Can see this briefly mentioned in a few threads but can't see an answer....

Had the new car since February and about 2-3 times a week, in city traffic it just stalls. Very dangerous especially when you're in nose to tail traffic.

what makes it worse is it seems to need the car to totally stop before you can restart the engine (1.5 petrol). You can't restart it on the roll...

I have the start-stop enabled all the time - could this be a factor?

My old Mk3 also had the start-stop enabled and I can honestly say I never noticed this issue even once.

Could there be an issue with the car or do you have to adopt a different driving technique?

25 minutes ago, chelon said:

I have the start-stop enabled all the time - could this be a factor?

Have you tried turning start-stop off?

If the car new or new to you? If new to you is the battery healthy with a good CCA?

Is the car fitted with a manual or auto (DSG) 'box?

The car was brand new to me in February and it's a manual not auto.

I will contact the dealer as well but is anyone else seeing this issue?

With a DSG car the stop/start will sometimes kick in when the car is still rolling to a stop rather than when it is fully at a stop (which took me a while to get used to) Not sure how the stop/start works with a newer gen manual car compared to our Fabia which has it but is a 19 plate where the stop/start only kicks in once the car is stood and in neutral and the clutch released.

They may still operate the same way I only question this as there are some improvements/changes to the stop/start technology with newer vehicles as for example on our Fabia once it's kicked in the power steering stops working compared to our Octy where the power steering is still operative when the stop/start has kicked in.

Edited 11 June, 202511 Jun by WaveyDavey

I think it's a bit sensationalist to describe a stalling car as "MAJOR safety issue" and "Very dangerous"

2 hours ago, dan245 said:

I think it's a bit sensationalist to describe a stalling car as "MAJOR safety issue" and "Very dangerous"

Well, I'm sure that'll help the OP no end 🙄

9 hours ago, chelon said:

what makes it worse is it seems to need the car to totally stop before you can restart the engine (1.5 petrol). You can't restart it on the roll...

Yep. Using the Start button to get the engine running again the car needs to be stationary and foot on the brake pedal.

However, I found that when I [through my own ineptitude] stall mine, that by depressing the clutch pedal the Stop/Start kicks in and fires up the engine. This works when the car is both stationary and when rolling.

4 hours ago, WaveyDavey said:

They may still operate the same way I only question this as there are some improvements/changes to the stop/start technology with newer vehicles

The stop/start in my 2020 mk4 is more sophisticated than my previous 2014 Superb mk2 (both petrol).

It now stops the engine whilst rolling slowly (<=3mph or thereabouts) in neutral and foot off the clutch.

It will restart when the car in front moves forward regardless of what I do with the clutch. Turning the steering wheel also restarts the engine.

18 hours ago, chelon said:

Can see this briefly mentioned in a few threads but can't see an answer....

Had the new car since February and about 2-3 times a week, in city traffic it just stalls. Very dangerous especially when you're in nose to tail traffic.

what makes it worse is it seems to need the car to totally stop before you can restart the engine (1.5 petrol). You can't restart it on the roll...

I have the start-stop enabled all the time - could this be a factor?

My old Mk3 also had the start-stop enabled and I can honestly say I never noticed this issue even once.

Could there be an issue with the car or do you have to adopt a different driving technique?

I'm not seeing the danger or anything more than a marginal risk to safety.

It's certainly inconvenient, and probably quite annoying though.

So far it hasn't been dangerous...but in certain scenarios you're relying on the engine and torque to get you out of trouble etc...and if it happened then yes you would be in danger. It's the unpredictability of it as much as anything that's worrying.

When it happens most times it grinds to a halt and the message "please restart engine manually" appears. Sometimes that works and other times you press the button and nothing....stick the handbrake on, wait a few seconds...try again it will start...then deal with all the waving fists behind you...

19 hours ago, SteveTheElder said:

Yep. Using the Start button to get the engine running again the car needs to be stationary and foot on the brake pedal.

However, I found that when I [through my own ineptitude] stall mine, that by depressing the clutch pedal the Stop/Start kicks in and fires up the engine. This works when the car is both stationary and when rolling.

The stop/start in my 2020 mk4 is more sophisticated than my previous 2014 Superb mk2 (both petrol).

It now stops the engine whilst rolling slowly (<=3mph or thereabouts) in neutral and foot off the clutch.

It will restart when the car in front moves forward regardless of what I do with the clutch. Turning the steering wheel also restarts the engine.

I'd love to know what the "algorithm" for the start/stop on Mk4 is - didnt know re the steering wheel trick, but mine will start on its own as soon as the car in front moves even by an inch

but in any case, whether S/S is enabled or not the car should not be stalling like this

Edited 12 June, 202512 Jun by chelon

31 minutes ago, chelon said:

but in any case, whether S/S is enabled or not the car should not be stalling like this

Mine certainly doesn’t stall by itself; yes, it does if I’m clumsy with clutch/throttle timing but generally I find the engine management system clever enough to deal with most scenarios. Even at very low speeds such as a tight turn into a side road 2nd gear and gently raising the clutch will cause the revs to rise and the car accelerate after which a bit of throttle and we’re away.

Sounds like there’s a tweak of some sort needed on your car to solve the stalling.

4 hours ago, chelon said:

I'd love to know what the "algorithm" for the start/stop on Mk4 is - didnt know re the steering wheel trick, but mine will start on its own as soon as the car in front moves even by an inch

but in any case, whether S/S is enabled or not the car should not be stalling like this

Yep the new stop/start now auto starts when it detects the vehicle in front moving away as well as when you release the footbrake in the DSG or depress the clutch in a manual. Took me a while to realise it was detecting the vehicle in front moving as I just assumed I'd released the foot brake slightly. 😁

I will contact the dealer next week to report it; in the meantime all I can do is really rev the engine when picking away in traffic, which I don't think you should need to do.

Just a thought. Are you using the Eco drive mode? If so, maybe try normal or sport.

19 hours ago, SteveTheElder said:

Just a thought. Are you using the Eco drive mode? If so, maybe try normal or sport.

I've only used Normal since I got the car Steve (so many other things to work out before I go playing with that)

53 minutes ago, chelon said:

I've only used Normal since I got the car Steve (so many other things to work out before I go playing with that)

Initially I used Normal, then started using Eco but found the throttle response a bit slow at times. Spent a while fiddling with the Individual settings and have settled on what I consider a good balance. Been using that for best part of three years now. As and when suits you, I'd be happy to share what I use if it'll help.

This sounds to me as a malfunction.

I used to drive a superb mk4, and your description reminded me of a incident on a highway near Verona a year ago. Car just stopped switching gears (DSG), and I had to stop and restart the engine to make it work. Ended up in Skoda Italia (coincidentally it is in Verona) and they said gearbox was faulty and up for a change.

This sounds like similar issue to me.

On 11/06/2025 at 13:55, chelon said:

Can see this briefly mentioned in a few threads but can't see an answer....

Had the new car since February and about 2-3 times a week, in city traffic it just stalls. Very dangerous especially when you're in nose to tail traffic.

what makes it worse is it seems to need the car to totally stop before you can restart the engine (1.5 petrol). You can't restart it on the roll...

I have the start-stop enabled all the time - could this be a factor?

My old Mk3 also had the start-stop enabled and I can honestly say I never noticed this issue even once.

Could there be an issue with the car or do you have to adopt a different driving technique?

Hi Chelon

This sounds very similar to the issue we had with our 2023 1.5 TSi manual Karoq.

Very easy to stall and not at all easy to drive in traffic.

It left us with no power in the middle of complex junctions on more than one occasion.

Re-starting after stalling appeared to take an eternity and wasn't always consistent (although of course this may have been as a consequence of being stuck with a stalled car in a tricky situation).

I have owned a number of manual Volkswagen Audi group vehicles and never experienced this difficulty before.

Based upon my experience with a manual 1.5 TSi I'd certainly consider this to be a safety issue.

I did find the car a little less prone to stalling after switching the throttle mapping with Carista.

More here: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/521243-15-tsi-power-cutting-out/

I have the 1.5 TSI with manual box, in these 18+ months, I haven't had it stalled, and the car starts pretty quickly when clutch pedal is depressed.

@pinkpanther how would you describe the difference in the throttle response? I've been looking at it for a while, as I'd like a bit faster throttle response, but I don't have mode selection option on mine. Did the consumption go up as well?

4 hours ago, 386ka said:

I have the 1.5 TSI with manual box, in these 18+ months, I haven't had it stalled, and the car starts pretty quickly when clutch pedal is depressed.

@pinkpanther how would you describe the difference in the throttle response? I've been looking at it for a while, as I'd like a bit faster throttle response, but I don't have mode selection option on mine. Did the consumption go up as well?

No appreciable difference in MPG and I thought car was a little more positive to drive.

There have been some issues with the 1.5 engine for quite some time, across a wide variety of different ŠKODA cars. The main issue being the car losing power and being unable to move on at all. Usually it’s when you’re slowing down approaching a junction and there’s nothing much you can do about it when it happens. It’s not usually a common occurrence but I’ve experienced it in three different cars.

First one being a 2019 mark 3 Octavia, which had the so called kangarooing issue, when pulling away at low speeds. Skoda’s answer was a software update which increased the idling speed and made that particular car about 10% less economical. That issue never happened again with that car after the software update nuked the cars performance permanently. The ŠKODA dealers weren’t interested and just said that the car was within the normal range for that model.

Next one is my current Octavia, a 2022 model, it conked out maybe three or four times in its first year and never again since then. The third car is my parents automatic Karoq with the same engine. Again in its first year it conked out about three times, on one occasion I was driving it and something ran out in front of the car. I had to brake sharply, at which point the car lost all power and the car behind me nearly rear ended me. This fault is not supposed to be an issue with automatic cars but very obviously is!

With this engine fault, you have no control of the car at all for a short time and then it can seem normal. With my current car, it once conked out just before a roundabout, seemed to come back and then died again, just after the roundabout. It’s pretty alarming if you’re not expecting this and are in a dangerous location without the ability to move your car to safety.

At last a few others who agree it is a pretty serious safety issue....

Dealer has responded I need to talk to service desk next

On 14/06/2025 at 15:09, SteveTheElder said:

Initially I used Normal, then started using Eco but found the throttle response a bit slow at times. Spent a while fiddling with the Individual settings and have settled on what I consider a good balance. Been using that for best part of three years now. As and when suits you, I'd be happy to share what I use if it'll help.

Yes I'd be interested Steve - although I'd expect the default settings to allow stall-free driving lol