Buyer's remorse, please help.

[Shaw_234]

Hi. I was on my way to replace my current mercedes c220d sport today with all intentions to buy another (ex demo or pre reg model) however I seen a karoq 1.5 dsg sportline that caught my eye and had a look. 30 mins later I had ordered one (black magic with virtual cockpit, spare wheel and adaptive cruise control brand new for £25,550.  This includes 3 years warranty plus 3 years road side assistance. (£250 more than the 19 plate mercedes with 9k miles). According to the dealer this this should have been around the £32,000 mark. However I now have buyer's remorse and am questioning my choice. In short I'm looking for reassurance that I have done the right thing. Is it, A,. Good car to drive, B, do I need to change the wheels and tyres due to road noise, and C, will I enjoy it. (the main question). 

 

I really would appreciate any reassurance and also any other advice on what I should have upgraded or should have asked about. I have never owned or thought about owning a Skoda until I seen this one today.  

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

Tony. 

[DSL]

I bought my first ever Skoda back in June without even sitting in one and absolutely no regrets.   

[MJ1]

Yes a great car, some early ones had niggles that should have now been resolved. If you plan to keep it then get the extra two year warranty before car is delivered, only available from factory built orders.

 

The 1.5 engine has a decent amount of poke for overtaking. The DSG is my first and I don't think I will drive a manual again. I plan to keep mine for many years as long as the major items don't need replacing.  My regret was not getting the extended warranty.

[DSL]

I didn’t have the option of the “factory” extended warranty but hope to get similar at the end of 3 years. 

[Ootohere]

The extra 2 year warranty on a new car needs put on before the car is first registered in the UK and not when ordered from the factory.  That is regardless of what a sales person says at s dealership.

[Shaw_234]

Yes I think I'll call back this morning and speak to them about the extended warranty. I also am planning on taking the wheel and tyre insurance as the tyres on the 19" wheels don't look like they will do to well against a bad pot hole. Thanks. 

[SurreyJohn]

22 minutes ago, Shaw_234 said:

Yes I think I'll call back this morning and speak to them about the extended warranty. I also am planning on taking the wheel and tyre insurance as the tyres on the 19" wheels don't look like they will do to well against a bad pot hole. Thanks. 

 

Very sensible to add the 5 year warranty, get it confirmed in writing as it can’t be added later.

 

Not sure what tyre or wheel insurance is, or what it costs, or what it excludes. But if it excludes you bumping a kerb etc might not be worth it.   
 

Regarding tyres, I think latest models are delivered with low rolling resistance (Eco) summer tyres.  These are good in warm and hot weather (and at WLTP test temperature of +23c), but very poor grip below about +10c.  Not a Karoq problem but common to virtually all new cars now.   Consider asking for tyres to be swapped to premium all seasons at delivery, or set of winter wheels and tyres being added at minimal cost.

 

 

[shyVRS245]

That’s a very good price. We paid £23,500 for our SEL with 18” Braga alloys including metallic paint new in Jan 2018 with a manual gearbox and the excellent 1.5TSi engine. Passed first MOT in January with flying colours and early 30,000 miles done it has averaged 46mpg. Due to wife working from home I drive it when I work nights and it handles well (now fitted 19” alloys with 235 tyres) is quiet and wife loves it and we plan to keep it at least 10 years. Great car and probably the best compact SUV money can buy and much better and more practical than your old Merc.

[Sanqhar]

I keep my cars to the point of throwing them away and have never bothered with extended warranty. Whenever a sales person has pushed it, whether on a car or a washing machine, I always ask whether they are really saying that the car will break down in that time.  I am not a betting person.  I know an Actuary who works in the insurance industry and he would never buy an extended warranty.    

 

190,000 miles on a petrol Passat estate (10 years). 140,000 miles on a diesel Passat estate (14 years) I only got rid of it because the Scrappage Scheme was too good to ignore.  109,000 miles on my diesel Yeti (9 years). I only part exchanged that because the 'fix' ruined it and my mileage was changing.

Now with a 1.5 Tsi Sel DSG and my only (mild) regret is that it doesn't have that rugged look of the Yeti.

A great car that gets regularly praised in the press.

 

 tom

[Ootohere]

There are 5 year warranties on a Skoda in Australia, so there they know what customers want and in Europe what customers will pay extra for if buying a keeper.

 

The cost if an extra 2 years manufacturers warranty is worth every pence (penny) when buying a car with a DQ200 DSG or a 1.5 TSI EVO engine.

It might be a year or 3 or 4 from now until that can be shown as true or just wasted money.

[SAL_III]

No one can answer your main concerns "will you enjoy it". That's probably the most subjective quality in any product. We can only share our experiences and let you decide if you are the only crazy person around

 

In my case I have driven VAG cars for about 15 years. Various Seats and my current car of 8 years a '57 plate Audi A6, that is starting to show it's age and has been begging for replacement for some time. The trigger was the announced expansion of the London ULEZ from September which would have meant paying £15/day, screw that. 

 

After watching about 1000000000 YouTube videos and being well accustomed to VAG vehicles I had my sights set on the Karoq as the most sensible choice for compact SUV. Got great deals for it from carwow and was probably going to order it blind without a test drive if it wasn't for the pre-Christmas easing of lockdown that allowed me to go for a test drive. My main question/test was if the ride was comfortable enough with the DCC, that has a hefty £1k price tag.

 

Bottom line is, ride quality and space are comparable with the 12 y.o. A6 even without the DCC and on 19" wheels.

 

Bought the extended warranty (£660 I believe). My current plan is to either drive this for 10 years or so or sell it after 4 years, at which point it will have 1 year warranty left which with my low mileage will hopefully allow me to get better price for it. History will tell if my idea was correct or not.

[Westbury63]

The car gets good write ups. It doesn't sound like you have made a terrible decision tbh. Ultimately you have replaced your mass produced German car for another mass produced German car, albeit one with a Skoda badge.  Relax and enjoy!

[Bobspence]

I have had a 1.5DSG sportline since Aug last year. It is a fantastic car. Smooth powerful economical beautifully built and a pleasure to own and drive BUT the low profile tyres are absolutely shocking on anything but smooth roads. I recently made contact with a small pothole on the M11 and thought the front suspension leg had disintegrated. Previous car was Karoq SEL and ride quality was superb. 

[Shaw_234]

Hi, glad to hear your enjoying the car. I'm picking my car up (or it will be delivered to me) in 2 weeks as luckily they were able to source a black sportline with the options I wanted from another dealer. Looking forward to it but am conserved about the tyres as I have read a lot of negative reviews regarding them. Do you know if I can out a higher profile tyre on the 19's or would I have to drop to an 18 to do so? 

[SurreyJohn]

59 minutes ago, Bobspence said:

I have had a 1.5DSG sportline since Aug last year. It is a fantastic car. Smooth powerful economical beautifully built and a pleasure to own and drive BUT the low profile tyres are absolutely shocking on anything but smooth roads. I recently made contact with a small pothole on the M11 and thought the front suspension leg had disintegrated. Previous car was Karoq SEL and ride quality was superb. 

The Sportline nowadays has 225/40 R19 low rolling resistance (rough translation : hard and firm) tyres

 

The SEL gets 215/50 R18 tyres (which have deeper sidewalls)

 

It’s all good looks and nice if you only drive on well maintained roads, but in many parts of UK roads have holes, so not that practical.   
 

The SE and SE Drive both get 17 inch wheels, and in some European countries lower spec models get 16 inch wheels.   In my opinion having biggest rim of 4 sizes is always going to cause problems with potholes as have so much less tyre sidewall to absorb the bumps.  

 

In Germany (which has higher speed limits than UK) the Karoq Sportline has factory option of 16 or 17 or 18 inch alloys (or 16 inch steel) with winter tyres.  So can still have Sportline looks and equipment, but don’t have to have 19 inch wheels.  
 

 

 

 

[Guest]

I know the Perth area quite well. 225/40/19 tyres wouldn't have been my first choice if I'm driving anywhere other than the A9 or M90. If you stay out in the sticks, then invest in a bum cushion and ear muffs.

 

Personally I'd never buy a car without driving it or a similar model. But to buy it without even having sat in one? That's one hell of a risk.

 

 

[Shaw_234]

12 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

I know the Perth area quite well. 225/40/19 tyres wouldn't have been my first choice if I'm driving anywhere other than the A9 or M90. If you stay out in the sticks, then invest in a bum cushion and ear muffs.

 

Personally I'd never buy a car without driving it or a similar model. But to buy it without even having sat in one? That's one hell of a risk.

 

12 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

Hi Scot5, 

Fortunately the garage did allow me to sit in the car and that was a sportline model. Just couldn't drive it. (or any other car due to covid restrictions) so unfortunately unless I bought the same car I had or one I had previously owned then it was always going to be the case. Not ideal I agree. The tyres are my biggest concern. However it was the sportline I liked the look of. Hopefully tho I can change the tyres for slightly higher profile with out much problems. 

My driving is 75% motorway so fingers crossed it's not to bad. 

 

12 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

 

 

[shyVRS245]

Well hadn't driven our 1.5TSi manual much recently (wife had done just 202 miles in the last 4 weeks) so it was nice to get back in it last night for my 27 mile commute and 2 things always strike me. There is no wind noise from the mirrors at motorway speeds and you can't hear the engine when cruising. Even the 235/40R19 Bridgestone SOO1 performance tyres are not intrusive and despite the wife averaging just 22mph and 37.7mpg in the last month my downhill drive to work managed 51.8mpg and uphill return 51.2mpg which is excellent considering these tyres produce a lot of drag and are not ECO tyres.

[Guest]

Shouldn't be too bad then. I have 19" on our car ( Edition ), it's not the easiest of sizes to alter without changing the alloys too. Not impossible, just not easy.

 

You'll read elsewhere on the forum about tyres. In an ideal world I'd stick all-weather tyres on the Karoq like I did my previous Octavia - it made a HUGE difference on that car. The added traction this time of year being a bonus - especially around Perth !

 

I'm going to assume ( rightly or wrongly ) you visited Thomson & Potter? Long story short but Skoda Dundee provided one of the best prices via Carwow for a Kodiaq but went silent. T&P part of the same group so visited them and gave them the opportunity to do business - they weren't interested in any discounting. I bought the car elsewhere. Then when it came to selling the Octavia, T&P have a system like Arnold Clark "We buy your car for cash" advertised on their website. Made an inquiry, received one of the better prices and they remembered the car from my previous visit and were happy to buy it. So when I gave the go ahead to sell the replied asking was it the new Octavia I was interested in? I said no, I'm just selling my car for cash as per your website. Never heard back from them.

 

So well done if you got a deal thru them because in July they just weren't interested in any discounting whatsoever.

[agedbriar]

On 02/03/2021 at 21:31, Shaw_234 said:

Do you know if I can out a higher profile tyre on the 19's or would I have to drop to an 18 to do so? 

The latter, as you mustn't change the outer diameter of the wheel.

My 17" and 16" (for winter tyres) rims deliver an even softer ride, due to higher tyre sidewalls.

 

Edited 4 March, 2021 by agedbriar

[PetrolDave]

1 hour ago, agedbriar said:

The latter, as you mustn't change the outer diameter of the wheel tyre.

Corrected that for you - with smaller wheels the tyre profile usually needs to be larger (it's specified as a percentage of tyre width) to maintain the overall tyre diameter. The general 'rule of thumb' is that it should be within 2% of the original.

 

There are plenty of online tyre calculators which will allow a comparison between the original wheel/tyre size and those being considered, I usually use this one

[agedbriar]

Quoting from     https://www.carpart.com.au/blog/educational/car-wheel-parts-and-their-functions

 

"People sometimes refer to the wheel as the rim and vice versa. Let's differentiate between the two - the rim is only a part of the wheel, while the wheel comprises of the rim, tyre, and other components."

 

Hence: spare wheel  (rim + tyre,  hopefully inflated ).

 

 

Edited 4 March, 2021 by agedbriar

[Fux]

"Fortunately the garage did allow me to sit in the car and that was a sportline model. Just couldn't drive it. (or any other car due to covid restrictions)"

 

what the hell? dealer wouldn't let you test drive the car alone (or with someone you know) due to covid?

makes no sense to me.. they could just disinfect it when you return it

 

sounds like a ****ty dealer - how many people will buy a car without even driving it?

[DSL]

1 hour ago, Fux said:

 how many people will buy a car without even driving it?

 

At least one, me! 

[kenfowler3966]

And me, but I have had loads of Skodas before.

No regrets as much nicer to drive than prior Yeti’s.

I don't get the complaints about the ride on the 19” wheels? It's near perfect compared to a Yeti on 17” and I had them for previous 10 years.

Edited 5 March, 2021 by kenfowler3966