I am in Sydney  Australia. Ten days ago I took delivery of a New Octavia 2021 RS Wagon (with Premium Pack). So it is the top-of-the-line model, with all options and the 180kw petrol engine. I believe it is equivalent to what you in Britain call a Mk IV SEL VRS Combi. Here they seen to have only been on sale since March or so. The software in mine, which built in April, seems up-to-date. At least to 1788.

I has several software issues that I believe are faults and Skoda seem to acknowledge that.

It is going back to the dealer tomorrow to see what they can do although I think it will turn out that we are the mercy of the Skoda factory to come up with updates so probably it will come back tomorrow with nothing changed.

I will let you know how it goes.

My issues for tomorrow are:

 

1. Voice control (no Android Auto) just says loading voice control but nothing happens.

Without this I need to take my eyes off the road to fiddle with the touch screen.

 

2. Navigation voice announcements do not work. It just does Tone Only regardless of my choice.

Without voice announcements I need to take my eyes off the road to look at the screens if the HUD details are not sufficient.

 

3. Speed limits in SatNav - I have turned them on. I see a sign on the map (red circle with white background) but it is empty. But the car knows them since the speed exceeded alert sounds appropriately at 65 etc.

Without those, if I have not noticed a speed sign on the road I have no idea what to set the cruise control to.

 

4. Speed limit (from Satnav) do not appear in the HUD – yet they are shown as doing so in the brochure.

Without those I have to take my eyes of the road to check the speed limit on the map, if it actually worked – see #3.

 

I also have other weirdness and erratic behaviour but I will be happy if they fix these faults first.

I know it's a long shot since your primary language is also English,....but what are your language settings of the system? I had the same behavior with voice control when my system language was set to Slovenian which voice control doesn't support it.

 

I hope they manage to solve all your issues. For the 1788 SW version there is already a never version available. It's 1803. But I'm not sure if it's already available for general release. I know some of the new cars already came with it and some "old" cars were also updated with it as an "emergency" update. 

I think I read your post elsewhere and I tried changing the language to another and back but it did not help. (I tried French, UK English, US English).

Actually there was another issue I thought it might help with but it did not:

In the SatNav the keyboard is a European one with up to 3 characters, 2 with accents, on each key.

In the brochure the keyboard is a simple English one with no such characters so I know it can be done but there is apparently no option for changing this in the UI.

The presence of these characters - useless in this country - is very distracting when trying to enter data.

 

 

Ahh ok.  I don't have any other suggestions since I'm not using the satnav that much.

Hi Dave !

 

I'm in regional NSW and also picked up my Octavia RS (Sedan) from Sydney last week.

 

I'm not experiencing the problems as you describe except:

 

- the speed in HUD, my understanding is that is a feature of Traffic Sign Recognition which is conveniently disabled for us plebs here in Aus.

 

- I also have multiple characters per key on the on screen keyboard.

 

My only real complaint apart from having features turned off for no apparent reason ( TSR, online services )… is that I can't set a default drive mode, can't permanently disable the simulated engine noise, and wireless charging while using wireless Android Auto is useless. It makes the phone red hot AND the phone LOSES charge !

 

When I get a chance I'll post my soft/hardware versions for comparison.

I can't work out how to edit posts so...

 

One issue I forgot:

 

While using Travel Assist on a multi lane freeway, occasionally the car will refuse to pass a car in an adjacent lane unless I tap the accelerator. Doesn't seem to matter if the car is left or right of mine.

 

Other frustrations:

 

Menu settings to connect the car to a wifi hotspot, but with no access to Skoda Connect, this setting is completely useless.

 

Menu setting to allow easy access to the drivers seat on entry. When you try to turn it on, it always says 'Currently Unavailable'. Dealer says it's not available in Aus. 

3 hours ago, DropBear said:

Hi Dave !

 

I'm in regional NSW and also picked up my Octavia RS (Sedan) from Sydney last week.

 

I'm not experiencing the problems as you describe except:

 

- the speed in HUD, my understanding is that is a feature of Traffic Sign Recognition which is conveniently disabled for us plebs here in Aus.

 

- I also have multiple characters per key on the on screen keyboard.

 

My only real complaint apart from having features turned off for no apparent reason ( TSR, online services )… is that I can't set a default drive mode, can't permanently disable the simulated engine noise, and wireless charging while using wireless Android Auto is useless. It makes the phone red hot AND the phone LOSES charge !

 

When I get a chance I'll post my soft/hardware versions for comparison.

Hi DropBear,

 

I agree with your issues. I have a ritual on starting the car like an aeroplane copilot's checklist: SET: turn off auto-stop, MODE: turn on Comfort or Individual (where I have disabled engine sound), CLIMA: Warm my feet (but it only lasts a few minutes!), Assistance systems: disable Lane Assist. When my grandsons are in the car they enjoy this being their job.

 

When on the road I need a passenger to control the radio/media/phone/aircon since they are too distracting. If I am on my own I just have to tolerate them remaining as-is until I can pull over. In my wife's VW Golf Alltrack, which I thought the Skoda would be very similar to, all of these things are much simpler and generally have dedicated physical buttons/knobs.

 

Re the speed in the HUD and like issues: One has to guess at which features are available, and how they are supposed to work, because the manual is so lacking in such detail.

 

Re the phone heating up: My phone is a Pixel 3a which does not have wireless charging so I use a cable. The phone gets very hot anyway on long journeys. I think it is because Android Auto keeps the CPU very active. I generally like to use the car's built-in SatNav and Media player so I am trying to avoid Android Auto but I am also tempted by some its features which often work better than those of the car.

 

The car is now in the service department and I am waiting to see what gets fixed. They said there are some recommended software updates so here's hoping.

I took a picture of the System Information before going in so I can see what gets changed.

 

And here goes my theory.   Till now all cars without a letter at the end of the device part number had software version 16xx.

It's interesting that updates are available.

I've checked the Skoda update portal which says my car is up to date.

 

My software versions are attached and identical to yours.

 

I'd be interested to see yours after the update.

 

Re the Navigation, personally I find it no where near as good as Google maps simply due to the fact that the car has no data connection and hence maps are not 'live'. No traffic. closures, and road works info.

This is very disappointing as I find the map integration in the main screen awesome.

Also the navigation lane guidance is pretty terrible, waiting until the absolute last moment before showing which lane you need to be in.

 

My saviour here is that Google maps directions are shown on the HUD which I was not expecting and very pleased to see.

 

As for the active safety systems, probably because I'm a huge techno nerd, I leave them on and enjoy them.

Even the auto stop / start !

 

My wish for this vehicle :

 

That Skoda Australia enable online services.

it's obvious the car has everything it needs but has just been crippled for who knows what reasons.

 

Getting the car online would allow live maps, personalisation or settings and keys, and usage of the Skoda Connect app.

Just saw a typo in my above post 

Is there really no way to edit posts ?

It did not go quite as expected. They applied the updates but their own tests indicated that no problems were resolved. They asked to keep the car overnight so they can report to HQ in Chechia and perhaps get an answer for tomorrow.

So I do not have the car yet and don't know how the revision numbers changed. Must be something about the hardware since yours and mine have the same software details in the screenshots above yet you do not see the faults that I see.

 

Nice to know your issues are taken seriously.

 

Keep us posted

Oh dear !

I think you've jinxed me @DaveFromSydney.

 

Jumped in the car this morning after work and found the seat heater buttons had disappeared from the screen.

 

it's the first real issue I've had with the infotainment screen.

 

Luckily I'd turned on the setting to heat the seat when it's cold on startup, but it seems this only applies to the drivers seat. My wife arrived home with a cold bum.

 

Will leave the car powered off for a while and see if it re-appears.

@DropBear next time smth like this happens try to press and hold the infotainment power button for 15 to 20 s for the system to reboot. It usually helps.

Thanks for the tip @TheUltraRunner.

 

The problem fixed itself and was gone the next time we drove the car about an hour later.

Rebooting to cure a problem is better than nothing but we should still hope that Skoda/VAG will cure these bugs early in the lifetime of our cars.

And suppose it was something more major - that threatened one's safety while moving!

I worked in software development all my life but I never thought I would encounter these typical software issues in a major appliance such as a car.

It reminds me of the jokes that they used to crack about what it would be like if Bill Gates had invented the car.

Like this one from Harvard Computer Society many years ago:

https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/pnw/microsoftjoke.htm

 

Quote

 

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason.  You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue.

For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off."

 

 

 

 

 

In fact if you check here - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/car-balk/ -  it seems these jokes started around 1997 yet here we are in 2021 and they have come true.

 

On 09/06/2021 at 07:32, TheUltraRunner said:

And here goes my theory.   Till now all cars without a letter at the end of the device part number had software version 16xx.

@TheUltraRunnersame here. I did not think this version was available < D versions.

40 minutes ago, Coume said:

@TheUltraRunnersame here. I did not think this version was available < D versions.

Could be an Aussie special.  

But again....would be really nice to know how these things correlates. I also thought (till now) that device part numbers are unique. The above pictures clearly disapprove that. 

Yes. It is hard to know what the device part number is supposed to mean. DropBear and I have cars delivered at the same time in NSW but his is an RS sedan and mine is an RS wagon. Yet the device part number (and all of the other numbers) are the same.

 

So I got my car back for the weekend. The dealer kept it from 8am Wednesday to 5pm Friday.

They said they performed various "updates" after contacting Skoda CZ on the first night - some taking hours which is why they kept it the second night - and they also took it for a test drive on the final day.

However not one of my issues above has been fixed.

 

#1, #2 and #3 are acknowledged to be real and they say they will contact me when Skoda CZ  gets back to them with a fix.

 

#4 they say is an unfortunate case where the brochure offered on the Australian website at time of purchase shows a feature that is not present in Australian models.

It DID say "Overseas model shown". I guess if you want to be sure about features you need to ask a salesman or verify yourself each and every one of the hundreds of features!

 

I took a picture of the System Information screen again and attached it to this post. In spite of the updates performed the data on the screen is identical to the data before I gave them the car, as shown above. 

I conclude that, regardless of the speculation on this site, there is more to know about the software revisions than is displayed in this screen and we should not try to draw conclusions that tie observed behaviour to the numbers in this screen.

SKODA Octavia MY21 Brochure Apr21 .f59bc390ea84be817d36876fdfc6c198.pdf

You are right about the sw revisions since each car module has it's own sw version/firmeware regardles of the sw version of the Infotainment. But since we don't see anything else beside the main version, we only discuss about this one. I would assume that if your car gets the new main sw version, also all other modules are updated with the latest sw.

I wonder if I am being too tolerant but although it is disappointing not to have everything (or anything) fixed straight away it has only been two weeks.

For comparison my son-in-law had to a) convince service people of a fault under warranty, and b) wait for a replacement, on:

1) A DELL All-in-one - taking 6 weeks

2) An ACER laptop - taking 3 weeks.

And during these periods he was without use of a device and no loaner was offered to him.

 

At least I get to use my car throughout - except for the last 3 days.

And they did drive me home the first day and back to the dealer on the final day.

And, as luck(!) would have it, my wife fractured her arm last weekend and cannot drive, so I have her nice reliable 2015 Golf Alltrack to drive.

I should and maybe would have got one of those but they are not available new at present and I don't like buying second hand cars.

And the RS offered so many advantages over the Alltrack including:

• Adaptive Chassis Control
• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Power tailgate
• DAB radio
• Traffic announcements
• Heads-up display
• Blind spot warnings
• 36% more powerful engine
• Decent space for phone with adjacent charging socket
• Folding mirrors
• More airbags
• Voice control
• 2 years more warranty
• Other stuff that I do not care so much for

 

According to other people who were in direct contact with Skoda, there should be a new major update in few weeks. A lot of people are relaying on this one to fix majority of the issues.