Graham Butcher

It is this switch like accelerator that I firmly believe is why it seems that many older people and or less experienced drivers are apparently coming to grief with some of these electric cars when moving in or out of parking spots or in slow heavy traffic with stop start being the order of the day, especially if the cars have a sports setting that sharpens the response even more.

TBH it must be less expensive for the makers to have just the one wiring loom that goes into all cars. Then it just becomes a matter of ticking check boxes when ordering cars and also building them. It also opens up dealer fit options for the after thought options. Clearly things like panoramic roof and 7 seater versions must remain factory options only as bodies are also different. Surely a five seater car would be considered as a higher spec car than a 7 seater unless the body was also stretched like in a LWB version, as the 5 seats would offer passengers more space to stretch out, but oddly they treat the 7 seater as the higher spec car☹️

It is beginning to look like as if the only way I'm going to get a Kodiaq in SE L 5 seat format with heated seats, at least in the front if not the back, along with blind spot monitoring and front and rear parking sensors plus or not with reversing camera and auto, is to stick with Mk1. It would seem so far that that SE L and above in Mk2 guise only come as 7 seaters plus of course will be subject to the extra expensive car tax until 6 years have passed, and then that will more than likely become a permanent extra layer of tax.

@Bap33 if you go with the MK1 SEL trim level you do indeed get LED headlights with the AFS functionality, anything lower and you only get the standard Halogen headlights. I doubt that I'll get a face lift version as the price is still a bit steep for those, looking for a 2018-2019 ish model SEL with FSH and low mileage with the cream leather trim with as many extra toys thrown in for good measure I'm not really bothered with the 4x4 version TBH, I've never had the benefit of having a 4x4 and have never managed to get stuck anywhere yet, that's a bonus of have taught how to drive by a bus driver and also spending a few hours in the bus driving school. This was requirement by the National Bus Company back in the day, even though I was on the engineering team, it just part of the system to get insurance cover in order to drive the buses and coaches on road test at the end of their routine servicing. The TDI150 will be enough, but if anything larger crops up, I'll take it, the extra torque at tick over when driving on ice or snow is most welcome when pulling away from stationary. Skoda-Kodiaq-2017-UK-.pdf

Ooh, nice to have it in the L&K trim. I could only find find a brochure for the MK1 and the MK2, the FL one I'm unable to find any information on, The one I missed out on was the TDI150 hp one, plenty fast enough for me, I'm not a boy racer but no slouch either, these days I'm more interested in maxing the MPG as much as possible and drive mostly in eco mode with plenty of coasting when the conditions are right. I have the cream interior and so did the one I missed, front and rear parking sensors and traffic sensors, heated front and rear seats. electric seats, although, once I have them adjusted they don't move, so electric I could leave out, heated windscreen, AFS lighting, DCC, heated screen, tri zone AC, but 2 zone is OK, ambient lighting would be nice, ACC and speed limiter and the one thing I really must have is either Xeon or LED headlights with AFS. It really needs to be diesel again with its extra low down torque figures, makes snow driving more of a doddle with its slow pickup when the gas peddle is pressed means that it keeps its composure more when driving on the slippery stuff.

I know that this is completely off topic, but we have been talking about cars big enough to take 4 x 6ft 4" giants and suddenly out of the ether this dropped into my suggested viewing on YouTube, long been a passion of but what a statement car even back when this new, 2006, there was nothing to touch it until you got to Bentleys and Rolls Royce's costing about 4 or more times the money. As you will see there is plenty of room for all my family and more to spare 😁

That is part of the problem with todays cars, how can they claim that using a mobile phone is dangerous when driving but allowing things to be controlled through a touch screen in a screen is somehow perfectly safe to do? Bring back physical switches and knobs for everything, they can be operated without any need to look at what your doing.

As the trend is for larger more so called stylish rims, there is less and less rubber between the road and the car so there is less flexing of the side walls, so you would have thought that they would have tuned the suspension to ride softer to be that little bit more supple, but sadly it seems is the newer generation cars are having a harder tighter ride. My son has an Audi A5 and that is also very hard riding.

@Ootohere I wonder if the original mini coopers where hard riding like a go kart? Is it me or are these newer mini's narrower then the previous ones?

Yeah, I was thinking with it with it being used as a demonstrator, that the car would be kept in tip top condition as they are hoping on creating a good impression so the the customer places and order for a new one, and it would appear that was indeed the case, as the fist person to see it snapped it up.

Thanks for the help on this subject, unfortunately, I have been informed that the particular car that caught my eye was snapped up by the first person who has seen in person, it did indeed have some extras on which was what attracted me to it. There are a few of the entry level cars around, but they are expensive considering the lack of standard equipment that comes with them, and I'm afraid it is for me too much of a climb down to go from and L&K at the top of the tree to a basic bottom level car, so I'll have to keep my eye out for a mid spec car coming on the market. Strangely, on the MK1 models they never had a L&K version, but since the MK2 came out in 2022 they do, but they are all 7 seaters which is totally useless to me. Odd that they should only consider them as 7 seaters when the extra space for rear seat passengers should be the jewel in the crown?

Completely agree, however, just lobbing the £20k in there without some sort of qualification is less then ideal as the actual cost of leccy can vary from a few pence to the best part of a £1 depending where you charge and if home at home/work the actual tariff also matters as not everyone would be able to match it.

I'm thinking about chopping my Superb in for a 2018 ex demonstrator Kodiaq 4x4 5seater DSG diesel with 60,000 miles on the clock, should I be concerned about cambelt, water pump and DSG fluid service along with the Haldex oil swap or not and is there anything else on this model that I should be paying attention to/ask about??

This is obviously based upon him being able to get a full charge at home each day and not using public chargers?

Yeah, a cremation is indeed anti net zero, now you're taking me back on a memory trip back to the time when I designed a automated cremator control panel, built 7 of them, wrote all the software for the controls and installed them all in the City of London Crematorium.

@Ootohere I think you really mean it takes the Irish to know the price of stuff and value them, surely?🫢ŠKODA launch new wedding car campaign - The Avondhu Newspaper This is just a very clever and old advertising shunt by Skoda (2016). Now this is what real luxury looks like down here, not decrying the Superb L&K for a minute (that's what mine is) but it is no where near the same league. Stretched Mercedes Benz. Daimler 420S

Discounted as an option, very few in the UK and are around the £50k mark even secondhand.

Never seen a Superb used as wedding or funeral cars, airport and taxis, all the time. Funeral and weddings they use around this neck of the woods, stretched Ford Mondeos, Stretched Jaguar XJ6, Stretched Mercedes Benz, Daimler 420S and Rolls Royces. The Santa Fe and its sister car, the Kia Sorento are typical of the bloated cars that I mentioned, appear to very large on the outside, but not so big on the inside, rather like the Volvo XC90, however they have been added to my list to further investigate. The Fiat Doblo was also on my list however after watching the video you linked to, it has been removed from the list. He was 6ft 2" and he could not truly sit behind himself, he had to splay his legs out wide either side of the seat in front, less than ideal, especially given that the 4 of us men in the family have longer legs then most 6ft 4" men. I earlier said the Kodiaq was not on my radar, I have put it back on, as the one I viewed I discovered was a 7 seater with the 3rd row of seats folded away, it comes as well as a 5 seater so maybe a better option? I would rather not have to go to a van derived option as they will be fairly basic, harder riding and noisier all round, so I think I have a good list compiled now for further checking out if possible thanks to this site Over 50.000 car brochures from brands around the world

Yes I have, that to be honest was indeed my favoured car and a couple of weekends ago my son and I went to Saxton 4x4 here in Chelmsford Used For Sale - UK’s #1 Used SUV Dealership | Saxton 4x4 (claim to the largest of their kind in Europe) and we tried Kodiaq, Mazda CX6, Volvo XC90 etc, all of which were a no go, both on budgets and physically impossible for any one to seat behind me in comfort. Which did surprise me as I would have thought the Kodiaq was almost a Superb on steroids, but it is not.

@Stonekeeper the Santa Fe and the sister car Kia Sorento are already in my list of potential cars, along with the Kia Sportage and the Hyundai Tucson, but the Skoda Enyaq, is way too small, already looked at despite what the presenter side about the driver seat being in a position for 6ft driver, he is not 6ft, also the Enyaq is out of contention on price and currently also as its electric, unlikely to get permission for a home charger from my HA.

@Ootohere yes yes I know all of that and I'm well aware of there are some clever designs around and I'm actually driving about the cleverest car that there is in terms of interior space on offer hence why this is my 5th Superb in 20+ years. I think you must have missed the crucial point where I said that I'm having trouble getting low enough to get in and out of it so things like you suggested are a complete no go for me apart from the Seat Alhambra, Ford Galaxy (same basic car) and hence the Berlingo etc, all of which are higher, which has to be the 1st priority. No good finding a car where a tall person could sit behind me if I can't get in and drive, then it's useless, right? A jaguar XJ6. At over 5m long and wide is far bigger than my car, but the passenger compartment is smaller and lower despite the Jag always being a dream car of mine, is of zero use to me, hence my original comment that because it looks bigger, it might be still be useless. The point is that some of the cars are also highly likely to be in the realm of the £100k bracket (BMW 7 series, Mercedes Benz S class etc) and again totally out of reach, even 2nd hand, as the insurance and running costs are going to be crippling. So in short, I have been doing the rounds of the garages trying various cars, head for thinking, and have been doing that, but thing is for, the driver to be able to get in and out, there could be yards of space behind me, but would be pointless without me, the driver. Also it not just a case of a tall person sitting a tall passenger on the passenger side, as I have 3 tall people at 1.93m plus me to accommodate not forgetting my other half who is 1.78m. You also said yourself how you found the Superb not easy to get in and out of with its wide sills etc, and there is no question about it the Superb is a very large car inside.

Problem is just because a car looks to be large on the outside with its above average height. or its bulbus haunches etc, it does not mean that its interior space is large, its method of propulsion makes zero difference.

Well given that the average family is considered by the ONS to be 2.37 persons of non descript size, I still say that car manufacturer's are shooting them selves in the foot when all they want to to is go for the smaller cars, given that the average male is 1.7m and female is 1.6m, that 2.37 people would not comfortably fit into many of the so called family cars.

True and they have the gall to call them family cars, which for many would only apply as long the kids were babies or toddlers in child seats or have their legs chopped off at the knee, or the whole family are short people. ☹️

😁I was of course talking about peoples driveways on my estate which is a housing association run estate as in deed are all social estates here in Chelmsford, all council owned stock were transferred to HA's some years ago, as indeed many councils did some years ago in this area. So we have private estates which do have loads of EVs (predominantly Tesla's) and we have a Tesla depot with lots of super chargers located right the edge of a massive private estates.