It seemed to be a top spec model, had all the bells and whistles. Diesel like my mk3.

 

The 6 speed gearbox is great, my mk3 has a 5 speed and at 70mph mine is at about 2200rpm. The mk4 with 6 speed was sitting at under 1700rpm at the same speed.

 

Engine noise was a lot less apparent in the mk4. When I got back in my car I could really hear the difference.

 

I think there's less road noise too. I did notice wind noise a bit but that's probably because there was less engine and road noise to muffle it.

 

Didn't think much of the speakers in the mk4. There wasn't much body or weight to the sound. Found this a bit surprising.

 

The touch screen is used to control almost everything. I'm not entirely convinced by this approach. In the day I had the car I couldn't find how to change the fan speed for the air blowers.

 

There are now more options in the "Driving Mode" bit. Chassis can be normal or sport. Not sure exactly what this does.

 

Seats were more comfortable in mk4.

 

I liked the steering wheel and the general quality of the cabin materials in the mk4. May be because it was a top spec model.

 

Handling very similar to the mk3 but I think the ride had improved a bit. May be in part thanks to the larger wheels/tyres.

 

In general it felt a bit more premium and a more pleasant driving experience thanks to the lower cabin noise especially at speed. The only things I didn't like were the sound system (speakers) and the fact everything is through the touchscreen. 

Interesting.  Originally I was planning to have changed to the Mk 4 by now, but I have been seriously put off by the reported serious glitches with the electronics and left it alone for the time being.  Do you happen to know how recent the courtesy car was?   Presumably they have now sorted out the issues. (I assume that everything was working as it should).

6 minutes ago, lastgasp said:

Interesting.  Originally I was planning to have changed to the Mk 4 by now, but I have been seriously put off by the reported serious glitches with the electronics and left it alone for the time being.  Do you happen to know how recent the courtesy car was?   Presumably they have now sorted out the issues. (I assume that everything was working as it should).

 

I don't know what the glitches people have reported are. Presumably they update the software in the courtesy car regularly, though. It was a 71 plate. I didn't notice any glitches myself but as I said I couldn't work how how to change the blower speed - it wasn't obvious at all!

"There are now more options in the "Driving Mode" bit. Chassis can be normal or sport. Not sure exactly what this does"

 

Mk3 has this if it was spec'd from the factory with DCC.

 

it changes the dampers to be firmer in sport.

Edited 14 January, 20224 yr by vrs'burks

13 hours ago, lastgasp said:

Interesting.  Originally I was planning to have changed to the Mk 4 by now, but I have been seriously put off by the reported serious glitches with the electronics and left it alone for the time being.  Do you happen to know how recent the courtesy car was?   Presumably they have now sorted out the issues. (I assume that everything was working as it should).

You need to read the Mk4 section of this forum, many of the software glitches are still present and at least one doesn't have a date to be fixed.

 

The glitch that seems to be most cause for concern is sudden and unexpected emergency braking, closely followed by the ACC randomly deciding that it cannot overtake a car (which seems to be related to the car suddenly believing it is in a LHD country).

 

As well as these obviously safety related glitches there are several members commenting on the, in their opinion, difficulty achieving some functions using the infotainment system as they are 'buried' some layers deep in a menu system rather than having dedicated buttons or soft keys.

 

They all say that the car is nice to drive, but have varying levels of concern over the software problems and for some they have been so unacceptable that they have rejected their cars for a refund.

 

Worth reading the Mk4 forum fully especially this post and carefully and making your own mind - caveat emptor.

Edited 15 January, 20224 yr by PetrolDave

PetrolDave

 

Thank you for summarising the current situation for me.  I've been pre-occupied with other matters for some time now and worrying about a replacement car became a low priority, so I haven't looked in there for a while.  Obviously little has improved since I did last look.  I'll just have to keep my old bus running until Skoda sort their **** out.

 

P.S.  I have now read the thread you linked to.  What a tragedy for Skoda fans.  People were choosing Skodas on merit, in preference to Beemers and Mercs, but now Skoda have thrown it all away with a poor product and total indifference to their customers.

Edited 15 January, 20224 yr by lastgasp

I'm made up getting a mk3 and that I wasn't looking for a new car at this current time. I hate the way manufacturers are having a touchscreen for all the controls. They're fiddly to use whilst you're driving and they're a pain to have to navigate through.

 

Physical buttons!!!! Twisty knobs!!! A lever for the recirculation!!!!

 

The other downside of the MK4 compared to the mk3 is the vrs diesel is in DSG only. I'm yet to drive a DSG box I've gone 'oh I'm happy with that' because I don't feel like I'm in proper control. ZF boxes on BMW's at least let you have fully manual mode.

My last two cars before the DSG based VRS petrol were the BMW330e.  Did about 20K miles in both.  Have only manage about 5K in this one as the pandemic severly curtailed my travel.  In the 5k I've had with the DSG (6 speed) on my VRS I'm equally as pleased/happy to use it.  If you want manual control of a gearbox... then get a manual.  I for one was converted by the BMWs and my motivation was the reduction in company car tax... the pleasant side effect has been the removal of a life long aversion to automatic geared cars... I would never go back to a manual now and I find the DSG equally pleasant to drive as the BMWs.

I'm wondering if the car I drove was a 2 litre diesel and that's why the revs were so low at 70mph?