[shreyak_ss]

My July 2014 Octavia has clocked 12600 km on the odo and I wish to take your opinion on the upcoming 15k service.
I am planning a 2000km road trip to Rajasthan starting on 11th March.
Now, should I get the 15k service done before this trip or should I wait till I come back. As far as I can foresee, I don't think the car will clock much before 11th, say not more than 13.5k. Please help gurus, I am new to this 15k interval services and would be happy if you all guide me😊
Regards,
Shreyak

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by shreyak_ss

My July 2014 Octavia has clocked 12600 km on the odo and I wish to take your opinion on the upcoming 15k service.
I am planning a 2000km road trip to Rajasthan starting on 11th March.
Now, should I get the 15k service done before this trip or should I wait till I come back. As far as I can foresee, I don't think the car will clock much before 11th, say not more than 13.5k. Please help gurus, I am new to this 15k interval services and would be happy if you all guide me😊
Regards,
Shreyak

I believe you have got the 7.5K general check up done where they clean the air filter, top up oil etc.... Earlier Skoda did not have this 7.5k general check up interval and we had the 15K/ annual service interval only.

I suggest you complete the trip and then get the service done. Make sure you check the fluid levels and tyre pressures before you start your journey. To be safe carry a litre of the recommended grade of Synthetic oil in your boot to top up if necessary.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

The LED tail lamp costs 5k a piece.

Nice! Going by VAG standards, the pricing is good. Are they imported? I would think so.

So no issues w.r.t. resistance changes and such? Connectors are the same I hope?

[H_Dogg72]

I believe it can be retrofitted only onto models with the updated BCM. Otherwise CANBUS throws up a fused bulb error.

[adi_petrolhead]

Originally Posted by H_Dogg72

I believe it can be retrofitted only onto models with the updated BCM. Otherwise CANBUS throws up a fused bulb error.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Nice! Going by VAG standards, the pricing is good. Are they imported? I would think so.

So no issues w.r.t. resistance changes and such? Connectors are the same I hope?

No issues as its plug and play. My car is elegance trim, comes with Bixenon headlamps and electric memory seats, hence the BCM is the same which is needed for LED tail lamps too. So just need to swap out old ones and install the new ones.

In MY15 models, Skoda is fitting even Ambition trim with LED tail lamps, so the BCM must be updated in the MY15 cars. Otherwise the older lot, only elegance trim had highline BCM.
The cost is given verbally and I am yet to see what actual damage it costs, but it will be only the addition of taxes and labour to change the tail light. Pair should not cross 13K in my opinion.

[Haren]

Folks,

In recent days, I am getting a strong musty odour from the A/c (goes away after a while). In my earlier cars, I only got it if I switch between no-A/c and A/c for some duration. In this car, I have always had the A/c on. Yet I am getting it.

Would appreciate if you could share any simple fixes for the problem.

[adi_petrolhead]

Originally Posted by Haren

Folks,

In recent days, I am getting a strong musty odour from the A/c (goes away after a while). In my earlier cars, I only got it if I switch between no-A/c and A/c for some duration.

It only appears when, as you said, one turns off the AC but keeps the blower on. Try using the ventilation mode for some time, may be it just needs a bit of fresh outside air. What temperature do you usually set? Try putting a cooler setting at about 19-20 degrees, set the intensity of the climatronic from the HU setup to HIGH, run it for about half an hour, see if the smell reduces the next time you use the AC.

[SrikantDora]

Is it only I or Skoda has discontinued the Active Variant? While going through their official web page for feature list I could not find Active Variant listed.

http://www.skoda-auto.co.in/models/octavia/features

Ambition comes with all gizmos sans Xenons, DRL, Front parking sensors, side & curtain airbags, sunroof, powered seats & cruise control. One can live without these.

[Haren]

Thanks for the advice, Adi.

I kept the blower at a higher speed and the smell seems have subsided yesterday. I am keeping it at 'Auto' otherwise and I think it uses internal circulation most of the time owing to Bangalore air quality. It would be good if it shows what mode it's using when in Auto.

My normal settings are for 25C (I know, I am a warm person :-) ).

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

It only appears when, as you said, one turns off the AC but keeps the blower on. Try using the ventilation mode for some time, may be it just needs a bit of fresh outside air. What temperature do you usually set? Try putting a cooler setting at about 19-20 degrees, set the intensity of the climatronic from the HU setup to HIGH, run it for about half an hour, see if the smell reduces the next time you use the AC.

[adi_petrolhead]

Skoda indeed discontinued Active variant because of minimal price gap between it and Ambition trim.

On other notes, LED tail light is a no go for now. I was assured the connectors are same, but they are different. Plus you must also have bulbs!! Yes the light came without bulbs! There is a case or a tray thing, which holds all the bulbs and gets attached to the rear portion of the tail light. That tray did not fit. But a new compatible part can be ordered and the connector can be modified according to the person responsible for this. They are going to let me know in a week's time.

Meanwhile got Black door sill set, a Trash bin that sits in the front door pocket, and Black plastic boot loading lip protection. These three items cost me Rs. 7700/-

Highly disappointed for the LED though. Now thinking, can I just change the bulbs and code it via vcds and not end up installing resistors. Sigh.

[Haren]

Adi, Can you please share pictures of the door sill?

I ordered and received the Maxspider Kagu customised mats (black) from ebay. It fits well. except there is no hole for the lugs on the floor. The mats that came with the car had the holes and would clip onto them nicely.

I need a good boot mat (or a tray). Have any of you managed to find one yet? Nothing on ebay.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

On other notes, LED tail light is a no go for now. I was assured the connectors are same, but they are different. Plus you must also have bulbs!! Yes the light came without bulbs! There is a case or a tray thing, which holds all the bulbs and gets attached to the rear portion of the tail light. That tray did not fit. But a new compatible part can be ordered and the connector can be modified according to the person responsible for this. They are going to let me know in a week's time.

Highly disappointed for the LED though. Now thinking, can I just change the bulbs and code it via vcds and not end up installing resistors. Sigh.

Are you sure about this? For Yeti, the workshop manual says that only the brake light and parking light function are taken care of by the LED and they are integrated in the lamp housing and not replaceable individually. I guess that means the LED lamps do come as a single module and with the tail lamp when you buy it. Reverse, fog and turn lights would however be filament bulbs and for Yeti, its the same spec. bulbs as that of the older normal tail lamps. And the connector seems to be the same from drawings and pictures. I cannot verify the same physically right now as I am away from both my Yeti as well as newly purchased LED tail lamps.

Usually connectors change when you have different functions in the new lamp. Like when I upgraded from halogen to bi-xenon, connectors had to be changed because halogen headlamp had park light, turn light, low beam, high beam and manual level adjustment motor terminals only in the connector. Where as in bi-xenon, you have many more terminals required for different purposes, hence need a connector with so much more terminals. In tails lamps, even if you go from filament to LED, the functions remain the same and I guess the connector should remain same, unless they changed the design of the connector with the new model.

Did the guys from Skoda tell you about the connectors or you got it from a reliable source? I am curious to know as I would be doing my LED tail lamp retrofit when I am back home after a few months.

[adi_petrolhead]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Are you sure about this? For Yeti, the workshop manual says that only the brake light and parking light function are taken care of by the LED and they are integrated in the lamp housing and not replaceable individually. I guess that means the LED lamps do come as a single module and with the tail lamp when you buy it. Reverse, fog and turn lights would however be filament bulbs and for Yeti, its the same spec. bulbs as that of the older normal tail lamps. And the connector seems to be the same from drawings and pictures. I cannot verify the same physically right now as I am away from both my Yeti as well as newly purchased LED tail lamps.

You're right, the park, brake light and fog light in this case were already built in. But the turn signal and reverse light is not. So the black plastic light tray has to have only two bulbs, where as the current "non-led' tail light has all the bulbs on one tray and is differently shaped as well. The connector is surely different. The LED unit is a smaller white colored, probably 6 pin connector where as the normal one is a larger, black colored, 10-12 pin connector. I know, because it happened in front of me. I was actually at the Skoda workshop to install the lights, but since the connector itself didn't match, there was nothing much that could have been done instantly. So I have given them time to think about how to change the connector. How do you suggest we can change the connector in the LED unit? I am not too keen to change the connector in the wiring harness of the car itself. I believe you'll face a similar issue in the Yeti too.

Originally Posted by Haren

Adi, Can you please share pictures of the door sill?
I need a good boot mat (or a tray). Have any of you managed to find one yet? Nothing on ebay.

The door sill: Rs. 1800/-


The boot mat(Rubber): Rs. 2500/-

There is also a hard plastic tray available, but it eats in to the space the cavernous boot offers, hence not practical.

The waste bin: Rs. 750/-
closed:

open:

It has a built in replaceable plastic bag, and one extra bag came in the package.

The pedals: Rs. 3500/- from Superskoda.com


Everything except the pedals, I bought from the dealer itself, and prices that I have mentioned are sans 15% VAT. They ordered it promptly on my request and the parts arrived in a week's time.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

You're right, the park, brake light and fog light in this case were already built in. But the turn signal and reverse light is not. So the black plastic light tray has to have only two bulbs, where as the current "non-led' tail light has all the bulbs on one tray and is differently shaped as well. The connector is surely different. The LED unit is a smaller white colored, probably 6 pin connector where as the normal one is a larger, black colored, 10-12 pin connector. I know, because it happened in front of me. I was actually at the Skoda workshop to install the lights, but since the connector itself didn't match, there was nothing much that could have been done instantly. So I have given them time to think about how to change the connector. How do you suggest we can change the connector in the LED unit? I am not too keen to change the connector in the wiring harness of the car itself. I believe you'll face a similar issue in the Yeti too.

Before I ordered the lights, I had confirmed from pictures and electrical manual that both old light and LED light had same type 6 pin connector. Also, like I said earlier, since the light functions do not change, the no of terminals do not change and hence the same connector. I wonder why the normal tail lamps of Octavia have more terminals. Does it have any additional function that the LED tail lamps do not have? In Yeti's tail lamp, the parking and brake light filament bulbs are just replaced with LEDs and hence connector terminals, size and shape remain same. Both have 6 pin connectors in Yeti's case.

[adi_petrolhead]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Before I ordered the lights, I had confirmed from pictures and electrical manual that both old light and LED light had same type 6 pin connector. Also, like I said earlier, since the light functions do not change, the no of terminals do not change and hence the same connector. I wonder why the normal tail lamps of Octavia have more terminals. Does it have any additional function that the LED tail lamps do not have? In Yeti's tail lamp, the parking and brake light filament bulbs are just replaced with LEDs and hence connector terminals, size and shape remain same. Both have 6 pin connectors in Yeti's case.

See the attached pictures,
This is the normal tail light cluster behind: It has 4 cut outs for bulbs to go in on a tray.


This is the LED: It has three slots for bulbs to go in on a tray.


The normal one does not have any cable, but the light tray has the connector, picture not available right now. Whereas in the LED unit, the cable is coming from inside because it is also connected to the already installed bulbs inside.
Also you can notice that the shape of the light tray which is to be inserted is completely different in both the lights. How could I miss this while researching before ordering the lights from the dealer?!