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All VAG cars used to have a sticker detailing the build of the car in the service handbook, and also in the boot. This included a list of PR option codes, as well as the paint code etc. Now obviously we no longer have a service handbook with it, nut I can't find it under the spare wheel or the plastic wheel surrounds in the boot of my car either. Anyone know where it might be nowadays? Chris

I wrote this late last night, but I'd like to correct a typo in the third para! I put the steering on full right-hand lock of course - not fight-hand! Chris

Having just fitted mine yesterday, I'll summarise how it went. The rears were fiddly with the wheels on, due to the lack of space between the tyre and the wheel lining. However, removing the existing Torx screws was easy with an L-shaped Torx driver, and the same screws were then used to hold the mudflap in place. The expanding rivet was a pain to fit in at first because I was trying to put it in the hole nearest the outer edge, but went in a lot easier when I put it in the inside hole. The pin was very reluctant to push in even after lubricating it, but tapping with a small hammer (carefully!) finally got it in. The push-in plug went in under the bumper easily. The front ones had better access once I put the steering wheel on full lock. Working on the near-side, I put it to full left-hand lock, and removed the lower Torx screw from the lining, replacing it with the mudflap. Then mark the position of the new top hole. Remove mudflap, and the next Torx screw above it. This gives you enough flexibility to pull the lining forward and protect the car body with a strip of wood. I then drilled the required hole for the expanding rivet, and replaced the two Torx screws with the mudflap. Putting the steering to full fight-hand lock gave me room to drill the inside hole. The expanding rivets were again a pain to get into place and secured with the pins. The front wheels are now in the right position to start on the off-side mudflap. The official instructions tell you to put the car on a garage lift and remove all wheels. But for the owner doing the job at home on the drive, it's easier to do it as we've described above. Chris

The Machine Mart website at Trolley Jacks & Car Jacks - Machine Mart give you a choice of weight limits and lift heights. To be sure you're getting one that lifts a Karoq high enough, you could lift it with the normal jack and measure the gap between the car and the ground, or even just wind the scissor jack out on its own and see how high it will go? And having found the instructions with my jack I see it's overdue for its annual oil and grease! Must see where I can find an ice hockey puck too! Chris

I bought a Clarke CTJ2Q from Machine Mart 8 years ago or so (when I was swapping summer/winter wheels on my Golf Plus, and then Golf SV.) It has a 2 tonne capacity, a minimum height of 135mm and a max of 380mm. The current equivalent seems to be the Clarke CTJ2000LPB 2 Tonne Low Profile Trolley Jack at £41. It works well, and has had no problems (but I haven't had any need to use it with my Karoq yet. Chris

The basic icon is the one for the Front Assist system, with the egg timer showing that it is activating. So if it goes out, everything is fine. But if it turns red, or stays on check the manual, which suggests there may be a fault in the front sensor, or you need to clean the front grill. Chris

Very odd. It could be just checking for updates (of traffic conditions perhaps) for some reason, but I'd assumed that would only happen when the ignition was turned on. Chris

The advantage of the Connect Lite app is that it is free once you've bought the dataplug, while the My Skoda app required you to subscribe to the Remote Access service after the first year. If you don't need all the functions this provides then the Connect Lite app is a cheaper alternative! I already have the dataplug from my old Golf, so will probably switch to Connect Lite when my first year's licence for Remote Access expires (I hadn't tried using them both ) Chris

That's the problem with LED headlights. A few years ago, everyone was raving about their LED headlights, and I was thinking my Bi-Xenons had been superceded. But having now changed cars and got LEDs instead I can see that they don't generate the heat like my Bi-Xenons did... so the condensation doesn't evaporate, and the snow/ice on the glass doesn't melt off! They may now be cheaper, and more fuel efficient, but the older technology still wins for me!

People who have problems rightly tell us about them. But people without problems don't! I've always had sunroofs on my Golf 4, Octavia, Golf Plus, Golf SV, and now my Karoq. I've never had the water leaks described above, and wouldn't be without a sunroof! Chris

MY21 Karoqs have USB-C ports, and my Android phone uses Android Play via Bluetooth. I'm pretty sure that Apples will as well. But perhaps you'd find it worthwhile downloading the owner's manual to check there?? It's at: ŠKODA Owner's Manuals (skoda-auto.com) Chris

The slim spacesaver wheel is around 12.5 cm deep instead of the standard wheel's 22.6 cm, but to reclaim all this depth you'll need to change the polystyrene packing pieces and central support.

My letter to the Head of Customer Services last December has also been ignored. So I emailed the Karoq Product Manager, Charlotte Moss ([email protected]) feeling she should be aware of the MIB3 problems. She didn't reply directly, but at least I got an email in reply from a Dean Goodwin, Customer Relations Manager ([email protected]) so at least I've got an email address for Customer Services now. His reply was basically telling me that the MIB3 design would not let us update maps locally, or add radio logos. But the really poor part was when he was telling me how to get web radio to work. All he did was paste the paragraphs from the owners manual (losing the formatting and pictures/graphics in the process so that it became unintelligible). And since I'd already read and followed this it didn't help. I emailed him back pics of the infotainment screen as I tried to access web radio stations, but haven't had a reply again. (I've since discovered that it won't work unless you buy a dataplan or use your's phone's data allowance - which seems to be more than he knows!! One of us wrote to the Head of Skoda UK, which also produced a response, but it's really bad if you need to do that to get attention! Chris

Yep, it's a common problem across all VAG MIB3 systems. The 'edit' function for radio logos only seems to let you choose the one you want to use when there are several to choose from. Interestingly, Greater Hits took over Signal Radio in Stoke last summer, and rebranded Signal 2 as Greater Hits Staffs. But it still uses the Signal 2 logo!

Yes, I think I've read that VAG are reworking the 2.0TSI engine in all their cars so it's in short supply at present. Presumably trying to reduce emissions etc again. But it's a big seller throughout the group so as long as Skoda are given a quota it should be back again. Tomm011... I bought from Barlows in Crewe back in July and got a good deal from them, I think. They happily matched a CarWow quote for a cash sale, but needed a lot of chasing to get information about the progress of my factory order. (In fact I ended up getting progress reports via DMs from Skoda UK's Twitter feed instead!) The covid handover was easy enough, although in hindsight I could have used more tuition on the assist systems even though I'd previously downloaded the owner's manual and driven VAG cars for 20+ years. I think the main problem was that they'd furloughed my Sales Exec, and the Sales Manager was firefighting like mad to keep the customers happy!

My understanding (for Skoda UK customers and a MY21 Karoq with a built-in eSIM) of the online services are as follows: 1) The eCall Service allowing an automatic or manual SOS call is quoted as being free for the life of the car. (I believe this is required by EU regulations, but would hope Skoda UK do not remove this now we are not in the EU!) 2) The Proactive Service is free for the first 10 years. This includes breakdown calls to Skoda Assist (but I presume you have to resubscribe to this after 3 years?) , Information calls to Skoda Customer Support, Vehicle Health Reports via the Connect app, Service Scheduling, Online Personalisation (transfers your personal settings to another Skoda car), and Online System Updates. 3) The Remote Access Service is free for the first year only, then costs 60 euros a year to renew (often reduced to 39 euros). This lets the Connect app provide Driving Data, Parking Position (handy when you've parked in a strange city and explored it), Vehicle Status (doors and windows closed etc), Notifications is someone has driven your car out of a selected area or faster than a selected speed, sound the car's horn or flash its lights, or receive a, email warning if the car alarm goes off. Note that the Driving Data and Parking Position can be obtained via the Connect Lite app for free if you have a Dataplug. And the Vehicle Status reports seemed to be stored shortly after the ignition is turned off when you may still have doors or the boot open. So if it reports they are open, you need to update it via the Connect app to get the current status. 4) The Infotainment Online Service is also free for the first year, and then costs 70 euros a year to renew (often reduced to 49 euros). This provides online map updates for your local area (Customer Services say this is the country you are in) as well as any remote areas you navigate to, online traffic information, parking spaces and prices, filling stations and prices, an online route calculation which assesses traffic congestion on your route, the voice control system, importing POIs and routes via the Connect portal (although this is not yet available), and an online shop to buy additional functions and services. As they have disabled the USB map update function, this is the only way to keep maps updated! All the above include their own data allowance, and so do not need an additional dataplan from Cubic Telecom. Reading their website, they only say that buying one of their dataplans (7 euros for 2GB/30 days, 15 euros for 5GB/90 days, or 72 euros for 25GB/365 days) provide you with a WiFi hotspot in the car so other passengers can access the internet via smartphones, tablets etc. However after trying for months to access web radio stations (without a Cubic dataplan), yesterday I tried using my phone as a Mobile Hotspot and connected my Amundsen to that rather than the eSIM. The web radio feature then worked instantly, so if you don't mind using your phone's data allowance rather than buying a Cubic dataplan you can listen to web radio stations and podcasts that way. There is no mention of web radio services needing a dataplan in the manual or other documentation, although Customer Support's technical experts had thought this could be why I couldn't access the feature. It would of course help other owners if this was documented somewhere!! Hope this helps, Chris

Further update... It's now been determined that in Western Europe the MIB3 infotainment systems cannot use the USB port to update the maps, although Eastern European owners can. This is because the function has been disabled - officially because we have online updates for whichever country we are in. (Unofficially, to 'encourage' us to pay for the Infotainment Online service each year to get these updates?) This also prevents us adding radio logos to stations that do not display any - leaving a mix of stations with and without logos. Finally, web radio stations can only be accessed via the built-in eSIM if we pay for a Cubic Telecom data plan (7 Euro for 2GB/30 days, 15 Euro for 5GB/90 days, or 72 Euro for 25GB/365 days.) A work-around is to use your phone as a mobile hotspot and use its data allowance instead. (When I tried this, after months of failing to access web radio stations via the eSIM, it worked instantly.) What really annoys me is that there is no indication in the manual or other marketing literature telling me that I needed to do this! Chris

Further update... It's now been determined that in Western Europe the MIB3 infotainment systems cannot use the USB port to update the maps, although Eastern European owners can. This is because the function has been disabled - officially because we have online updates for whichever country we are in. (Unofficially, to 'encourage' us to pay for the Infotainment Online service each year to get these updates?) This also prevents us adding radio logos to stations that do not display any - leaving a mix of stations with and without logos. Finally, web radio stations can only be accessed via the built-in eSIM if we pay for a Cubic Telecom data plan (7 Euro for 2GB/30 days, 15 Euro for 5GB/90 days, or 72 Euro for 25GB/365 days.) A work-around is to use your phone as a mobile hotspot and use its data allowance instead. (When I tried this, after months of failing to access web radio stations via the eSIM, it worked instantly.) What really annoys me is that there is no indication in the manual or other marketing literature telling me that I needed to do this! Chris

I'm 6ft and 14 1/2 stone, and find the front seats fine, without even pushing it right back. There's less legroom in the back than my previous Golf SV had with its sliding rear seat right back, but we seldom carry passengers in the back so it's not a problem for us, and if the Golf's rear seat was slid forward to match the Karoq's boot space it would be pretty similar. Headroom is no problem in the front or rear.

I'd suspect more touchscreen controls like the Tiguan, Ateca etc. Which is a big turn off for me as I find them distracting and dangerous. In fact the Karoq's present controls are the reason I bought one rather than a Tiguan!

As an update to Ber3linger's findings... When using the eSIM in my car, the web radio fails to download any categories, or stations. I then turned the eSIM off, and tried to connect to my home WiFi, but found its Network Security Settings were not supported by the car. So I then used my phone as a Mobile Hotspot, and connected the car to that. Bingo! The web radio station categories were quickly downloaded, and stations received! So I can receive web radio stations via my phone and its data allowance - which could be handy when in Europe and I want to listen to a UK radio station - but not via the built-in eSIM. I still think that this is not what Skoda UK stated in their marketing documents last summer, but will research further before challenging them. Chris

The GROSS weight is indeed 2150kg - but that is an indication of its maximum weight when fully loaded. The kerb weight tells you how heavy it is on its own, or with a driver (depending which figure you use.

Looking at the pictures of Karoqs on the Skoda Portugal website, they seem to be shown on the Karoq Scout, but not the Sportline. I would have thought they have the same headlights, so it must be a cosmetic thing where they think the Scout should have them because it is more likely to get mucky headlights? VW often couple them with heated seats, but perhaps it's too warm where you are to need them!

According to Osram: "It is a widespread fallacy that headlamp washers are only compulsory for xenon lights. This is wrong on several counts. The latest generation of xenon, the 25-Watt version, doesn't actually need one at all. Meanwhile, halogen and LED headlamps do need one if their light sources emit more than 2000 lumens. Indeed, this is required for ECE approval." So it seems to depend on the light output, but I'm surprised Portugal should be different. Are they offered as an option perhaps? Chris

Could be fun then as the Skoda Auto press release of 29 June 2020 stated: "New Infotainment systems are being introduced ... for the start of the 2021 model year. ... They offer not only the Laura digital voice assistant, but an array of online features too -- including Internet Radio and wireless SmartLink technology. ... The built-in SIM card ensures a permanent Internet connection, which also enables Infotainment Online services to be used. SKODA provides the required data allowance for these." And the Skoda UK brochure of 21 July 2020 merely states my Amundsen includes web radio, as does the Sportline standard specification I downloaded when I ordered my car. Neither offered any small print about having to buy an additional data plan, and the specification stated that the Infotainment Online service was included free for the first year and included Online Traffic Information. If they are now claiming we have to buy an additional data plan to use the web radio, this would seem to contravene the Misrepresentation Act of 1967. Chris PS: I've been on to my Skoda Connect portal, which confirms my Infotainment Online service is active until next November and includes Online Traffic Data, but am not offered any way of buying a Cubic data plan. Where have you found this??