First impressions

[Guest]

I'm looking to buy another car and was in showroom Wednesday night when a Kamiq arrived off the transporter - race blue, it looked pretty good to be honest. Was at another dealership yesterday where they'd just put it out on show.

 

There were no details on the car so not sure about spec but it looked like SEL. Haven't a clue re: options but it had 18"  alloys just like the 19" on a Karoq Edition and a digital dash. The tyres were 215/45/18 as opposed to the awkward 215/50/18 used elsewhere in the VAG empire so there may be more tyre choice out there.

 

Although I haven't been interested in this size of car, I've had a brief sit in a T-Cross and Arona - in my opinion the Kamiq is miles ahead of both, and I really mean that, it's approaching Audi stds. In fact I'll go further and say the particular seat cloth is better than Audi, it's that good. Both the T-Roc and T-Cross appear low rent tbh, the Arona ( first time I sat in one ) seems very plastic inside. The car sits high enough and rear seat accommodation is generous, I had no complaints and I'm looking at a larger car. Rear seats don't slide but the boot is larger than others. It's a struggle to fit  a driver ( it's doable ) but no issue with the rest of the golf bag, the boot is deep enough too. There's no way to do this with the T-cross without moving the seats and then it's still a struggle. It's not that the volume is any more but the way Skoda have shaped the boot means it's more practical.

 

Obviously haven't a clue what it drives like but I was almost tempted to buy one as all we need is a town car. The list price with options was given as £22999, the dealers price was £22200 so they're already discounting it. That said, if you take Skoda current offers you can buy a Karoq 1.0 SE-L for £1000 cheaper still.   

Edited 13 November, 2019 by Guest

[FlyingGecko]

8 hours ago, Scot5 said:

I It's a struggle to fit  a driver ( it's doable ) but no issue with the rest of the golf bag, the boot is deep enough too. 

 

Fold them in half, they'll fit.

[FlyingGecko]

Jokes aside, I had a good look around and inside one in my local dealer today. Looks good, and about the same legroom as my Octy. Boot seems a little smaller than the Octy, but that's obvious from looking at the outside dimensions. The spec looked low, but the second one outside the showroom, on plates so ready for use as a demonstrator, was a bit more blinged up. All the guys were busy and I was short for time so couldn't stop for a chat, but will look properly over the weekend. IMHO, a much better bet than the Scala. 

[Theotherjohn]

Wings of Peterborough have a black SEL & a grey SE.  Nice to sit in - in fact I'd say about as roomy as my Golf SV.  A special order should take about 3 months.

[Ootohere]

A SE.

[skoda1982]

2 hours ago, Theotherjohn said:

Wings of Peterborough have a black SEL & a grey SE.  Nice to sit in - in fact I'd say about as roomy as my Golf SV.  A special order should take about 3 months.

 

My SEL Meteor Grey is due in a couple of days it's on the transporter 

[Kiero1]

Ordered mine in Race Blue.

 

Took one for a test drive the day it came into the local dealership. Drives well plenty of grip with great ride. Not much steering feel but it's a crossover SUV! if steering feel is your biggest priority then don't buy a crossover SUV.

 

Due for delivery end of the month (fingers crossed) replacing a much beloved UP Gti.

 

Got a reasonable deal through Carwow £1800 off inc £1250 finance deposit contribution.

[dcweather]

Went to the showroom to uptake on my invitation. Salesman was busy so he let me have a look round till he finished his call. Externally I found it hard not to tell him I was underwhelmed. It looks just like a tall, bland hatchback. In fact not unlike my Audi A3 or a Golf with a higher body. Ground clearance didn't seem very high. Inside this SEL model was rather nice though. The squidgy plastics that seem to give motoring journalists an orgasm were reasonably present. I'm six foot and I found the sports seats a bit lacking in thigh support compared to my A3 but not too bad although the driving position didn't seem much higher to me. With my driving seat right back where I needed it I couldn't get in the rear seat behind due to lack of knee room although obviously I won't be sitting there. This most likely applies to all these small SUV cars. The boot capacity is supposed to be high but it seems they do it on volume these days and so height was the thing not width, which to me is more important. Then he showed me an SE auto that was the demonstrator and it had quite a lot of the extras I wanted. Maybe the pedal arrangement in the auto helped but it seemed a better seating position. So, I declined a test drive for now although it was nice to know there was an auto there to try. But with no two tone options as I walked away it was the looks that were just too dull to me. Anyway I thought I would still configure an SE one when I got home and I was stunned. With just the options I really wanted, including the same excellent 1.0TSi DSG pairing I have in my A3 Sportback now it worked out on a PCP plan £150 per month more over 3 years with the same deposit. And that was without sat nav as an option! Part of the problem was the 3 grand lower residual and I only put in the Skoda discount, although looking above I would only get another £500 or so. Mind blowing. Looks like I might get another Audi ,  t-Cross, maybe a Q2, or maybe I'm not an SUV person after all, I don't know.

[Kiero1]

Err ... not sure what planet some people are living on, my Kamiq SE on order has metallic paint and a DSG gearbox, with a £3k deposit the monthly costs is £266 pm over three years - if you're trying to tell me you could buy a new Audi A3 with auto box in sport trim for £150 pm cheaper i.e. £116 pm please let me know how. 

 

The T Cross doesn't have such a nice interior and to my eyes is a dumpy horrible looking thing from the outside, it doesn't have as much interior space and has dreadful rearward visibility due to the thick C panels but does have a slightly cheaper APR. That was not enough to convince me to buy that instead of the Kamiq. If the Arona had a better interior Seat would have had my money but... SEAT interiors are sooooo dull!

 

The Q2 is lovely, but costs £5k when comparing specs. Even after a sizeable discount is still some £3k more expensive and does not have anywhere near the space inside vs the Kamiq.

[dcweather]

Okay, thanks for that accurate info. I think I'm on planet Skoda because I'm using their finance calculator! Which for a basic SE auto 1.0 Tsi DSG with just metallic paint, 3k deposit, 10,000 miles, 3 yrs comes out at £292 so I guess you got some other discount above their contribution? I've run the on-line finance calculator again for SE automatic 1.0 Tfsi with metallic paint , blind spot monitoring, park assist, adaptive cruise control, climate control and high beam headlights and spare wheel. This is what I want and is close to my Audi A3 spec. So same deposit as Audi, £4k, 3 yrs, 10,000 miles comes out at £356 pm. I left out Sat Nav this time although my Audi has it std together with internet via free sim, it doesn't have a couple of the options like blind spot monitoring and high beam assist.  My Audi A3 Sportback Sport was 4k dep, 3 yrs, 10,000 miles and £238 p.m.  I suspect the main reasons are the RRP was slightly less than the above as spec as standard spec much higher, I got a good discount from Car Wow and the residual value is 12k as opposed to 9.5k. Whether it is similar now I don't know or perhaps all prices have gone up. But a Renault Captur Auto (not claiming it's as good here, though I prefer chunky looks and colour options) top spec, far exceeding these specs is only about £200 p.m. Just saying, however good the Kamiq is it is not cheap with any decent specs.

Edited 16 November, 2019 by dcweather

[Kiero1]

DCW, Agreed the Kamiq is not cheap at the mo, I was hoping for a better discount, however, if you look at the discounts available on new Scalas (which as a new model is only a few months old) Drive the deal are offering close to £4k off. Those not in a rush to buy the Kamiq will get better discounts in a few months time.

IMHO the A3 doesn't have anywhere near the interior space of the Kamiq and if you're comparing spec for spec nor does it have 17" wheels, a £2.3k discount is possible but the APR is 6.4%. Also it's an old model due for replacement and residuals will plummet when the new model comes out. However I will concede that Audi interiors as a step up on Skoda interiors and I happily paid the extra for our Q3 over the equivalent Tiguan when we purchased it, and it still feels as well screwed together today as when we bought it 6 years ago.

 

The TCross interior goes from dull grey everything to revolting garish orange with nothing interesting and subtle in between.  You can get a nice interior if you buy the top of the range ..... but the price is daft.

 

[dcweather]

I found the interior of the Kamiq quite plush and on a par with my A3 space wise. My Audi A3 Sportback sport does have 17" wheels although don't like the low 45 profile. and the smaller the better for me. Things that could tempt me further down the line are a mild hybrid version, choice of a different roof colour to liven up the appearance a bit, and either more standard stuff like sat nav and as you intimated , better discounts.

[Guest]

Why are we comparing the space / price / everything else in the Kamiq to an A3 when it's the Scala that's an A3 compeditor?  I don't think the Kamiq is cheap at the moment, but it's deemed an SUV and those three letters alone are enough to introduce a premium over any hatchback. The Kamiq should be compared to a Q2  (which by golf club test is the smaller).

Edited 16 November, 2019 by Guest

[Kiero1]

My mistake the A3 does have 17" wheels

[Rsrob]

When to see the new kamiq today and had a test dive in a SE 1.5TSI with a DSG in meteor grey it drives very nicely lots of power and toque the interior fit and finish was very good good size boot the only thing i could fine wrong was the bonnet was heavy really needs some gas struts but over all very impressed with the car.

some pics form today 

[dcweather]

4 hours ago, Scot5 said:

Why are we comparing the space / price / everything else in the Kamiq to an A3 when it's the Scala that's an A3 compeditor?  I don't think the Kamiq is cheap at the moment, but it's deemed an SUV and those three letters alone are enough to introduce a premium over any hatchback. The Kamiq should be compared to a Q2  (which by golf club test is the smaller).

No real reason other than that's what I have, it is considered a premium car and a Kamiq costs a lot more. But I accept an A3 is  not an SUV so not totally fair but having seen it and sat in it - why isn't it just a hatchback?! We've reached  a stage now where they are so popular that maybe they just get tagged an SUV to justify the hype and the sales and the price. I've only had hatchbacks since my Primera five cars ago . What actually is an SUV? I thought I wanted one because I liked the different (quirky?) look, higher seating for better view and ease of access (70 years old, dodgy knees), possibly larger boot, high ground clearance on slightly off road/tracks (I do a lot of wildlife watching at nature reserves etc) but having looked at the Kamiq I'm not convinced it is sufficiently different in any of those areas. Others I've looked at only meet a few of them as well.

[dcweather]

My own conclusion is that styling wise, height wise, convenience wide the Kamiq falls between a hatchback and a small SUV. That may be no bad thing and as such I am sure it is a great car. But I just keep coming back to a PCP plan. At the moment the interest rate is highish, the deposit contribution is lowish and the residual is lowish. This is why it is not competitive at this point in time. Just ran a configuration on A3 Sportback Sport DSG with lots of extras that would completely outspec the Kamiq and it is still £100 p.m less. This is caused by a whopping 4k deposit contribution from Audi and a further £1500 from broker discounts and a final option £2k higher. So it is having to compete against about a £5k cheaper car in reality!

[Guest]

10 hours ago, dcweather said:

No real reason other than that's what I have

 

As pointless as comparing it to a Ferrari or a SEAT Mii. It's a different car so not having to compete.

 

I ran the Audi configurator but didn't want to go off at tangents as this thread is about the Kamiq. The most basic Audi DSG available was a 1.5 Tecknik so there's an issue in comparision straight away.  I put that up against a 1.0 DSG SE Kamiq which comes with more usefull things like LED lights which is an extra in an Audi. The Kamiq worked out approx £50 a month cheaper.

 

Everyone will have their individual preferences regarding options but the fact remains the two cars are different therefore it's rather ludicrous to compare the two. Comparing your A3 to a Scala or Golf or Leon would be sensible but it has no place on a thread supposed to be about a Kamiq. 🙄

[FlyingGecko]

The likes of the Kamiq are now being called Crossovers.

[Ootohere]

Beats 'City SUV' or Small SUV,  the media guys and gals will soon go full circle and call them 'Roomy small cars 5 door 5 seat cars, or roomy 4 1/2 seaters'.

[skoda1982]

22 hours ago, dcweather said:

Okay, thanks for that accurate info. I think I'm on planet Skoda because I'm using their finance calculator! Which for a basic SE auto 1.0 Tsi DSG with just metallic paint, 3k deposit, 10,000 miles, 3 yrs comes out at £292 so I guess you got some other discount above their contribution? I've run the on-line finance calculator again for SE automatic 1.0 Tfsi with metallic paint , blind spot monitoring, park assist, adaptive cruise control, climate control and high beam headlights and spare wheel. This is what I want and is close to my Audi A3 spec. So same deposit as Audi, £4k, 3 yrs, 10,000 miles comes out at £356 pm. I left out Sat Nav this time although my Audi has it std together with internet via free sim, it doesn't have a couple of the options like blind spot monitoring and high beam assist.  My Audi A3 Sportback Sport was 4k dep, 3 yrs, 10,000 miles and £238 p.m.  I suspect the main reasons are the RRP was slightly less than the above as spec as standard spec much higher, I got a good discount from Car Wow and the residual value is 12k as opposed to 9.5k. Whether it is similar now I don't know or perhaps all prices have gone up. But a Renault Captur Auto (not claiming it's as good here, though I prefer chunky looks and colour options) top spec, far exceeding these specs is only about £200 p.m. Just saying, however good the Kamiq is it is not cheap with any decent specs.

my SEL £2700 plus skoda £1250 dep and £289pm

Edited 17 November, 2019 by skoda1982

[bigjohn]

Drove a 1.0 SE L 115ps today - overall I was impressed

 

The good bits

• I fitted! - (I was worried as I don't fit in a Fabia) - infact I found the SEL to be reasonably comfortable for my ample 6ft 4" frame
• Engine was pretty lively and remained quiet - although you can still hear it on tick-over
• Ride was better than expected even taking it down a rather bumpy road that is part of my work commute - this was a concern I I've seen some conflicting reviews about the ride
• Handling seemed good
• Very little wind noise even at 70mph
• Comfortable and refined

The bad bits

• Seemed to be a fair bit of road noise (SEL only has 18" wheels)
• Boot was smaller than I expected
• Would probably need to select some options (especially as some thing aren't standard that should be on the SEL - eg boot socket!) - it seems to get very expensive very quickly - to the point that Mrs BJ's Yorkshire blood instincts rather kicked in!

Overall  -

• As I eventually need to downsize to just one car and a smaller one that Mrs BJ likes driving but I still can cruise long distances through Europe  - this just might fit the bill - but only when some discounts are available

 

To Note 

• If you are EVER considering a towbar  make sure you tick the "tow bar prep" box as Kamiqs without this cannot be fitted with a towbar later (Dealers have been sent a memo about this)

Edited 17 November, 2019 by bigjohn

[silver1011]

The Kamiq is only as much an SUV as the Fiesta Active is.

 

It's all marketing. I guess SUV is easier to type than '5-door hatchback'.

 

[Gmac983]

Most new cars hitting the road shortly after launch with a high demand will not have the level of discount that other cars that have been out for a while get the benefit of. Give it 6 months and the likes of carwow will have offers of 3 to 5k of list price before finance insensitives are a applied. Most dealers try the "that's the price of the car there's nothing more we can do" ploy until you lay down a cheaper offer from a competing dealer for the same car. 

Edited 18 November, 2019 by Gmac983

[Ootohere]

@ my local Skoda / SEAT dealership new £24,000 something Leon's sitting with £6,000 something off the RRP's.

 

With the likes of Broadspeed £5,500 of diesels and that and more off 1.5TSI's.

Pile them high and sell them cheap and even struggle to actually find buyers.

Edited 18 November, 2019 by Roottootemoot