Hi All. I'm writing this with an intention to both inform, and also ask for help. My less than one month old Skoda Octavia SEL TDI DSG has a potentially life threatening issue with its emergency crash assist braking system deciding that for no apparent reason and with absolutely NO WARNING it will activate and brake the car with no intervention from me.

It has done this 3 times now, and the first time it  happened I brushed it off as a literal one off as it  happened at low speed and no other traffic was involved. On the 2nd activation the car decided to autobrake with the resultant effect that the car behind me very very narrowly missed running into the back of me.  The car behind me managed somehow to go around me and avoid an interaction by probably a hands width away from actually hitting me. I called the AA and they attended and told me the car was not safe to drive and that they would trailer it to my local dealer to get it inspected. AA have been called twice by the way......

 

The inspection proved that the car had a bad ADAS camera, and that it was going to be replaced, which it was.

 

I took the car back, and you wont be surprised to hear that it  happened again. 

 

I wanted to write this because I now do not trust the car and will not drive it at all. As the car is on finance I spoke to the finance provider (VWFS) who have  actually been absolutely no use at all. I want to reject the car, and they are not  helping AT ALL.

 

I would  have thought something this serious would have them falling over themselves to sort this issue, but apparently they don't give a stuff..

 

i also have issues generally with fit and finish being total crap, the car rattles and bangs over anything other than flat smooth road surfaces, along with repeated airbag warnings as well as parking sensor faults, voice activation activating when I've said nothing, and we connect is a complete bag of balls. I have also posted on here about how genuinely crap the LED headlights are, but apparently they meet legal requirements MOT wise and no further action is to be suggested or taken.

 

My partner was in the car when  I had the emergency brake assist activation, and she is terrified that it might happen again and now will not travel in the car, for fear of being involved in a more serious, maybe potentially fatal accident, having now missed being hit by both a car and a very seriously ****ed off lorry driver, who perhaps should have been travelling further away from me than he was!!.

 

I wrote this to inform people of my experiences with this car, and ask if anyone out there can actively assist or intervene.

 

You would be surprised at some of the people in here, maybe someone can help.

 

By the way. I do have video evidence of everything I have mentioned here EXCEPT the brake issues as I was driving at the time.

You are raising a matter often raised in the past.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/447049-automatic-braking

 

If it's less than a month old then write to the garage and tell them you are rejecting the car. Do it now (tonight) 

 

Your right to reject is strongest in the first month

Fox you have my mobile or can message me, something you might be able to help me with perhaps if you have time. will have to be to the email address I gave you last time as apparently i can only reply to 1 Personal message a day, how daft is that?

Glad that you are ok Mark,

I would not suggest to drive that car before it has been fixed for sure.

 

 

First thing i will do when i will get my RS, i will turn off all these 'assists', i hate when car starts to interfere. Only thing i can tolerate is adaptive cruise control.

But i am not sure i will be able to turn all these things off, will see soon.

 

Edited 19 March, 20215 yr by janis

Hi Fox. i have already done that and the supplying dealer refuse to accept it  and will not help AT ALL.

12 hours ago, mark2jag said:

Hi Fox. i have already done that and the supplying dealer refuse to accept it  and will not help AT ALL.

Hi, have a look at what I wrote 13 March in this thread, it’s similar to something I wrote few months ago (and that person PM’d me few weeks later to thank me, as having the facts had got him his refund).  Sounds like dealer has already had their chance to fix problem, but didn’t do so

 

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/491081-had-enough/

Don’t let them try and pretend not a valid claim, or they need to wait for Skoda to ok it etc. They are just wrong answers (or to put it bluntly lies)

 

For clarity you have no dispute with finance company, so they have no obligation to assist, but will on conclusion will need refunding.

 

Good Luck

Edited 20 March, 20215 yr by SurreyJohn

I had this problem with my RS, it was a defective camera and ECU fault, after much toing and froing from the dealer workshop and a row about me tampering with the ECU concerned (which I haven't) they replaced the camera (which I had independently tested and know was defective) and updated the ECU.

 

Strangely enough it has stopped doing it almost entirely, it can occasionally get tricked by a bird or rubbish, but on the whole has been fine since.

 

Good luck with your car, they can fix it, but it just needs a lot of time, patience and trips to the dealer to get it sorted. 

I can understand you wanting to reject the car and having no confidence in the system even if it is supposedly repaired in case it happens again etc.

 

What I am struggling with is that you wont drive the car and your partner refuses to get in it with the system switched off.

 

I believe that you deserve a refund, if you bought the car for and/or paid extra for these systems you cannot be expected to forego the use of them, if you buy another car would you want these systems again or would you avoid them?

Could there be legal ramifications here?

 

Just thinking that if they're fitted as safety systems, but isolated by you and if you were involved in an accident? 

 

Because a lawyer could say that they would have prevented the incident.

 

However conversely, if they are active and they cause an accident through it's malfunction. You could be held culpable either way.

Edited 20 March, 20215 yr by TheWanderer

27 minutes ago, TheWanderer said:

Could there be legal ramifications here?

 

Just thinking that if they're fitted as safety systems, but isolated by you and if you were involved in an accident? 

 

Because a lawyer could say that they would have prevented the incident.

 

However conversely, if they are active and they cause an accident through it's malfunction. You could be held culpable either way.

Sounds like the malfunction caused it to fail safe and slow the car

 

But person behind wasn’t expecting car to brake and nearly hit it.   I think anyone following that crashes into a slowing car in front is usually assumed to be liable (driving too close, driving without attention etc)

 

As someone who frequently resorts to brake testing tailgaters here in France (they are a real problem) but who is also concerned with the rise in use of dashcams one day soon I will come unstuck, in those circumstances being able to blame a driver aid system could be a big advantage!!!!

2 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

Sounds like the malfunction caused it to fail safe and slow the car

 

But person behind wasn’t expecting car to brake and nearly hit it.   I think anyone following that crashes into a slowing car in front is usually assumed to be liable (driving too close, driving without attention etc)

 

Indeed. As far as the driver behind is concerned, they have no way of knowing (nor needing to know) why a car has suddenly braked hard. It could be debris or an animal on the road that they can't see. A driver should never drive so close to the car in front that they can't stop if the vehicle in front emergency braked. However, the safe driving method when being tailgated is to ease off and give more space in front, lessening the need for heavy braking as there's more space to react in. Having the car brake hard when it detects something that isn't there defeats that method.

 

Of course this is all the point of the driver aids - working ACC and collision protect will maintain that safe distance and apply the brakes (and beep very loudly) far quicker than even the best driver. But only when it is working : it is vital to have confidence in it - not confidence that it will get you out of trouble, leading to complacency, but confidence that it won't get you into trouble in the first place! So I hope the radar etc gets fixed. I totally get being wary of a vehicle that's taking over control when it shouldn't, and I hope your dealer takes it seriously and confirms the fix.

Edited 20 March, 20215 yr by just music

5 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

Sounds like the malfunction caused it to fail safe and slow the car

 

But person behind wasn’t expecting car to brake and nearly hit it.   I think anyone following that crashes into a slowing car in front is usually assumed to be liable (driving too close, driving without attention etc)

 

 

All well and good until dashcam footage (say in a lorry cab, which is high up) shows up that there was nothing in front of it when the vehicle in front slammed its brakes on without good cause. Then the brown stuff hits the high speed rotating device.

I dont brake test HGV's

 

And in fairness none of them here are stupid (or fast) enough to tailgate.

Thank you All for your responses, much appreciated and nice to know I am not the only one afflicted by this disaster. JR put it to me that I could  just turn it off, however I don't think you actually can, and I actually wouldn't because (and I have checked with my insurer) to have the system switched off makes you culpable for not employing the use of a system provided by the manufacturer, and it should be  working, which it clearly isn't. JR also asked me if I would use it in another vehicle, and the answer is yes I would if it was a system that had not caused me problems during my ownership..

I did also comment on really quite shocking levels of fit and finish in the car as well as problems with the technology side of things such as hey laura activating for no apparent reason, and sometimes not being able to be shut up. I have spoken to the service manager at Guildford Skoda, and he tells me that one of his managers has an Octavia with exactly the same fault, and it  cannot be fixed as VW/Skoda have not engineered a software update or fix yet.

 

I want the car gone, I would quite like my deposit back and the finance cancelled, but I really need some help if anyone knows anyone etc etc etc.

With the level of help I am getting from VW/Skoda I foresee me cancelling my payments and waiting till they take me to court and then point out to them in court how the car was less than a month old at the time all this started, and I believe if the faults occurred within one month then I should not have to prove the faults, as it would be deemed that they were present at manufacture as the car is so new. and I believe there is a bit of legislation called the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Practices that in theory should cover me but even VW/Skoda seem not to know anything about.....

It might actually be covered under what was the sale of goods act, now the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

 

It says that the item that you have bought must of merchantable quality and fit for purpose.

 

I have attached a copy of it.

Consumer Rights Act 2015.pdf

Hello The Wanderer. I am already aware of my rights to reject according to the Act above, however it relies on the dealer accepting the rejection  which they will not. I have now involved  Buerro Mueller who is head of VW, as they are the ones providing the finance. I've also contacted Alex Smith, who is head of UK operations, and despite allowing them time to respond, they have done nothing other than promise a call back on Monday, so will see how it goes.  There is more to this than meets the eye and if VW/Skoda don't help there is some  stuff I have been advised not to disclose publicly, but if they wont help then I'm going to. When I tell you the depths of stupidity and desperation the supplying dealer has resorted to I think even the most sceptical person will be stunned by what they have tried to do to me.

Looking forward to hearing that side when you can speak about it without compromising your case.

 

I had a horrible feeling your answer regarding switching off the system would be like that.

20 hours ago, mark2jag said:

Hello The Wanderer. I am already aware of my rights to reject according to the Act above, however it relies on the dealer accepting the rejection  which they will not. I have now involved  Buerro Mueller who is head of VW, as they are the ones providing the finance. I've also contacted Alex Smith, who is head of UK operations, and despite allowing them time to respond, they have done nothing other than promise a call back on Monday, so will see how it goes.  There is more to this than meets the eye and if VW/Skoda don't help there is some  stuff I have been advised not to disclose publicly, but if they wont help then I'm going to. When I tell you the depths of stupidity and desperation the supplying dealer has resorted to I think even the most sceptical person will be stunned by what they have tried to do to me.

 

Thanks for letting us know your unwanted predicament, I can imagine that the amount of stress it's causing you is unbelievable. 

 

All I can say is that I wish you all the best and hope it's resolved to your satisfaction soon. 

i Have had my Octavia almost a year now and I think this is a common problem with Skoda -- this morning, as it has done once or twice before, I come up the road with not another car in sight and the warning comes on and the cup brakes quite suddenly. I like the car to drive (1.0 e-tec) but am bit fed up with the electrics on the vehicle - LOADING USE PROFILE comes on now and then and does not go off which effectively means the screen (including phone etc) are unuseable.  I intend to dump the car this year because whilst I like driving it I am fed up with the electronics on it -- wish manufacturers would go back to knobs and buttons. 

I’m just coming out of an Audi A4 V6 and this has happened to me every month since I took delivery as a new ‘67’... clearly a VAG serious fault 

I have had this braking system activate twice on me this year in my 2019 Karoq, first time I was overtaking a parked car when the flashing red car and warning noise came on, never seen it before, wondered what the hell it was.

 

The second time and more scary & dangerous was this summer driving back from holiday up the M5, we were in traffic jam situation with stop start so wasn’t going particularly fast and always keep well back from the car if front.

The car in front braked to slow down and so did I when my car went into a full emergency stop, very scary when the brake pedal sinks to the floor from under your foot and the car behind me only just stopped in time.

 

I have since gone into the settings and reduced the sensitivity, I do occasionally get the red car flash up but I can live with that rather than switch it off completely. 

On 19/03/2021 at 20:05, Guest said:

Hi All. I'm writing this with an intention to both inform, and also ask for help. My less than one month old Skoda Octavia SEL TDI DSG has a potentially life threatening issue with its emergency crash assist braking system deciding that for no apparent reason and with absolutely NO WARNING it will activate and brake the car with no intervention from me.

It has done this 3 times now, and the first time it  happened I brushed it off as a literal one off as it  happened at low speed and no other traffic was involved. On the 2nd activation the car decided to autobrake with the resultant effect that the car behind me very very narrowly missed running into the back of me.  The car behind me managed somehow to go around me and avoid an interaction by probably a hands width away from actually hitting me. I called the AA and they attended and told me the car was not safe to drive and that they would trailer it to my local dealer to get it inspected. AA have been called twice by the way......

 

The inspection proved that the car had a bad ADAS camera, and that it was going to be replaced, which it was.

 

I took the car back, and you wont be surprised to hear that it  happened again. 

 

I wanted to write this because I now do not trust the car and will not drive it at all. As the car is on finance I spoke to the finance provider (VWFS) who have  actually been absolutely no use at all. I want to reject the car, and they are not  helping AT ALL.

 

I would  have thought something this serious would have them falling over themselves to sort this issue, but apparently they don't give a stuff..

 

i also have issues generally with fit and finish being total crap, the car rattles and bangs over anything other than flat smooth road surfaces, along with repeated airbag warnings as well as parking sensor faults, voice activation activating when I've said nothing, and we connect is a complete bag of balls. I have also posted on here about how genuinely crap the LED headlights are, but apparently they meet legal requirements MOT wise and no further action is to be suggested or taken.

 

My partner was in the car when  I had the emergency brake assist activation, and she is terrified that it might happen again and now will not travel in the car, for fear of being involved in a more serious, maybe potentially fatal accident, having now missed being hit by both a car and a very seriously ****ed off lorry driver, who perhaps should have been travelling further away from me than he was!!.

 

I wrote this to inform people of my experiences with this car, and ask if anyone out there can actively assist or intervene.

 

You would be surprised at some of the people in here, maybe someone can help.

 

By the way. I do have video evidence of everything I have mentioned here EXCEPT the brake issues as I was driving at the time.

This happened to me. It was the last straw after being constantly frustrated with the infotainment system crashing etc and the KPH Issue. I rejected early last year and the car is stick off road in the dealership!

Hi OctaviaFirstEdit

 

Nothing will be done regarding the assisted braking issue until more incidents are reported and starts to cause serious crashes and people killed, them maybe the will sit up and take notice.

My car is booked in for a major service later this month, i will report my incidents to them and get it checked out but I already know what the answer will be, everything is fine.

 

If Skoda Connect don't get back to me with a fix for the no internet connection I will get them to try that as well.