Kamiq review - short and sweet

[fabill]

To my fellow Kamiq owners - in my opinion, you/we are indeed very fortunate to have the privilege of experiencing this extraordinary example of engineering design and manufacture.  The absence of any discernible vibration and the clever use of sound dampening make the Kamiq one of the most refined cars I've ever come across. And I've had 30+ at this point. The last being a 2018 Audi A3 S-line, 1.0 DSG, Saloon. That car couldn't hold a candle to the Kamiq in terms of refinement. But the refinement doesn't come at the detriment of the dynamics. Oh no. It is well able to hold its own on the motorway and on winding country roads. All together a brilliant package.     

 

So, if you are visiting this forum looking for input from Kamiq owners then I hope this contribution will be of assistance.

 

One journalist said of the Kamiq: "This small SUV has no right to be so refined". That sums it up perfectly.   

 

Edit. 20/4/21

One small but I think notable observation: Be aware that on S and SE specs the passenger seat is not height adjustable. It has to be selected from the options list.    

 

Edited 20 April, 2021 by fabill
Information

[lane]

Shame the infotainment is so temperamental with the SEL. 

[fabill]

17 minutes ago, lane said:

Shame the infotainment is so temperamental with the SEL. 

Sorry to hear about your infotainment. Perhaps Skoda are more concerned with the dynamics. 

    

[skoda1982]

29 minutes ago, lane said:

Shame the infotainment is so temperamental with the SEL. 

I have never had a problem in 16 months 

[Expatman]

Now if Skoda could have taken over the T-Cross and designed the interior and finish then we would be “cooking with diesel”. I like the Kamiq but it’s seating position is just too low to suit my wife who needs a car she can slide into rather than get down into. Seating height of our Yeti is perfect, but trying to find a replacement is very difficult without going bigger - which we don’t want. T-Cross seat height is fine but finish and equipment levels are really low rent. Kamiq looks like a car from a premium manufacturer, T-Cross not so much!

[ayrshiredude]

I have been very impressed with the quality of the interior for the cost of the car, ok its not in the same league as premium cars but then it costs a lot less.  My dad has a 2019 Karoq SE L and the Kamiq is way nicer that that.  I can't think of anything similar that has this level of finish.  Generally its very quiet, the quietest car I've had, though I am getting a few rattles which I will need to take it to the dealer to look at, just not been able to due to lockdown.  The infotainment system so far seems to be fine, no issues.  It drives well, having a slightly stiffer suspension means it handles bends well without being a harsh ride.  I was concerned about the 18" wheels giving too hard a ride but they are fine tbh.  Overall I am impressed and happy with the car.  just wish I could get out and do some longer drives

[xman]

7 minutes ago, ayrshiredude said:

I have been very impressed with the quality of the interior for the cost of the car, ok its not in the same league as premium cars but then it costs a lot less.  My dad has a 2019 Karoq SE L and the Kamiq is way nicer that that.  I can't think of anything similar that has this level of finish. 

 

To each his own but in my case, they must have got a special 1.0tsi SEL when I had a test drive last year. Cheap and nasty interior was my impression, hard plastics all round, some badly fitting, including the top of the dash and doors where I would have expected some squidgy material on a SEL. Had to check it was not the basic model. The rear seat area looked even worse. It was fairly quiet, but had a tendency to bounce around, sometimes quite violently, on less than perfect roads. Rear seat area looked very cramp indeed with lots of exposed hard cheap plastic trims at the sides.

 

Basically a Fabia size interior on stilts, ridiculous pricing for cash buyers.

[ayrshiredude]

11 minutes ago, xman said:

 

To each his own but in my case, they must have got a special 1.0tsi SEL when I had a test drive last year. Cheap and nasty interior was my impression, hard plastics all round, some badly fitting, including the top of the dash and doors where I would have expected some squidgy material on a SEL. Had to check it was not the basic model. The rear seat area looked even worse. It was fairly quiet, but had a tendency to bounce around, sometimes quite violently, on less than perfect roads. Rear seat area looked very cramp indeed with lots of exposed hard cheap plastic trims at the sides.

 

Basically a Fabia size interior on stilts, ridiculous pricing for cash buyers.

Don't know what that was because the top of the dash and the front doors are all soft touch.  Yes there are hard plastics lower down, but that's the same in pretty much every car without going to premium cars, even then its not always much better.  The rear seat has a huge amount of room, more than my dad's Karoq by a mile.  The top of the doors in the rear are certainly not soft touch, seems to be common on a lot of VAG cars, but all the doors have a cloth insert which is nicer than the hard plastic in the Karoq.  My thoughts on the drive are based on coming from a Seat Ibiza FR which had lowered Sports Suspension so might not be as soft as other cars.  Certainly my dad's Karoq has a softer ride but it also doesn't handle as well as the Kamiq.  To me its good trade off.  Your always going to get hard plastics in a £21000 car however my Friends Merc GLC isn't much better and it cost over £50000.

[xman]

Ive not been in the back of a Karoq but I find your claim hard to believe. Checking with the brochure dimesion show Karoq being bigger than Kamiq, which is to be expected. Maybe your dads has varioflex seating that reduces headroom

 

Karoq

 

Kamiq

[ayrshiredude]

His Karoq does have the varioflex seating but when I talked about room I was referring to leg room.  I'm not that tall so headroom is never an issue for me.  However the diagrams you have shown clearly show the Kamiq has more headroom then the Karoq 1003 to 993, Width is negligible.   While the Karoq is longer the boot is much bigger than the Kamiq so I assume a lot of the extra space has went there.

Edited 10 April, 2021 by ayrshiredude

[Nahkri]

Also the Kamiq has a longer wheelbase 2651 then the Karoq 2638,so legroom is better in the Kamiq.

[Gerrycan]

23 hours ago, ayrshiredude said:

His Karoq does have the varioflex seating but when I talked about room I was referring to leg room.  I'm not that tall so headroom is never an issue for me.  However the diagrams you have shown clearly show the Kamiq has more headroom then the Karoq 1003 to 993, Width is negligible.   While the Karoq is longer the boot is much bigger than the Kamiq so I assume a lot of the extra space has went there.

My impressions of the two in the showroom was that while the Kamiq rear accomodation was good, the Karoq had the better legroom.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought the Karoq rear seat could slide forward and backward so maybe the rear seat was forward for more boot space?

[fabill]

On 10/04/2021 at 13:35, xman said:

 

To each his own but in my case, they must have got a special 1.0tsi SEL when I had a test drive last year. Cheap and nasty interior was my impression, hard plastics all round, some badly fitting, including the top of the dash and doors where I would have expected some squidgy material on a SEL. Had to check it was not the basic model. The rear seat area looked even worse. It was fairly quiet, but had a tendency to bounce around, sometimes quite violently, on less than perfect roads. Rear seat area looked very cramp indeed with lots of exposed hard cheap plastic trims at the sides.

 

Basically a Fabia size interior on stilts, ridiculous pricing for cash buyers.

 

Are you absolutely sure you inspected and test drove a Kamiq?

I ask because no one could possibly miss the squidgy plastic on the top of dash board and front door cappings.

Further evidence it wasn't a Kamiq is provided by your comment on the rear area looking 'very cramp(ed)'. Reviewers nationwide don't agree on all aspects of the Kamiq but, without exception, they are unanimous in their agreement reference the rear area - it is more in keeping with the next size up SUV. 

In case prospective buyers visit this forum I want them to know that the plastics aren't hard all round and the rear isn't cramp(ed).  Neither does it 'bounce around'. 

There are lots of online reviews. Read them.  By and large they are very favourable. Polar opposite to xman comments.   

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

Edited 12 April, 2021 by fabill

[xman]

I have bought and driven Skodas for sixteen years,  know the range inside out, and yes I know a Kamiq when I see one. Wanted to test drive a Scala, but none available sir,  take this Kamiq for an hour instead.

I did think it was the basic model, with the hard plastics and manual aircon, but the salesman insisted it was an SEL. Said it had optional extras too, ACC and something else iirc. No moniker on the tailgate to confirm.

Maybe he was lying or just plain ignorant and it was an SE or even an S. It would make more sense as I found it difficult to believe a range topper would feel so basic.

Maybe Kamiq is ok as a car for the missus doing the weekly shopping but the price was ridiculous for what it was.

Edited 11 April, 2021 by xman

[fabill]

15 hours ago, xman said:

I have bought and driven Skodas for sixteen years,  know the range inside out, and yes I know a Kamiq when I see one. Wanted to test drive a Scala, but none available sir,  take this Kamiq for an hour instead.

I did think it was the basic model, with the hard plastics and manual aircon, but the salesman insisted it was an SEL. Said it had optional extras too, ACC and something else iirc. No moniker on the tailgate to confirm.

Maybe he was lying or just plain ignorant and it was an SE or even an S. It would make more sense as I found it difficult to believe a range topper would feel so basic.

Maybe Kamiq is ok as a car for the missus doing the weekly shopping but the price was ridiculous for what it was.

 

Can I respectfully suggest you go and have another look and you'll see the squishy surfaces and spacious rear area. 

While you're at it have a test drive in an SE with the 17" alloys. The ride is simply superb.

[xman]

No thank you

 

We have a Superb, an Octavia and a Fabia

 

The fabia is going to be supplanted most probably by a new Seat 

Leon later this year.

 

The Kamiq is not on my radar for reasons already given and its front end is ugly anyway imo.

 

I'm very happy for you that you find your Kamiq wonderful, maybe they are all squishy now and not just textured plastic. But its not a car that impressed me enough to consider it.

 

I advise people to always take an extended test drive before they look to buy any car regardless of make or model and see if its exactly what they want.

 

Edited 12 April, 2021 by xman

[fabill]

42 minutes ago, xman said:

No thank you

 

We have a Superb, an Octavia and a Fabia

 

The fabia is going to be supplanted most probably by a new Seat 

Leon later this year.

 

The Kamiq is not on my radar for reasons already given and its front end is ugly anyway imo.

 

I'm very happy for you that you find your Kamiq wonderful, maybe they are all squishy now and not just textured plastic. But its not a car that impressed me enough to consider it.

 

I advise people to always take an extended test drive before they look to buy any car regardless of make or model and see if its exactly what they want.

 

 

'No thank you.'

 

Pity. You don't know what you're missing.      

     

[xman]

I've already had a test drive in a Kamiq for over an hour or maybe you missed that bit. My son was with me,as he is the one who will choose. It will be his replacement car. He does 20,000+ miles a year all over the country for work. He pretty much dismissed it within the first 15 minutes.

 

I will admit my assessment of rear seat space was by looking from the front passenger seat. I was more concerned about occasional bouncing on uneven roads, as it reminded me of the Corsa we had 14 years ago which ended up bouncing into a roadside ditch and rolling into a farmers field.

 

Maybe I'm spoiled with my Superb and previous cars which were all much larger. My favourite was our Seat Alhambra.

 

We have tried a new Octavia Estate which was much better, but I think the Leon may be more his cup of tea.

 

But its ok to have an opinion. Good or otherwise. Everyone is different. The Kamiq will no doubt be popular, more so than the Skoda Rapid (reskinned as the Scala).

 

[logiclee]

18 hours ago, xman said:

 

I did think it was the basic model, with the hard plastics and manual aircon, but the salesman insisted it was an SEL.

 

SEL should have had climate.

 

[xman]

It didn't have the silver dash or those two tone seats, so I was probably right, it must have been a basic model. But who am I to argue with a salesman?

 

[logiclee]

3 minutes ago, xman said:

It didn't have the silver dash or those two tone seats, so I was probably right, it must have been a basic model. But who am I to argue with a salesman?

 

 

SE 

 

Smaller infotainment, analogue speedo/tacho, manual aircon.

[xman]

Thats the one!

[fabill]

1 hour ago, xman said:

I've already had a test drive in a Kamiq for over an hour or maybe you missed that bit. My son was with me,as he is the one who will choose. It will be his replacement car. He does 20,000+ miles a year all over the country for work. He pretty much dismissed it within the first 15 minutes.

 

I will admit my assessment of rear seat space was by looking from the front passenger seat. I was more concerned about occasional bouncing on uneven roads, as it reminded me of the Corsa we had 14 years ago which ended up bouncing into a roadside ditch and rolling into a farmers field.

 

Maybe I'm spoiled with my Superb and previous cars which were all much larger. My favourite was our Seat Alhambra.

 

We have tried a new Octavia Estate which was much better, but I think the Leon may be more his cup of tea.

 

But its ok to have an opinion. Good or otherwise. Everyone is different. The Kamiq will no doubt be popular, more so than the Skoda Rapid (reskinned as the Scala).

 

 

I didn't miss it. You didn't qualify your test drive with a duration. Just a test drive.

True, it's okay to have an opinion but when that opinion is not based on fact it is pointless at best and misleading at worst. 

I started this thread in the hope that owners/users would add their experiences of their Kamiq and these would be of value to members/visitors who might be contemplating a purchase/hire. 

Some of what you've posted has not been helpful in that regard.

But, hey ho, there you go.  

 

[J.R.]

Xman did add their experience, and unless he is making it all up then it is based on fact.

 

I dont see anything that he said which is pointless or misleading, he simply has a different opinion of the vehicle he drove than you do.

 

Remember that many people are currently buying vehicles sight unseen.

[xman]

Seems some can't respect that people can possibly have a different opinion to their own. I thought that was an exclusive mindset among those characters who post in the political threads of the roadside hotel.

 

If you love your Kamiq - that's great - Im glad for you, so you made a good decision, for you.

 

To me, after an hours test drive, it was just hmmm, lets look at something else instead.

 

End of my contribution to this thread.

 

Heres Mat Watson's view, more in line with yours, maybe not as extremely gushing

 

 

 

Edited 12 April, 2021 by xman