Karoq software update. Progress report.

[Apprentice]

Just over 700 miles driven since the update for what SUK call hesitation and all seemed well until this morning when on entering the single track road from the drive there were three hops of the kangaroo which came as a surprise as that hadn't occured before i.e. pre update as strongly as on this occasion, it didn't happen again.

The weather at the time was misty and drizzle with a temp of around 12 degrees centigrade.

 

[StEdmund]

It's now 9 weeks since the first software update to my Karoq and I've only put on another 1000 miles or so. Thus far, I have not had a repeat of the 'dying at junctions' (Skoda's 'hesitation) but the kangarooing is still present, though very variable. Sometimes, you'd hardly notice it but, this morning, it was worse than ever as we bounced off our forecourt. I love the car once it gets rolling but my dealer is aware that, if the next anti-marsupial update (~2 months) doesn't work, then the car will be rejected.

Edited 14 June, 2019 by StEdmund
word

[VAGCF]

Having been using my Yeti and trailer this morning to transport some bricks I thought what a nightmare it would be pulling away and manoeuvring if it exhibited any kangarooing like some of the Karoqs do.

[carlitoo2001]

Hi all,

 

Considering purchasing a new Skoda Karoq with the 1.5 TSI engine, but obviously now put off by all the reports of Kangerooing that I've now discovered. Does anyone know if a newly made Skoda would come with the update applied, or is this only used when issues are reported? Really unsure what to do, as loved the car. 

[shyVRS245]

5 minutes ago, carlitoo2001 said:

Hi all,

 

Considering purchasing a new Skoda Karoq with the 1.5 TSI engine, but obviously now put off by all the reports of Kangerooing that I've now discovered. Does anyone know if a newly made Skoda would come with the update applied, or is this only used when issues are reported? Really unsure what to do, as loved the car. 

You could try test driving a version if you haven't already the problem is that the issue only really happens with cold ambient temperatures so hardly noticeable with the current mild nights even if you tried one as soon as a dealer opened.

[carlitoo2001]

1 minute ago, shyVRS245 said:

You could try test driving a version if you haven't already the problem is that the issue only really happens with cold ambient temperatures so hardly noticeable with the current mild nights even if you tried one as soon as a dealer opened.

 

I test drove one yesterday, the only issue I had was I immediately stalled the car when trying to set off, it felt like the handbrake was still on as we weren't moving forward at all, the dealer told me to rev more and off we jerked. I put it down to poor driving ability. It was only when I got home and looked up the car further that I found out about the issues.

[shyVRS245]

18 minutes ago, carlitoo2001 said:

 

I test drove one yesterday, the only issue I had was I immediately stalled the car when trying to set off, it felt like the handbrake was still on as we weren't moving forward at all, the dealer told me to rev more and off we jerked. I put it down to poor driving ability. It was only when I got home and looked up the car further that I found out about the issues.

You now have first hand experience of the designed in characteristic known as skippy. It's not your driving ability I have been driving for 36 years and my wife's car can embarrass me when it feels like it. It seems that the throttle pedal is not related to the revs and if you want a smooth getaway you either have to give it 2,000revs before letting out the clutch or let the clutch out slowly and pop it into 2nd gear almost immediately assuming you are looking at the manual. I have no experience with the DSG.

Edited 11 July, 2019 by shyVRS245
spelling mistake

[JakeB1941]

What bugs me (my Karoq is okay since the update in April) is the inconsistancy between dealers. Some seem to make disparaging remarks when asked about the problems us owners have experienced poo pooing the problems as a characteristic of the vehicle. Others are up front and tell you what to expect based on other customers reports. If I was buying a new 1.5 I would be very wary if I was treated to the former explanation. Also I would get something in writing highlighting the known problems and whether or not they have been fixed.

[StEdmund]

1 hour ago, shyVRS245 said:

You now have first hand experience of the designed in characteristic known as skippy. It's not your driving ability I have been driving for 36 years and my wife's car can embarrass me when it feels like it. It seems that the throttle pedal is not related to the revs and if you want a smooth getaway you either have to give it 2,000revs before letting out the clutch or let the clutch out slowly and pop it into 2nd gear almost immediately assuming you are looking at the manual. I have no experience with the DSG.

 

That is, indeed, the kangaroo. Like Jake, my 1.5 received the first update to remove the 'dying at junctions', and I am still awaiting the second fix for the marsupial tendency.

 

My advice would be to steer clear of any 1.5 until the problems have been well and truly sorted.

[jimmer72]

4 hours ago, carlitoo2001 said:

Hi all,

 

Considering purchasing a new Skoda Karoq with the 1.5 TSI engine, but obviously now put off by all the reports of Kangerooing that I've now discovered. Does anyone know if a newly made Skoda would come with the update applied, or is this only used when issues are reported? Really unsure what to do, as loved the car. 

 

How about a 1.5 TSI DSG? The auto box versions seem to avoid having the "skippy" issues that the manual box Karoqs have. I've been driving a  DSG since March '18 and mine's been fine.

[Hairball]

So far I've yet to experience the effect of the 'Skippy' gene although I have yet to drive it through it's first winter. Mine is a 1.5 DSG 4x4 (wet clutch and currently no longer available to order in the UK) so would probably have yet another different software configuration to the manual or 2wd DSG (dry clutch).

 

I imagine the effect is similar to driving my old Triumph Dolomite from in the 1980s that had a very grabby clutch, in winter the choke knob (anyone remember that) had to be in just the right position or it was like a bucking bronco on the back of a wallaby with a limp trying to get rid of a bad itch. 

[shyVRS245]

2 minutes ago, Hairball said:

So far I've yet to experience the effect of the 'Skippy' gene although I have yet to drive it through it's first winter. Mine is a 1.5 DSG 4x4 (wet clutch and currently no longer available to order in the UK) so would probably have yet another different software configuration to the manual or 2wd DSG (dry clutch).

 

I imagine the effect is similar to driving my old Triumph Dolomite from in the 1980s that had a very grabby clutch, in winter the choke knob (anyone remember that) had to be in just the right position or it was like a bucking bronco on the back of a wallaby with a limp trying to get rid of a bad itch. 

My 1988 Citreon AX GT with manual choke had a similar characteristic.

[Hairball]

2 minutes ago, shyVRS245 said:

My 1988 Citreon AX GT with manual choke had a similar characteristic.

Indeed, like driving over speed humps but without the speed humps being installed. ☺️

[Superted]

On ‎04‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 19:36, JakeB1941 said:

Well as of 1500 hrs today the update for my 1.5 TSI Karoq SE L was installed by my dealer in respect of the 1st and 2nd gear issues. I have driven a home journey of 5.8 miles all of which were in heavy traffic with a journey average mph of 7.2 mph. (Yes I crawled most of the way) Obviously this is a very early and not a very good test of the full scenario but it was a good test of the kangaroo hiding under the bonnet. Do you know he must have escaped because he never showed himself!

So, so far so good! I will report further on my experiences in a couple of weeks.  

As our local dealer seems to have no idea about any software fix and has just confirmed today that neither to SUK be interested to know which dealer carried out this work for you? Having said this my wifes Karoq is DSG but it still Kangaroos!

[JakeB1941]

I would firstly get in touch with Skoda UK and get them to speak to your dealer. This has worked for quite a few on here. My dealer was Robert Eardley Newcastle under Lyme who seemed to be on top of their game hence the fix in April.

Good luck.

[MDVLA]

ON GOING SAGA ....Hello folks, had my Karoq SE 1.5 TSI manual for 10 months now and its just had its first service, I got my hopes up as well when the after sales manager said the update was in and would sort out the misfiring and drop in power under 1500 revs. But continued disappointment followed when I collected it as I was told it hadn't come in yet and would be available end of Q3. Is there any legal recourse to this perhaps through trading standards. Even thought of trading it in but my wallet would take a bit hit. Any ideas.........Yours despairing Mike   

[Karock]

 

Some Skoda dealers seem to be completely clueless regarding the software updates, I had my 2019 updated a few weeks back for the second gear hesitation and it seems to have done the trick. Had I not contacted Skoda UK beforehand it would have been a wasted journey as on arrival for the update  the so called after sales manager said that software updates were not available yet.  After pressing them and saying that Skoda UK assured me it was available they discovered that for my car there was indeed an update.

 

As yours is an earlier car a software update may well not be available yet. Check with Skoda UK.

 

This is the second incident with this dealer, Telford Skoda in Carlisle.

A paint defect was reported to them in February for a claim under guarantee they took photos and said they would get back. 4 months later I contacted Skoda UK who had no record of the reported fault in other words Telfords had not bothered to contact Skoda UK.

I received some nonsense about change of staff, when I asked why have staff changes have affected a simple fault report they remained silent.

 

Guess where I will not be going for servicing, tow bar fitting etc.

 

Skoda UK have been most helpful throughout.

 

Edited 14 July, 2019 by Karock

[MDVLA]

Thanks Karock, Its all very strange the way skoda are treating customers. I contacted Skoda UK at Milton Keynes 6 months ago and all they did was phone the dealer in this case Faintree Telford Shropshire and report back saying they were awaiting the update. I guess I'll wait a bit longer and then either fit an after market chip set or go back to diesel. And keep away from skoda for good.

[Salp]

13 hours ago, MDVLA said:

Thanks Karock, Its all very strange the way skoda are treating customers. I contacted Skoda UK at Milton Keynes 6 months ago and all they did was phone the dealer in this case Faintree Telford Shropshire and report back saying they were awaiting the update. I guess I'll wait a bit longer and then either fit an after market chip set or go back to diesel. And keep away from skoda for good.

 

There is hope MDVLA, we successfully rejected our 18 month Octavia with the same issues, we now have a 12 month VRS at no extra cost to ourselves.

 

The consumer law states within 3 months a full refund can be persued, however in our case we logged the fault when the car was just over 3 months old and gave Skoda the opportinity to repair.  Which off course never happened.  Consumer law for cars also says you can "reject" a car if you have reported a fault within 6 months (which we had).  You only need to let dealer have one opportunity to repair, and of course, you can argue it is not of satisfactory quality or fit for pupose.  and most importantly, the flat spots are a safety concern.

 

The issue after 3 months, is that you have had the benefit of use from the vehicle, so when they say you can reject it, you must take into account the benefit you have had from using the vehicle.  So extremely unlikely to be a full refund, but you should get a deal which is financially better than just selling the car. 

 

Hence we negotiated our car replaced with a VRS.  We would not accept a smaller engine, diesel no good for short journeys, and absolutely no way another 1.5.  We also had a low mileage car, in excellent condition.  These were terms given to the dealer and Skoda Uk, to resolve the issue.

 

We decided enough was enough at 18 months, and we were concerned about the flat spot, which was not an original problem, until one of the updates.  Skoda are using customers as testers, and we we not prepared for it to result in an accident.

 

 

[Apprentice]

The update applied at the end of April to my Karoq MY19 has improved the second gear no power at low revs when the throttle is applied has improved but cpold be better, the Karoq is going back to the retailer for a check over as other occasional issues have occured since the update that were not present before the update was applied. The update was for the hesitation issue but I couldn't get a ref number for that update.

Skoda UK have again arranged for the Karoq to be checked over and an update for the Kangarooing is due sometime soon for MY19 vehicles ...... yeah right, time will tell.

 

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/new-cars/2019-07/no-end-in-sight-for-volkswagen-15-tsi-engine-problems/

[Quickasaquickthing]

Similar update from me as from Apprentice above. Like StEdmund and Jake,  my MY19 karoq 1.5 manual had its ‘trying to kill you at junctions and roundabouts’ patch  a few weeks ago and it seems to have cured that particular issue.( Although the cure has brought with it the issue of racing, or speeding up, in second gear) .

 

It still suffers from the skippy the baby kangaroo issue from cold start but, frustratingly,  it’s not everyday and it’s only for, literally, a few hundred metres. But it’s not right and shouldn’t happen. Skoda UK have told me that they are pressing the factory for the patch but it isn’t available yet and they don’t know when it will be available but hope it will be soon. 

 

I am very unhappy that Skoda allowed the dealership to sell me this car knowing, as they allegedly did, that it suffered from these problems.  Perhaps I’ve been lucky but I’m actually quite happy with my dealership who have kept in touch about the matter and have been supportive, and also with Skoda Uk who have kept in touch, always returned my calls, appear sympathetic and appear to be as frustrated with the issue as we are. 

 

[JakeB1941]

That also sums up my thoughts and experience exactly! With hindsight I think we should have pressed for some form of compensation. After all if these problems have not been fully resolved when we come to sell/part x our cars I imagine the value will be adversely affected. It is a sad indictment on the VAG group and its treatmment of customers. :-((

[MDVLA]

Thanks guys, I'm sending a formal complaint in to the dealer. Suppose they'll file it in the little round filing cabinet under the desk though 😞 Will keep you informed of how I get on.

[driventodevon]

The option of rejection of a new vehicle is well established in UK law. The dealer is allowed by law one chance to fix the problem. They had this when they applied the second-gear-flat-spot fix. They didn’t fix the kangarooing, so they did not fix the fault! 

 

As long as you can demonstrate that the fault was there from the start (and hopefully you have evidence that you informed the dealer and/or Skoda UK in writing or by email at the earliest opportunity), then you are entitled to a full refund in the first month after purchase. From months two to six, the dealer is allowed to make a deduction for wear and tear, but they should balance this against customer goodwill and may well still agree a full refund. (There is no three-month threshold.) If the purchase was over six months ago, the law switches to making an assumption in favour of the dealer rather than the customer, so this is where you need to pull out that letter or email that you sent as soon as you became aware of the fault in order to strengthen your case.

 

Don’t  mess around with “formal complaints” or chasing “some sort of compensation” unless you are determined that this is still the right car for you and you believe the fault will be resolved or minimised to your long-term satisfaction. Just use the rejection route and don’t hold back.

[TheRealExile]

13 hours ago, Quickasaquickthing said:

Similar update from me as from Apprentice above. Like StEdmund and Jake,  my MY19 karoq 1.5 manual had its ‘trying to kill you at junctions and roundabouts’ patch  a few weeks ago and it seems to have cured that particular issue.( Although the cure has brought with it the issue of racing, or speeding up, in second gear) .

 

It still suffers from the skippy the baby kangaroo issue from cold start but, frustratingly,  it’s not everyday and it’s only for, literally, a few hundred metres. But it’s not right and shouldn’t happen. Skoda UK have told me that they are pressing the factory for the patch but it isn’t available yet and they don’t know when it will be available but hope it will be soon. 

 

I am very unhappy that Skoda allowed the dealership to sell me this car knowing, as they allegedly did, that it suffered from these problems.  Perhaps I’ve been lucky but I’m actually quite happy with my dealership who have kept in touch about the matter and have been supportive, and also with Skoda Uk who have kept in touch, always returned my calls, appear sympathetic and appear to be as frustrated with the issue as we are. 

 

MY18 Karoq has the issue cold or Warm, at least they seem to have 'fixed' the stalling issue for the newer vehicles although time will tell on that of course! mine only ever stalled maybe half a dozen times but always at the most inconvenient moment of course, usually with a HGV or lorry driver bearing down upon it!

 

The car has only covered 5,000 miles from new as it's been back at the dealer for what must be 5 months now!  I wanted to wait for a fix but considering I reported the issue in week 1 of owning the car it's gone on too long and it's sadly time to reject.

 

I complained again to Lex who had clung on to the 'characteristic' lie right up until last week, I cc'd the Lex MD in my e-mail...... I'm not expecting much as all I have had back thus far is we are awaiting Skoda's response, I'm stuck as unless Lex reject it there is little I can do other than wait on Skoda for a fix, you would have thought that as Lex probably purchase a lot of Skoda's they would have much more joy rejecting a vehicle than I.