SinglePointSafety

Ok thanks, duly noted

Would like to know if your dealer with an attitude problem is Marshall Skoda Reading or Newbury?

The mpg for my Edition 2.0 TSi (collected new, in March just before lockdown) has been far, far better than I'd anticipated. I don't drive at all in rush hour and rarely in towns, mainly on light-traffic A- and B-roads, and motorways, so you need to factor that in when I comment. Previous car was a Golf Alltrack diesel auto, and doing the same journeys, if I achieved high-50s in the Golf, I get mid- to high-40s in the Kodiaq, so I'm extremely pleased and surprised just how fuel-efficient this engine is for the type of driving I do. But yes, big heavy car in stop-start rush hour traffic, that would be another matter. However, in the overall cost of owning and running the car, differences in fuel consumption figures (within reason) are pretty much 'lost in the noise'.

Yes indeed the 12V sockets are always-on, hence (for my particular needs) I'd like to change them to ignition-only (divert from, say, the output of fuse 46 to the input of fuse 40) or, probably easier and more convenient for me, wire in an additional 12V socket which is ignition-only.

Thanks hugely Wino, I've downloaded the current flow diagram pdf (courtesy of Arkaig - star person!) and will go through it in the next few days. After a very quick glance, it actually looks pretty straightforward even for an 'average Joe' like me) and I've already found the fuse ratings. At the very least it will keep me amused on my days off work (I only work part-time)

Thanks Arkaig, will investigate the link.

Thanks lowedb, you make some very good points, much appreciated - another reason I like this forum, there are some very, very knowledgeable folk here. Regarding the Skoda UK tech folk, I agree, I wouldn't expect them to have that info in their heads, but I would certainly expect that for any half-competent tech team, they would be able to discover it, since all I'm asking is fairly simple Qs which should have simple answers - even if the tech team have to refer the Q to the relevant experts at Skoda HQ: someone in Skoda will be able to respond..... But, anyway, I'm now in touch with a local auto-electrician who actually took the trouble to return my call, and he reckons he can sort me out, even if it's "sorry, can't be done without undue risk/cost"

Thanks Wino, I do indeed have a multi-meter (and know how to use it). The fuse rating is particularly important for obvious reasons, assuming that the wiring to the fuse position is of a thickness and rating appropriate to the max current draw. I might - just might - try a different Skoda dealership, but it seems as soon as such questions are posed, they fall back on "we cannot recommend making any changes to the standard current flow". They're happy to hard-wire a dash cam using the standard piggy-back fuse method, but they deny any knowledge or training of wiring beyond that.

Resurrecting this because, in another thread on 'what do you love/hate about your Kodiaq?' I said that Skoda UK are abysmal, and my recent experience has done nothing to change my opinion. Basically, I'm after either (a) installing a 12V socket which is ignition-only or (b) swap the existing 12V sockets to ignition-only. Contacted both a Skoda dealer and a local auto electrician, who both advised that I get the definitive info from Skoda UK regarding the following: Are fuses 46 (230 V socket), 48 (Sports sound generator) and 51 (rear seat heater) ignition-only? Are the fuse positions actually wired? (eg in the UK the 230 V socket is not an option, so it might be that the fuse box physically doesn't have a working connection to this position) The fuse ratings (the best info I could find is 30 A, 10 A and 25 A respectively, but not sure how accurate that is). I did not say anything to Skoda UK why I needed this info.... You would think that this would be simple for the Skoda UK tech guys, yes? Er, no. I got a reply which said "it appears that these fuses are ignition-only". And that's it. Asked again, please could they answer the rest of the Q, and got a terse reply with a link to a paid-for website used by non-Skoda folk who wish to carry out their own work. Given that this info originates from VAG anyway, I'd kind of hoped that the tech folk might access said info and tell me what I need to know. Perhaps I'm asking too much? Are all manufacturer's UK offices equally bad?

Brun, no, ventilated seats are an optional extra

The leather seats on the Edition are heated (but best check with the dealer - these things change, it seems). Regarding the area view....Don't think this was standard - it was on the options list (and an expensive one too) when I ordered our car last October, so didn't choose it

The Edition does indeed have leather seats as standard. If it helps, the seats are not at all slippery, in fact they grip very well. But I can totally understand why some people love them, some hate them, seems to be a fairly binary thing. Mrs loves them because just enough 'slip' to make it easier for her to get in/out, whereas the alcantara seats in the SEL are very 'grippy'. Depending on age of Kodiaq, you can have any colour of leather seats you like, as long as that colour is, er, black: only more recent cars had the option of non-black.

My local Skoda dealers showed no inclination at all to even sell me a car! (phone calls not returned, emails ignored). When I shared the broker prices, they were not interested in continuing the discussion. Times may have changed, and your local dealer may be more reasonable, but for me the broker route was by far the best option and the supplying dealer is within a 30 minute drive, and so far seems to be OK. I'd rather buy from a local dealer for many obvious reasons, and set myself an 'acceptability threshold' price-wise. With my previous car (VW Golf) the local dealer was more than happy to match the broker price and take my order there and then (end of the week and end of the month, so sales target to meet?)

docc, to get a reality check on Kodiaq prices, try a few broker websites such as DriveTheDeal, Carfile etc, then see if your local dealer will match or get close

Before I ordered my Kodiaq I looked at (in minute detail) and drove a fair few vehicles, including Volvo XC40 and XC60, Honda CR-V, Audi Q3, Kia Sportage, VW Tiguan, Toyota RAV4. Apart from the driving experience I examined the interior trim quality - at least what I could see and feel. The Kodiaq was at least as good as any of the above cars, much in line with the reviews from trusted sources. Reliability reviews from the likes of J D Power and Which? also indicate that recent Skodas are doing well - but as usual it's a statistical thing, your particular car might develop many faults, because, statistically, some will (if you're interested, it's binomial stats, assuming that a component is in one of 2 states, working or not). What I can't judge of course is how well the interior will stand up to 'reasonable' use. My previous Golf Alltrack was pretty good, the Golf hatch before that developed a few rattles, most of them cured by the dealer. Modern cars also (round here at least) have to cope with roads that are in far, far worse condition than a decade ago. If you follow a local you'd conclude that they are drunk or stoned, weaving all over the road. Then you rapidly realise (after you encounter the first 'thump') their slalom skills have been perfected to try and miss the worst of the road damage.

Really good idea before you order the protection pack to make sure what's in it. When I collected my car, having ordered this pack, didn't get a boot liner but got the boot nets (which I didn't really want). Pointed this out to salesperson, she and I agreed that (in March) Skoda's accessories on-line pdf brochure said one thing, but what arrived at the dealer was something else. Then lockdown happened, but eventually I was sent my boot liner in the post, no explanation from either Skoda or dealer about the discrepancy.

Love: 2.0 TSi engine is a peach - powerful, smooth, quiet, but with surprisingly-good fuel economy (way, way better than I'd anticipated) Leather seats - just the right balance of grip and slip, also seat design is proving very comfortable, especially with the electric adjustment Driving position and steering wheel adjustment - suits all from tall to short Infotainment system - it just works, bright and sharp screen, excellent DAB reception, android auto and apple car play work just fine Virtual cockpit - love it, more customisation that I'd anticipated, so very pleased with it Ride and steering - I have progressive steering which comes with variable suspension, even the standard suspension is really good, comfort adds a subtle touch of extra compliance Car is very, very quiet, especially with retro-fit 17-inch wheels and 65-profile all-season tyres (the potholes round here destroy low-profile tyres in weeks) Good turning circle for size of car, and good visibility (and good parking sensors) Adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist work really well and take some of the strain of motorway stints Nice big boot, load cover fits under boot floor (a huge plus for us), lots of interior space, good storage options Available with retractable towbar, which gets used several times a week for attaching a bike rack Headlights (LED) are excellent, and (evidently) easy to adjust for European driving. The auto dip/high beam seems to work just fine Doors cover the sills - like a proper SUV should Price! - in the UK, via a broker, can get massive discounts (ours was nearly 19% even without finance) and it's a good value car anyway When I bought the car, lots of flexibility in the options, so I have what I want and nothing I don't: kudos Skoda (and to be fair Volvo are pretty good for this) So-so: Infotainment speaker quality - could be better Get with the programme Skoda - need more charge-only USB ports Android auto and apple car play should also show navigation on the instrument cluster (AA certainly supports this) I'd like more choice of colours DSG box can be a bit 'jerky' at low speed when car is cold, but really isn't a problem Built-in sat nav is just about OK, no easy/free option to link to phone and get live digital traffic Local Skoda dealers are as bad as you'd expect, ignorant, uninterested staff, no parking available, conform to every stereotype of car dealer staff. Although the one I collected the car from seems - so far - to be OK, and not too far away which is good Hate: 12V sockets are live all the time, no option to change to ignition-only Car defaults to 'normal' drive mode when ignition turned off Skoda UK are utterly, totally hopeless. Live chat cannot answer the easiest tech Q, told to email Q to SUK, who then ignore it. Live chat people will just tell you anything even when it's so obviously wrong And that's it. If the car got written off tomorrow, I'd almost certainly buy another one Hope that helps....

Loofer, if you think you might need 4WD for winter weather, it's far better to have FWD with all-season tyres than 4WD with summer tyres (and you'll get a quieter, more compliant ride as a bonus). Interesting to see the comments on tyre wear: my previous car, Golf Alltrack, had fairly even tyre wear F&R, fronts wearing only marginally quicker.

I assume 'accessory sockets' are the 12 V (and 230 V where it's fitted)? Yes, I could ask my dealer a technical Q, but the track record so far of my local Skoda dealers is abysmal - even the 'master technician' at one of them admitted that anything auto-electrical is pretty much a mystery: he didn't even know the 12 V sockets are always on.....(he used to work in an adjacent VW dealership, to be fair, and all VWs I've encountered have 12 V as ignition-only). I agree, I've seen the statement in several places about battery protection: the manual is a bit vague and says 'switching off certain consumers or limiting their power' under the 'discharge protection' heading. I also wonder if the 12 V sockets are designed to have adapters plugged in and removed several times a week - something will eventually wear and/or break.

Thanks SimonAudi, good point - I didn't ever consider that the empty fuse positions might not have power, so yes, if that's the case, it makes it a real PITA job (I assumed the fuse box would have a 'common rail' type of arrangement) The reason for doing it? - I use a Qi phone charger on nearly every journey, and it would be much more convenient to leave it plugged in to the 12V to 5V USB adapter, like I used to do in my Golf. I've not yet forgotten to remove the USB adapter when I've parked, but one day I will, and if luck isn't on my side, it will be when the car isn't used for a week or so, thus risking significant battery depletion because of the LED light on the USB adapter and on the Qi charger, also some current flowing in the Qi charger coils - not a lot of current, but over many days.....?

Hi everyone, still been thinking about converting my 12V sockets to ignition-only. Found this https://vwts.ru/articles/electro/skoda-kodiaq-fuses.html#1.4.3 which is the only source I've found which gives fuse ratings for each position. Not sure how accurate it is, because my downloaded manual reckons fuse 48 is 'sport sound generator' and not 'lane change assist'. What is puzzling me is that, if Terminal 30a is 'always on', and Terminal 15a is 'ignition-only', does that really mean that eg fuse 46 (for the 230V socket which we don't get in the UK) and fuse 51 (rear heat seating) are always live? Seems strange if that's the case. I was hoping to use the output from fuse 46 (30 Amp) or fuse 51 (25 Amp) since I don't have either option fitted and thus I assume these fuse positions are vacant, to piggy-back and power the 12V sockets, but that plan looks like it won't work. Any thoughts please?

Pirelli Scorpion Verde tyres as fitted to the Kodiaq are not the all-season version - very few manufacturers offer the factory-fit choice of all-season tyres. If you end up with a Kodiaq on 19-inch wheels and want all-season tyres, the choice is very limited - it's an unusual tyre size (not researched the 18-inch wheel/tyre choices). As others have said, in snow and ice, a 2WD car with all-season tyres will have hugely more grip than a 4WD car with summer tyres, which will merely spin all 4 wheels (loads of youtube videos demonstrating this). Also, as has been confirmed by others and matching my experience, the incentives and discounts on new cars mean that ~1-year old cars are not that much cheaper, if at all.

Don't know if it's still a problem these days, but using cheap screenwash sometimes resulted in the growth of a bacterial film which would clog the filters and/or jets. Decent formulations now have anti-bacterial agents, or so I'm told, hence I bulk-bought the VAG Quantum stuff: if I have a 'wash' problem, the dealer can't claim it's my fault for using non-approved screenwash (because we all know that they will eh?)

Like CJJE, I considered a RAV4 hybrid. Drove nicely enough, but then discovered that even though the driver's seat (on the top trim level) was fully electrically-adjustable, the passenger really was a very poor relation: no height adjustment, no lumbar adjustment, just backrest angle via a simple lever. No option to spec a nice passenger seat (why? They make a LH all-electric seat for the LHD market) so had to rule it out. Generally, Japanese and S Korean cars, you choose a trim level and that's it, extremely limited flexibility, so kudos to the likes of Skoda, Volvo for allowing user-chooser.

Totally agree with both Silver and Zac, hence I proceeded with my choice of engine despite some of the fuel costs scare stories (which, in my case, turned out to be untrue). Likely difference in fuel costs is small compared to the other (some unknown) costs of running the vehicle, such as depreciation, servicing, reliability (if out of warranty) and anti-diesel restrictions. At the time I ordered my Kodiaq, the available discount via my broker was greater for the 2.0 petrol car anyway, and hence the diesel would have been ~ £2K more, which made the decision easier. And in the UK, diesel is a few % dearer than petrol (the difference seems to vary with season, with added randomness just for fun) which narrows the fuel cost gap even more. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Golf Alltrack: as Zac says, at speed, you can't tell what engine is under the bonnet, and indeed diesel improvements have significantly reduced clatter and overall noise and vibration (the reviews of the 150 diesel in the new Octavia are very good).