Karoq software update. Progress report.

[JakeB1941]

Surely it all comes down to how much money it will cost VAG to put things to rights? Later models need to keep selling to generate the profits to pay for the cockups. The time it is taking to 'catch up' must be considerable and very costly so (like many modern businesses) let's just look after new customers and bugger our loyal old ones!

Just a thought ;-D

[MJ1]

It could be bandwidth of staff available, and I guess sorting out current production model makes sense. Then once that resolved you can roll out to older models...

[TheRealExile]

Maybe, I'm STILL sat in a hire car. Called Skoda UK yesterday for an update and as yet they haven't come back.... assume they have nothing to say right now.

 

At this rate I'll end up spending my entire 3 year lease in the hire car!

[Rockpoint]

Problem with Karoq 1.5TSI SEL Petrol, Manual gearbox, Kangarooing in first gear and limited response, power fade and lack of power in 2^nd gear. The above problem existed when the engine was cold or hot.

 

Summary of events:

I placed a factory order in early August 2018 and took delivery on the 7^th January 2019 spec as above.

 

I complained to Skoda Customer Relations (not the dealer) the beginning of February 2019.

Skoda arrange for me to go to my nearest Skoda dealership, the car was booked in for 2 days so they could have the car for checking the problem when cold. Courtesy car provided.

The dealership confirmed it was a software problem.

 

Skoda Customer Relations kept me up to speed approx. every 2 weeks by phone concerning the position of the software update. They also offered me a courtesy car till the update was available.

 

Skoda informed me the update was available and arranged with the dealership to have the software updated. Yesterday 29^th April, took the car to the dealer and waited (approx. 2 hours) for the work to be done.

 

I drove home journey of 11 miles mostly heavy traffic. Continued to drive around estates etc. to see if the problem had been solved total of 25 miles.

I am pleased to say no issues at all and now a more powerful performance and it seems like a different car.

 

Obviously this is a very early days and not a very good test of the full scenario. I will update in a couple of weeks to see if the software fix is holding up.

 

Skoda Customer Relations are phoning me again today for feedback of the software update and how the dealership served me.

Skoda Customer Relations have been first class since reporting the issue and also the Skoda dealership who did not even supply the car.

[MJ1]

Good news Rockpoint, glad it is working...

[TheRealExile]

46 minutes ago, Rockpoint said:

Problem with Karoq 1.5TSI SEL Petrol, Manual gearbox, Kangarooing in first gear and limited response, power fade and lack of power in 2^nd gear. The above problem existed when the engine was cold or hot.

 

 

 

Summary of events:

 

I placed a factory order in early August 2018 and took delivery on the 7^th January 2019 spec as above.

 

 

 

I complained to Skoda Customer Relations (not the dealer) the beginning of February 2019.

 

Skoda arrange for me to go to my nearest Skoda dealership, the car was booked in for 2 days so they could have the car for checking the problem when cold. Courtesy car provided.

 

The dealership confirmed it was a software problem.

 

 

 

Skoda Customer Relations kept me up to speed approx. every 2 weeks by phone concerning the position of the software update. They also offered me a courtesy car till the update was available.

 

 

 

Skoda informed me the update was available and arranged with the dealership to have the software updated. Yesterday 29^th April, took the car to the dealer and waited (approx. 2 hours) for the work to be done.

 

 

 

I drove home journey of 11 miles mostly heavy traffic. Continued to drive around estates etc. to see if the problem had been solved total of 25 miles.

 

I am pleased to say no issues at all and now a more powerful performance and it seems like a different car.

 

 

 

Obviously this is a very early days and not a very good test of the full scenario. I will update in a couple of weeks to see if the software fix is holding up.

 

 

 

Skoda Customer Relations are phoning me again today for feedback of the software update and how the dealership served me.

 

Skoda Customer Relations have been first class since reporting the issue and also the Skoda dealership who did not even supply the car.

 

Glad its working well for you, fingers crossed it stays that way.

 

Hope they can do similar for the MY18 cars.

[DaveW25]

For me (Manual petrol 1.5 MY19 2000 miles) it's 3 weeks with the new software and I agree with the 4 owners above - 

1)  The occasional dangerous lack of accel from idle revs (3-4 secs of no accel at all!) has gone.

2) Kangarooing has diminished, but still there when cold.

3) Engine runs smoother and mpg up about 5% (maybe part due to it's still running in) even though I've gone back to 95 RON.

4) Accel from <1000 revs still slow - especially noticeable in the big 2nd gear (1000 revs = 10-11mph!).

 

In summary - if you own a manual petrol MY19 Karoq and you have the lack of accel problem and don't want to reject the car - get the software update done ASAP. Why there's no update for older cars I don't know - perhaps the kangarooing cannot be removed by software alone?

[TheRealExile]

Points 2 and 4 are of concern though, you have bought a new car and it's still not 100% right.... it's a start at least.

Edited 30 April, 2019 by TheRealExile
can't spell

[Rockpoint]

Skoda Customer Relations phoned as promised this afternoon concerning the software update. Said it could take approx. 600 miles for the new software

to settle in and time for my driving style to adjust to it.

Going to phone again in 4 weeks to see the how the update is performing and if all going fine will close the case.

[Ootohere]

@Rockpoint

I would be asking the Customer Relations Communications manager to email me the document from Skoda / VW Group engineers that they get that from on their 'Script'.

It is nice to see stuff in writing because they are little liars.

[33q]

3 hours ago, Rockpoint said:

Skoda Customer Relations phoned as promised this afternoon concerning the software update. Said it could take approx. 600 miles for the new software

to settle in and time for my driving style to adjust to it.

Going to phone again in 4 weeks to see the how the update is performing and if all going fine will close the case.

 

I was given the same advice from my dealer. I see nothing wrong with this approach.

 

So far my update seems to be working. 

 

No hunting on start up

Cold jerking whilst reversing down my drive has stopped

Wheelspin is no longer a problem

Start Stop is happening frequently...rarely kicked in before

 

Long journey planned tomorrow so I will have chance to review fuel consumption. Currently I'm on 39mpg on brim to brim over 3000 miles. Maxidot is far closer to accurate than my Yeti ever was. I always use Super Unleaded.

 

The fat lady has not finished singing yet.....we will see!

[Quickasaquickthing]

I have good news. 

 

I have been lurking here for a while watching this thread and the engine issue thread with interest. 

 

I took delivery of a manual Karol  1.5 SE TSI on the 3rd of April. Since delivery it has been suffering from the, well described in these pages,  ‘hopping’ from start up and the second gear flat spot which could manifest itself at any time whether the engine was warm or cold.

 

The car was just impossible to drive smoothly at low speeds in first or second gear with the engine warm or cold.  I felt like a learner driver again.

 

I exchanged a few emails with my dealership with whom I have a good relationship .(They serviced the first Skoda I owned and this is the second new car I have bought from them). They quickly made an appointment for me to take the car in for diagnosis. I also phoned Skoda UK and was very quickly contacted by ‘Paul’ who was very helpful. There was no argument about ‘faults’ versus ‘characteristics ‘ . The problem was acknowledged and and a fix was offered.

 

 I am sure Paul from Skoda UK smoothed things with the dealers behind the scenes because when I took the car to the dealers yesterday (Wednesday)  they were aware of the issue and I was not asked to ‘prove’ or ‘demonstrate’ the fault. No diagnosis was required. They were ready to apply the patch. 

 

I took the car in at 1100. I collected it again just after 16.00 when the rush hour here was beginning to build up giving me ample opportunity to spend time in low gear and test the fix.

 

When I left the dealership I was naturally cautious and I told the Sales Manager that I would call him in a few days after a few miles to let him know how things were. In fact, I called him within 20 minutes. It was like driving a different car. There was no hopping in first gear, there was no second gear hesitation. I could drive the car from a standstill smoothly like a professional again. It was a pleasure to drive. This is how it should have been from new.  

 

This morning I drove a short journey from cold. For perhaps the first few seconds of the drive there was a bit of roughness but nothing like the hopping I previously experienced . I drove so as to test the patch as much as I could. I deliberately let people out of sideroads so I could change up to second at low revs! I drove round the carpark at very slow speeds trying to provoke the stall or flat spot that was inevitable before the fix. Nothing! 

 

I know it is early days but so far so good. Like Rockpoint and 33q I will wait and see how things develop and report back in a few weeks. Like them I got the 600 mile script which seems reasonable to me. 

 

I had very professional service from my dealership - they said it was the first vehicle they had applied this patch to,  so perhaps it was a bit of a learning curve for them too. I personally can’t fault Skoda UK either.

 

I was probably lucky that I had only driven the car for one month and 500 miles before the fix was available to me. I can understand the frustration of those on this board who have waited months for the fix. I hope that it works for you too in the near future. 

 

[JakeB1941]

You were taking delivery on the day, 4/4/19, when my Karoq went in for the update. So far so good. As I posted earlier there is still a bit of a, shall we say 'grunt' when starting off in 1st otherwise great. Welcome to the Karoq family. 

[VAGCF]

Good that the fix seems to be improving things for some but not so good that the dealer PDI'd a car and then released it to a customer with known faults and didn't apply the fix that was available!

 

Despite Skoda UK and the dealers then "professional" service I think that's pretty despicable.

[Quickasaquickthing]

VAGCF , fair comment. It should have been put right prior to delivery. However, in Skoda UKs defence, from talking to them for whatever reason ( and to be honest I don’t think they know the reason) it’s not every 1.5 engine across the VW range that is affected. If it were then a patch could be applied before delivery  So a blanket patch might do more harm than good. The only way to find out if an individual engine is affected would be to drive it for a few days. You might or might not think this would be reasonable. But I take, and accept, your point. 

[Apprentice]

My Karoq never had the kangaroo issue other than a very occasional less than five seconds muffled joey effect as opposed to nothing at all.

The dead spot/loss of power/no power when pedal fully depressed/with low revs in second gear was an issue in certain scenarios already mentioned by others.

Skoda UK got in touch recently to say an update was now available and the car went into the Skoda retailer to get some other work done plus that update.

Hopefully it was the correct update and like others I will get back with comments after some more miles have been driven, the one thing I have noticed is that on starting the engine it now idles at 1250rpm (whereas pre-update it was 1000rpm then dropping to 750rpm) the idle speed then drops after 30ish seconds to 1000rpm then after a total of around 100 seconds it drops again and idles at 750/800rpm, (outside air temp 12.5C) will keep an eye on it and see if this pattern on start up continues.

Edited 1 May, 2019 by Apprentice
felt like it

[xyz007]

Took delivery of my 1.5 Style manual Karoq on 11 April. The car was built on 21 March.

 

The kangarooing when driving off and 2nd gear lack of power below (1000 rpm) is present, especially when cold. In respect of kangarooing It only bothers me though when driving in the first gear for the first couple of laps when leaving the garage from the work in the afternoon. Otherwise slight kangarooing can be felt even when the car is warm, but only when pulling away. I found that the tips presented herein help, namely accelerating with little more power (cca 1800 rpm) or without extra power, which actually eliviate the problem completely. Also it may be the ECU getting used to the driving; or 95 octanes (as opposed to first 4 tanks which were 100 octane); or just me getting used to the car, but I notice the kangarooing less and less when pulling away (the driving in the first remains an issue). With respect to 2nd gear lack of power, it is there but since I am aware of it I just add little more revs prior to releasing the clucth and the car never stalls. It is however a characteristics that requires adjustments to the usual driving style.

In addition, I talked to the dealer in Slovenia regarding the issues. The dealer never denied them but rather confirmed that there were a couple of complaints. According to the dealer the update is available but the dealer suggested to wait a bit and see if its the final version. Moreover, apparently the update is not VIN related (at least with respect to MY19) and according to the dealer all 1.5 TSI have that jumpy characteristics. 

 

On the off topic. Test drove friends latest Golf VII 1.5 TSI manual a few days ago (delieverd in January 2019; German market vehicle). Exactly the same issue in respect of kangarooing, did not manage to test the 2nd gear issue. The friend noticed that it is hard to pull away especially when the car is cold; but did not mind since he is in love with the car and the engine.

 

Regardless of aforesaid, glad to hear that the update is working and looking forward to receving mine.

 

br

[Apprentice]

On 30/04/2019 at 16:24, Rockpoint said:

Skoda Customer Relations phoned as promised this afternoon concerning the software update. Said it could take approx. 600 miles for the new software

to settle in and time for my driving style to adjust to it.

Going to phone again in 4 weeks to see the how the update is performing and if all going fine will close the case.

 

Phone call from SUK today inquiring about the effect of the applied update, also got the same ECU new software 600 mile narrative

Case not closed yet!

[Stevieweevie]

I spoke to Suzie at Skoda UK today who told me that there were some crossed wires with the local dealership insofar as whilst it isn’t a TPI or recall, the software update is still available to them and can be applied to my Karoq.

 

As it happens I have the car booked in a week tomorrow to replace some plastic outer door cladding that is peeling off the passenger door (of a 3 week old car no less). So she is going to contact the dealership and have them apply the update in the same visit.

 

I've been given the “600 mile” run in / ECU re-learning driving style spiel for the update too and she originally said that they would like to keep the car for 2 days to run tests. I referenced other drivers on here saying that they’ve had their software updated within a 2hr period and then driven away, and that’s what I intend to do once both jobs are done.

[leckman]

Just had a look at the T Roc forums page, they are as fed up with the kangaroo problem as you lot are, loads of cars being rejected etc.

[gmgohara]

Couple of questions : 

 

• Is there a particular version number for this software update ?
• Does it only relate to manual 1.5 tsi engines or DSG/auto as well

 

[33q]

2 hours ago, gmgohara said:

Couple of questions : 

 

• Is there a particular version number for this software update ?
• Does it only relate to manual 1.5 tsi engines or DSG/auto as well

 

As far as I understood it’s the same for DSG and manual 

[eribaMotters]

Just looking in after a couple of months of ownership of this 1.5 engine in my Audi A3. It is unbelievable how this engine can perform so differently in different cars.

I've done 1600 miles, about 1/3 of this motorway towing a caravan, 1/3 long runs and 1/3 town traffic. I've experienced no issues.

I was apprehensive of making this engine choice and moving from a diesel, but I'm very pleased. The engine pulls strongly, is flexible and although not as economical still good. The software is out there to get the engine to run well. 

 

Colin

[Ootohere]

^^^ Not there for all that are having issues sadly,

but VW will say that is just the few, special cases, but VW will get there, maybe, sometime eventually.

[StEdmund]

38 minutes ago, eribaMotters said:

Just looking in after a couple of months of ownership of this 1.5 engine in my Audi A3. It is unbelievable how this engine can perform so differently in different cars.

Colin

 

Is that a manual, or automatic gearbox in your A3, please?