Skoda Digital Certificate

[CJJE]

I've just had an email from Skoda, linked to my Skoda Connect subscription. 

 

It appears that Skoda will be adding a free Digital Certificate service to the Remote Access package, and the email gave me a link to follow to learn more about it. 

 

Unfortunately the link didn't work, but as the service has been trialled in Finland a search told me: "Whether you want to sell your vehicle and eliminate the distrust of the potential buyer or you just want to access detailed information about your vehicle, the Digital Certificate is the ideal solution for you. With the Digital Certificate you can display an overview of selected vehicle information through the Skoda Connect Portal (e.g. vehicle identification, technical specification, mileage). This overview can then be generated into a form of PDF certificate and shared with potential used car buyers."

 

Elsewhere, you can see that the mileage is displayed in the form of a graph over the vehicle's life, and I have also read that the certificate will state the vehicle's original equipment when it left the factory, and service records (if authorised service partners have been used) showing warranty repairs, non-warranty repairs and regular maintenance.

 

Chris

 

[P-J]

Thanks Chris

I've received the same email, but the link just took me to a 'terms and conditions' page.

 

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We would like to inform you that in the near future a new service named Digital Certificate will be added free of charge into your Remote Access package of ŠKODA Connect. 
The Digital Certificate service allows you to display an overview of selected vehicle information through ŠKODA Connect Portal.
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[vegit8]

13 hours ago, P-J said:

but the link just took me to a 'terms and conditions' page.

Same here. At that point I switched off - mentally.

I didn’t understand the purpose, until Chris’ explanation above.

It makes sense, perhaps they are adding functionality to the Connect subscription in an attempt to retain users.

No-one seems to be able to tell me if driver personalisation goes away at the end of the first year if you do not renew the subscription.

[TechieAli]

Is Skoda connect worth paying for my 1 year is coming to an end, do I get no traffic data if I dont subscribe?

[P-J]

10 minutes ago, TechieAli said:

Is Skoda connect worth paying for my 1 year is coming to an end.....

Have you used it much during the last year?

[Bryfly]

11 minutes ago, TechieAli said:

Is Skoda connect worth paying for my 1 year is coming to an end, do I get no traffic data if I dont subscribe?

Just had the renewal email, even at the discounted price of £80 total cannot see that it's worth it to me anyway...

[CJJE]

 

Infotainment Online

Provides: Parking Space availability and prices, Online Route Import, Petrol Station prices, Online Map Update, Online Traffic Information, Online Route Calculation.

Remote Access

Provides: Parking Position, Honk & Flash, Speed Notification, Vehicle Status, Online Anti-Theft Alarm, Area Notification, Driving Data, Lock & Unlock, Digital Certificate.

 

So if you don't renew, these are the features you lose. However there is talk about being able to update the maps manually via a USB memory stick and a downloaded update file. 

 

Chris 

[vegit8]

35 minutes ago, CJJE said:

So if you don't renew, these are the features you lose

So, according to your list driver personalisation is not lost if the Connect subscription is not renewed...

Yet if my missus doesn’t use the car for a while she has to log back in again to get her settings back from the cloud, which is annoying for her as she has shorter legs than me and always forgets how to manually adjust the electric seat to her settings..

[CJJE]

1 hour ago, CJJE said:

 

Infotainment Online

Provides: Parking Space availability and prices, Online Route Import, Petrol Station prices, Online Map Update, Online Traffic Information, Online Route Calculation.

Remote Access

Provides: Parking Position, Honk & Flash, Speed Notification, Vehicle Status, Online Anti-Theft Alarm, Area Notification, Driving Data, Lock & Unlock, Digital Certificate.

 

So if you don't renew, these are the features you lose. However there is talk about being able to update the maps manually via a USB memory stick and a downloaded update file. 

 

Chris 

Note: Infotainment online also includes Online Voice Assist I think!

[CJJE]

26 minutes ago, vegit8 said:

So, according to your list driver personalisation is not lost if the Connect subscription is not renewed...

Yet if my missus doesn’t use the car for a while she has to log back in again to get her settings back from the cloud, which is annoying for her as she has shorter legs than me and always forgets how to manually adjust the electric seat to her settings..

As far as I can see, the driver personalisation is part of the user id/account and doesn't appear to be part of the Connect services. Also, in checking this, I've realised that the Voice Assist feature also seems to be part of the Infotainment Online package.

 

Chris

[VRT24]

Our Skoda Connect was due for renewal last November and we didn't feel the cost was worth it. We have the personalisation option and both our keys trigger adjustment of seat, mirrors etc. whenever we change driver. Satnav also seems unaffected with roadworks and traffic conditions still showing. So it looks as though all we will miss out on is Satnav map updates - we can live with that although some think there is/will be scope to update maps ourselves via USB-C socket. The remote access and other things CJJE outlined, we don't use.

[TechieAli]

1 hour ago, VRT24 said:

Our Skoda Connect was due for renewal last November and we didn't feel the cost was worth it. We have the personalisation option and both our keys trigger adjustment of seat, mirrors etc. whenever we change driver. Satnav also seems unaffected with roadworks and traffic conditions still showing. So it looks as though all we will miss out on is Satnav map updates - we can live with that although some think there is/will be scope to update maps ourselves via USB-C socket. The remote access and other things CJJE outlined, we don't use.

That’s interesting, seems pointless paying then, when I was on the Skoda website I found the download for the maps and entered the vin and it presented a 26gb download, it did talk about sd card but figured it must mean usb drive.

Edited 26 January, 2022 by TechieAli

[kodiaqsportline]

On 25/01/2022 at 22:22, CJJE said:

I've realised that the Voice Assist feature also seems to be part of the Infotainment Online package.

 

I found Laura as frustratingly useless as the previous system so no loss there. Only time I ever use voice is when running Android Auto and even then it depends how well the app integrates. ie - Spotify is excellent using voice control where as Amazon Music is slightly less frustrating than Laura.

Edited 27 January, 2022 by kodiaqsportline

[VRT24]

20 hours ago, VRT24 said:

Satnav also seems unaffected with roadworks and traffic conditions still showing

Apologies all - don't take this as gospel. 'Er in doors may have fed me duff info!

She recently did a 400 mile round trip and on her return advised the satnav had taken into account some long term roadworks when she asked it to route her home. This morning when I took the car out on a short trip, no roadworks or delay indications were evident on the map screen - that said there were no roadworks in the area I was travelling in and neither were there any traffic queues. So, on returning home, I subjected the wife to closer questioning where she revealed that when getting the satnav to give her routes home, she had assumed that some long term roadworks that she knew of had been factored into one of the three route options the system was suggesting, as it showed a much longer time than the other two. Just an assumption therefore, and at no time did the satnav talk to her about any roadworks, delays or need to re-route her. As such, I'm inclined to think that maybe these helpful extras do dissappear after all. I'll post further if we journey further afield and find that they haven't.

On 25/01/2022 at 22:22, CJJE said:

I've realised that the Voice Assist feature also seems to be part of the Infotainment Online package.

I've just gone out to the car and woken Laura up. She's still there - as recalcitrant as ever, but was still able to set up navigation directions from the list of previously used addresses. So whilst her track record of understanding what we ask of her is terrible, it seems that we are still stuck with her despite not renewing our subscription.

[CJJE]

I must confess I find the idea of talking to my car so ridiculous that I've never even tried it! 

 

Chris 

[P-J]

3 minutes ago, CJJE said:

I must confess I find the idea of talking to my car so ridiculous that I've never even tried it!

 

I haven't tried Skoda Laura yet.
But I do find using "hey Google" through Android Auto quite useful on occasions.

[smipx]

I still don't really understand what this digital certificate provides. Can anyone explain please?

I understand that it provides basic vehicle data including milage but I don't get the point.  I can get the basic information for my car from the V5 and the sales invoice and the milage can be seen by looking in the car. Any buyer would want to do that anyway.

 

What would have been more useful is the complete service history with a link verification QR code so any potential buyer could see on VAG's actual systems all of the digital service history without going through hoops and begging a dealer to give you printout.  That would have actually been a useful thing rather than all the bluster that is apparently provided.  Here is a video that Skoda created: 

 

Wooooooo   How exciting!

How useful..........

Edited 27 January, 2022 by smipx

[phope]

Surely, part  of the certificate's usefulness is the mileage readout, showing not just the current value, but how it has been driven over the vehicle timeline - has it done 40k in the first year for example as a hire car, then settled down to 8k a year afterwards

 

Hopefully people will find it useful and Skoda can build in extra functionality as well, drawing information from the digital service schedules too

[CJJE]

19 hours ago, phope said:

Surely, part  of the certificate's usefulness is the mileage readout, showing not just the current value, but how it has been driven over the vehicle timeline - has it done 40k in the first year for example as a hire car, then settled down to 8k a year afterwards

 

Hopefully people will find it useful and Skoda can build in extra functionality as well, drawing information from the digital service schedules too

I have seen reports recently saying that many cars are being 'clocked' before resale - i.e. the mileage reading you can see on their instrument panel is nothing like their actual mileage. 

 

So any graphical record showing how the car's present mileage has been created will be very helpful to the new owner. 

[smipx]

23 hours ago, CJJE said:

I have seen reports recently saying that many cars are being 'clocked' before resale - i.e. the mileage reading you can see on their instrument panel is nothing like their actual mileage. 

 

So any graphical record showing how the car's present mileage has been created will be very helpful to the new owner. 

Thats a fair point.  Assuming it can't be tweaked itself and is reliable and accurate.  Most of the other tech (e.g. the digital speedo in the car itself) is not that reliable as its so easy to change so I would guess that this is to try and address that?

 

As a buyer though - I would be wanting to look at recorded mileage on the service sheet - which its not possible to even have "read" access to "at will" - that's my gripe here. I would alo want to look tha past MOT certificates for cars over 3 years old.  You have to go cap in hand to the dealership or call Skoda CS and get them to post the service record to you (I speculate on the latter of course).  I don't really get why they would not have included that and why that is not available through the online services.  It makes no sense from the customer perspective.

Edited 29 January, 2022 by smipx

[phope]

1 hour ago, smipx said:

Thats a fair point.  Assuming it can't be tweaked itself and is reliable and accurate.  Most of the other tech (e.g. the digital speedo in the car itself) is not that reliable as its so easy to change so I would guess that this is to try and address that?

 

As a buyer though - I would be wanting to look at recorded mileage on the service sheet - which its not possible to even have "read" access to "at will" - that's my gripe here. I would alo want to look tha past MOT certificates for cars over 3 years old.  You have to go cap in hand to the dealership or call Skoda CS and get them to post the service record to you (I speculate on the latter of course).  I don't really get why they would not have included that and why that is not available through the online services.  It makes no sense from the customer perspective.

 

MOT information is easily available online via the DVLA to show the dates and mileage recorded, and if you register for free at Skoda Erwin https://erwin.skoda-auto.cz/erwin/showHome.do as a business user type, you can then easily check the digital service record records for any given VIN

[phope]

EN_VW_CR4688.pdf

[smipx]

46 minutes ago, phope said:

 

MOT information is easily available online via the DVLA to show the dates and mileage recorded, and if you register for free at Skoda Erwin https://erwin.skoda-auto.cz/erwin/showHome.do as a business user type, you can then easily check the digital service record records for any given VIN

OK cool.  I just did that - Every day is a school day 🙂

Many thanks

Paul

 

[smipx]

But...   It is still a "ball ache" for the average owner to do and would be much better for the owner if it was presented as part of the digital certificate (IMHO).

 

[phope]

Volkswizard shows how an independent garage can use the free service to update the digital service schedule too

 

https://youtu.be/Uqrxu-TQObk?t=1071