Škoda Octavia upgrades, generation by generation.

Mk3 cars from 2013 to 2020, split between SmartLink activation on MIB2 units and Android screens on MIB1 cars, often with a reversing camera and sensors at the same visit. Mk2 owners come for the Android screen, because Swing and Bolero have no screen to work with. Mk4 owners mostly want dash cams and front sensors.

Yes. On Mk3 cars with Canton the Android screen is fitted with an amplifier adapter, so the factory amplifier and every speaker stay in use and the volume behaves as before. Nothing is cut: the kit plugs into the factory connectors, and the car can go back to standard if it is ever sold with the original radio.

Only in the cable run. The camera and a rear dash cam go along the tailgate loom on the Combi and through the boot lid on the liftback, and both take about the same time. The camera sits in the tailgate handle strip on the Mk3 and Mk4, in the number-plate light on the Mk2.

1Z — 2004–2013 (hatch and Combi estate): Swing or Bolero CD radio in a double-DIN slot; Amundsen or Columbus navigation on higher trims. 5E — 2013–2020 (hatch and Combi estate): MIB1 Swing, Bolero, Amundsen or Columbus to 2015; MIB2 units from around 2016 with SmartLink optional, standard on most facelift cars from 2017. NX — 2020 on (hatch, Combi estate and iV plug-in hybrid): MIB3 Swing 8.25-inch, Bolero or Columbus 10-inch, 13-inch on the 2024 facelift; CarPlay and Android Auto from the factory, wireless on most. Not sure? Send the reg on WhatsApp and we tell you the generation and the route.

Car radio: Android screen in the double-DIN slot on the Mk2, a 10-inch screen replacing Swing or Bolero on the Mk3. CarPlay: SmartLink activation on MIB2 Mk3 cars, an Android screen on MIB1 and Mk2 cars, factory CarPlay on the Mk4. Dash cam: Hardwired from the driver's side fuse box with a cut-off; 12 V side only on the iV hybrid. Parking sensors: Factory-style sensors coded into the display on Mk3 and Mk4 cars, colour-matched aftermarket on the Mk2. Reversing camera: Camera in the tailgate handle coded into MIB2 and MIB3, on the Android screen or a mirror on the Mk2. Ambient lighting: Ambient LED kits in doors and dash, extended factory ambient on newer cars, app controlled. Speakers: Plug-in door speakers and tweeters, factory head unit and amplifier kept, no cutting. Subwoofer: Under-seat or boot subwoofer on a DSP amplifier fed from the factory unit, boot space kept. Soundproofing: Doors and floor treated with butyl and foam, trim refitted without marks.

Car radio: two to three hours, usually the same day. CarPlay: under an hour for activation, two to four hours for a box or a screen. Dash cam: one to two hours for a front camera, about two with a rear camera. Parking sensors: two to three hours for one end, about half a day for front and rear. Most Octavia owners wait at the workshop or drop the car in the morning and collect it the same day.

1Z: the Swing or Bolero CD radio in a double-DIN slot; Amundsen or Columbus navigation on higher trims stays and we add to it. 5E: the MIB1 Swing, Bolero, Amundsen or Columbus to 2015; MIB2 units from around 2016 with SmartLink optional, standard on most facelift cars from 2017 stays and we add to it. NX: the MIB3 Swing 8.25-inch, Bolero or Columbus 10-inch, 13-inch on the 2024 facelift; CarPlay and Android Auto from the factory, wireless on most stays and we add to it. Steering-wheel buttons, factory amplifiers and cameras are carried over on every route; the only route that changes what you see is an Android screen, and even then the controls are kept.

Send the reg or the year on WhatsApp or the form below and we confirm the generation, the route, the price and the next free slot. Every job carries a one-year warranty on the work, done at our workshop in Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 11, Monday to Saturday.