I Let my dear Skoda superb go in April of this year (lease) and swapped it for the new Octavia.   The dash on it is not quite as bad as the new Golfs but I do not like the touch screen I think it is or can be quite dangerous if you 

need to switch between different things.   The white line, lane control a real annoyance, I find it quite disconcerting when something suddenly grabs the steering from you - it can be turned off but that has to be every voyage.

I think all these annoyances are from VW.  Does anyone else have similar experiences?

Lane Assist is pain in backside especially when it comes across sections of roadworks where the lines aren't removed properly, I usually turn it off, although on a motorway it's quite different. 

 

I don't like the infotainment system, poor design and implementation, also quite buggy at times.

There is quite a bit of new tech in the mk4 Octavia compared to previous models - and it can take a while to get used to it. My best advice is to be patient, take some time to go through all the menus in the infotainment system and configure it best you can referring to the manual for things that are not obvious (as was the case for me, switching from a Mk2 Superb to the Mk4 Octavia SEL FE). Once set up to your liking it's dead easy to use.

 

The Lane control can be tedious, irritating, down right annoying, or a useful safety feature. All opinions are valid and rehearsed many a time in this forum over the four years of so of the Mk4 (There many strong opinions expressed over the years!). Personally, I rarely get wound up by it nowadays as I have learnt to know the types of scenario it will try to do what it's programmed to do yet - as an example, when a single lane becomes two lanes mine tries to keep me central between the white lines whilst I'm choosing to take one of the two lanes ahead well before the central line appears. Yes, another thing to anticipate but soon get used to it. I have turned off the steering wheel vibration (which stays off thankfully).

 

As for the Infotainment being a distraction, that lessens with familiarity. If your car has voice control then start using it, so much easier for radio, music, temperature control. Similarly with CarPlay or AndroidAuto - the voice control is a big help.

Try to resist hating the tech from the outset or you may never allow yourself to get accustomed to it. The Mk4 Octavia is a very sophisticated machine and if you follow the sage advice from @SteveTheElder your car will become much more pleasurable to live with. If you need to disable or change certain features quickly, the shortcut buttons along the bottom of the screen are very useful in minimising the amount of 'touches' necessary on the screen itself.

Some wise words on this topic here. It’s easy to fall into the trap of disliking the car because of the tech / various quirks. I’ve learned to live with it now, but I do agree that having everything accessed via the touch screen is a dangerous thing and takes your attention away from the thing you’re meant to be doing ie driving! 
 

I have to say that I don’t think I’ll ever have another Skoda based on my experience with the info system and its various oddities which is a shame as other aspects of the car are very good. Hopefully you’ll learn to love yours! 

Apologies if the two bits here are repetitive of other previously expressed views.

 

If you think the touch screen and various other controls on the Octavia MkIV are bad, you should experience the current gen VW Golf and various Seat and Cupra models that do not have the short cut buttons at the bottom of the screen and made do with unlit control sliders at night, which were only recently "improved" with the facelift versions.  The Golf has also ditched the haptic steering wheel controls in the facelift models.

 

The lane keep feature is legally mandated by the EU bureaucrats who think they know better and who probably do not drive themselves but are chauffeured to their venues.  It is required to default to the ON setting every time upon starting up.  At least, it can be easily disengaged via the steering wheel controls.

 

Any new car, regardless of whether it has physical knobs and buttons or functions accessed by a touch screen, requires bedding in time to grow accustomed to its controls and the way it handles and drives.

 

Although I am still not totally won over by the touch screen after over 18 months with my vRS, the Octavia MkIV is better than most other VAG products and outside rivals in this regard.  My biggest bugbear is the intelligent cruise control being too sensitive and slowing the car down too often when there is no need to.

 

 

Simple, get OBDeleven and turn off the lane control (stupid fake engine noise too )

Hi Everybody

I'm about to pick up my new  Octavia in a few days, and would like to get the dealer to turn lane control, and stop start system off by default.

is this possible?

Many thanks 

1 minute ago, johndavid158 said:

Hi Everybody

I'm about to pick up my new  Octavia in a few days, and would like to get the dealer to turn lane control, and stop start system off by default.

is this possible?

Many thanks 

 

No for the Stop/Start.  Yes for lane assist but main dealer won't do that.

Edited 2 September, 20241 yr by Neily03

It’s a strange one, I dislike touchscreens for disabling the stuff I shouldn’t have to, that is on/off by default (Stop Start, Air Care etc), but then having used a 2018 B9 Audi’s MMI that had CarPlay without a touchscreen, that was a bigger nightmare, as unlike some stuff you can “muscle memory” with physical switches and wheels, CarPlay you can’t so much!

 

So I really appreciate the touchscreen for CarPlay, that may car displays 99% of the time.

 

With OBDEleven and its “One Click Apps”, I disabled Stop/Start, Permanently enabled Air Care, and allowed full headlight control when moving. 
 

When I’m back I’ll be working on permanently disabling Stop/Start also, but that’s a fair bit more involved (not just coding).

I've just made the jump from a MK7.5 Golf R estate to a 1 year old ex-demo vRS245.

 

The cockpit and dashboard are miles ahead of the Golf and is pretty much everything the Golf should have been. The vRS does let itself down a little bit with cheap plastics here and there.

 

As for the infotainment etc, I've got used to the Octavia now and it's easy to navigate and use. As already mentioned above, it takes a bit of time to get used to it but have patience.

 

My other half has. Golf Mk8 r-line and the infotainment in this is really distracting to use , especially with the soft touch buttons on the wheel. The infotainment on the Golf, amongst other things,  was enough for me to not even consider it as a replacement vehicle.

 

I find the Octavia a good balance between my old Golf with mainly conventional controls and the Golf Mk8 which is too far the other way.  Voice control is a massive help as it takes away the need to look at the screen etc. 

 

Took me a little while to get used to the Skoda infotainment but now I have , I find it quite easy to use and very functional.

Why do so many users always complain about technology and touchscreens?
How often do you change the climate temperature or air conditioner settings? I usually set the temperature and almost never change it.
I think Octavia's touchscreen is very good. I used to drive Peugeot 308 - it had regular errors, worked slowly, etc. Octavia, after the update, I have not seen such problems anymore.
About the lane assistant - very useful, especially on long trips. In winter, I drive through all of Europe to the Austrian Alps. It was super comfortable to drive using the adaptive cruise, matrix lights, lane assistant etc. After driving at least 1000 km without long stops, I didn't feel particularly tired, because I didn't have to press the gas and brake pedals, change lights etc. all the time.
I have concluded that you should not resist technology, but you should learn how to use it to make your everyday life easier.

1 minute ago, kasparsc said:

Why do so many users always complain about technology and touchscreens?

I love technology and touchscreens (my work nickname was Inspector Gadget!) and wouldn't be without the many IOT devices in my home and my touchscreen tablets and smartphone, but context and place is important.

 

In a vehicle having to look down at a touchscreen to change a driving setting is much more of a hazard than with physical controls as your fingertips get feedback to help locate the physical control without the need to look down and take your attention away from the road (and change the focus of your eyes which adds further delay re-focussing even when you look back at the road).

 

IMHO in vehicles touchscreens should only be used for comfort and convenience functions, with all driving related functions having physical controls.

8 minutes ago, kasparsc said:

How often do you change the climate temperature or air conditioner settings? I usually set the temperature and almost never change it.

My pet peeve is not having physical button for air recirculation. This one I use quite a lot, lot's of stinky cars still driving around.

5 hours ago, Edela said:

My pet peeve is not having physical button for air recirculation

 

Have you tried voice control for that? I use VC quite a bit for the clima/AC but rarely use recirculation.

32 minutes ago, SteveTheElder said:

Have you tried voice control for that?

I will find it on the screen faster than Laura would wake up...

Edited 26 September, 20241 yr by Edela

Today I tried using voice control for Recirculation. Works fine turning it on and off. Works for AirCare too.

 

But yes, once you know where buttons are it's quicker to use them.

Edited 30 September, 20241 yr by SteveTheElder

On 26/09/2024 at 09:44, kasparsc said:

Why do so many users always complain about technology and touchscreens?
How often do you change the climate temperature or air conditioner settings? I usually set the temperature and almost never change it.
I think Octavia's touchscreen is very good. I used to drive Peugeot 308 - it had regular errors, worked slowly, etc. Octavia, after the update, I have not seen such problems anymore.
About the lane assistant - very useful, especially on long trips. In winter, I drive through all of Europe to the Austrian Alps. It was super comfortable to drive using the adaptive cruise, matrix lights, lane assistant etc. After driving at least 1000 km without long stops, I didn't feel particularly tired, because I didn't have to press the gas and brake pedals, change lights etc. all the time.
I have concluded that you should not resist technology, but you should learn how to use it to make your everyday life easier.

We did sw England to the Austrian Alps in the summer in a mk8 golf and will be doing it again next year in the Octavia.  Already know it's going to be a more comfortable journey. Just feels much more solidly built and smoother. The adaptive cruise control with the lane assist is excellent in the EU on busy, single lane main roads, of which there are many. I always turn lane assist off in the uk