I'm looking for some advice or shared experiences regarding a major infotainment issue I encountered today. My car is a 2020 Skoda Octavia MK4 Combi (1.0 TSI), currently out of warranty.

While driving, the infotainment system started "acting possessed." It began with random reboots, followed by severe "ghost touching"—the menu jumps around, music turns on and off, and I hear constant phantom clicking sounds as if someone is tapping the screen rapidly. Eventually, the system overloads and crashes again. I also get a "Park Assist unavailable" error when this happens.

I've read that this is a known issue with early MK4 models, but I'm curious about the fix. For those who had this: was a software update (e.g., to version 1941) enough to solve it, or did it require a full display or 5F module replacement? Since I'm out of warranty, any information on potential costs or goodwill repairs from Skoda would be greatly appreciated.

The last time I had this issue with a touch screen it was caused by fine grit / dirt getting trapped in the surround of the screen support. Try clearing it out with your finger nail.

I got this issue, and loads more with the infotainment system. After much nagging, 9 months of “It’s fixed so it must be your iPhone” from the service manager, they replaced the entire head unit free of charge. It is a common problem but Skoda don’t want to admit it.

It happened on my wife’s Fabia and my son’s brand new Fabia. The service centre disconnected the DAB aerial and that fixed the issue in their cars.

Mine has started doing it again but only when the temperature is hot, on cold days there isn’t an issue.

I got some advice that the slider strip, for volume control, under the head unit has poor connectivity so when it gets hot it starts increasing volume as some of the connections expand in the heat. Apparently taking the strip out and cleaning with isopropyl alcohol resolves the issue. Another fix I have been recommended is to take out the fuse, fuse 30 is for the head unit controls, and simply use the volume button on the steering wheel to control volume - the touch screen works as normal.

I’m going to try both this weekend.

1 hour ago, dp59 said:

I got this issue, and loads more with the infotainment system. After much nagging, 9 months of “It’s fixed so it must be your iPhone” from the service manager, they replaced the entire head unit free of charge. It is a common problem but Skoda don’t want to admit it.

It happened on my wife’s Fabia and my son’s brand new Fabia. The service centre disconnected the DAB aerial and that fixed the issue in their cars.

Mine has started doing it again but only when the temperature is hot, on cold days there isn’t an issue.

I got some advice that the slider strip, for volume control, under the head unit has poor connectivity so when it gets hot it starts increasing volume as some of the connections expand in the heat. Apparently taking the strip out and cleaning with isopropyl alcohol resolves the issue. Another fix I have been recommended is to take out the fuse, fuse 30 is for the head unit controls, and simply use the volume button on the steering wheel to control volume - the touch screen works as normal.

I’m going to try both this weekend.

Hi!

I am experiencing the exact same problem with my car—it acts up specifically when the cabin temperature gets hot. I've read everywhere that this is a very common mistake unfortunately. I dont know why Skoda acting like this, but i will bring my Skoda to the skoda service and will see whats gonna happen. They said they want to check the error codes first and then they want to update the sw for the newest one

I can guarantee that it isn’t the software, I had the running updates for 3 months and nothing changed. Problem went away for a few days then volume started randomly maxing out.

Mine does it every spring. Then it’s bad for a couple weeks and then it gets slowly better before being fine again until the next spring.

When it does it i often get trouble with the sos module too, and sometimes the car thinks its left hand drive for a little while too and stops me overtaking cars on the left when cruise is on.

I thought I’d fixed it the other week by pulling fuses. It was better for 12 hours then came back.

I tried disconnecting the 12v battery, made no difference. Infact it was a little worse after this.

The next thing i tried seemed to work instantly, though i think I’m crazy as its maybe a coincidence, but i sprayed wd40 along the touch pad volume control and wiped it down, let a little get in the cracks too. It seemed to help on that occasion.

Is getting better now, just like last year. I can’t believe it’s only temp related, as it’s done it on cool mornings and its been fine on really hot days.

I believe it’s something to do with vw servers.

I was told I’d have to wait months for an appointment at skoda

Good luck, let me know if you get any joy with any of the above.

Edited 10 May10 May by Benjybobs
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