Hi All

Just had a marketing email from Škoda telling me to use the Breakdown button and "the call is entirely free"

However, the call might be, but what happens next.

We have breakdown with Britannia Rescue through LV Car Insurance. Am I better off calling Britannia Rescue from my mobile?

If you have breakdown cover elsewhere I'd use that.

24 minutes ago, pingpongpete1 said:

If you have breakdown cover elsewhere I'd use that.

Why?

Why not use the call button in the car?

1 hour ago, chills said:

Why?

Why not use the call button in the car?

Who does the call button in the car call? Skoda Roadside Assistance, 999, somebody else?

If you call your breakdown provider you know who you're talking to and that you already have a contract with them for roadside repair/recovery.

9 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

Who does the call button in the car call? Skoda Roadside Assistance, 999, somebody else?

It calls the Škoda Call Centre for breakdowns/accidents etc AFAIK It does so automatically if the airbags are deployed.

However, what happens once you get through is another matter. The emails says "the call is free" that's nice but what then?

Has anyone used it?

I can't see the recovery would be free. Unless Škoda have a deal with someone.
STOP PRESS

The Answer from Škoda

Breakdown Call Service Overview
1. Free Service: The breakdown call is indeed free of charge. When you press the breakdown button in your vehicle, it connects you to the Skoda Roadside Assistance Call Centre.

2. What the Call Centre Does:
- Vehicle Data Transmission: Your vehicle's location and diagnostic data are sent to the call centre, allowing agents to understand your situation better.
- Assistance: The agents can provide specific recommendations based on the vehicle's condition and may arrange for towing if necessary.
- Faster Response: By having your vehicle data, the call centre can offer more tailored assistance, potentially resolving issues more quickly than a standard mobile call.

3. Cost Considerations:
- While the breakdown call itself is free, any services provided (like towing or repairs) may incur costs depending on your warranty or service agreements.
- If you have a separate breakdown service (like Green Flag), you may want to check if they cover the same services or if there are any additional costs involved.

4. Why Use the Breakdown Button:
- Convenience: It allows for immediate assistance without needing to manually provide your location or vehicle details.
- Integrated Service: The service is designed to work seamlessly with your vehicle's systems, potentially leading to quicker resolutions.

If you have further questions or need assistance, feel free to ask!

Thank you and have a lovely day!

So press the button, and they can see the exact problem with the car and advise. Assuming the electrics and diagnostics work :-)

After I get their assessment, I would be inclined to phone my own breakdown service.

You would have thought that Škoda would have done a deal with a national breakdown/recovery service so you get the breakdown/recovery cover for an additional annual charge like any other breakdown/recovery service. I am sure Škoda would get a good price and a commission out of it. A no-brainer for Škoda, as all accident repairs would then go through an Authorized Škoda dealer.

The Skoda service is useful.

They may be able to tell you it's fine to drive 5 miles to a motorway services (next junction, home etc) depending on the problem you have.

I used that button once, a couple of years ago, when my (new) UK car broke down while on holiday in Ireland. Since I wasn't in the UK it connected to some international help service, and the first thing I heard was the typical "press 1 for xxx, press 2 for yyy, etc". Since there was absolutely no keypad where I could press anything it was completely useless. I tried waiting, speaking numbers out loud, but nothing worked.

In the end I googled the service number & called it on my phone, where I couild press number buttons. I reported it to Skoda, but never heard anything, looks like it's as badly designed & tested as the rest of MIB3.

I didn't say the service was foolproof but it has some utility. Are you sure if you select "phone" in the infotainment you can't press buttons?

I always thought if you pressed the SOS button, Bruce Willis would come and fast rope down from a Blackhawk to rescue you.

Turns out it just connects you to a call centre. No bad thing, but I'm not sure it's anything groundbreaking. Then again, if you've rolled it and are injured, it could be one of those things (like What3Words) that will save your life.

Edited 12 August, 202512 Aug by OccyVRS

1 hour ago, OccyVRS said:

Then again, if you've rolled it and are injured, it could be one of those things (like What3Words) that will save your life.

Absolutely... AFAIK if the airbags go of it automatically calls home and a human will come on the line. If they don't get a response they call the emergency services. If they do get a response then, depending on the information they can see about the car, and how you sound/what you say they will call emergency services or not.

14 minutes ago, chills said:

Absolutely... AFAIK if the airbags go of it automatically calls home and a human will come on the line. If they don't get a response they call the emergency services. If they do get a response then, depending on the information they can see about the car, and how you sound/what you say they will call emergency services or not.

That sort of thing never hurts - it can only help. The automatic call feature I mean - the airbags definitely will hurt.

I am a frequent mountain biker (as in, downhill drops in Welsh mountains rather than cross country in the Surrey Hills) and even though I can't remember the last time I rode without friends, both my Apple Watch and Garmin are set up to call home if they detect a crash (be it accelerometer based, heart rate or whatever).

It's the same reason I carry around torches, a first aid/basic trauma kit, road flare (whoops) and a few other bits and bobs in the boot. I hope, and expect I'll never need them, but I'd rather carry them and be laughed at by anyone that looks under my boot floor, than be in a position some day that they're needed. I do a lot of travelling up in the North of Scotland. I'm not in Sutherland and the like that often anymore (they are quite remote) but even in places where the emergency services are 30 minutes away or signal is poor (which is a fair bit of the journey up there, actually), something as silly as an Amazon tourniquet or flashing warning beacon could make the difference between being on local news, or national news.

To be clear - I'm not one of these EDC/Prepper people - I don't go to the shops with paracord, a penknife and fire starter.

I just think it's better to be prepared and not need something, than need it and wish you had it - be it an emergency packet of Haribo, an Amazon trauma kit or a bin bag for when I inevitably spill sauce down myself when out for dinner.

I don't carry a spare wheel, though. The car didn't come with one, and if I were to buy one, where would I keep my zombie apocalypse bug-out pack?

51 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

I don't go to the shops with paracord, a penknife and fire starter.

well not when they are open..... :-)

52 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

To be clear - I'm not one of these EDC/Prepper people

I know what you mean. It is one thing to have few bits of kit but completley different to have a years supply of tined goods and ammunition in the boot of the car and the same in the bunker, I mean basement,

Just now, chills said:

well not when they are open..... :-)

I know what you mean. It is one thing to have few bits of kit but completley different to have a years supply of tined goods and ammunition in the boot of the car and the same in the bunker, I mean basement,

I mean when the zombies do come and the ICBMs start flying, they will have the last laugh. Until then though, I'll take my chances.

After all, I've seen enough post-apocalyptic movies to know I'd rather be taken out by a missile in my car, than hang around for the world that comes after.

Anyway, back to the SOS button 😂

17 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

I mean when the zombies do come and the ICBMs start flying, they will have the last laugh. Until then though, I'll take my chances.

as one of my sergeants said all you need is a half brick in a long sock (sea boot sock) neither of which are ever illegal and find a numpty with a gun. Having got one gun you find some one with a basement full of kit and use one bullet... But then he was trained and good strategic thinker.
Though as you say when WW3 or a zombie apocalypse start it is probably best to go in a blinding flash at the start.

What happens if you press the SOS and say "I am locked in the car surrounded by zombies"? :-)

Back to the SOS. I think at a minimum, assuming you are in your home country, they can read a lot more on the state of the car and advise. Also arrange recovery (at a cost) if you need it or let you call your own.

1 minute ago, chills said:

as one of my sergeants said all you need is a half brick in a long sock (sea boot sock) neither of which are ever illegal and find a numpty with a gun. Having got one gun you find some one with a basement full of kit and use one bullet... But then he was trained and good strategic thinker.
Though as you say when WW3 or a zombie apocalypse start it is probably best to go in a blinding flash at the start.

What happens if you press the SOS and say "I am locked in the car surrounded by zombies"? :-)

Back to the SOS. I think at a minimum, assuming you are in your home country, they can read a lot more on the state of the car and advise. Also arrange recovery (at a cost) if you need it or let you call your own.

Blinding flash at the start sounds good to me - the queue to Heaven will be quite long, so I may as well be near the front.

The only caveat to that I can think of is, does it require Skoda Connect (or whatever it's called now) to be activated? Mine has never been activated, although I've also never pressed the SOS button.

If I press the info button (should bring up the in-game menu and map) or the spanner button (should repair damage to car) I get a voice telling me nothing is set up. Apparently it's a separate thing to the SOS button (I did speak to Skoda at some point, for some reason) so the basic SOS feature should work, however I wonder if their Big Brother status service requires it to be activated...

26 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

The only caveat to that I can think of is, does it require Skoda Connect (or whatever it's called now) to be activated? Mine has never been activated, although I've also never pressed the SOS button.

I think (not certain) that EU regs require the SOS button to work if the airbags go off. So that function has to work regardless. Though what happens if it has a G3 system when the G3 networks go I have no idea. AFAIK some Skoda G3 systems can be upgraded to G4 but not all.

AFAIK the G4 network is likley to remain in service a LOT longer than originally thought . Whilst there were 10's of thousands of cars using G3 there are 100's of thousands using G4. Also it is not just cars using G4, so the problem is a lot bigger especially as cars and most of other "things" using G4 (not the phones, tablets and laptops) don't need G5 at all. They don't need the bandwidth.

Edited 12 August, 202512 Aug by chills

Just now, chills said:

I think (not certain) that EU regs require the SOS button to work if the airbags go off. So that function has to work regardless. Though what happens if it has a G3 system when the G3 networks go I have no idea. AFAIK some Skoda G3 systems can be upgraded to G4 but not all.

AFAIK the G4 network is likley to remain in service a LOT longer than originally thought . Whilst there were 10's of thousands of cars using G3 there are 100's of thousands using G4. Also it is not just cars using G4, so the problem is a lot bigger.

Are we talking about 3G or a G3 (Gulfstream III) 😝

4G will be around for a while. It is the basis of most networks, with 5G not being established enough yet. I would expect it to be phased out in the mid 2030s.

3G though, will be gone by the end of the year. EU regs require the SOS function, but as we’re in the land of the free, apparently, doesn’t that mean the older versions will be alright?

I can’t say I know what my car is, or if I’m really fussed.

A lot of cars use 2G for traffic updates and OTA things, so they’ll be alright for now. No idea when that gets switched off.

SOS works unless there is a fault. It's independent of any subscription.

Breakdown works only if you are registered.

AFAIK in UK.

Then again all Skoda seem to come with a lot of free Skoda Connect included. (Even the amazing (sic) Traffication app which could be really good but not so much currently.)

In reality 3g has ended already.

TMS also shutdown in the UK already.

8 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

Are we talking about 3G or a G3 (Gulfstream III) 😝

4G will be around for a while. It is the basis of most networks, with 5G not being established enough yet. I would expect it to be phased out in the mid 2030s

3G, (G3 Gulfstream? You obviously more in different circles to me. :-) )

Looking at the industry stuff, 3G was the start of this sort of thing in cars but as soon as 4G was specified the car manufacturers made 3/4G compatible stuff. However, it really took off and the number of 4G systems out there rocketed. So it is intended to keep 4G running a lot longer than if it had just been for phones that get replaced on a 3-6 year cycle. Cars are on a 15-year life cycle. Also, they don't and won't need 5G bandwidth. I have seen suggestions that 4G will be retained for cars and other devices with 5G phones/tablets/laptops and the like. However, I don't expect 4G to go in less than 10–15 years.

19 minutes ago, chills said:

3G, (G3 Gulfstream? You obviously more in different circles to me. :-) )

Looking at the industry stuff, 3G was the start of this sort of thing in cars but as soon as 4G was specified the car manufacturers made 3/4G compatible stuff. However, it really took off and the number of 4G systems out there rocketed. So it is intended to keep 4G running a lot longer than if it had just been for phones that get replaced on a 3-6 year cycle. Cars are on a 15-year life cycle. Also, they don't and won't need 5G bandwidth. I have seen suggestions that 4G will be retained for cars and other devices with 5G phones/tablets/laptops and the like. However, I don't expect 4G to go in less than 10–15 years.

So if the SOS feature on a car is 3G compatible only (10s of thousands, I think you said), then what? Will those cars become subject to a mandatory recall, before they can be driven? Even if it's a few thousand cars, that will take months for dealers to get around to retrofitting whatever they need (assuming it's a straight swap).

Not to mention the other interesting thing - coverage. What if I have a car that is 3G only, and driving around one area I have 3G coverage, but then going to another area I don't?

The breakdown button is a bit of a gimmick IMHO. You also have to pay to use this gimmick! However, if you are doing lots of motorway travelling across multiple locations, then I see the merit of it, but the system is very much tied in with the Skoda Assistance breakdown service/AA (here in the UK) - its a way of keeping you tied in with the Skoda ecosystem.

However, the red button part does provide a shortcut to emergency services (via european emergency number 112 - I know I've tried it). If you are involved in a crash and you cannot get out of the car and the module is still active, then I also see that merit. I don't think the red button service requires any subscription.

As to the communication system used; I suspect that as this option was from 2017 (in terms of design - facelift Octavia MK3.5 and Golf MK7.5), 3G was still very much protocol. Whether the radio for the comms system could be retrospectively be made to work with 4G, I don't know is the simple answer. If you could find the 'internal' SIM for this service and find a 4G radio, then you could make it future-proof, but it is a lot of Ifs.

12 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

So if the SOS feature on a car is 3G compatible only (10s of thousands, I think you said), then what? Will those cars become subject to a mandatory recall, before they can be driven? Even if it's a few thousand cars, that will take months for dealers to get around to retrofitting whatever they need (assuming it's a straight swap).

Very good question to which I have no answer. I note that in the Karoq specs after a certain date it says there is a firmware upgrade for 4G. No idea about the earlier ones. I assume (silly I know) that going forward the sim modules will be easily dealer replaceable. I think the unit is just behind the glove box for that reason. I know many owners could replace their own if they could get the parts but...

I think that the general plan is that when then next G spec is announced, it is phased in about 5 years later. So you can start to get devices (cars) compatible before it is launched.

However, I have seen it mentioned in several places that cars don't need 5G at all, and it would make sense to stay on 4G. Especially as all new cars (millions) in the last decade have this feature one way or another. Also as mentioned, cars have a 15 ish year lifespan not 6 years like phones.

I used to be a member of this https://aesin.org.uk/ but haven't been keeping up since I retired 3 years ago.

4 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

The breakdown button is a bit of a gimmick IMHO. You also have to pay to use this gimmick! However, if you are doing lots of motorway travelling across multiple locations, then I see the merit of it, but the system is very much tied in with the Skoda Assistance breakdown service/AA (here in the UK) - its a way of keeping you tied in with the Skoda ecosystem.

However, the red button part does provide a shortcut to emergency services (via european emergency number 112 - I know I've tried it). If you are involved in a crash and you cannot get out of the car and the module is still active, then I also see that merit. I don't think the red button service requires any subscription.

As to the communication system used; I suspect that as this option was from 2017 (in terms of design - facelift Octavia MK3.5 and Golf MK7.5), 3G was still very much protocol. Whether the radio for the comms system could be retrospectively be made to work with 4G, I don't know is the simple answer. If you could find the 'internal' SIM for this service and find a 4G radio, then you could make it future-proof, but it is a lot of Ifs.

Yes, and assuming whatever 4G module/SIM/part is backwards compatible.

Mine is a 2020 Mk3.5 facelift - I've had that entire trim piece (from the camera to the interior lights) out when I was doing my dashcam. I don't remember seeing anything significant - certainly I don't think it's a 'go to O2 and put a new SIM in' job.

The other consideration is that I would imagine it is most useful in a remote area with less people and, likely, less signal. An SMS message may get through to 999, but will a phone call to a call centre? I'm not sure.

I might look into it with mine at some point, but I can't say I really care that much.

Edited 13 August, 202513 Aug by OccyVRS

I wouldn't be surprised if it's an eSim and not a physical Sim card like what goes in your phone.

Calls to 999/ 112 are priority calls and use any available network. You don't even need a sim in your phone to call them.

18 hours ago, Aldfort said:

I didn't say the service was foolproof but it has some utility. Are you sure if you select "phone" in the infotainment you can't press buttons?

Well, 3 years ago I couldn't find any way to get a keypad up on the screen, maybe they've fixed it?