09 Skoda Fabia hire car, how to change OSD language

Lum · 11 Aug 2009 at 00:27

Got an 09 Fabia TDi as a hire car. As modern cars go it's pretty nice apart from the ridiculous placement of the centre arm rest that makes putting on your seatbelt awkward as well as taking off the handbrake

Unfortunately whoever had it last thought it would be funny to switch the OSD to German or something and the service manual is missing. How do I set it to English?

Sin_Chase · 11 Aug 2009 at 00:31

Go through all the menus methodically until you find something like Englische, Briten or Vereinigtes Königreich

whitecrook · 11 Aug 2009 at 00:35

Lum said:
Unfortunately whoever had it last thought it would be funny to

Or maybe they were German. In which case they most certainly did not find it funny. That we won the war.

Lum · 11 Aug 2009 at 02:06

Only menus I can find are for switching between mpg, range, trip counter etc. etc. There's nothing like an options screen unless a cheat code is needed to get to the options screen

In fact the only text is the warning messages displayed from time to time and a welcome message when you start the car.

Dangerous Dave · 11 Aug 2009 at 08:11

If it works like a Golfs menu and it doesn't have buttons on the steering wheel you hold down the up or down button you are using to cycle through the trip computer. This takes you to a menu on mine the bottom one is settings which you select and use the ok button on the underside of the stalk, in this menu you can change all the car settings including the language.

Howard · 11 Aug 2009 at 08:30

Can't you just disconnect the battery for half an hour or so to reset factory defaults

whitecrook said:
Or maybe they were German. In which case they most certainly did not find it funny. That we won the war.

*giggles*

FTM · 11 Aug 2009 at 09:04

Howard said:
Can't you just disconnect the battery for half an hour or so to reset factory defaults

maybe thats why its in german in the first place?!

Lum · 12 Aug 2009 at 11:36

Dangerous Dave said:
If it works like a Golfs menu and it doesn't have buttons on the steering wheel you hold down the up or down button you are using to cycle through the trip computer. This takes you to a menu on mine the bottom one is settings which you select and use the ok button on the underside of the stalk, in this menu you can change all the car settings including the language.

This was it. Menu option was "spacken" or something like that, can't remember the spelling). Thanks.

I have to say that of the hire cars I've had recently (Leon, Corsa, Golf, Vectra) this is probably the least unpleasant I've had (apart from the tractor engine and the armrest) it has proper indicator stalks and while the interior design wouldn't look too out of place in a pick-up truck it's clear and well laid out and seems to be better put together than all the others, including the two other VAG cars. Shame the CD player can't take MP3 CDs but I'm sure that's just because it's a base model.