Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   2022 Skoda Kodiaq Facelift Review | 2.0L Petrol DSG (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/246986-2022-skoda-kodiaq-facelift-review-2-0l-petrol-dsg-43.html)

Even in my GV, you can set it on internal recirculation and Auto, but it periodically goes to external air, and I realize it only when I get the smell of outside air, fumes etc. I then put it back on internal recirculation. I have generally found it doesn't stay there, however. So I generally do it manually: set my temp, set fan speed, and internal, instead of setting only temp and letting the auto AC system decide.

I think every manufacturer applies different logic to the recirculation mode in tandem with Auto mode. Toyota for instance always keeps internal recirculation on in Auto mode. In case of the Kodiaq and other new gen (post 2012) VAG cars, when you enter the menu for the Climatronic, it shows an option to turn on automatic recirculation ON or OFF. I always keep this option selected, and then the system detects the odour and dust thanks to the AC filter in the glove box and some sensory wizardry, it keeps shuffling between the two modes. It also says in the manual that if the mode doesn't change automatically, you can force it by pressing the button. I always tend to keep the recirculation mode off, as keeping it on is not recommended and makes one feel drowsy after a point as the oxygen levels start to drop and CO2 levels start to rise in the cabin. I start yawning (sign for lack of oxygen in cabin) and thats my cue to alter the recirculation mode lol:

With that said, during monsoons, to avoid the fogging of the glass, I think both the modes work fine. Normally I tend to switch the recirculation mode on when I am in a traffic jam following cars/ buses/ trucks too closely as those fumes and bad odour immediately creep in.

The main things to avoid fogging as I said before are temperatures and air direction. Rant: Why is there no "OFF" button in the Kodiaq? :Frustrati Every time one has to turn the blower all the way to zero to turn it off. And I have always had a habit to turn off the AC completely before I turn off the car. Instead they have given a "REST" button there. This feature is absolutely useless as it channels residual hot air from the engine bay in to the cabin to keep it warm after shutting off the car. Ideal for sub zero climates but I will never be using it. May be there's a way to code the "REST" button to function as on "OFF" button. (prays with folded hands to vcds gods)

Not the case in my Taigun. I can keep auto a/c and internal circulation on at the same time.

Questionable build quality in the Kodiaq

In initial 4800 Kms, I have noticed that some of the parts especially in the interior trim, are made with inferior materials as compared to my 9 year old Octavia.

1) The front passenger door card has a unique creaking / rattle over rough roads. It is faint sometimes but it gets worse with speed. I am unable to find the source, but seems like it is a fitment issue or same material of inner / outer plastic which is creaking due to friction. When I visit the service centre I am sure they will guide me to replace the door card under warranty. If I cant find it, they surely won't be able to even hear the creaking noise, let alone find the source.

2) The buttons on the roof console to control the interior lights and sunroof controls, especially the button to control the sunroof cover, feels extremely flimsy, like it might fall on my head if I press it too hard. Need to be really gentle. There is some issue with the sunroof itself, on one day I saw some water on the sunroof cover. Luckily it was small patch and dried up quickly, has left a small stain. Checked everything, no drains blocked no water lodged in the channels, couldn't find any issue. Again will have to get it checked. Although it hasn't returned even after I pressure washed the car and its also been raining.

3) There are some random spots on the dashboard top cover. I didn't notice them earlier and saw them only while cleaning the interior.

4) Dead pedal seems to be flimsy.

5) Most horrendous part is the cover behind the steering. The steering itself is so good to touch and hold, but the plastic housing for the various switch gear, KESSY system etc., is so flimsy, it moves up and down, side to side, with just a gentle press, flexes badly. I am afraid I might break it if I apply too much pressure. Also that part creaks when I turn my steering to the right. Its very annoying. Its faint and cant be heard with music or when the AC blower is at good speed, but in city or even while parking, it is crystal clear and audible. The only downside I think of an otherwise well insulated cabin.

6) In the Canton sound system, I normally set the bass at a mid level, not too punchy or not too dull, I like a good thump though, but the IRVM / ORVM glasses and some plastic parts vibrate with the thump. Its unsettling. I immediately settle for lower volume and lesser bass. I cannot feel like the car is gonna fall apart due to excessive bass from the system. This phenomena I last saw in my Verna when I had a Pioneer 12" sub in the boot! :uncontrol Yea those were the days of windows down - music loud life.

7) The base of the front seat, just where the bottom cushion ends at the front, the big plastic cover / base is cut quite sharply and also flexes if you apply pressure. Again the quality much below the expected levels.

7) Overall I feel the quality of plastics on the switch gear, door handles, door cards, front dash, everything is a tad cheaper. It is slightly shiny and not absolutely matte like the ones in my Octavia. The plastics in the Octavia are still creak / rattle free for me and still have that OEM matte finish thanks to the use of good detailing products and cleaning regime I followed.

I too have somewhat similar opinion when I compare my Kodiaq and Gen3 Superb(some aspects noticed during TD) with my Gen2 Superb. But these are in the context of Skoda downgrading the quality of their new offerings compared to the ones from decade ago. I still like Kodiaq's fit and finish over it's competitors.

Some of the annoyances I noticed,

1. Drivetrain vibration on the pedals, I could feel the AC clutch engage/disengage every time. Same goes for when engine is revved
2. Suspension and tire vibrations felt on the pedal and in the cabin while driving on less than perfect roads. (ex. OMR between Bangalore and Kolar)
3. Road and wind noise
4. Multiple interior rattling noises on rough roads, one from somewhere under the co-passenger seat gets to my nerves
5. Loud knocking noise from boot wheel well while going over small bumps and expansion joints, observed by other Kodiaq owners too
6. The need to drive slow over undulations, ups and dips on the road surface despite being an SUV. The suspension bonces up and crashes with a loud thud even in Normal drive mode. I could drive without hitting brakes on the same road in the Superb. This one really puzzles me.

Thank god I am not the only one! As a new owner I have been very disappointed with the rattles and weird squeaking noises coming from my car (mainly from the 2nd row). I usually drive to work in silence in the morning and they completely detract from the experience. It is getting to the point where I am considering taking my trusted Venue instead - which is dead silent apart from the road/wind noise. I really hope the car "settles" down soon. The primary reason I picked the Kodiaq over the Compass was the rattle issue but looks like it is inescapable.

I am not sure if your cars have this issue too - but there is a bulge in the underbelly below the 2nd row seat behind the driver. I also noticed it across all the other Kodiaqs that were being prepped for delivery so did not think much of it then but starting to get worried now. In addition, the piano black plastic cover that hides the wireless charging pad was badly scratched up - did not notice this during the PDI :Frustrati

In addition, the KESSY system is very finicky when locking the car. I have had to swipe/touch/push the button on the handle multiple times (sometimes using multiple fingers) to get it to lock.

It has really been a bittersweet experience so far.

Kodiaq comes with a thin plastic film applied on that cover. I hope that film is stll in place in your car. I got all those shiny black stuff PPF'ed.

I have a suspicion that Indian Kodiaqs may be rolling out with wrong wheel alignment specs. Suspension feels stiffer than it should be. A bad wheel alignment can cause the suspension to be stiff and jarring that results in rattles and squeaks. For ex. my Superb can be just perfect or can rattle every bone in my body depending on the alignment. Kodiaq's rear wheels seem to have too much toe-in.

Could be the case for bad roads. But what happens on smooth tarmac? The creaks and rattles are at certain RPMs even on best of the road surfaces. I live on a newly built 6 lane highway with extremely smooth roads only daily commute!

Even I had some rattle in the second row but narrowed it down to the adjustment of the sliding bench seats. Both have to be perfectly pushed all the way back in my case.
About the bulge you're talking about, you're worried about the ground clearance? Need to check this.
For me KESSY is too sensitive. If I am cleaning the car and the key is in my pocket, as soon as the water touches the sensor the car locks itself. I have to remember to keep the key in the car to avoid this frequent locking / unlocking. Even when I am wiping the car and part of my clothing touches the sensor briefly, it will lock the car.

Nothing so serious for me till now! Yes there are vibrations on cold start and when the car is on auto hold in traffic with AC on. Noises from the gearbox in traffic, jerking in D3->D2->D1 are present. For me suspension hasn't been an issue till now. Its stiff but to my liking. I don't have DCC but feel the default set up is suited to all types of terrain. Includes bad city roads, smooth highways and ghat sections but on smooth roads till now. Guess we are the guinea pigs for this car still. I have read on international forums even worse issues with interior rattles. Thankfully thats not the case for us. Has anyone noticed that the Sunroof cover motor is extremely slow? Saw a video of the new Tucson in which the sunroof cover opens and closes in 5 seconds each! At first I thought the video is running 2X speed but not the case.

Please check if the dealership has removed the suspension blocks, which they should have during their PDI.

Aren't those fitted only to CBU cars, and generally cars with low GC? I know it was a menace on the RS230.

RS230 was a CKD and had them, Kodiaq is also a CKD, there might be a 1% chance that it may be present in the Kodiaq also, this time the dealer must be properly instructed by Škoda India to remove them, but may have forgotten to remove one.

Finally, got a chance to have a look at the Kodiaq L&K (Lava Blue) in Mumbai at a suburban dealership. I was in touch with the SA about Kodiaq. She had informed that there is a waiting of 18 months for Kodiaq, but a few days back she called that they are getting a higher allotment and they could deliver by December. This may be a Tuscon effect. I had not seen the car so far and requested her for the same. Incidentally, they had received the car for a few days for some shooting and she asked me to come today. While I could not drive the car but I could get a feel of it. Infact, while leaving Zach Hollis reached the showroom - it seems that the shoot might be featuring him as well.

Now, about the impressions:
1. The car looks beautiful from the outside and as compared to my 2017 City, looks big
2. The Lava Blue colour is just awesome and if I get this car, I would get it in the same colour. My family also liked the colour a lot
3. Front seats are good and offer better thigh support than my City
4. The front cabin feels premium with soft touch materials at the top, however, other plastics are hard and I was slightly disappointed. I noticed that the top of the door pad in the front was soft touch but that in the rear door was hard to touch
5. Steering is great to hold and the digital instrument cluster looked nice
6. The 8" screen is a tad smaller and would have liked the Octavia screen at least, however, the resolution was good. I have 10" Hypersonic DSP Pro in my City and it is really good and that makes the 8" look even smaller
7. Sound quality was nice - I tried playing music through Apple Car Play - connecting my iPhone was a breeze
8. The camera quality was disappointing and the camera image did not occupy the full screen
9. 2nd row seats are decent but nothing mind blowing given that we are already pampered by the great rear seat space of the City. Did not notice substantial difference in the thigh support. 2nd row is important for me as I have got a driver for my daily office drive to save myself from the crawling Mumbai traffic. Kodiaq seats are decent but nothing great
10. Coming to 3rd row, I didn't even dare to venture into those. My daughters tried and it was fine for my 6 year old but my 10 year old who is almost 5 feet was not happy. There is no leg room if the 2nd row is pushed fully back, so some compromise in the leg room of the 2nd row is needed to make the 3rd row passengers sit there for some time. This is ok with us as we are looking at a 5 seater with occasional need for 2 additional seats
11. The boot space with all rows up is reasonable and with the 3rd row made flat (which will be the most likely scenario for long drives), the boot space is just awesome

So all in all, we liked the Kodiaq but reading some of the complaints above, I am a bit concerned about 2 things:
1. My drive back home is on the western express highway - BKC to Goregaon - and it is crawling traffic all the way - My city is at home and smooth but I am concerned about he jerkiness mentioned in the review and the owners - would it impact the life of the transmission? Is it anything to be massively worried about?
2. The rattles that members have mentioned above - I really like my cars silent (except for the music) and rattles really put me off. I understand if these are minor and fixable but anything major in a 45 lakh car would make me lose sleep

Since, Kodiaq was not available for a test drive, the SA offered me a test drive in Octavia - it was a short drive but I liked the drive, I felt the suspension was better than my City. I am sure DCC in Kodiaq would be ideal to have. Have asked for a test drive of Superb at least so that I could feel the 2.0 TSI in a heavier car.

Next steps - My Honda City has run only ~ 30k kms and is 5.5 years old so getting a new car may not be the best decision, but, we have started to go for road trips - triggered during the pandemic - and we feel a need for a better build car for highways and hence exploring the upgrade. Will check out the Tuscon as well during the long weekend and then think about the next steps.

Hey Shreyas, since you saw both Kodiaq and Octavia closely, any comment on which one's interior quality was better?

Hey hi, frankly, Octavia’s cabin looked more modern. Quality wise not much different but the texture of plastics used in Octavia seemed better and hence one may think that they are of better quality. The difference may also be due to the fact that Octavia gets a fabric/felt/alcantara insert on the dashboard and hence more share of soft touch points making it seem premium whereas Kodiaq gets a flat slab of shiny black plastic and hence lesser share of soft touch points.

Strictly my view in the brief time spent with both the cars. Hope this helps.

If anyone comes across an available new sportline variant for Kodiaq at any store, please do PM me. Would love to pick it up. Open to any color. Or if you have relationship with SAs, please share.