MYSTERY NUMBER

[Sniffer]

Does anyone know what the number on the Infotainment display, next to the Internet globe means? I can't find any reference to it in the owner's manual.

It's probably something simple but I just can't fathom it out. Sometimes I get in the car and it's a fig 1, sometimes 2 and sometimes 3. There appears to be no rhyme nor reason for the change. It's showing a figure 2 in the attachment.

Please can someone put me out of my misery.

[fredgroves]

Messages... 2 messages for you to read. Click on the number and it will show you what they are.

It's probably telling you that streaming media is not available, because you've not got an Internet connection setup (either a paid plan on the esim or a WiFi hot-spot on your phone).

[Sniffer]

Thanks Fred. See, I knew that it would be straightforward, it's just that I hadn't a clue what it was telling me!

I did have an e-sim account and a Wi-Fi hotspot connection, although the dealer update I had the other day (from 1788 to 1803) seems to have disconnected them and deleted my Alexa account, so that's another job for me tomorrow, setting all of those up again.

[fredgroves]

What did the two messages say? It might not have been my guess... The guess was based on what mine b!tches about when my phone fails to connect to Bluetooth and until that happens my hot-spot on my phone doesn't enable.

[Colh]

Its messages.  Beware though that once you've seen them, the car will never let you see them again.

[Sniffer]

What did the two messages say? It might not have been my guess... The guess was based on what mine b!tches about when my phone fails to connect to Bluetooth and until that happens my hot-spot on my phone doesn't enable.

I decided not to wait until tomorrow and much to my neighbours' amusement I sat outside in my car for an hour tonight and worked through the issues.

The two messages were updates (including the reinstallation of Alexa) which wouldn't completely download, for some inexplicable reason. Eventually, I figured out that it was stuck in an eternal loop and I applied the traditional solution of switching the Esim connection off and on again, and that did the trick. Both updates instantly downloaded and installed, which means Alexa is now up and running again, via the Infotainment System.

I don't know if it is related but, since the dealer update a few days ago, the Shop menu display tells me that I don't have an active Esim contract, but elsewhere in the Settings menu, under Data Connection, the Infotainment System confirms that I do have one. Perhaps, it will sort itself out and repopulate the data in the Shop sub menu in a few days?

Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction, chaps. 

[fredgroves]

While I'm here.... can you tell us the story of the two different Mk8's you've had?

I don't think you've ever talked about that on here...

[Sniffer]

While I'm here.... can you tell us the story of the two different Mk8's you've had?

I don't think you've ever talked about that on here...

Fred, I suspect that you may already have an inkling of what my story might be. 

Basically, I bought my White GTI in late December, 2020 and then had three trips back to the dealership with various software problems needing attention between then and the end of March. After my third visit and noting that the software problems were actually getting worse not better, I said STOP right there and informed the Dealer Principal that I wasn't at all happy. He was absolutely brilliant from that moment on.

The dealership took my White GTI back straightaway, gave me a FOC loan car and formally registered my complaint with VW UK and, within just a few days, VW contacted me direct and offered me a refund or a replacement new car. I opted to go for another GTI because, apart from the software glitches, I had really enjoyed driving my car. I emphasised, though, that I wanted a GTI with the very latest hardware and software and they duly obliged.

Unfortunately, my dealers didn't have any of the latest (>1788 software) GTI's in stock, at the time, but they did somehow manage to source one later that same afternoon, and it was on a transporter heading to me, from the other end of the country, the very next day. There was just one catch, the new car - a Metallic Black GTI - which they had sourced for me had about £2k of extras fitted to it that mine didn't have, so they asked if I would be willing to pay a nominal sum towards the swap. If not, it wasn't a problem and they offered to source me something closer to my original specification, at no additional cost.

Well, what would you do? Yeah, you're right, I immediately agreed to make the nominal contribution and I took delivery of my new car very, shortly afterwards. Here's a pic of both cars below, for comparison purposes. I think I got a good deal, don't you? 

So, as you can see, it's not all doom and gloom on this site! I, for one, am highly delighted with my new car, the deal I got and with the level of service that I received from both my dealership and from VW UK. It couldn't have been any better, in my opinion.

I may just have been lucky in having such a good relationship with my local dealers but I also think it helps, enormously, if you are able to discuss any issues with them, calmly and reasonably, and not go too over the top. After all, they didn't design or make these cars and are often just as much in the dark as we are on how to fix them.

Let's just hope that I'm saying similar this time next year! 

[bjbanny]

wow thats a nice upgrade. good luck this time and have fun.

[fredgroves]

Blimey, that's quite a story...

Did anything you'd read on the Internet help you with understanding the problem?