Hey,

 

The Kodiaq cars are falling apart soon after delivery, the test cars we have enjoyed driving are now exhibiting more and more problems and they aren't even 6 months old, ranging from rust, plastic trim falling off, doors falling apart and not to mention emiting alot of sounds you would expect from your 90+ years old grandparents while doing calastetics.

 

"Faulty trim to right of them,
Creaky handle to left of them,
Squeaky steering wheel in front of them
Rust and Corrosion;
Storm'd at with warranty and claim,
Boldly they drove and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell"

 

Or to put it into more of an perspective

 

 

Or will they have the motivation to fix these issues...

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by McGyles

^^^

Maybe just those early adopters doomed or landed with the usual Early Build quality or failures in Quality Control.

 

Those that have lived a while and survived should know better than buy New VW Group Models that Journalists & Motoring Press big up as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

If they do build a cracker then buy as a Used car later on for a big saving in your bank account.

 

The VW Group way is use 'Customers' as paying road test dummies.

" The VW Group way is use 'Customers' as paying road test dummies. "

 

And that's why i decided to go for a new Škoda:

- all of the oily and tech bits tested by Audi and VW drivers

- 6 year warranty or 200k km on most parts (quite alot and a big print to read)

 

Personaly I blame the low build quality on the hype and that Škoda actualy increased production quotes by 20% on the same line, so doing skipping quality checks. This was my greatest fear when buying the "sold-out in March" car.

 

My decision to buy the Kodiaq wasn't on hype, my current 4x4 car is starting to show simptoms of old age and isn't reliable any more. Decided to buy a new car and i like the looks and the pricetag of the Kodiaq. It's the most you get for that price, space wise, and it has 4x4. I was looking at Santa-Fe, Tuscon, Sorento, Sportage, X-Trail, Land Cruiser, Tuareg and Q5. Kodiaq offered good fuel economy and alot of space with a reasonable price tag. Checked Škoda reliability survey and it tops mostly all the brands in the UK (JD Power survey).

 

Maybe i should have been a badge snob, payed alot more and ordered a Q5 ...

 

PS.:

Need 4x4 because the roads to my family ranch are quite beat up. It's not for REAL off-roading, but the higher ground clearance and 4x4 help alot in winter.

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by McGyles

^^^ 
Badge says 4x4, should be AWD but even that is lost in Translation, so Part Time all wheel drive and No Diff Lockers / Air Lockers or even guarantee of 1 wheel drive, but i get what you mean.  4-motion and sometimes no motion.  No traction no action.

 

Toyota Land Cruiser or some Jeeps are in a totally different class than any VW Group 4x4 currently on sale.

 

JD Power Survey is often brought up, 

there is a post today in General Chat.

Then the Superb Section, Yeti Section, Auto Express, WHICH, What Car etc this and every year have surveys quoted,

so few ever admit to taking part in these Surveys, odd for a Car Enthusiasts and Owners Forum.

'Pinch of salt' needs consumed maybe.

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

Well it's funny that the VW 4motion system using a Haldex unit and a eDL is not that bad and actualy one of the best systems like that, but yes not comparable to mechanical locking front/rear/centre diff. And it has the XDL which makes it very stable in corners at high speeds - motorway junction driving - tested. 

 

VW groups 4x4 systems are alot better than comparable Kia, Hyunda, Honda and american systems and the 4th and 5th gen Haldex are so good, Audi stopped using their torsen differential quattro system on MLB platforms in favor of a Haldex type clutch. Subaru has the best system, but the parts for them here are expensive and hard to get aswell as it's smaller than Sorento, Kodiaq and Santa-fe.

 

Funny thing is that vehicles with a mechanicly locking diffs are Land Rover (expensive and unreliable), MB G-class/Puch (very expensive and high fuel consumption), Toyota Land Cruiser (high fuel consumption, outdated design, not good on tarmac), Dacia Duster (build in Romania, interior is crap, small). Now tell me who would pay upwards of 100k euros and take the car off-road :P

 

I believe that for my use the 4x4 in Kodiaq will do.

 

1 wheel drive seat atteca roller test - same system:

 

Comparable 4x4 systems (old Haldex units):

 

 

Land Rovers if you mean Defenders or 90's, 110' etc never came with Locking Diffs, 

Special Division and after market built or converted, and Utilities etc had new vehicles converted.

(Maybe INEOS are about to build proper 4X4's Quite soon.)

 

Good, if the clearance and drive train system suits you then sorted.

As for all the Haldex vs Subaru and any others, there are loads over the years in the YETI section and others.

(The system Fords used on the RS now on the new Vauxhall Insignia County Tourer will no doubt soon be discussed.)

 

Big heavy lump SUV's that can give economy on road and some ability when the conditions require are popular obviously and now Skoda have one available.

So 'Simply Clever' build them and people will buy, or maybe best lease first and see if the Buid Quality is any good, 

even if VW Group used components previously.

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

24 minutes ago, Awayoffski said:

^^^ 
Badge says 4x4, should be AWD but even that is lost in Translation, so Part Time all wheel drive and No Diff Lockers / Air Lockers or even guarantee of 1 wheel drive, but i get what you mean.  4-motion and sometimes no motion.  No traction no action.

 

Toyota Land Cruiser or some Jeeps are in a totally different class than any VW Group 4x4 currently on sale.

 

JD Power Survey is often brought up, 

there is a post today in General Chat.

Then the Superb Section, Yeti Section, Auto Express, WHICH, What Car etc this and every year have surveys quoted,

so few ever admit to taking part in these Surveys, odd for a Car Enthusiasts and Owners Forum.

'Pinch of salt' needs consumed maybe.

 

Have you driven a Toyota Land Cruiser 6 cylinder on highway and the newest Jeeps made by Fiat?

 

Toyota jumps about like a goat and the interior is outdated and on motorway speeds it's loud and the fuel consumption is at 12l/100km.

I love my Jeep Grand Cherokee, but wouldn't buy another one due to Fiat taking over and not to mention the massive recall of Cherokees due to 9 speed ZF transmission and large fuel consumption. The Renegade has same recall problems as Cherokee and the Patriot and Wrangler are cool looking but not practical for highway driving.

 

Yes pinch of salt is needed. Especialy because that survey is only for 3 year old cars, should be for 5 or 6 year old ones.

Yes indeed i have, 

Driven all of the 4x4's that come with Auto Boxes, even Unimogs.

 

My daily drives are probably the worst onroad you can buy according to magazines and even owners,

widely available part time 4x4 vehicle available, the Jimny.

Never changed the body from 1998, low world wide sales and production might stop soon.

Out performs vehicles twice the price even standard when leaving the road and pretty basic.

Suzuki build some crap, but they do build in Hungary, and like the Kodiaq some will do all that is needed by the driver.

http://kapsuzuki4x4.co.uk 

If you want to go offroad or rough road to go someplace and get home, with good heaters, etc and not drive quad then you can always just mod a Jimny.

Like they say in Australia, if you want to get places get a Land Rover, if you want home again get a Toyota.

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

3 minutes ago, Awayoffski said:

So 'Simply Clever' build them and people will buy, or maybe best lease first and see if the Buid Quality is any good, 

even if VW Group used components previously.

 

I don't have any questions about Škoda build quality, because they use few year old equipment that has been used on VW and Audi, the problems are when they get greedy and rush the production to sell more vehicles, because they know people don't like buying a car and waitting almost  a year for it's delivery. They will go to their competition and buy a Hyundai or Kia.

 

And those Simply Clever stuff, i love the umrellas in the doors, why don't more cars have that? The flashlight in the boot is too small though and the windshield scraper is a good addition, if you are not prepared for winter.

 

My driving conditions:

60% highway speeds 130-150km/h

30% city driving

10% gravel road/snow on gravel road/snow on hilly tarmac

 

I want a maximum of a 4 cylinder 2.0 engine (cheaper road tax), maximum combined fuel consumption of 8l/100km and the car must be big, because i'm 190cm, weigh about 100kg and require good boot space. I think the Kodiaq suits my needs, i just hope that they will keep their promise, not rush the production and make a good quality car like the Superb series and Octavias.

Yeah Jimmy is very good, and Vitara is not bad either but they have a short wheelbase which makes motorway and city driving a pain and not to mention they are quite small, i need bigger boot.

I love the Ice Scrapper in the Fuel Filler Flap.

 

Once Skoda have Fuel Fillers that do not freeze closed in low temperatures sorted.

Love the Umbrellas, and if they stop rainwater or melt getting into cabins that will be great.

The torches are dead handy for finding which bulb or fuse has blown.  Or reading the Owners Manual to find what is wrong,

or Skioda Assists number . All 'Simply Clever'.  

 

Just kidding obviously.

You forgot the heated front windshield as an addition to the heated rear so you can push the car in any direction now withouth your hand getting cold-> simply clever

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by McGyles

About the 4x4 and AWD designations....

 

I doubt the car companies care what they label the car 4x4 or AWD it's the same to them. It's just down to the design department, what looks better. In my opinion the arguement is derived from people who say "yeah 4x4 it's not AWD because 4X4 only engages when wheel spin is detected while AWD have constant power to all wheels".

 

Just like  when people compare quattro and 4motion and say that quattro is torsen and 4motion is haldex, while forgetting that those are just brand names and all MQB built cars have Haldex (even Audis marked quattro), while all MLB platform cars are torsen (well used to be now it's a haldex type clutch to increase fuel economy).

 

Or the comparison between Audi Quattro and BMW X-drive or roller ramps and if BMW does the video Audi gets bad tyres and driver and vice versa.

 

In my opinion all systems are good enough for the road, while good tyres are more important than 4-wheel drive systems. 4x4 just means if you have a powerful engine you don't wheel spin when hastly starting and it's better for snowy roads in combination with good snow tyres.

 

If you want to go off-road, forget any Q7, GLS, Tuareg or Santa-Fe, get a old Jeep, Suzuki or Puch (or Lada Niva but be prepared for almost 16l/100km fuel consumption).

Some were there and remember what 'Quattro' was & means and what the difference with 'quattro',  

size is not everything according to some men but the size of the 'Q' can be.

 

Lets jump from the often shown Fiat Panda 4x4 vs Range Rover or Suzuki Jimny vs Range Rover in a quarry being driven like people offroad seldom do if they are going places and not just playing, 

and come more into the real world.

 

Edited 23 June, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

Previous model Fiat Panda is realy good offroad, new models looks and feels better but i think is higher and easier to flip.

 

Fiat Panda, Lada Niva, Suzuki Vitara, Suzuki Jimmy, Jeep Wrangler, MB-G/Puch, Dacia Duster, etc - these short wheelbase 4x4 are actualy better off-road than the avarage Land Rover, Toyota or Ford trucks. They go anywhere, anytime and are like goats - find any path and climb any mountain.

 

Problem is they are like goats on the road too - bumpy, loud with extreme fuel consumption above 100km/h.

 

Long wheebase Land Rovers and Toyota Land Cruiser V8 are good on road (Range Rover very good) and are very good off-road, but not as good as above mentioned cars, due to their size and weight.

Toyota Land Cruiser V8 - 100 000 euros

Toyota Land Cruiser V6 - 70 000 euros

Land Rover Range Rover - 120 000 euros

Fiat Panda - 16 000 euros

Lada Niva - N/A (used ones for 300 euros)

Suzuki Jimmy - 20 000 euros

Jeep Wrangler - 50 000 euros

Puch - N/A (used army/police ones for 500 euros)

MB G-class - 120 000 euros

Dacia Duster - 16 000 euros

 

Counting in the possibility of undercarriage and body damage when off-roading, which one would you pick as a dedicated off-roader? Personaly, i wouldn't take anything with a pricetag above 30 000 euros off-roading. I've seen alot of times when people come to these off-road meets, they come with a Range Rover which has a trailer and on that trailer there is either an old Defender or Wrangler, and the Range Rover sits in the shade, while the old workhorse goes arround the course.

 

Toyota Land Cruiser V6 is in the middle. Realy good off road, comparable to shortwheelbased off-roaders and not bad on the road up to speeds of 130km/h.

 

Now on the other hand, driving around town and making school runs in a car, that has 3 locking differentials is overkill, they are just for show. Having 240mm ground clerance and 3 locking differentials is only needed when you literarly go off the road. For driving in the snow and on gravel roads the "cheap" 4x4 systems with oil clutches and eDL is sufficient and may i say better, because if you lock the differential and you get good grip on the wheels you may break the locking mechanism, that's why for these situations a LSD is more useful than a standard lockable differential.

 

Let me tell you something more about the eDL -electronic locking differential (car breaks the spinning wheel). It does have it's downsides like allowing for some slip and increased break pad ware, but it's quite a good system actualy. You can test this out on any backhoe loader or tractor, where you don't engage the diff lock and manage the wheel spin with left/right brake. It's very good. Once you brake the spinning wheel there is instant power to the wheels with grip. It's not for proper off-road cars, but it's more than good enough for any weather condition roads.

 

There is a small fraction of SUV buyers like me, who need occasional 4x4 drive and need to drive 100km on highway to get to the place, where 4x4 is needed.

 

Rather than diferentiating between 4x4 and AWD, it's better to diferentiate between "Off-road 4x4" and "All-weather 4x4".

 

Off-road 4x4:

- ground clerance 240mm+

- 3 lockable diffs

- low-range gear ratio

- beam/solid axles

 

All-weather 4x4:

- ground clearance 180mm+

- eDL or LSD

- XDL or some kind of torque vectoring

- independant suspension

Excellent. Everyday is a school day, lol.

 

I used to use this as my tow barge. 

V8 4.6 Auto on LPG Built by RPI Engineering.

Not the best for snow or muddy sites but fun on the road.

http://v8engines.com 

 

Edited 29 June, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

cool setup