G'day everyone! My name is Matt and I run the Car Review YouTube channel MattBrandCars (link for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/mattbrandcars)

 

Skoda have given me a 2020 Kodiaq RS and I wanted to know from owners: What do you love about your Kodiaq? What do you hate?

 

I like to get the opinions of those who actually live with the car as well as my own thoughts from driving it over the week. I use some of what you have to say in the review! (Scheduled release: 2nd August)

 

Cheers in advance!

 

 

Love:  space, quietness, handling, ease of use, value for money, and the performance + economy are surprisingly good (for a 1.4 petrol in my case)

 

I don't "hate" anything, but on my list of suggested improvements would be:

• a more settled ride (it feels like it never settles down to a smooth cruise)
• ability to change the angle of the lower part of the driver's seat (on manually-adjusted seats)
• a less plasticky feel to parts of the interior
• release of autohold brakes can be felt as a slight jerk (no jerk at all on my 13-year-old smart car's equivalent autohold)

Edited 25 July, 20205 yr by DaveMiller

17 minutes ago, DaveMiller said:

release of autohold brakes can be felt as a slight jerk (no jerk at all on my 13-year-old smart car's equivalent autohold)

No jerk on mine fella, maybe something not right with yours? 

 

I like the "that's a nice car" comments from stranger's, "what is it?" as I've debadged it

Edited 25 July, 20205 yr by AndyMorris

19 minutes ago, AndyMorris said:

No jerk on mine fella, maybe something not right with yours? 

 

 

+1

When I say “jerk”, I mean that I can actually detect the release of the brakes.  On the smart there’s a “hill hold” that releases much like a torque-convertor automatic would change from stationary to forward motion: smoothly, with no sensation at all.

 

Both demo Kodiaqs I drove did what mine does - I live with it, but wish they’d improve it.

My negatives would be.

 

I would have liked a 5 seater SE-L.   I don’t need 7 seats.

Interior lights should come on at night when I turn the ignition off, so I can see to retrieve my phone, wallet, and keys before I open the door.
 

Positives

Love the space and all the storage compartments.

Nice smooth ride.

 

 

Con: The roof drips on to the seats when the door is open

Con: Plastic on rear passenger doors is crappier than the front doors (and no door approach light in the rear)

Con: Harsh white interior lights

Con: Some sort of resonance inside on harsh roads and dirt, makes a booming/roaring sound (might be just my configuration)

 

Pro: Great visibility

Pro: Easy to park

Pro: For a 4cyl, the CZPA engine is smooth and quiet (although not particularly powerful)

Pro: Still ran and drove 120km home after being partially submerged and having 6 inches of water sloshing around inside

 

(Not relevant to your story):

Con: No diesel with Active info in 'straya

Con: Only spacesaver spare available in 'straya (coz it's all that will fit)

1 hour ago, wokwon said:

Con: The roof drips on to the seats when the door is open

Con: Plastic on rear passenger doors is crappier than the front doors (and no door approach light in the rear)

Con: Harsh white interior lights

Con: Some sort of resonance inside on harsh roads and dirt, makes a booming/roaring sound (might be just my configuration)

 

Pro: Great visibility

Pro: Easy to park

Pro: For a 4cyl, the CZPA engine is smooth and quiet (although not particularly powerful)

Pro: Still ran and drove 120km home after being partially submerged and having 6 inches of water sloshing around inside

 

(Not relevant to your story):

Con: No diesel with Active info in 'straya

Con: Only spacesaver spare available in 'straya (coz it's all that will fit)

 

It's relevant! I'm from Melb too :)

 

Thanks for the detailed response!

Thanks everyone for your responses, I am reading them and noting them down!

The good. They way it drives on all the different settings Matt. In Sport setting on the shocks actually does handle pretty well while normal mode is fine for everything else, comfort for dirt roads, even with 20inch wheels.

Seats don't just look good, they actually are comfortable.

This diesel does everything fairly easy too, torque is addictive.

The price, $13k less than equivalent Hyundai Santa Fee in NZ and drives better, no brainer.

The bad. Settings for virtual dash and drive mode reset each time to default.

Slight delay vs other VAG cars I've had in moving from a standstill. Pedal box possibly to fix?

Headlights not as good as last two VWs I've had with LEDs I.e high beam lacks the same strength and width at distance.

Cheers.

The good 

 

look 

solidity
visibility 

space

storage

radio/sat nav

engines

comfort

surprised at off road capability 

 

The bad

 

Fit of trim around windows plus the way it attracts green mould.

Squeaking interior door handles 

Door protectors (forever playing up)

Needs Better Front seats, seat squab doesn’t extend far enough forward. 
Poor quality boot carpet.

Over enthusiastic radar proximity warnings

The ugly

 

Removing most 5 seat versions 

Removing the warning door lights

Removing one of the umbrellas in the doors
 

The cup holders in the centre console and rear foldaway armrest are too small. 
 

This genuinely annoys me. Really wish I’d tested their size before I ordered it. The ones in my Golf are bigger and our old CX-5 ones were bigger too. 

3 hours ago, tallpaul_kodiaq said:

The cup holders in the centre console and rear foldaway armrest are too small. 
 

This genuinely annoys me. Really wish I’d tested their size before I ordered it. The ones in my Golf are bigger and our old CX-5 ones were bigger too. 

 

I doubt there's any car in the world that is problem free, we all have to give and take in our choices, but that's the first I've heard of anyone questioning buying a car because the cupholders are too small.

 

So what drinks fit in a Golf but not a Kodiaq? Any takeaway drink I've had seems to fit - your std size travel mug fits too.

 

Wonder if that criticism will make OP's final edit.   

6 hours ago, tallpaul_kodiaq said:

The cup holders in the centre console and rear foldaway armrest are too small. 
 

This genuinely annoys me. Really wish I’d tested their size before I ordered it. The ones in my Golf are bigger and our old CX-5 ones were bigger too. 

The front and back door pockets drink spaces could fit a wine size bottle in the golf, Kodiaq can't so are smaller. 

I just want bloody cooled seats in my RS then I'd have no complaints.

Love:

2.0 TSi engine is a peach - powerful, smooth, quiet, but with surprisingly-good fuel economy (way, way better than I'd anticipated)

Leather seats - just the right balance of grip and slip, also seat design is proving very comfortable, especially with the electric adjustment

Driving position and steering wheel adjustment - suits all from tall to short

Infotainment system - it just works, bright and sharp screen, excellent DAB reception, android auto and apple car play work just fine

Virtual cockpit - love it, more customisation that I'd anticipated, so very pleased with it

Ride and steering - I have progressive steering which comes with variable suspension, even the standard suspension is really good, comfort adds a subtle touch of extra compliance

Car is very, very quiet, especially with retro-fit 17-inch wheels and 65-profile all-season tyres (the potholes round here destroy low-profile tyres in weeks)

Good turning circle for size of car, and good visibility (and good parking sensors)

Adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist work really well and take some of the strain of motorway stints

Nice big boot, load cover fits under boot floor (a huge plus for us), lots of interior space, good storage options

Available with retractable towbar, which gets used several times a week for attaching a bike rack

Headlights (LED) are excellent, and (evidently) easy to adjust for European driving. The auto dip/high beam seems to work just fine

Doors cover the sills - like a proper SUV should

Price! - in the UK, via a broker, can get massive discounts (ours was nearly 19% even without finance) and it's a good value car anyway

When I bought the car, lots of flexibility in the options, so I have what I want and nothing I don't: kudos Skoda (and to be fair Volvo are pretty good for this)

 

So-so:

Infotainment speaker quality - could be better

Get with the programme Skoda - need more charge-only USB ports

Android auto and apple car play should also show navigation on the instrument cluster (AA certainly supports this)

I'd like more choice of colours

DSG box can be a bit 'jerky' at low speed when car is cold, but really isn't a problem

Built-in sat nav is just about OK, no easy/free option to link to phone and get live digital traffic

Local Skoda dealers are as bad as you'd expect, ignorant, uninterested staff, no parking available, conform to every stereotype of car dealer staff. Although the one I collected the car from seems - so far - to be OK, and not too far away which is good

 

Hate:

12V sockets are live all the time, no option to change to ignition-only

Car defaults to 'normal' drive mode when ignition turned off

Skoda UK are utterly, totally hopeless. Live chat cannot answer the easiest tech Q, told to email Q to SUK, who then ignore it. Live chat people will just tell you anything even when it's so obviously wrong

 

And that's it. If the car got written off tomorrow, I'd almost certainly buy another one

Hope that helps....

Hey Everyone, thanks for all the comments! Really gave me good insight, which is valuable because I don't get to spend too long with the cars (just a week!). Finally finished filming and editing, here is the review for those interested 
 

 

Approved, although I personally felt a little uncomfortable watching it as you seem to be looking over at the camera far more than the road. 

23 minutes ago, ColinD said:

Approved, although I personally felt a little uncomfortable watching it as you seem to be looking over at the camera far more than the road. 

Thank you! And I get that, but it's worth noting the camera is mounted on the window, and most shots of me looking away are covered by B-roll footage so it's not boring for the viewer! If I look at the camera for an extended period of time, I'll be stationary and if I'm driving it'll usually be a glance when there is limited traffic 😊

On 30/07/2020 at 04:07, ZacDaMan72 said:

I just want bloody cooled seats in my RS then I'd have no complaints.

Are the ventilated seats really worth it?

1 minute ago, ghellers said:

Are the ventilated seats really worth it?

For me yes, for others maybe not. I would've been happy to pay the extra. 

that vRS is a damn nice car

On 02/08/2020 at 10:28, MattBrandCars said:

Hey Everyone, thanks for all the comments! Really gave me good insight, which is valuable because I don't get to spend too long with the cars (just a week!). Finally finished filming and editing, here is the review for those interested 
 

 

Hey matt, saw ur review yesterday. Was quite nice and I get the impression you enjoyed it. I am a bit late , but here's a link of my impressions on the vRS.

 

Love:  It's a great car, spacious, comfy and does exactly what it should do, without any pretence.

 

Hate:  The penny pinching changes that Skoda are introducing