CJJE

Mine just hangs on trying to download the various categories... and never actually gets around to offering a choice!

My MY21 Karoq offers to connect me to Web radio stations, but cannot download any, despite the other Connect services working, so it's reassuring to see that it does work for you! When our covid lockdown ends I'll have to have a word with my dealer about it.

Urgh... isn't it annoying they way they bundle options! In the UK you have to take adaptive lane assist with Area View, but I wanted that anyway. I haven't tried a Karoq without DCC, so can't say how it would compare with mine - which is certainly comfortable. What people tend to forget is that DCC doesn't just give you a choice of Comfort, Normal or Sport suspension settings, it is actually active all the time, and works to improve the cornering characteristics. And as you were saying earlier about Aussie roads, I'd say it was worth trying a test ride in a car with it if you can. (Or find an Aussie Karoq owner whose got it fitted.) I went with the Amundsen 8" system as it was still an improvement over the 6" system in my previous Golf, and I felt the Columbus was overkill for my needs. No I've got the cloth "Thermoflex" sports seats in my Sportline. I've had leather before in a Golf Mk4, and then Skoda Octavia, but as you say they get very hot in the sun. To cope with a baby, you can get seat covers to put under a baby seat to keep the car's seats clean I think - though it's many years since I've needed to worry about that Best Wishes, Chris

Details for the Karoq are shown here: Skoda Karoq - General Body Repairs (Interior) Workshop Manual - SKODA Karoq - BRISKODA It seems very similar to the explanations above. Chris

Isn't 'All Weather' in Australia, hot, wet and hotter??

I was looking at Tiguans, Volvo XC40s and Toyota RAV4s before settling on the Karoq. And one of the important things for me was an ergonomically designed interior. The Tiguan has now gone all touchscreen control, which in my opinion is dangerous and forces you to take your eyes off the road for too long while looking at the touchscreen. I also wasn't happy with the infotainment systems on the XC40 or RAV4, and the XC40 also had a hard bar under the rear of the driver's seat which seemed badly placed for a rear passenger's feet. They were all significantly more expensive over here, once you add the extras I wanted, and in the UK you have to pay a punitive rate of 'Vehicle Excise Duty' for the next 6 years if the car's list price with extras exceeds £40,000. So the Karoq was by far the most economical buy. Due to the covid pandemic and our lockdowns I haven't been able to drive it much yet, but it is certainly comfortable (I chose the Dynamic Chassis Control / Progressive Steering option) and quiet once I'd disabled the Soundaktor gimmick. Chris

Thanks Colin, I've no experience of getting one made up with a custom design, but I'll do some research. Chris

Congratulations Colin! Just as a suggestion, have you thought of supplying number plate holders with 'Briskoda.net' written on them? I'm thinking of something like this: Which is what I had my previous VW Golf. I'd like one on my new Karoq saying Briskoda.net, but it's not economic to have one printed as a one-off. But I wonder if there would be enough interest from Briskoda.net users to make it worth ordering a batch and selling them on the forum?? Chris

Yes, it was an option that I added to my order once the UK MY21 prices were released. It works well, and I'm also pleased to see that the rear-view camera that is enabled when you reverse is even better than the one on my Golf was. There is a button on front of the DSG selector that lets you operate it as well, and you can select individual views of the sides and front of the car. The downloadable owners manual for 2020/07 describes its use well. Chris

I've transferred all my music files from my SD cards to a tiny USB-C memory stick, and it all works fine. It has a USB-A connector on one end to connect to my PC, and a USB-C on the other end to plug in the car. And it's small enough to fit under the sliding panel too. See here for an example: https://www.mymemory.co.uk/integral-32gb-micro-fusion-otg-usb-3-0-flash-drive-120mb-s.html Chris

Quick update now my car has arrived. OBDeleven connects to my MY21 Sportline, and I've been able to use the 'One-Click' apps to turn the Soundakter off, and display the fan speed when the Climatronic is on Auto. But attempts to use the apps to set the flick indicators to five flashes, and pulsation of the Start button only produced the response 'not Supported' - despite being offered by the app for my car! So whether the coding has changed, or the SFD protection is stopping me accessing these subsystems I'm not sure. But I don't think it's worthwhile buying the PRO licence just for these two adaptations. My main need for it was to turn the horrible fake engine sound off - reinforced when my Individual Drive Mode settings which had turned it off reset themselves! Now it's off for good! Chris

The 2.0 TSI Sportline has a deeper profile tyre than the 1.5 TSI Sportline, and I'm quite happy with the ride in mine. (But as this is my first Karoq I can't compare it with others.) I bought it for the extra security of 4x4 as my drive outside my house is steep and gets quite slippery in winters. And it also avoids any lingering doubts over the 1.5TSI engine. (My daughter has a 1.5TSI Passat which has supposedly been updated to cure the software problems, but she tells me that in the colder weather recently it feels like an old petrol car that needs the choke pulling out - so it seems like the mixture is too lean.) Is the cost of the 2.0TSI justified? Probably not, as it has a higher fuel consumption, but since my annual mileage is much less now than it used to be (even pre-covid) I decided it was affordable for me, and even driving gently in Eco mode it livelier than my previous 1.4TSI Golf Chris

I don't think you can turn it off permanently (unless there's a setting in the software that you can access via OBDeleven or Carista?) But according to the handbook (page 28 of the downloaded version) it's deactivated if you 'double lock' within 2 seconds. Chris

You can always add a spare wheel after you've bought the car - and I don't trust not having one! Many people love the VarioFlex rear seats, but having come from a Golf SV with a sliding rear seat, I found the VarioFlex idea of only being able to slide the outer seats a bit inflexible. (So I went for the non-sliding seats in the Sportline instead.) I also don't like the idea of having a gaping hole into the boot when you lower the back of the middle seat, or the roller blind boot cover. But it's all down to taste The other big difference for me was that the Sportline had painted bumpers rather than plain plastic ones. If you're looking at the 1.5TSI cars, the Sportline does have lower profile tyres, so make sure you're happy with the ride. Chris

I've had electric sunroofs in my cars since the mid-1980's, and wouldn't be without one. In the early days it was for the ventilation (and they're still handy to cool a car down quickly if parked in the sun). But nowadays I like them for the extra light they bring to the interior, especially as my Sportline has a black headlining. I've never had any leaks or rattles from one, and the last one to have a fault was the one in my then-seven year-old Golf Mk 4, where the motor failed while it was open (there was a manual crank you could use to wind it closed in an emergency). They are designed to let some water trickle around the glass, which then runs out through drain pipes in each corner of the roof. If these get blocked, then you can have problems with the water leaking into the car. As I've only had my Karoq for a week, and barely used it at that, I've not noticed any problems with the sunroof, and my only action has been to open the sunblind on first entering the car to brighten the interior a bit Chris

I can see the map in my MY21 Sportline with the Amundsen system. You can set it up either in the Amundsen navigation system by ticking a box, or via the Virtual Cockpit. Chris

Fair enough, I've only been using Connect for a few days, and I agree it needs to be reliable for you to have confidence in it. So far mine has been consistent, although it was a bit slow to take the low fuel notification away after I'd filled up. Chris

Hi VRT24, I've even compared the manuals for other MOB3 Skodas - Scala, Kamiq etc - and the infotainment section is identical in each, and also in the manuals provided in other languages! So it's down to the technical authors at Skoda.

Further update now my car has been handed over. After amending my order to include the new MY21 options, I'd asked the sales exec to send me a copy of the amended spec from their computer system, but was only able to get an email from him listing my changes. And although he'd promised to update me with the progress of my order, in practice I was getting news from Skoda UK via their Twitter DM feed before he contacted me. And he'd never supplied any details of the MY21 changes as promised either. It seemed I knew more about them than he did! I'd asked that they register my car with my personal plate, and had sent a scan of the retention certificate to my sales exec so he could do this. But when the sales manager phoned me on a Friday to say my car had arrived at Grimsby and said that I would be contacted on Monday to confirm the handover day, my sales exec was then furloughed on that day so couldn't do this! Later that week I managed to contact the sales manager, discovered he had no knowledge of the retention certificate, and so sent him a second copy so the car could be registered. When I picked it up, I was pleased to find that they were honouring our originally agreed price, despite my adding around £300 in changed options, (and the original price had matched a Carwow quote). But I was less pleased with the way he fobbed off queries. (He'd only given me two keys when I was expecting three for the personalisation option, said he'd check, and then came back to tell me that MY21 cars only had two now. But when I got the car home, I found a third key synced to the car tucked in the phonebox! And when I asked if he needed to see my driving licence to authorise the Connect account, he assured me that he didn't need to do that. Except that later when I'd linked the car up to my Skoda ID and Connect account, it said I needed to show my driving licence to my dealer for the Lock & Unlock feature to be activated!) So all in all, a good financial deal, but typical sales people who don't know the details of the product their selling, and promising more than they can deliver.

Hi Ex-Yeti, I don't remember my dealer scanning my driver's licence back in June, but I'll give them a ring and see if I can sort it out remotely. When I'm off for a walk, I often have doubts about whether or not I've locked my car before setting off. So at least I can check that I have, but it would be nice to be able to lock remotely if I haven't! But the sales guy was just a typical salesman I guess. I ordered back in June, knowing the MY21 cars were coming and asked if they would get Area View like the Tiguan and Kodiaq, and was told they wouldn't! I asked him to tell me what the MY21 changes were when he heard about them - he didn't. But when I saw them and added the new options I wanted, at least he didn't revise the price we'd agreed for the new car (I estimate I'd added around £350 to its cost). The lack of radio logos is common for all VAG cars with the MIB3 infotainment system, and is generating complaints on many forums across Europe. So hopefully we'll get a software update to either be able to add them ourselves or choose from a bigger online database. Chris

OK, so now I've got the car set up as I want in the configurable Virtual Cockpit and Amundsen. I've get Connect authorised, and the app is telling me where I park, will make the honk and flash on command, and show my last trip. But the Lock & Unlock function is not allowed until I show my driving licence at my dealers! As I specifically asked about this when I picked up my car, and was told it was unnecessary, Clearly the sales manager didn't know what he was talking about - just as he told me I didn't get three keys with the personalisation option any more, only for me to find my third key in the car later at home! A visit after lockdown is called for - if they have someone there who knows what they're talking about!!

Sorry, I didn't see that :(

That link shows the Kodiaq, not the Karoq, and I suspect it is demonstrating the new Matrix LED lights that aren't available for the Karoq (yet). Chris

Do you have the parking assist gizmo that will park the car while you sit inside and just change gears and use the accelerator and brake? If so it could be it's detected a fault in the parking sensors at the back or front of the car. If it was due to water getting into the connection, then it could dry out and cure itself. (When I drove my Golf through large puddles last year I got some similar fault warnings, but they disappeared once the car had dries out.)

I haven't driven my Karoq at night yet either, but had Dynamic Light Assist Bi-Xenons on my previous Golf. These were extremely effective, with a mask that moved across the beam to shield other vehicles so that the main beam didn't dazzle them. When I selected the Karoq as a replacement I knew it wouldn't have this feature, and the LED lights work by turning individual light elements on or off rather than moving a physical mask. My understanding is that they adapt by widening or narrowing the beam at different speeds, or when you are in towns. So you should see further into the distance with a narrow beam on a motorway, or a wider beam when driving slowly on a narrow country lane. I've read that the cornering light uses both the appropriate fog light as well as a cornering beam in the headlight. So the turn-on dance is only testing the physical vertical adjustment to keep the beam level regardless of the load in the boot, and the sideways adjustment is purely electronic. It sounds like your car is performing as it should, and when lockdown is lifted I might be able to test mine out too! Chris