Found this site via Google and my first post is under sad circumstances!

Yesterday my pristine Octavia was broken into and the the MFD3 was ripped out. The thieves were very heavy handed and did a great deal of damage to the dash area and trim. Speaking to the police today it seems this is the second such theft in my policing area within the last fortnight. If you are offered a used MFD3 unit then please please take precautions to ensure its legitimacy and if you have any suspicion that it may be stolen then inform your local police.

I have also contacted my Skoda dealer but they tell me that Skoda UK have no means of tracking or tracing stolen units.

Edited 2 February, 201016 yr by ITTech

Wow, bad news...

What area are you in????

:( Really sorry to hear that.

I bought what turned out to be a stolen MFD3 from ebay last year. I've posted what to look out for, to help people avoid the same mistake. The problem is rife and ebay don't give a $hit. Your unit will probably end up for sale in Lithuania, Poland or Russia. This is the first one I've heard of being stolen from the UK on a forum. They mainly seem to have been taken from western / central mainland Europe.

Where abouts in the country did it happen? Was it parked on street at the time? Did it happen in the day or at night?

Heard of quite a few Audi's having them stolen

what's the mfdi?

I remember that some time ago, there was a question of how to see whether the second hand unit offered was stolen or not. I gave the advice not to buy, as most probably a cheap unit would be a stolen one. You should buy one via your dealer. In the Netherlands and Belgium, these thefts are becoming a big problem, there was a victim even suffering a loss of about 10.000 euros, reparing all the damage done to his car (a Skoda) once the thieves had done their 'job'. And I stated that the possibility of a good deal was enough not to consider that by buying a probably stolen unit you just maintain the problem elsewhere. And there was a reaction of somebody, telling me to stop complaining and to mind my business and the fact that it had taken us 'from Europe' such a long time to finally react.

I am sorry to see that the problem is getting in the UK too. Let's hope that Skoda does something about it (making it more difficult to make a stolen unit work in another car) and the police take these things more seriously. And that nobody buys suspect second hand units any longer...

what's the mfdi?

No idea

I don't know why they have to cause any extra damage to the car, beyond breaking the window (or other forced entry). I don't see how smashing the dash up helps you get it out any faster? Just pull the surround off, loosen 4 screws, pull off 3 connectors and you're away.

Thanks for the sympathies guys.

I am located in the Midlands (I don't want to say any more than that, I don't know who might be reading this!).

The car was parked a little way out of the city centre whilst I was doing some shopping yesterday evening (it was dark). It wasn't a rough area. There were plenty of cars to choose from but they obviously targeted mine.

It looks like it was a quick and messy job. They smashed the drivers window and then levered away at the trim around the radio with possibly a chisel. Then smashed away the trim around the air con controls, splitting that part of the centre console. There is also a nasty cut in the seat - perhaps made accidentally in the rush to get in and out as quickly as possible. Glass fragments all over the place of course.

This unit is going to appear 'somewhere' at a bargain price (I can guess one place it might appear for sale, but I'd better not say for fear of legal action because the site owners have very deep pockets!).

Unfortunately I don't know the serial number of the unit.

If you are offered a 'bargain' MFD3 please verify its origins prior to purchase.

PS: I understand these units are coded to the car. How easy is it to crack the code and make the unit usable? Are Skoda doing enough to make these unattractive to thieves?

Edited 2 February, 201016 yr by ITTech

I don't know why they have to cause any extra damage to the car, beyond breaking the window (or other forced entry). I don't see how smashing the dash up helps you get it out any faster? Just pull the surround off, loosen 4 screws, pull off 3 connectors and you're away.

I guess the lowlife that steal these units didn't go to college. I think it is just brute force and ignorance.

This unit is going to appear 'somewhere' at a bargain price (I can guess one place it might appear for sale, but I'd better not say for fear of legal action because the site owners have very deep pockets!).

I don't know why they have to cause any extra damage to the car, beyond breaking the window (or other forced entry). I don't see how smashing the dash up helps you get it out any faster? Just pull the surround off, loosen 4 screws, pull off 3 connectors and you're away.

Yeah, but most smack heads aren't thinking logically when they need a fix. It must be smack heads because if it was a proper ring or gang they'd do a proper job, like you suggest.

I hope the OP gets the car sorted properly

what's the mfdi?

Is it a bust flat-pack budget furniture store? :p

This unit is going to appear 'somewhere' at a bargain price (I can guess one place it might appear for sale, but I'd better not say for fear of legal action because the site owners have very deep pockets!).

You mean

?

Edited 2 February, 201016 yr by Jigger72

Jigger - I've done that already

Jigger - I've done that already

Doh!

I wouldn't want to suggest precisely where it might resurface, but obviously it was stolen with a view to selling. It would only be useful to another Octavia II owner. I will be keeping a look out on likely websites :think:

Edited 2 February, 201016 yr by ITTech

Unfortunately I don't know the serial number of the unit.

sorry to hear this never good having your car broken into. The local bobby done the rounds yesterday saying the cars have been broken in to around this area for radios etc.

Can you not get the serial number from the dealership?

Can you not get the serial number from the dealership?

It seems not, or at least they tell me not.

PS: I understand these units are coded to the car. How easy is it to crack the code and make the unit usable? Are Skoda doing enough to make these unattractive to thieves?

No. Skoda and VAG in general aren't doing enough. Replacement motherboards and tools to extract the PIN code are available from certain people on a well known VAG navi forum.

I guess the lowlife that steal these units didn't go to college. I think it is just brute force and ignorance.

No but i bet they go on ebay and see a quick £500, these unit sell for good money , not a tenner down the pub , all they need is a bent skoda tech and i bet the codes available , if they took note of the reg as well , lot of profit there i think.

Someone who levers it out damaging the car isnt going to take a note of the reg or realise the value it will have been sold for a £40 fix , once its been through a few hands and recoded it will sell for a decent price

If people didnt buy these units on ebay then they wouldnt be worthwhile stealing

No. Skoda and VAG in general aren't doing enough. Replacement motherboards and tools to extract the PIN code are available from certain people on a well known VAG navi forum.

Yup and resell with code cards that look official, but arent.

If VAG/Skoda can reprogram the codes via the ECU, then surely they have a master list which could have the code erased, Meaning any attempt to get the code, would simply gen a "code not found" error?

That way, all stolen units would be useless if they ever visit a dealership for a service.

Do Skoda HQ in Czech have any comments on this?

Needs something like the window etching solution to really work, registration number drilled/lasered into the screen or some such . As long as it is too difficult to realise a profit the trade will stop. You have my every sympathy, really gets your goat when anything like that happens. Hope you get a good insurance settlement at least.

Edited 2 February, 201016 yr by TsvRS

I was just about to put the one I have up for sale, but I guess now would be a bad time!

Sorry to hear of your woes.