I am thinking of coming back to a Skoda Fabia Mk4. Maybe a 72 or 23 plate SE L trim.

 

My current car is a 2019 plate Peugeot 308 and the sat nav is free. Map updates are free and easy to download to a USB stick via a computer and install in the car from the USB stick.

 

I have read a few posts on this forum regarding the sat nav in Skoda vehicles. Many say how difficult it is to update maps but none state if you have to pay for sat nav.

 

Can anyone advise if there is a cost and how much please? Is it a one-off cost or only for a fixed period (3-Years)?

I am not interested in Skoda Connect but I think you need it in order to get map updates? Is it correct to say this?

Following link is dated 2018 so it is 6-Years out of date. An up to date answer is what I am after: -

 

 

I bought a 2023 Skoda in September and the renewals for most of the features in the "myskoda" app (replaced skoda connect?) are due in Jan 2026. Cannot find any details in the app for possible prices.

 

But the link you have appears to give an idea of the costs.

 

For OTA map updates and live traffic i think you need the Infortainment on line plan.

 

If the new systems only started in 2021-22 and were free for three years i am surprised i cannot find many 2021 buyers moaning about how much or how hard it is to update

 

 

I am still interested in an answer to this but only for academic reasons now. Out of interest.

 

The reason is that I have had second thoughts and realised that I don't use my sat nav as much as I used to. I posted the question before I realised I no longer need it. I am just so used to having sat nav that I thought I needed it.

 

Thanks for any replies anyway. They might help others who want the answer because they need to know.

I bought a 6 month old Skoda in April 24, the renewal for connect and infotainment has just popped up as the first 12 months free period expires in Dec.  I have renewed both - connect because it includes the tracker feature and the infotainment to keep maps up to date.

thamestrader  same here 👍

I wonder if anyone will eventually share the details about "How much does it cost"?

£80 for 1 year's subscription to both services in UK.

It costs £80.00 for both services if you wait until renewal, but there is a discount to £60.00 if you renew more than two months early. (They don't publicise this as far as I can see.)

It IS possible to update the SatNav maps with the Amundsen and Columbus systems for free (but without any bells and whistles) using the Skoda Update Portal on a computer and entering your VIN. However, the update is 29 Gb and has to be loaded on to a blank USB drive before putting the drive into one of the car's USB sockets. After putting in the drive, it takes the better part of 10 hours' driving to update (during which the SatNav doesn't seem to work). This doesn't give access to any of the other services, just the maps. After one go, I decided to pay my £60.00 and get the package.

"I am thinking of coming back to a Skoda Fabia Mk4. Maybe a 72 or 23 plate SE L trim.

 

My current car is a 2019 plate Peugeot 308 and the sat nav is free. Map updates are free and easy to download to a USB stick via a computer and install in the car from the USB stick."

 

I ran Peugeots for many years and they are very good but last year we decided on the Fabia 4 mc. It's a great drive, spacious for a small car and comfortable.  However, if you like electronic gadgetry the Fabia 4 is not a great idea.  Skoda Connect came with a free trial.  All it seemed to offer was a way to check that you had remembered to lock the doors and the option to get the lights to flash if you can't find where you are parked.  I don't know if Skoda Connect is needed to update the sat nav but Skoda don't give stuff away apart from an umbrella in the door and a free ice scraper in the petrol filler flap.

Hi, I have a Skoda kodiaq 2023 and have noticed since the latest update 2025 Jan/feb I am no longer able to access the Skoda navigation at the same time as say google maps or Apple Maps - I have reliably been able to use both at the same time before and this enabled me to get from A to B (if navigation fails in country roads for one navigation then I switch to the other without restarting navigation every time) this has worked before but not now. I have tried inbuilt eSIM on and off and use my Skoda app registered and unregistered (I have tried everything - at some point it worked temporary after update but I done know what I did to get that to happen) and I connect via Apple CarPlay with WiFi On and also tried with a direct wired connection  - please has anyone had an issue like this and how do I rectify so that I can get both to be on at the same time - I have the care connect and infotainment free plan till 25 Feb but I don’t want to pay for the updates of these until I sort this out. Any ideas ?!

The current licence for my Fabia Mk 4's Skoda Connect services expires on 6 March 2025.

 

The Skoda Connect Shop offers three products 

 

1:  Care Connect - Remote Access (1-year - £36)

2:  Infotainment Online (1-year - £44) and marked "Lowest price before the discount £44.00 GDP incl. VAT" - whatever that means!!!

3:  Infotainment Apps - Traffication (1-year - £4.50)

 

I can't see 1and 3 being much use to me, but 2 seems to be worth having, despite the mapping on my car clearly being flawed. 

 

Any thoughts appreciated...

18 minutes ago, DerekU said:

The current licence for my Fabia Mk 4's Skoda Connect services expires on 6 March 2025.

 

The Skoda Connect Shop offers three products 

 

1:  Care Connect - Remote Access (1-year - £36)

2:  Infotainment Online (1-year - £44) and marked "Lowest price before the discount £44.00 GDP incl. VAT" - whatever that means!!!

3:  Infotainment Apps - Traffication (1-year - £4.50)

 

I can't see 1and 3 being much use to me, but 2 seems to be worth having, despite the mapping on my car clearly being flawed. 

 

Any thoughts appreciated...

Derek Thanks for the reply, do I need (2) to have maps working and is (3) part of the maps - as I do use Skoda maps (just would like to use both Skoda maps and google maps at the same time - which since the latest update do not work simultaneously - they both did before) - thanks in advance

I can't answer any of your questions...

 

My Fabia's touchscreen provides a good quality navigation display, but - while I fully accept that others may find the logic behind the software beneficial - the way it works is over-complex for my requirements and I'm much more comfortable with my trusty Garmin sat-nav that I can regularly keep up to date and am fairly confident will provide accurate driving data. 

 

I can (almost!) justify the £44 cost of the Infotainment Online product - though it still grieves me to pay for mapping updates - but not the other 2 products.

 

 

Very helpful - I opted for both infotainment and remote access as I like to know where my vehicle is and honk/flash and mileage data. As to the infotainment I don’t think we pay for any updates if it is purchased yearly is this correct ?

The Infotainment Online product should 'buy' OTA (Over The Air) updating of the the navigation mapping data at no extra cost.

 

The trouble is that how this OTA process actually operates seems to be a mystery to owners of VW Group cars (and possibly to VAG Group dealerships too).

 

My Garmin sat-nav's mapping just covers the UK and Continental Europe. Checking for available up dates is easy and updating (depending on the specific Garmin device) can be done wirelessly by wi-fi or by physically connecting the sat-nav to a computer.An update is currently available for my elderly Garmin non-wifi sat-nav (that has free 'lifetime' updating) and  a time-estimate for the process to complete is close to 1 hour.

 

This 2021 VW T-Roc forum discussed  map updating

 

https://www.trocforums.co.uk/threads/navigation-maps-update.2494/

 

and one posting said

 

The only problem is that owners have seldom seen any evidence of OTA updates working, but I believe that some statement from VW suggested that only the map areas where a particular car is driven are updated (presumably to limit download data size and time), so the map version info displayed in the car is not changed. The only way we'd know if that is true would be if some road layout familiar to an owner was changed and then that new layout was reflected in the map data. And we have no idea of the size of the area covered by such limited OTA updates ... is it local, regional, country wide ?

 

There's later discussion here

 

https://www.trocforums.co.uk/threads/help-with-sat-nav-updates.4095/

 

 

Edited 21 February, 20251 yr by DerekU

To answer the OP.

Have just taken ownership of a 2020 Superb, with Columbus Sat Nav, and maps dated 2019.

I have no Skoda Connect. I followed the portal instructions and downloaded the 2025 maps in 45 mins to an SD card, plugged it into a slot, selected update software. After about an hour, the maps are now showing 2025.

No charge, no subscriptions and my car is still splendidly isolated from interference from the Web.

HTH

John

Have you got the link to the portal ? Also do you know if you can run the Skoda navigation for a route the same time as your phones navigation say google maps ?

Hi @Photographersforyou ,

The link is https://updateportal.skoda-auto.com/

As for running two navigation systems side by side, no I don't know. My aversion to all things subscription based applies equally to my phone, which has the barest amount of data installed and is normally switched off, so I wouldn't use Google Maps. That's why I've updated using the SD Card approach - the cost is in my time and I can control it. 😉

I'm aware that I might have had a lucky escape having an MIB2.5 (?) Columbus. I've read that the MIB3 units have a decoy (non-functioning) SD Card socket, and the only map update possible is Over The Air. Best wishes to anyone who lives in an area with poor radio coverage!

And here's a thought. Skoda update the maps for areas that you're driving in. I actually know the roads that I commonly drive in. I need the Sat Nav when I'm driving somewhere new. What's that all about?

Take care

John

Edited 9 March, 20251 yr by G0GCD
Spelling error

My 2024 Fabia Mk 4 has an Amundsen MIB3 touchscreen infotainment unit and there is no SD card 'slot'.

This BRISKODA thread discussed 'free' updating of the mapping of a Karoq MIB3 unit and may be of interest.

Resurrecting on old thread, my bad, I'm sorry....

But further to my previous posting about 'free' map updates, I have news. Apparently, my skoda superb is now 6 years old, and the 'portal' no longer recognises it. So back to relying on the superb friends on this forum, who have provided access to the next update, now safely loaded on my Columbus.

Just to confirm, my experience is that you get 5 years of free maps from the portal and then you're on your own.

John

(many thanks to MartiniB, https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/537850-columbus-map-update-2026-2027-mib2-high/#comment-5996201

)