So......I've got a 69 plate Skoda Karoq 2.0TDI 4x4, now done around 30k miles in the car and wanted to share a few experiences with those thinking of buying one.

 

The Good

 

One the road the car has been spot on.  Nice to drive, good level of comfort and never a moment where the car has missed a beat or got into a pickle which could have had consequences.  It's also pretty economical with the trip computer often suggesting that I've averaged 47 or 48mpg between tank refills, but also could do with more 'ooomph' for overtaking.  So overall on that front, yeh its not been a bad motor at all. 

 

The bad 

 

Brakes - in 30+ years of motoring, 10+ brand new cars and 15+ nearly news of all multiple makes, models, values and configurations....this is the first car ever where at sub 20k miles the dealer has said that the car needed new discs and pads at the front.  Typically I'd normally expect 45k to 50k miles before they even get a mention, but on the Karoq less than 20K.  The dealer could not explain why, I told them that I could.....and it could only be quality of the components being significantly lower.  There are no other explanations, as everything else is pretty much the same including other 4 wheel drives which still went 40K+ miles before brakes needed a mention.  Anyway.....a quick £377 earner for Skoda just for the front changing.  Just a little less for the rear I expect.

 

Door Locks - yes I'm one of the many who has been locked out of the Karoq whilst their keys were inside as was my mobile phone......and blocking someone's driveway as I nipped out to open their gates.   3 hrs of life lost, and an damage waiver signed whilst the AA guy prised down the side of the door and went fishing for my keys.  When I asked Skoda, why did I personally need to sign an damage waiver when it was Skoda's product at fault and failing whilst under warranty.  Hence what other option existed for me at the time?   Anyway, responsibility deflected towards the owner of the faulty product, rather than the creator of the fault.  2 faulty door locks now ordered, and set to be replaced.  Get yours checked before your warranty expires!!

 

Alloys - Yes, I also have black Diamond Cut alloys and all 4 have the dreaded white worm where the outer lacquer is flaking off.  The two rear have been proposed by the dealer to Skoda Warranty for replacement, and the two front are a sore topic because of slight stone chips are a 'get out clause' where Skoda warranty will reject the claim......even though the stone chips are absolutely no where near the area of the white worm flakey area, warranty invalidated.  As I explained to the dealer in comparison......if the front of the wing had stone chips why would this invalidate a claim of rust on the rear of the same wing?

 

Panoramic Sunroof - Who would have known that after 2 years they want to give it a service.  I can't remember the quote but it was getting on towards £300.  I bet I haven't opened it more than a dozen times, that's nearly £25 per go, not a chance of me paying £300 for a sunroof service.  Another hidden cost not mentioned when buying the car and as tight Yorkshire man I did ask when buying!

 

Service intervals - When I bought the car from new I specifically asked to be put on the long life (approx 20k miles) service.  But no....got to 9k and the lights were calling me in for and oil change some more spend.  Again I asked to be changed onto the long life, as per my original request.  But no, got to 19K and the lights were calling me in again......no need to tell you which lights are now showing once again at 30k.

 

Key Fob Batteries - Yes they don't really last much beyond 6 months, and they often show no signs of a fading battery.....just a dead battery at the most inconvenient time and place.  And if you believe Skoda they insist the replacement battery must be one of their own....not a Duracell, Energizer .....only a Skoda Battery will do.  Complete cods wallop ofcourse!!

 

DAB Radio - It is the least capable DAB tuner that I've ever experienced.  I get less than half the stations which I do in my other car parked right next door to each other on the same drive way....and it doesn't improve on the move either.

 

The Ugly

 

Amongst the many cars that I have previously owned there have been at least 6 or 7 brand new Skoda's in the past since my first in 2002.  The big draw towards giving Skoda a chance around 2002 was the then JD Power Surveys and claimed customer care.  No quibbles, they wanted and appreciated your business and this was reflected in their regular top 10 places.  Sadly not any more, and they seem to do anything and everything to make money out of each existing client and sadly product quality has slipped massively.

 

I live around 1hr away from the Skoda dealer, so each time I go there I lose a minimum of 4hrs if they can't do the work whilst I wait (there & back to drop off...there and back for collection too).  Each time they need the car for a day before ordering warranty replacement parts, and of course you then have to come back again ............thus time doubles due to the return visit for fitting or rectifying. 

 

The car owes me 20 or 30 hrs, of time that I've simply not had to give during the ownership of any other car.  I work for myself, so as annoying as this is, I can find the time.  However, for those who don't have this flexibility I really feel for you, because sadly you'll need to give your Skoda dealer lots of time and money during your ownership.

 

I can't see there being another Karoq for me on the horizon anytime soon....perhaps not even another Skoda either.  Somewhere out there is another hungry car maker who appreciate their clients much more than Skoda currently do, with quality to match also.

 

Do the discs and pads actually need replacing or is that just them saying they do?

 

The car was on the 18,000- 20,000 mile servicing, it left the factory on Variable /Flexible servicing, it was changed to fixed on purpose at the PDI.  

 

PS

@30,000 miles /3 years the Haldex is due a Service. 

Edited 17 August, 20223 yr by roottoot

1 hour ago, AndyGrob73 said:

Service intervals - When I bought the car from new I specifically asked to be put on the long life (approx 20k miles) service.  But no....got to 9k and the lights were calling me in for and oil change some more spend.  Again I asked to be changed onto the long life, as per my original request.  But no, got to 19K and the lights were calling me in again......no need to tell you which lights are now showing once again at 30k.

Doing ~10k/year you shouldn't be on variable service anyway; that's intended for reps who do 20k/year or more slogging up and down motorways.

I had an old Tiguan Auto DSG from 2009 - 2019 and it was on long life service for all of its life. I only did around 8000 miles per year and I never had an issue.  The truth however (imho) is that the long life service intervals don't really save you that much money as each service is pretty much a major one rather than Small, Big, Small, Big and....  All of the really expensive items (like Cambelt/Water pump, Brake disks, Haldex Servicing) are not affected by being on one or the other.

 

I did have a major song and merry dance every time it was serviced however.  Whenever they reset the service indicator it shoved it back over to annual regime and I had to insist (each time) that they take it back in and change it over manually to variable. I am guessing that was because it was PDI'd to annual (against my express instructions) when I purchased the car from new. It used to really pi*s them off but I was adament and they did not have a leg to stand on. I also only had it serviced at VW for the first 3 years and then used a VAG Specialist for all future work (as I feel they did a more thorough job).  Maybe that's the answer - find a mechanic you trust and stick with them.

 

I also had the moon roof and did not service it in 10 years and it was faultless (but I did make sure the drains were kept clean and I did clean and lubricate the rails and hinges with various PTFE and Silicone sprays and gels. 

 

 

This time around (with the Karoq) I did specifically go onto annual servicing and also took out All-in-one for years 4 and 5 (as the warranty seemed to be prudent with the DSG) but from Year 6 I will be back to the independants for all the work and even in the interim, I will use the Indies for Brake work and such like. 

Edited 18 August, 20223 yr by smipx

KenONeil....I agree and disagree at the same time. 

 

The key part for me is that I asked Skoda to set me on a longlife service schedule (whether needed or not) and that is what they should have done.  If it hadn't have been for covid times I would have been doing much higher annual mileage, and theoretically a better candidate for the LL schedule maybe.  As it happens I haven't done much annual mileage, but Skoda didn't know that I wouldn't and it wasn't for them to decide when they failing to follow my request at new, 10k and 20k??

 

Also as I put in my OP, the Skoda dealer isn't just round the corner from me and I could really do without the time loss of taking the car in for service when I'd asked not to and for the intervals to be extended. Its not really a matter of the service costs themselves, its the incovenience and loss to the working day.  Each time I go to the dealer to drop the car off and then have to return later in the day to collect, it's a 4hr chunk of the day gone, diesel costs and the remining part heavily compromised.  It's a cost to me that's greater than the service charge its self.

18 hours ago, roottoot said:

Do the discs and pads actually need replacing or is that just them saying they do?

 

The car was on the 18,000- 20,000 mile servicing, it left the factory on Variable /Flexible servicing, it was changed to fixed on purpose at the PDI.  

 

PS

@30,000 miles /3 years the Haldex is due a Service. 

Hit me with it.....how much is the Haldex service cost typically?

4 hours ago, smipx said:

Whenever they reset the service indicator it shoved it back over to annual regime and I had to insist (each time) that they take it back in and change it over manually to variable

At a guess, they were resetting the indicator with the switchgear rather than doing the job properly (for variable) with the workshop computer.

Sunroof service? uau, that is new to me! £300? 

Thanks for sharing, it is useful info for a future buyers. Your mpg is not bad for a 4x4 SUV.

I am curious about front brakes too - do they really needed to be changed or the dealer said that they do? 

I agree with the client quality and looking after the client - I think all manufacturers are not great and the worst are would be 3 Germans. Usually for other brands you have great sales department and pretty shi..y service department!

4 minutes ago, Vlady said:

 

I am curious about front brakes too - do they really needed to be changed or the dealer said that they do? 

 

Yes they did a little walk around video and the contact area on the inside of the disc look awful to be fair.  Heavily scored and then wide bands where there is little if any pad contact taking place at all.  I've just independently bought some replacement discs and pads (Borg Beck) for around £85 and I'd be surprised if a local garage can't fit them for an hour or so worth of labour.   So overall a likely >50% or  £200+ saving compared to Skoda's price quoted.

Those were certainly brakes that needed servicing long before they got to needing the discs and pads replaced.

 

The Haldex Service is about £85 at a Main Dealers but to do it correctly you might have to ask if the pump is being cleaned and if they are going to it might be over £100. 

 

?

@AndyGrob73 Were you never made aware at the Services that the Haldex servicing was due @ 3 years or 30,000 miles?

Edited 18 August, 20223 yr by roottoot

Front discs and brakes should be straightforward diy.

Rear brakes are difficult I understand due to auto handbrake systems needing to be over riden?

The Haldex service on my Yeti was £165 2 years ago including the essential opening up and filter clean.

3 minutes ago, kenfowler3966 said:

Rear brakes are difficult I understand due to auto handbrake systems needing to be over riden?

You are correct, EPB - Electronic Parking Brakes must be "opened" fully by software and then "closed" afterward you have changed the pads and refitted.

@roottoot.....appreciate the chart thanks.  Nope, not something that I was made aware of and I did specifically ask the dealer at the time of buying new.  I guess they just wanted the sale and deal with any other repercussions or inaccuracies later.  Priority one, get the sale in the bag!!

 

Brake discs......I 100% agree with you, this hasn't happened over night and chances are that the brakes and later discs have been on their way out for a fair few miles.   Again, as per my OP in all the makes and models, and variants of cars that I have previously owned .......nothing has come close to failing quite so much, and so soon.  The Skoda dealer could not offer any explanation why, as it clearly points to some aspect of either design or component quality.

3 hours ago, AndyGrob73 said:

@roottoot.....appreciate the chart thanks.  Nope, not something that I was made aware of and I did specifically ask the dealer at the time of buying new.  I guess they just wanted the sale and deal with any other repercussions or inaccuracies later.  Priority one, get the sale in the bag!!

 

Brake discs......I 100% agree with you, this hasn't happened over night and chances are that the brakes and later discs have been on their way out for a fair few miles.   Again, as per my OP in all the makes and models, and variants of cars that I have previously owned .......nothing has come close to failing quite so much, and so soon.  The Skoda dealer could not offer any explanation why, as it clearly points to some aspect of either design or component quality.

Would be nice to know what caused that damage. Usually replacement discs are due to rust or worn down pads. 

 

tom

On 19/08/2022 at 13:19, Sanqhar said:

Would be nice to know what caused that damage. Usually replacement discs are due to rust or worn down pads. 

 

tom

 

For scoring that bad I imagine it'd either have to be pads down to the metal exposing rivets to the discs or stones embedded in the pads.  Whatever's caused it, it's pretty spectacular.