Hi all. My first post and it’s not exactly positive - is there anyone else out there who thinks the ride quality of the Kodiaq is terrible?

 

I bought my 1.4tsi 4x4 DSG SEL 7 seat with standard suspension (no DCC) last August with 5k on the clock. The ride felt firm but ok on the 15 minute test drive on urban roads, but 6 months on,  its driving me crazy. It handles speed bumps and undulations very well, but smaller bumps, potholes, expansion joints, or indeed anything but a perfect road surface send judders, wobbles and bangs through the cabin. For urban driving it’s bearable, but on long motorway journeys it’s irritating, and drives along a typical poorly laid UK country road are seriously uncomfortable. It’s the only car where I’ve ever felt sick behind the wheel, and the family are less than impressed. 

 

I came from a mk7 Golf estate which is a particularly smooth-riding car, but even a base-spec holiday rental Seat Leon felt smoother than the Kodiaq. Likewise for my two previous mk2 Octavias.

 

Both owner and magazine reviews talk about the comfortable ride, with a couple of reviews mentioning a slightly unsettled ride on poor road surfaces without DCC, but not suggesting there’s much of a problem. The Pirelli Scorpion tyres on the 19inch wheels are hardly low-profile. I’ve checked for transport blocks, but as far as I can see they have been removed. Tyre pressures are at the lowest recommended (2.4bar).

 

After 6 months of hoping it was just me and I’d get used to it, I’ve finally booked the car in to a dealer for an investigation. I strongly suspect they’ll say nothing is wrong...

 

Has anyone else had the same thoughts as me? Or did everyone else get DCC and float around in Comfort mode? 

 

Other than this it’s a great car, with so many good points I really don’t want to get rid of it. I can live with the other two negatives of terrible fuel economy (expected) and a mediocre sound system (my fault for not testing it properly on the test drive), but the ride is so bad the car has got to go if it can’t be fixed. 

I would say it sounds like you have a problem, I’ve not experienced any judders, wobbles or bangs in mine and can’t recall anyone else reporting poor ride quality. The first thing I would have said is, to check the transport blocks were removed,not that I’ve seen any reports of them being left in on a Kodiaq, ( plenty on Superbs and the Octavia)  but you’ve already done that. Hopefully the dealer will find something, I don’t think I would have waited 6 months though.

I have no complaints about the sounds either, did you pay extra for the Canton? 

There’s been one or two that were not impressed with the sound for the extra money.

 

 

Edited 24 February, 20197 yr by Kenny R

So @camber

Best be sure the transport blocks are removed.  Play about with tyre pressures and maybe have the Alignment checked, camber etc. 

 

Try another identical car on 19" rims / tyres and see what pressures it has and try one on 18" wheels / tyres. 

I had a couple of annoying external trim squeaks, which one dealer tried to fob off “as they all do that”. He didn’t like it when I said then why doesn’t the wife’s Kodiaq do it, or the loan Kodiaq you gave me. 

 

Id suggest asking them to let you drive their demonstrator car and see if it has the same issues.

We bought the Kodiaq partly because we thought it handled awful bumpy country roads so well! Assuming you’re on 19” wheels or less, definitely get your car checked. 

As the car had 5k on the clock when you bought it, it may be worth getting in contact with the  previous owner and ask why they got rid of the vehicle at such a low mileage. 

 

It's possible it may be an ex rental or Skoda management/press demonstrator car, in which case it MAY have had the @r$e ragged out of it, hence your issues. 

Just backing up what the others said really.

I have a 2.0 TSI SE L on 19" wheels with standard suspension and I think it's great, especially on the motorway. It does of course bang a bit if I hit a particularly bad speed bump or  pothole, but overall it's as good or better than any car I've owned.

I would certainly back up the above comment regarding getting a drive in a similar car, rather than risk your garage telling you "it's normal sir", because that would be utter tosh !

I have the sportline with 20” wheels. It doesn’t ride any worse than my previous C4 grand Picasso or wife’s BMW active tourer. With the 20” wheels it is supposed to ride slightly worse than the rest of the range.

 

Like others have said, maybe there is a setup issue with your particular Kodiaq. 

The majority of similar complaints across the marque have come back to the aforementioned non-removal of transport blocks during the original PDI.

Even been found on second hand machines with fairly high mileages.

 

Did you jack up both sides to let the suspension sag sufficiently to see them if present?

 

Edited 24 February, 20197 yr by Gerrycan

Thanks all for your comments and advice. It’s weirdly reassuring to know there probably is something wrong with my Kodiaq, hopefully something fixable. It’s a brilliant car otherwise.

 

I checked for transport blocks after reading this forum a few months back, but couldn’t find anything when I jacked the front wheels up and pushed the rubber boots up as far as they would go. But, I’ll get the dealer to check again. 

 

I don’t have Canton, and the sound isn’t great in the mid to high frequencies. Bass is fine. I’ve adjusted all settings to improve it, without success. Again, something to compare with another Kodiaq, hopefully the dealer with have something available.

 

Thanks again. Will post again after the dealer has taken a look.

 

 

 

 

We all have different opinions on ride quality.

 

If the dealer does indeed declare that there's nothing wrong then another option might be to down size the alloys from 19" to 18" and take the higher profile tyres.

 

 

Or even 17"...