My Skoda Octavia 1.5 PHEV has unsurprisingly developed yet another irritating intermittent fault: the navigation system looses GPS lock and (I am living in a coastal location) positions the car in the middle of the sea. It then concludes that it must be outside coverage area for traffic sign recognition, can't work out what the local speed limit is, etc.

The Apple Maps in CarPlay manages to find and follow the right location, so it cannot be down to an external GPS signal, so this is yet another example of Skoda's electronic incompetence. Needless to say, because the fault is intermittent, my local Skoda dealer will claim they can do nothing about it.

Is anyone else suffering?

Edited 22 October, 202522 Oct by Bob_A

Get the GPS antenna checked.

Yes. When i came back from France the car thought it was still there for 2 days. It sometimes thinks i’m going across fields. It can stop the acc from working too. It’s intermittent and because there are no fault codes the dealer isn’t interested.

It should not be beyond a workshops capabilities to test the signal strength from the GPS antenna.

I recall that there is a setting in the GPS menu that allows the number of satellites being tracked to be displayed on the screen - this sub-menu location may vary depending on the system installed, but I will check my Amundsen MIB2 system tomorrow morning.

This satellite display would likely give an indication if there is a problem with the antenna.

Same problem on my car, the antenna was bad, it's a known problem that it takes in water and then makes the GPS all wild, soon after the SOS-button goes red also.

i have the same issue.. when using android auto, waze thinks im 2 kilometers away from the road i am in. (and its only when the phone connected to AA, without it, works perfect)

also, when i have these GPS problems, the Road sign reading system also goes to fault.. (sorry for my bad english..)

my is Octavia 1.5 mHev 2025 FL

it is a know issue that VAG has problems with GPS. Skoda know the Probem, it looks like its not a hardware issue. There should be a fix still this year..

it is a know issue that VAG has problems with GPS. Skoda know the Probem, it looks like its not a hardware issue. There should be a fix still this year..

it is a know issue that VAG has problems with GPS. Skoda know the Probem, it looks like its not a hardware issue. There should be a fix still this year..

I would not simply assume this 'losing lock' issue is down to a 'Skoda software' issue if it has developed relatively recently (and not immediately after an update) - the GPS antenna can be subject to failure and I'd strongly suggest at least checking the satellite signals being received.

For an Amundsen unit, from the bottom menu bar, select 'View' option - select 'Split-Screen' - select 'Position' option (check box) - Lat/Long, Alt and number of satellite being received will be displayed on split screen.

If strong signals from fewer than four satellites are being received, GPS indicated position will be unreliable.

VAG, including Skoda, has a long history of shark fin GPS antennas letting in water (I can remember problems with the Audi A6 back in 2005) so I would definitely not rule out hardware problems.

I have the same problem - Octavia 4 FL with 13" navigation. I made this clip Navigation problem . Is there any solution? When I went to Skoda in Bulgaria they told me that they don't have a solution to the problem and I have to wait for one to be found. There's no point in diagnosing because there are no errors. I was advised by another person on the forum - when the problem appears again - to hold down the multimedia off button for 10 seconds and it will restart. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll test it as soon as I can...

On 22/10/2025 at 20:26, Bob_A said:

Needless to say, because the fault is intermittent, my local Skoda dealer will claim they can do nothing about it.

If you can, get a passenger (or park) to take a photo or video of the map screen showing you in the wrong location - it will be some evidence of the issue to give to the dealer.

On 26/10/2025 at 22:36, tdi2529 said:

I have the same problem - Octavia 4 FL with 13" navigation. I made this clip Navigation problem . Is there any solution? When I went to Skoda in Bulgaria they told me that they don't have a solution to the problem and I have to wait for one to be found. There's no point in diagnosing because there are no errors. I was advised by another person on the forum - when the problem appears again - to hold down the multimedia off button for 10 seconds and it will restart. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll test it as soon as I can...

The problem persists. I've tried all sorts of things, including hitting the roof fin, turning off and removing the DVR, clearing navigation data, restarting with a hold, etc. So far, nothing has worked. I've also written to Euratek, but I haven't received an answer...apparently I'll have to go there. So today I tried to launch Google Maps via Android Auto while the navigation wasn't working and see if there would be a difference - I did and it immediately detected me correctly. The question is - is the car's GPS antenna being used in this case or the phone's? When I connected it, it seems like the car's is being used, but then why doesn't it correct the location of its navigation? If the google maps was also messed up - then I would know it was the GPS antenna, but in this case it works. If anyone can think of something, please share

On 27/10/2025 at 13:58, SteveTheElder said:

If you can, get a passenger (or park) to take a photo or video of the map screen showing you in the wrong location - it will be some evidence of the issue to give to the dealer.

I have shared the photographic evidence with them. But the car's diagnostic computer still shows no errors, and the system randomly re-sets itself after a while. I like to think the dealership believes me. But I also think they don't know what to do about it.

I naively thought the problem had resolved itself, because it hadn't happened for a while. But then we drove from Spain to the UK through the channel tunnel.

The Skoda navigation in the central driving dials display accurately tracked our position through Spain and France. I used CarPlay on the central screen for the primary source of navigation information, and it was unfailingly accurate.

We then emerged from the tunnel at Folkestone. Apple CarPlay accurately picked up the new position. But the Octavia's navigation still had me circling around Calais. This continued all the way home. I tried pulling to the side of the road, resetting the infotainment system, getting out of the car, locking and waiting before reopening. But the Skoda navigation persisted in giving me an eagle's eye view of Calais.

The problem, of course, isn't just with the Navigation, because unless I disable the ACC, it keeps suggesting I'm travelling at the wrong speed and - very dangerously in my opinion - tries to brake the car automatically in a very unsafe way.

And here's another thing: after resetting the infotainment, for a few minutes the Apple system seemed to oscillate between picking up the Skoda GPS location and its own. Eventually the Apple position won and it stabilised (and fortunately while this was going on I was on a familiar road).

Then, the following morning, I powered up the car and the Skoda navigation had finally worked out where I was. It's as if it takes days rather than minutes to get a stable GPS lock.

This car has **** for brains.

Merry Christmas.

so for my case, the dealer in Israel said that the SOS module is faulty (located behind the infotainment) and needs to be replaced. but it got faulty due to all the GPS jamming we had.. (i think its manufacturing error but whatever). so waiting for them to fix it..

3 hours ago, TomerB2025 said:

it got faulty due to all the GPS jamming we had

Any receiver that fails due to a jamming signal hasn't been properly designed, but like @TomerB2025 I think it's a manufacturing fault not a design fault.

8 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

Any receiver that fails due to a jamming signal hasn't been properly designed, but like @TomerB2025 I think it's a manufacturing fault not a design fault.

the funny thing is, that all VAG Cars, and Skoda in particular, that where delivered between January to March, suffering from this problem. in some of them the update has fixed the issue, in some of them the SOS module needs to be replaced..

I have progress on the problem with the loss of GPS orientation. I took the car to Euratec (Bulgaria) and told them in detail about the problem, as well as showed them photos and videos of this problem. They contacted Skoda. They explained that "there is technical information about this problem". They said that the OCU module (online communication unit) needs to be replaced. I waited for it to be delivered for 1 month, they replaced it in 1 day and for the moment (for 3 days) there is no confusion with the GPS, as it used to do before constantly. So that's it - the OCU module was problematic and for now everything is fine after replacing it.

Edited 14 March14 Mar by tdi2529
Wanted to quote my old post

On 26/10/2025 at 22:36, tdi2529 said:

I have the same problem - Octavia 4 FL with 13" navigation. I made this clip Navigation problem . Is there any solution? When I went to Skoda in Bulgaria they told me that they don't have a solution to the problem and I have to wait for one to be found. There's no point in diagnosing because there are no errors. I was advised by another person on the forum - when the problem appears again - to hold down the multimedia off button for 10 seconds and it will restart. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll test it as soon as I can...

I have progress on the problem with the loss of GPS orientation. I took the car to Euratec (Bulgaria) and told them in detail about the problem, as well as showed them photos and videos of this problem. They contacted Skoda. They explained that "there is technical information about this problem". They said that the OCU module (online communication unit) needs to be replaced. I waited for it to be delivered for 1 month, they replaced it in 1 day and for the moment (for 3 days) there is no confusion with the GPS, as it used to do before constantly. So that's it - the OCU module was problematic and for now everything is fine after replacing it.

9 minutes ago, tdi2529 said:

I have progress on the problem with the loss of GPS orientation. I took the car to Euratec (Bulgaria) and told them in detail about the problem, as well as showed them photos and videos of this problem. They contacted Skoda. They explained that "there is technical information about this problem". They said that the OCU module (online communication unit) needs to be replaced. I waited for it to be delivered for 1 month, they replaced it in 1 day and for the moment (for 3 days) there is no confusion with the GPS, as it used to do before constantly. So that's it - the OCU module was problematic and for now everything is fine after replacing it.

Are you still within warranty?

2 hours ago, scotthugh3s said:

Are you still within warranty?

Yes, it is under warranty. I was told that the price of this module is around 800-900 EUR, but in my case they replaced it under warranty.

I had the same issue. The latest software update 03A8 for the OCU seems to have fixed mine.

9 hours ago, Micky 32 said:

I had the same issue. The latest software update 03A8 for the OCU seems to have fixed mine.

That's what I was wondering, whether or not a software update would fix the issue. I had an experience recently with the airbag module, whereby, according to official Skoda documentation, I needed to have the module replaced, which would have proved expensive.

However, it turns out a software update on the module fixed the issue. This is/was obviously known to Skoda, as they (covertly it would seem) released the update. I say covertly as they never made it part of an official update package apparently, which makes you think that this is deliberate behaviour on their part as they obviously make more money on (allegedly) replacing modules.

It has me wondering whether or not this is something they do? So let's say I had gone to Skoda who would have insisted they'd need to replace my airbag module... I've no doubt I'd have been charged as such, but would they have actually done it? Or would they have just applied the update they knew about but didn't officially release which fixes the issue I had without replacing the module, although of course charged me as if they had?

One thing's for sure, with everything that's gone on with car manufacturers in recent times, I wouldn't trust them one bit. I genuinely wonder if this is a game they play with us owners. As with @tdi2529 , did they really replace his module, or just apply the software update which fixes the issue? Although keep up the pretence that they'd replaced it in the hope that one day they may return with another faulty module needing "replacing"....