Hi, folks. Back again to Skoda-World,

Octavia estate for 3 years, 140 L&K Yeti for 2 years then 170 Elegance Yeti for 5 years but needed more capacity & Kodiaq still new & beyond budget at the time.

Back in the fold again after 2 years of a bad Subaru Forester experience, ex-demo from Edinburgh dealer. No problems with dealer or warranty claims, but not what I was expecting from a brand I bought into based on their reliability record (or not, as in my case). 4 visits for warranty items, as follows: aircon flex hose failed, aircon condenser failed, front suspension bottom arm bushes replaced & section of exhaust replaced, pipe fractured at flange. Each visit was 100 mile round trip, all fuel at my expense.

Now have a good deal on part-ex for the Scooby & on Thursday next week, collecting 18 plate Kodiaq Edition with 2700 miles, ex-Skoda UK management, most of the bells & whistles.

In my case, first boxes to tick were Pan Roof (tick) spare wheel (tick) diesel (tick) 4x4 (tick). Loads of goodies, but as I'm new to Kodiaq ownership, anything I should watch out for? It's a DSG, I'm not fussed either way, had test drives in stick shift & DSG, maybe some fuel cons issues with DSG, any opinions or comments, glad to hear them.

Need to fit a towbar at local garage, I'll supply, he'll fit & do the 7 pin electrics. Any preferences or comments welcome.

Cheers, nice to be back in what is (I hope) reliability.

It'll get a good 400 mile run back home & then week after, off to Mull to work on the Mull Rally for best part of a week, that'll give it a good sort-out, few hundred miles round the island doing set-up & 81 radio for 3 days of the rally. Anyone else heading up, I've met several fellow Skoda owners on-island in the past, maybe see you again? Look out for a non-metallic grey Kodiaq on an 18 plate, full of stakes, big signs, rolls of tape, staple guns & waterproofs.

Be carefull on the towbar.

 

Unless the car has Tow Bar Prep - you may need to do some grill and fan mods (for heavy loads) to aid cooling.

 

Also the system will need coding to disable sensors on rear.. (parking and radar for blindspot )

 

Search on here - there is other threads on towbars with lots of info.

 

 

Good Luck...

 

 

 

 

 

Yep defo be cautious on the towbar. It absolutely has to be an approved one installed by an approved fitter to keep up your warranty (and to comply with you PCP lender if applicable) . There are so many things incorporated with electrics of a towbar now, like for example trailer stability control and deactivation of rear parking sensors when a trailer is plugged in. Also some aftermarket bars are only rated for the lower 80kg nose weight (7 seat versions), 100kg (for 5 seat versions). Although for the 2020MY onward its 100kg across the board now. Guess it depends exactly what your going to be doing with it, 80kg/100kg may not matter for you. 

Thanks for the info. Not intending to tow a big van, just a medium sized trailer for rally duties, stakes, signs, big cosh etc. during set-up & stage stripping, so nose weight not an issue. Talked about rear sensors with my garage & he reckons shouldn't be a problem but we've already agreed that I'll only buy an approved make with the usual E stickers etc.

Re my trip to Mull, I'l also be busy on the Jim Clark Rally in November, back on the roads again. Can't avoid it really, ceremonial start is 5 mins walk from where I live. Entries went live last evening at 1900 hrs & already nearly 100 confirmed, yowzah, that was quick.  If anyone is planning to come for the rally, the new Jim Clark Motorsport Museum is open for business & will be staying open later than usual on both days of the rally. It's very, very good, well worth a visit if you're up this way.

One of the best stages in the country is back on the menu, that's at Langton. Runs twice as SS2 & SS3, run consecutively at 30 sec intervals, it's gonna be busy down there. Lot of rain around just now so getting through the fields to spectator carpark at the ford might be interesting, tracks haven't been used for a good few years.

Glad I'm on SS1, Abbey St Bathans, Deputy Stage Commander, at the stop line, run on 1m starts, 30 sec starts are a nightmare for flying finish & stop-line crews.

I got a 3rd party tow bar fitted and paid extra for the right wiring loom bits - so far it's been working fine.

 

Most of the time my tow bar is used for bikes, but it's other job is towing my Caterham around

 

Rallying stuff sounds great - I've done a rally stage as a driving experience (mk 1 escort rally car, was amazing), it's so much harder than driving on a track!

So, here we are back home after trading in my 66 plate Subaru Forester for an 18 plate (1st reg August 2018) Kodiaq Edition, 4x4 150 diesel with DSG. From Cardiff to home in the Scottish Borders by way of Boroughbridge in Yorkshire to hook up with a mate for 1/2 hr, then on to Ovington in Tynedale to grab a cuppa with daughter & family, total of 430 miles in driving time of 7hrs 40mins, average speed 58 mph, mostly motorway & even better, fuel cons of 45.6 mpg. That's impressive for a big car with DSG, which I found very relaxing to drive.  Last "auto" I had was a Triumph 2500 estate from the 70s, bit of a slushmatic, with only 4 speeds compared to the DSG.

Nearly full dark by the time I got home, but the LED lights were, literally, brilliant. I haven't yet gone into any depth with the manual or the in-car menus, but I'm hoping to find the active lights function, very useful in the coming months, especially in this neck of the woods, narrow rural roads, nearest dual carriageway is 10 miles away up the A1.

Busy day tomorrow, digging deep into the satnav & various function menus then stowing the box full of (my words, useful bits), wife's words, "that right load of c**p taking up boot space". No shortage of that, even with 7 seats & a spare.

Keep you posted with news as & when, and maybe asking for ideas or experiences.

Cheers.

Who’s tow bar did you get in the end? 

 

My Kodiaq was ordered with the tow bar prep, didn’t know it came with mods for the cooling also. 

Thanks for asking, but haven't got one yet, probably go for TowTrust Towbars, they've got all the right numbers.

I want a flanged bar so can fit a bumper protector, like the look of a goose-neck but can't fit a protector. As far as towing is concerned, I'm only planning on a medium trailer, no big van, I've seen some pretty huge ones behind Kodiaqs over the last few months.  My regular garage reckons the tow prep isn't necessary for the size I'll be towing. Keep everyone posted,

Cheers.

You buy from White Dove in Cardiff?

 

Who did you deal with?

 

 

Morning, SimonAudi.

Yep, White Dove got my business & I did the deal with Melanie Ambrose. Like all dealers, they don't like moving on either their price or trade-in valuations, but after a week or so to & fro, we came to an agreement & we reckon we both got a good deal. Their prices are a good bit lower than anywhere near Central Belt Scotland or North East England so the 800 mile round trip + 1 overnight stay still paid off handsomely.

The only other comparable dealer price-wise I could find were RRG in Bolton area, but they didn't have the full spec I was looking for.

Cheers.

 

I know Melanie - but deal with Mike McDonald and the Business Manager Keith Dando

 

I have always found them helpful and wanting to do a deal... their prices are keen for nearly new cars... but you can also get good prices on new from them and will happily discount and try the best to price match.

 

On the L&K on order... they could not quite match the price on line but got close enough that it was not worth swapping away from them... the Kodiaq will be my 4th car from them since 2017.

 

 

Would it not void the warranty if not all the tow prep (cooling etc) has been done regardless of whether your fitter thinks it necessary?

Edited 4 October, 20196 yr by Gmac983

From your profile, looks like you're a serial Skoda-ite. I'm just hoping that the reliability I had from my Octavia & Yetis is carried on with the Kodiaq, a far cry from Subaru, as I mentioned previously. They were, as you say, keen to do a deal. As  private buyers, we like to think we're getting one over the dealer, they give the impression that we do, but they always win. It's all a game, just a matter of who blinks first.

Good luck with the L&K, is it your first Kodiaq?

Cheers.

Yes - will be first Kodiaq

 

No - Skoda is only a recent change - since 2017 - due to being the best value in the VW Group.

 

I started my New Car purchase in 1992 - with Ford Escort - then swapped to Vauxhall was a big Vauxhall fan and had load of those Corsa GSi x 2 Astra Sport x 2 - Vectra 2.0 SRi. 2.5 SRI V6 and CDX 2.6 V6 between 95 and 2002.

 

Then swapped to Audi - Had 3 Audi A3's , another Astra,  A Class Mercedes, LR Freelander V6, some Ford KA's  normal and Sport , VW Polo - The VW Group being mine and the others the wife's.(except Polo)

 

Then had 2 VW Tiguans before swapping to Skoda... wife had a new Mini when I had the Tiguans.

 

So quite a variety.... these are just what springs to mind.

 

There has also been a Shogun and also right now have Suzuki G Vitara.

 

 

 

SimonAudi.....enjoy your Kodiaq, it's the most comfortable car I've ever driven, hope you find the same.

My list starts witha Beetle (original), several Minis (original) prepped for rallying. Riley Elf, remember those, just a tarted up Mini with a boot stuck on & a bit of wood on the dash. A Triumph Herald estate, Ford Transit-based motorhome. Volvo 132 2 door Amazon, sold part restored a few years ago, & now completed as a historic rally car. Triumph 2500 estate, Citroen Visa, little power from an 1124cc  petrol, but you could scrape the chrome off the outside door handles before the inside wheel lifted going round a bend!  (Probably the last car available where you can get fresh air straight to the face vents & keep your toes warm at same time). A few Citroen BX estates, best of which was 1.7 TD, went like stink. Couple of Citroen Xantia estates, both TDi. never had problems with them dumping LHM on side of the road & leaving us grounded with no brakes, although this was a very common complaint. Then onto Skoda, as noted above. Very happy to be back in the fold after the Scooby experience, not one I'm planning to repeat.

Been digging deep into the various menus, but can't find any way to adjust the instrument lighting after dark, no manual thumbwheel found either, am I missing something hiding in plain sight? Possibly in the options for ambient & footwell lighting? Any suggestions much appreciated.

14 hours ago, Gmac983 said:

Would it not void the warranty if not all the tow prep (cooling etc) has been done regardless of whether your fitter thinks it necessary?

Getting this issue checked out with the dealer & my local guy, but thanks for the input.

Have you checked here?

 

Ah-ha, I knew it would be hiding somewhere. I found the instrument lighting in the menu but nowt about the ambient lighting. Is it standard across the range or an option, do you know? I'll check tomorrow with the lights are on, see if it pops up in the menu. Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

I'd say you were probably closer in instrument lighting, I believe ambient lighting is the LED strip lights in each of the doors, a factory option. Worth a look though?