset and my car went in yesterday for a further check. They've told me Skoda are aware of the faults and many customers are having them. There is a fix on the way, but they unfortunately can't give a date on when that will be. 

[Suffolk]

Having read through a lot of the previous posts I find it all a bit dispiriting.  My 2021 Mk IV Octavia is in mostly an excellent car.  Previously I had a 2018 Merc C200 Mild hybrid and in most respects the Skoda is better.  More comfy, quieter, better MPG and cheaper insurance. The body work seems more solid also.

 

BUT the Skoda (or is it VAG as a whole) approach to management of system firmware seems to leave a lot to be desired.  Making random suck it and see changes is less than an ideal way to manage pretty complex h/w and s/w system permutations across many different countries.

 

My car has only one problem - the random MPH/KPH bug.  This would be a minor annoyance if were not for its interaction with the ACC.  I've had recalls on cars in the past which were far less likely to be dangerous than a car which slows down because it thinks the 70mph limit is 70kph to the the confusion of the car behind.

 

I've been in touch with SUK and they have tried to be helpful but say that it needs to be taken into a dealer to get evidence about what's happening.  But I think the dealers are left holding someone else's baby.  What can the dealer actually do  to gather evidence for SUK?  They could drive my car around for days and weeks.  But what actual data at the system level can they gather at the instant when the system switches from an MPH value to an equivalent KPH value.  I've taken photos already and explained it only changes on stretches of road where there are no speed limit signs.

 

On balance, given that this is the only problem the car exhibits, I think it's best left alone - from what I've read there's a better than evens chance the attempted fix could introduce new problems.  I will speak to my Skoda dealer however.

 

 

 

 

[Wonderloaf]

I keep getting told they are waiting for a software update from SKoda....

[PoloPaul]

59 minutes ago, Suffolk said:

Having read through a lot of the previous posts I find it all a bit dispiriting.  My 2021 Mk IV Octavia is in mostly an excellent car.  Previously I had a 2018 Merc C200 Mild hybrid and in most respects the Skoda is better.  More comfy, quieter, better MPG and cheaper insurance. The body work seems more solid also.

 

BUT the Skoda (or is it VAG as a whole) approach to management of system firmware seems to leave a lot to be desired.  Making random suck it and see changes is less than an ideal way to manage pretty complex h/w and s/w system permutations across many different countries.

 

My car has only one problem - the random MPH/KPH bug.  This would be a minor annoyance if were not for its interaction with the ACC.  I've had recalls on cars in the past which were far less likely to be dangerous than a car which slows down because it thinks the 70mph limit is 70kph to the the confusion of the car behind.

 

I've been in touch with SUK and they have tried to be helpful but say that it needs to be taken into a dealer to get evidence about what's happening.  But I think the dealers are left holding someone else's baby.  What can the dealer actually do  to gather evidence for SUK?  They could drive my car around for days and weeks.  But what actual data at the system level can they gather at the instant when the system switches from an MPH value to an equivalent KPH value.  I've taken photos already and explained it only changes on stretches of road where there are no speed limit signs.

 

On balance, given that this is the only problem the car exhibits, I think it's best left alone - from what I've read there's a better than evens chance the attempted fix could introduce new problems.  I will speak to my Skoda dealer however.

 

 

 

 

 

[PoloPaul]

1 minute ago, PoloPaul said:

 

I feel pretty much the same. My car is really nice and a big step forward in many ways. Having driven VW for decades I am disappointed with the lack of support for faults. I attributed this to Covid lockdowns for long enough yet it now appears to be strategic. I have noisy transmission - whine in low gears and clacking clutch change but my dealer says it’s not ‘excessively’ noisy and anyway he doesn’t have a ‘fix’. Software/ hardware wise - I can live with the mph/kmph issue as it does not appear to affect my ACC though I’ve little doubt it does affect some cars. A major issue of mine is non-auto reconnect of Bluetooth for iPhone. Trivial I know, but it’s been around for years in all cars yet it is faulty in mine. The long awaited software fix is scheduled for this month. We’ll see.

 

So I have mixed feelings. I am now resigned to simply putting up with the issues as this is my last internal combustion car and my next car will be electric. Even so it’s  a shame because my decades long admiration for VAG  is no longer. I will look to other manufacturers for my future battery model. 

[Suffolk]

I understand that other VAG brands have the same MPH/KPH problems. A friend has a VW ID 3 which has a problem with the speed limit display.  Re the bluetooth problem it took me a couple of weeks to get it working OK.  I was baffled by the need to have both wifi and bluebook switched on - but in the end it works OK and now connects every time

My Merc had a slow pick up problem when (eg) trying to enter a roundabout.  The dealer said it was quite normal and there was no fix.  Seems to be a cross-brand mantra.

 

I don't think moving to electric will, of itself, ensure a problem free vehicle.  A friend's iPace was off the road for several weeks (waiting for a new battery heater which was on long back order).  Installation involved removal of the entire battery module.  From what I've read software is the biggest source of problems (esp Tesla). 

 

 

 

 

[PoloPaul]

4 hours ago, Suffolk said:

I understand that other VAG brands have the same MPH/KPH problems. A friend has a VW ID 3 which has a problem with the speed limit display.  Re the bluetooth problem it took me a couple of weeks to get it working OK.  I was baffled by the need to have both wifi and bluebook switched on - but in the end it works OK and now connects every time

My Merc had a slow pick up problem when (eg) trying to enter a roundabout.  The dealer said it was quite normal and there was no fix.  Seems to be a cross-brand mantra.

 

I don't think moving to electric will, of itself, ensure a problem free vehicle.  A friend's iPace was off the road for several weeks (waiting for a new battery heater which was on long back order).  Installation involved removal of the entire battery module.  From what I've read software is the biggest source of problems (esp Tesla). 

 

 

 

 

Agree about electric not being a panacea and software being an ongoing story.   The wifi/bluetooth duplication is a surprise at first. Once the bluetooth connection is made it is used to connect to the cars internal wifi. Once this is made the bluetooth disconnects. The experience in all cars I know of is bluetooth alone. Mine works fine for perhaps half a dozen auto-reconnects and then fails. Often it restores if I open a car door!  So the bluetooth connectivity dropping reconnect is a known issue and one for which Skoda has promised a sw update this month…….. maybe…….  It surprises me how many of us have different sw issues that don’t seem to affect others. 

[PetrolDave]

12 hours ago, PoloPaul said:

The wifi/bluetooth duplication is a surprise at first. Once the bluetooth connection is made it is used to connect to the cars internal wifi. Once this is made the bluetooth disconnects. The experience in all cars I know of is bluetooth alone.

AFAIK that's certainly how both CarPlay and Android Auto work - initial connection using Bluetooth which is used to initiate a WiFi connection (not sure Bluetooth could offer the latency and data rate needed?).

[Kendoddsdadsdogisdead]

Having swapped my Octavia and gone back to a Superb I just wondered if they have sorted out all the software issues reported on this site ? I must say it's nice to drive the Suoerb without the fear of it braking randomly,mph instead of Kph, no more the car reading the speed limits and converting g them to Kph?

[PoloPaul]

Hi, 

 

Oddly enough I posted this in another Briskoda forum just today”

 

Hello

 

I have today received this message from SkodaService U.K.  

 

The software update to address a number of issue that ‘many’ but not all of us are experiencing…. appears to be ready, as scheduled, before the end of March. Message reads…….

 

”The factory are due to release a software update this week, we believe this update will cover a number of items.

Once this has been released I will be in a better position to advise what it will include”

[Kendoddsdadsdogisdead]

13 minutes ago, PoloPaul said:

Hi, 

 

Oddly enough I posted this in another Briskoda forum just today”

 

 

Hello

 

I have today received this message from SkodaService U.K.  

 

The software update to address a number of issue that ‘many’ but not all of us are experiencing…. appears to be ready, as scheduled, before the end of March. Message reads…….

 

”The factory are due to release a software update this week, we believe this update will cover a number of items.

Once this has been released I will be in a better position to advise what it will include”

Well it's too late for me I just didn't feel safe driving my Octavia.I hope this fix is the panacea for all the issues but I feel Skoda owe all the owners with cars that had issues some sort of compensation for selling them a vehicle that should have never been put on the road with the plethora of faults it had and were very reluctant to take responsibility or ever apologised .

[PoloPaul]

Can’t disagree with that 👍

[Suffolk]

Further to my post on 13 March, I had the journey from hell yesterday. In 70 miles down the A12 the MPH/KPH struck maybe 15 times.  Then to cap it all, the emergency alarm bug struck, this then sent the GPS haywire with the result  that the map showed our position as being several miles away and the speed limit displayed was the speed where the system thought we were.  All very confusing. Called the dealer who failed to ring me back. 

I reset the infotainment system by holding down the on/off button and it is now OK.

 

It’s a pity that Skoda UK don’t use this forum to tell us what is going on re new releases.  Still it sounds promising - let’s keep our fingers crossed. 

 

I was so irritated by yesterday’s experience I started to think I’d sell it, but when I started looking around I found nothing that suited my needs as well as the Octavia - if only they can get all the problems sorted.

[spearmg]

It seems to me that I am relatively lucky. I took delivery of my Octavia in September 2020. I did not have the problem with the ACC suddenly braking but I did have issues with KPH/MPH. These were resolved last December. I had also paid for High Beam Assist but that didn't work. Eventually it was fixed at the beginning of March.

As far as I can tell everything is now working correctly. I have received a monetary offer of compensation and am currently waiting for the cheque to arrive!

[Kendoddsdadsdogisdead]

13 hours ago, PoloPaul said:

Hi, 

 

Oddly enough I posted this in another Briskoda forum just today”

 

 

Hello

 

I have today received this message from SkodaService U.K.  

 

The software update to address a number of issue that ‘many’ but not all of us are experiencing…. appears to be ready, as scheduled, before the end of March. Message reads…….

 

”The factory are due to release a software update this week, we believe this update will cover a number of items.

Once this has been released I will be in a better position to advise what it will include”

What's realy annoying is the fact that this car was actually put on the market ,I thought they had  to pass exhaustive testing regimes.I also am annoyed by the dealerships who although caught in the middle of this are all but useless in helping customers .Unless you kick off as I did they won't help and keep stating the political line " we are waiting for an update ".I understand that there are similar issues with other VW based models.

[Ootohere]

It is not a surprise that the cars were put out on sale as they are car manufacturers and if VW Group waited for fault free and properly tested vehicles they would be out of business.

 

They took Software inhouse, they had Average Co2 emissions to meet and had to get cars first registered in the EU and in the UK to be achieve these as at the time they still did not have enough Partner Manufacturers that assist the kidology of these figures by them having EV's and Hybrids actually produced and selling that were fit for purpose.

 

VW / Skoda took the pith to save paying millions in penalties for their emissions being too high so they got their lower emissions ones on the road and some are unsafe and EU and UK Authorities let them away with it. 

[PetrolDave]

9 minutes ago, Kendoddsdadsdogisdead said:

What's realy annoying is the fact that this car was actually put on the market ,I thought they had  to pass exhaustive testing regimes.

A major factor is that we drive RHD cars and most major manufacturers do their physical testing in LHD countries in LHD cars. Certainly this was the case when I worked at an automotive consultancy.

 

The Type Approval of RHD versions is largely a paperwork exercise.

 

With this testing regime problems like KPH/MPH, LHD/RHD won't show up - so IMHO VAG should take from this sorry episode that they need to do more physical testing of RHD cars in RHD countries before launch.

[Ootohere]

Suzuki launched a new little car and the UK Motoring Journalists gave good reviews for the small cheap city car they tested when staying at All Inclusive Hotels in the sunny climes driving left hand drive cars.

 

They arrived in the UK and that was when it was found that if you braked hard the car accelerated as the firewall flexed on the right hand drive cars.

EDIT.  Maybe just the lack of braking power Autocar said they discovered on 2 cars with the Suzuki Celerio in 2015.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-31093206

 

What Car / Autocar make a Car, Car of the year like they often do before any customer ever gets one in the UK, they drove left hand drive ones.

They have done that pre-christmas in time for TV ads when the cars were not being delivered until the start of the New Year.

eg Mk3 Skoda Fabia. 

Edited 29 March, 2022 by roottoot

[Pibo]

21 hours ago, Suffolk said:

Further to my post on 13 March, I had the journey from hell yesterday. In 70 miles down the A12 the MPH/KPH struck maybe 15 times.  Then to cap it all, the emergency alarm bug struck, this then sent the GPS haywire with the result  that the map showed our position as being several miles away and the speed limit displayed was the speed where the system thought we were.  All very confusing. Called the dealer who failed to ring me back. 

I reset the infotainment system by holding down the on/off button and it is now OK.

 

 

I have had similar experiences with the satnav going bonkers when the emergency alarm error comes on, usually after a few pops.  I have spoken to my dealer and they could not find any errors recorded.  The emergency error rights itself when the engine is switched off for a period of time.  I can live with the mph/kph inconvenience, but I now don't trust the satnav and have to use the mobile instead.  I like the satnav, as I can have the map on the dashboard, which doesn't work with the android phone.  My dealer is as baffled as I am and all the updates don't seem to have solved anything.

 

I tired to reset the infotainment system by holding down the on/off button, but all I got was the circle going round and round and round.  In fact, for the rest of the journey which lasted over 90 minutes!

[Suffolk]

I am pleased to report that my local friendly Skoda dealer have fixed both the emergency call button fault and updated the software to the latest revision -1896.  Also the Nav database is now 22.4.  

Did a 70 mile journey yesterday and the ACC now works as it should.  The car is transformed. 

[SteveTheElder]

12 hours ago, Suffolk said:

I am pleased to report that my local friendly Skoda dealer have fixed both the emergency call button fault and updated the software to the latest revision -1896.  Also the Nav database is now 22.4.  

Did a 70 mile journey yesterday and the ACC now works as it should.  The car is transformed. 

So good to hear! Thanks for the update.

 

Once these cars work properly they are great! Hopefully the newer builds came/come out of the factory working ok.

[GWoodhouse]

On 13/03/2022 at 16:16, Suffolk said:

 

My Merc had a slow pick up problem when (eg) trying to enter a roundabout.  The dealer said it was quite normal and there was no fix.  Seems to be a cross-brand mantra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vehicle manufacturers need to focus less on turning their cars into giant iPhones with wheels and focus more on making them drive properly. Seems to be a bit of a theme.

[PoloPaul]

On 28/05/2022 at 07:20, Suffolk said:

I am pleased to report that my local friendly Skoda dealer have fixed both the emergency call button fault and updated the software to the latest revision -1896.  Also the Nav database is now 22.4.  

Did a 70 mile journey yesterday and the ACC now works as it should.  The car is transformed. 

Mine is now also 1896 - navigation is 21.7 (so perhaps more to come). I can also say that everything is now working as it should. 👍