We bought our Scala Monte Carlo Edition 1.5 tsi back in December and from late January it has had both mechanical problems and electronic gremlins.

The mechanical problem have mostly been sorted, new rear discs and pads that were making noises like a wheel bearing was rumbling, the gearbox has had a software update and a reset (it's still not perfect). And the road noise is just the high dB tyres and lack of sound insulation.

The electronic gremlins were put down to a failing 12v battery which was replaced a week ago. However things are still not as they should be.

The ACC has twice not slowed the car to match the speed of the traffic.

We have had automatic headlights malfunction.

Random parking sensor activation in slow traffic. Collision detection with braking when nothing was there. Pressing the accelerator from lower speeds to do an overtake and nothing happens(one had my foot flat to the floor)

I also suspect the car might be unlocking and relocking itself as just happened to catch the indicators flashing and mirrors folding in when letting our dogs into the garden before bed. My keys were indoors in a Faraday pouch which I know works.

My wife won't now drive the car as she is worried about what's going to happen next.

Is this just par for the course with new cars or have we got a lemon?

Sounds very much a lemon.

Definitely a lemon, I've wasted my money on new cars since 2002 and never had one with faults like these. I would take it back to be sorted out ASAP and insist on a courtesy car for the duration of the repairs.

Sounds like a lemon to me,

I got my Scala Monte Carlo 1.5 tsi new back in June 2024, only problems I have had are small like false alerts saying indicator lights are not working which disappear on an engine restart.

Yesterday the car would unlock but all the screens were blank and it wouldn't start. Called Skoda Assist who arrived surprisingly quickly. The battery had gone flat, he boosted it to get it running and then did a load of checks to see if there was a parasitic drain, his suspicion is one of the on board systems isn't shutting down. He advised I leave it hooked up to my Ctek box until it's been back in. So it's going in on the 26th for more investigation but I have lost all faith in it now and just want rid of it. Such a shame as my Octavia and my Kodiaq were good cars.

Today's random error.

On 14/05/2026 at 22:48, Liteboy said:

We bought our Scala Monte Carlo Edition 1.5 tsi back in December and from late January it has had both mechanical problems and electronic gremlins.

The mechanical problem have mostly been sorted, new rear discs and pads that were making noises like a wheel bearing was rumbling, the gearbox has had a software update and a reset (it's still not perfect). And the road noise is just the high dB tyres and lack of sound insulation.

The electronic gremlins were put down to a failing 12v battery which was replaced a week ago. However things are still not as they should be.

The ACC has twice not slowed the car to match the speed of the traffic.

We have had automatic headlights malfunction.

Random parking sensor activation in slow traffic. Collision detection with braking when nothing was there. Pressing the accelerator from lower speeds to do an overtake and nothing happens(one had my foot flat to the floor)

I also suspect the car might be unlocking and relocking itself as just happened to catch the indicators flashing and mirrors folding in when letting our dogs into the garden before bed. My keys were indoors in a Faraday pouch which I know works.

My wife won't now drive the car as she is worried about what's going to happen next.

Is this just par for the course with new cars or have we got a lemon?

You should have bought 1.0 TSI with 110hp or 115 . They are much better engines then 1.5 TSI.. I had zero problems with mine 2021 Scala except with infotainment which was sorted with software update. Brakes are still original after 65.000 km

On 14/05/2026 at 21:48, Liteboy said:

The electronic gremlins were put down to a failing 12v battery which was replaced a week ago.

Yet another easy default of blaming the battery and not the car (or, but not in your case driver/owner battery use/abuse and neglect).

Lots of issues being blamed on scapegoat "bad" batteries or batteries low in charge without the Dealerships looking to see or asking why the batteries are low or flat. I only posted this morning, on a low battery thread, I thought it more likily many of these could be a VW computer programing error possibly and/or a part(s)/system(s)/wiring/connection(s) fault(s) rather than the scapegoat car battery.

German marques have been (over) complex for many decades and the more modern any make of car the more complex the computer, electronic, electyrics, systems are. Throw in the VW DSG, cylinder shut downs, climatronic, all the "aids", "assists" and conveniences and then a 2025 car and the potentials are great for possible issues and VW don't seem that that great with some of the stuff they make or asssemble or that great with the computer software and hardware as some other manufacturers might be.

I don't blame your wife, your car is unreliable and often out of the driver's control or perhaps ability to get where it's going or back home or to the Dealership under it's own reliable power.

I hope it turns out to be something minor (after proper diagnostics if you can get this from the Dealership/seller) and it becomes more reliable. VWŠkodas are no longer less expensive car to buy and maintain and certainly not with some VW parts and VW parts longivity.

Edited 19 May19 May by nta16

6 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Yet another easy default of blaming the battery and not the car (or, but not in your case driver/owner battery use/abuse and neglect).

Lots of issues being blamed on scapegoat "bad" batteries or batteries low in charge without the Dealerships looking to see or asking why the batteries are low or flat. I only posted this morning, on a low battery thread, I thought it more likily many of these could be a VW computer programing error possibly and/or a part(s)/system(s)/wiring/connection(s) fault(s) rather than the scapegoat car battery.

German marques have been (over) complex for many decades and the more modern any make of car the more complex the computer, electronic, electyrics, systems are. Throw in the VW DSG, cylinder shut downs, climatronic, all the "aids", "assists" and conveniences and then a 2025 car and the potentials are great for possible issues and VW don't seem that that great with some of the stuff they make or asssemble or that great with the computer software and hardware as some other manufacturers might be.

I don't blame your wife, your car is unreliable and often out of the driver's control or perhaps ability to get where it's going or back home or to the Dealership under it's own reliable power.

I hope it turns out to be something minor (after proper diagnostics if you can get this from the Dealership/seller) and it becomes more reliable. VWŠkodas are no longer less expensive car to buy and maintain and certainly not with some VW parts and VW parts longivity.

My feeling is that the dealerships rely too much on plugging it in and then having to get permission to order and replace any parts it might need, this then drags out any repair they want to try. Something somewhere is causing a drain and then sending all the electronics haywire.

I have written to the dealer principal documenting everything and advising that if this repair fails I will be rejecting the car. It has only done 2500 painful miles.

It's away of getting more revenue and profits into the Dealership and perhaps because or to avoid th time thus expense of proper diagnostics and the need for more trained personel and equipment.

Once out of warranty particular the Dealerships, not just VAG ones either, go looking for chargeable work whether it's there or not. Our local Dealership if IIRC found £1, 700 of work on a"free health check" on my wife's car including a clutch change because the clutch pedal was "hard". This really conccerned my wife as we'd had a lot of bad luck with a previous gearbox conversion and subsequent clutch operation sustems including British motorsport made parts (wrong type of rubber in the new manufactured o-ring!) and only time with no issues (still reassured her the Fabia clutch didn't need changing. The very next "free health check" only a couple of months later by the same Dealership and person made none of the previous finds and the only thigs I'd changed in the meantime was the front discs and pads as they wer low (but not urgent).

The Dealerships might find it harder to con the con-men at VWŠkoda so have to work harder at that and VW are happy to avoid as much as they can by starting with cheapest brush-offs.

I'm afarid generally this is much of the British motor trade attiude they veiw customers as something nasty and smelly they trod i and on the soles of their shoes and boots. Not all, you can get good people in bad companies and alsobad people in good companies and certainly not all customers are good and honest.

If you have the opition to use another Dealership you could research and enquire whether they might be better if you can't bounce the car back, and they will make that very difficult.

Good luck, hopefully it might be something simple, or remedy on a Technical Bulletin filed away somewhere.

To be honest I think your dealership is pretty bad and thats being polite! Probably a good idea to try somewhere else and contact Skoda direct to complain.