Orville

It is smooth and quiet (and perhaps a bit dull) - just don't drive around with the bonnet open.

My 1.5 sounds the same with the lid open. As above, it's a consequence of direct-injection at high-pressure plus the thin oil used nowadays to reduce friction and increase economy. My 2.0 TSI Octavia sounds identical as well.

After having the original water-pump fail within my 2014 VRS, it’s replacement failed just a week after fitting. Is it possible you had one duff pump replaced with another?

Compare it to other recent VAG Group SUV Ads. I think the Karoq attempt loses.

Crap advert. Surely the subject of a 30-second ad should be visible for than 5-seconds? It looks more like a Paloma Faith promo than a new car launch.

This one. It's actually very good and very cheap.

Other differences are that the Karoq is probably a lot cheaper to own (purchase, service, insure), and that it is a foot shorter. The BM is of course better built and will be much more fun to drive. People will see the Skoda badge and think the car is owned by a penny-pinching old-codger who drives everywhere at 10mph below the speed limit. People will see the BM badge and think far worse. I rather miss my old 3-Series, but not the £300 minor / £480 major-service cost.

Some insurers can be slow to document new models. My guess is that your car wasn't on their database so the option for them was to deny insurance.

All I care about is the monthly cost and total combined payments. I couldn't give a monkeys about mortgage rates and opportunity costs.

As far as I am aware you cannot turn-off the automatic braking, nor the ABS, nor the airbags (other than passenger). The car only slowed from 30 to 20'ish, but I didn't expect it, so it was a bit of a WTF moment.

Last night my Karoq decided to slam on the brakes whilst I was on a gentle bend at ~30mph. The warning buzzer pinged immediately beforehand, but there was nothing directly infront of me or coming in the opposite direction. The only explanation I have is that the outside of the bend was protected by 3ft-high metal pedestrial railings and that the cars radar mistook these for a large metal object. Just as well there was nothing behind me. I have heard the warning ping several times before, but usually when I pass close to a parked car or when traffic is appoaching in the opposite direction down a narrow road. This is the first time the car actually applied the brakes.

Insurance for my wife (45yo) and myself (47yo) cost £280 on a 1.5TSI DSG. Location London. We can also add our 17yo (on a Provisional License) for a further £300. Insurance Company is AXA.

There is a driver (or atleast I think I can see one), but also some heavy photoshopping.

Ther looks to be a triangle of scuffing below the sensor as the arch meets the black plastic trim. Nothin major - probably rubbed another car doing a 3-point turn and did a runner.

Looks good in Meteor Grey with blue and yellow details. It also appears that they have scuffed the driver-side front wheel-arch/bumper already.

Green looks absolutely lovely, but if the paint is anything like my first Subaru's (very similar green), then it will be a scratch and swirl magnet.

For me the Karoq is more spacious than I anticiapated. Owning an Octavia Estate I expected the 1ft shorter Karoq to be noticeably smaller inside, but in reality I only really notice a difference within the boot area. Front legroom is fine for me (6ft5), and shoulder room is actually better than the Octavia. Rear legroom loses a couple of inches to the Octavia, but I can still sit comfortably behind my own seating position, although my knees do come very close to the front seat. As I said, the boot is noticeable smaller than an Octavia's, but it is still big-enough for most situations and is of a very good size. There is room for a spacesaver wheel without eating into boot space (FWD version). For it's size I think they have done a good job with interior space. They could have eeked-out a bit more by making it taller and boxier, but that would have uglified the car reduced economy, and decreased refinement. All cars are a compromise. The Note offers exceptional space for it's size, aided greatly by the sliding rear seats which can give good rear legroom or good boot space. The Note is an MPV, who's gender focuses on space and practicality. SUV's offer more car-like abilities with some sacrafices to space. SUV's are really just tall-hatchbacks, albeit slightly more practical and sometimes more attractive than their shorter cousins.

Identical to mine - looks very nice in white. The accelerator pedal on mine is very sensitive, and when combined with stop-start-startting plus the EPB, it can result in some lurching until you are completely used to it. I think I have learned to drive around it by putting a slight pause in-between coming off the brake and hitting the accelerator. edit: Just realised you have a manual and I have DSG. I think the EPB should work the same on yours (deactivate soon after releasing the brake pedal), but it make also wait to feel the clutch disengage before release (especially if on a hill). To test whether it is the EPB causing lurching or simply a new clutch being grabby, you can override the EPB and use the manual mode.

The list prce for my 1.5TSI DSG SE-Tech was £23,800. If I had paid cash, I probably would have gotten close to £2K discount. The likely resale value after 2-years / 16K miles will be £14K-£15K, so lowest possible cost would have been £21,800 - £15,000 = £6,800. The best PCP deal I was offered included a £2,300 discount with a GFV of £14,100 after 2-years. That gave a purchase price £21,500 with 23x £323.88 monthly payments plus £2000 initial deposit. Total cost to me would have been £9,449, with roughly £2,000 being due to the 6.3% APR interest. The Lease offer I signed up to required a £1555 initial payment plus 23x payments of £172.65. Total cost £5,526. That's ~20% cheaper than paying cash and ~40% cheaper than PCP. 2-years is probably the most attractive term for leasing, so longer ownership may close the gaps. However, 2-years is what I wanted so leasing was a no-brainer for me. I also do not have to pay for the second year's Road Fund License. It won't suit everyone, but it works for me.

Within the Service Information section of the infotainment system, my Karoq says next service is due at 18000miles or 710 days.

You can switch them on manually via button on front console. They also turn on automatically when driving forwards at very slow speeds so i have not found any reason to use the manual button so far.

Tiguan and Q3 spare wheels of size 145/80 R18 will fit. There are a few on Ebay for ~£100.

I own a Karoq 1.5TSI and an Octavia VRS TSI Estate. I bought the Karoq as a second-car, but now prefer driving it over the Octavia most of the time. If I could only keep one of them, in all honesty I'd pick the Karoq. It's not perfect (a 4WD 2.0TSI is not available yet), but it's pretty good.

The Xsara Picasso was a different type of car. MPV's are like household mini buses - generally ugly but ultra-practical. SUV's on the other hand tend to be stylish, more like a car than a mini bus, with decent practicality.

Clutches (like brakes) can be grabby when new. My guess is that things will smooth out as the clutch plate wears-in and glazes a bit.