Having driven my Octavia 1.5 SEL Manual, First Edition for a couple of weeks now, I thought I'd share some first thoughts - may be of use to someone.

 

I've mainly used it on long trips - 4  journeys of 200 miles each, 50% A roads and 50% motorways, and brimming the tank gives me a calculated average consumption of 55mpg; that's good enough for me! If you're light footed on the motorway and can get the engine to work in 2 cylinder mode, its extremely frugal. Theres a slight judder when switching to/from 2 cylinder mode, but nothing to worry about. Take up in first gear is slightly odd - I find it difficult to make a smooth getaway, but that could just be me.

 

The infotainment system is complex. And potentially very distracting. If you want to get the most out of it you need to spend some time with your head in the handbook. But seeing as it appears to have been translated poorly, it's not always easy to understand. 

 

Driver's aids? I'm trying not to switch off the lane assist on the basis that one day it might actually help me. It's ok. But easy to switch off if required.

Active cruise control is slightly disappointing; it's clever, but it's not a human, it can't be expected to anticipate in the way that we do, but it has its uses.

There is a speech limit function,which can be accessed via the steering wheel controls, but not as easy as having a single button to access.

 

I've still not worked out how to set the drop for the near side mirror when reverse is selected. And I'm never quite sure how my phone is connected (bluetooth? wireless?), particularly if using Apple CarPlay, but the list of these problems is growing smaller as I get used to it.

 

In heavy rain, there's a large stream of water on the outside of the front side windows, making it difficult to see the mirrors.

 

Headlamps? Not sure what I think yet, but front fogs were used recently and they're excellent.

 

The car has electric, heated memory seats, with electric lumbar support. But for me (admittedly with a back problem), there's not enough lumbar support and I find it difficult to get the seat comfortable. That's not helped by the armrest on the driver's door being way to low to use whilst driving.

 

The armrest between the seats is great, with lots of adjustment, but not getting in the way. But the cupholders are small, don't order beyond 'grande'!

 

The interior is beautifully finished though and so far is rattle free.

 

Forgive me if I've concentrated on the negatives, but that's always going to be the way. Overall, it's exactly the car that I want at the moment - a solid, no-nonsense, economical cruiser which isn't going to set the earth alight. The level of tech inside the car is potentially very distracting, and I suspect that a lot of owners won't be aware of all of the features. 

If only I could make the seat more comfortable.....

I have the SE 1.5 petrol manual First Edition, just a week old. I have driven about 250 miles so far. in Petrol Blue, it's the best looking car in the Morrisons car park as far as I'm concerned, but I am biased. I made an 80 mile journey on Sunday in wet and foggy weather on town, A and B  roads and recorded 53 mpg and I am very happy with that except my brand new car got covered in mud.

 

The lights and wipers on automatic were good, the interior is very comfortable and quiet up to 70+.

 

The ride is good and trusting, I had no sudden worries on bumps and corners and potholes. My previous car, Octy Mk3, could jump around on bad roads and the 4 is a big improvement over that.

 

I used the front fog lights and found them useful for lighting the road edges and road signs. 

The interior space is amazing, especially in the back and the boot space is huge. 

 

The infotainment system is bonkers, it is unusable when you are driving, you need a flight engineer in the passenger seat to operate it when moving. 

 

The 'Lane Assist' is probably very well meaning but on B roads it bongs its head off and keeps on telling me to 'Please stay in the centre of the lane'. It pleaded with me so often, I started swearing back at it. On wide main roads it's not a problem but on English country roads it may be beyond its limit of understanding.

 

It is a very handsome car and I find it comfortable to drive. it is refined and pleasant to be within.

 

However, it is going back to the dealers next Monday for attention to its gear box. The change from 2nd to 3rd is very difficult. I have been caught out too many times already on roundabouts in no gear when trying to change up. I will let you know what happens.

 

 

The reverse mirror drop caught me out initially, you have to have the little joystick on the driver's door pointing to "L" and when you engage reverse it will dip down.

 

You can move it around to the desired ground view and it will remember for the next time.

Thanks for explaining how to set the mirror for reversing. 
I’d downloaded the Owner’s Manual from Skoda UK and it talks about selecting ‘R’ rather than ‘L’ - presumably, the text has been translated but the left hand drive/right hand drive hasn’t. Silly me. 
That’ll teach me not to read instructions!

I’ve had my MKIV first edition se l for a week now and love 95% of it. 
I am having problems with my iPhone that when it connects to the car wirelessly it shows it is connected by WiFi and then refuses to do anything. CarPlay won’t stream, Apple maps and Google maps won’t plan routes and when parked I can not access any of the phones internet applications. Popped into the dealers today to see if they could spot what I had done wrong but they were just as confused. Anyone else had any problems?