[sagwal]

Originally Posted by tj112

Had a couple of questions-

• What’s the engine oil in the Karoq, in case I want to carry some during a highway drive? Last service was at Skoda, though done by prev owner. Would it harm the engine if brands are mixed (same specs)?
• The car seems to downshift to a lower gear while going over potholes, noticed this Esp when it is in 2nd/ 3rd gear, it shifts to 1st gear. Something specific to the DSG? Anyone else observers this?

Engine oil is 0W-20.
Downshifting behaviour will improve with time.

[tj112]

Anyone picked aftermarket floor mats for the Karoq? Any recommendations? I find the 5D/ 7D too be too overwhelming.

Tried searching & reached out to 3D Maxspider for their mats, they said they do not do Karoq.

[prateekvinayak]

Did a Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi run, managed really nice numbers. The cruising, the zooming past, and the opulent interiors loving every bit of this car.

[saurabh_tan]

Hey, yes I did. Shop by the name Indus Enterprises, B-45 Lajpat Nagar. Did a decent job and I needed customised mats for my wife to be able to get into a good driving position. Essentially raised the height from the floor to about 3.5 inches. But the mats are nice. Its been over a year, no issues so far.

Wireless Android Auto/Apple Car Play update for Karoq

Hey folks, Wanted to check if anyone has heard about or knows about the Karoq getting a software update for making the Android Auto/Apple Car Play wireless? Seen Tata making this change to the Safari vid software update, assuming Skoda could also offer this if they wanted to. Please share your thoughts and updates if any. Thanks.

[prateekvinayak]

Originally Posted by saurabh_tan

Wireless Android Auto/Apple Car Play update for Karoq

Hey folks, Wanted to check if anyone has heard about or knows about the Karoq getting a software update for making the Android Auto/Apple Car Play wireless? Seen Tata making this change to the Safari vid software update, assuming Skoda could also offer this if they wanted to. Please share your thoughts and updates if any. Thanks.

That would be lovely. I have looked and enquired around for some makeshift dongle that would turn it into wireless but haven't found anything worthwhile. Though I highly doubt Skoda to take the pain to offer something of this sort, maybe some requests could help. A wireless AA is one of the very few things that I miss in the car.

[Mr.Perera]

Living with the Karoq: Part 2: 2nd year/ 21,000 kms Update
With covid restrictions mostly out of the way, the Karoq had spent a good amount of time on the road last year. The car still outshines with its quality, fit and finish. No creaking noise, no loose panels, this thing is built like a Tank !



There were no major problems or issues during last year. The only ‘problem’ we faced was the availability of the stock Hankook tyres.

The tyre availability issue
The Karoq’s front tyre had encountered a sidewall burst while I was driving on the infamous Trivandrum-Kochi Highway. The front left tyre fell in a pothole, I was doing around 70kmph and I squeezed all the muscles in my body and heard a loud thud from the front left wheel. Luckily I was able to stop safely. When I got out and checked the wheel i saw the tyre had torn pretty badly. I was unsure if the impact had caused more damage to any other components, so I decided to call the RSA and got the car towed to my service centre.

The Art


The Artist


The car had reached the Skoda service in Trivandrum and they inspected it thoroughly and found out there is no other issue other than the damaged tyre. They told me they will try getting a new tyre and will fit it and give the car. But next day they informed me that they checked at almost all dealerships in India and this specific Hankook tyre that come in the Karoq is not available anywhere. I too tried searching for this tyre with all major tyre stockists in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata but no one had it. The only option I had was to get a different tyre and put it. But I didnt want to do that since 3 will be Hankooks and one will be some other make. So the frustated me wrote a mail to Skoda , cc’ing Zac Hollis. Within a day I get a call from my dealer saying that Skoda India has agreed to change all my 4 tyres to a new one and as goodwill I would need to pay only 30% of the entire price. The total estimate they gave was Rs 48,000 for 4 tyres and I had to pay only Rs 16,000 for 4 new tyres. Kudos to Skoda for their good customer service. They had given 4 new Continental Ultra Contact UC6 tyres. The Conti UC6 seems to be a much more comfort oriented tyre. The comfort and noise levels seem to be better than the Hankooks. But it doesnt grip as well as the Hankooks. I can hear the tyres screeching and begging for grip on those long winding corners.

Low Oil Warnig
At around 17,000 kms the car showed a ‘Check oil level warning’. I checked the dipstick and found the oil level was slighty below the lower limit. Took the car to the service and topped up around 300 ml of oil. I realised these engines consume quite a bit of oil, tried getting a 1L bottle of oil from the service but sadly they didnt have the small bottles in stock. Once it comes back in stock I plan to keep one bottle in the car all the time.

Second service
The second service was done at 18,300 kms. Since we had taken the 4 year service plan from Skoda all works were included in that. All normal things like oil, oil filter, air filter and cabin filter were changed this time. While I went to pick the car they had given a bill of Rs 635 saying it is the charge for cleaning and lubricating the sunroof mechanism.

Other observations
From the beginning I was not happy with the front wipers as it occasionally made a very disturbing screeching sound. I showed this at the showroom and even after they cleaned the windshield and wiper, still the noise was there. They said there is no warranty on the wiper and I had to change them. The stock wipers costed a whooping 3500 bucks as per my Service Advisor. I later got a set of Blaupunkt wipers for Rs 1100 and boy I am impressed. For one third the price the Blaupunkt wipers are super value for money and do a good job during the rains.
The multimedia system has some bugs when I connect my phone via Apple Carplay. Sometimes the connection gets lost and then it takes a lot of time to detect my phone again. I have never had this issue in my Octavia when I use the same phone and the same cable. Hope a software update might fix this.

The Still So Good things
1. The Interiors - I can still write a long essay about the interior of the car ! It is so good that still everytime I get in the car it makes me go “Wow”. Everything is so well put together and looks and feels so fantastic. It is a bit difficult to keep the light coloured leathers clean, but I always ensure to clean them after every long drive or once every 6 months.

2. Driving feedback- The chasis + suspension is just magic ! The car is so well planted in triple digit speeds and give immense confidence while driving on the highway. The engine isnt the powerful unit and I wish it had a bit more power, but once this thing gains speed it just flies !

3. Headlights- The stock headlights are really good and is the best I have ever experienced in any car. Night time driving is so stress free and safe. To put things in perspective my Octavia also has full LED headlights like the Karoq. But those are not even half as bright as the ones in the Karoq ! In the Octavia during a rainy night, driving with the headlights is like driving with no headlights at all !

4. Paint quality- Every car detailer who sees the car has so much to praise about the paint quality. They say the paint quality in Skoda, VW cars are one of the best but the paint quality in the Karoq seems to be so good that it is a detailers dream.

The not so Good things
1. The fear of having a DQ200 gearbox- No matter however good the car is, the fact that the gearbox isnt the reliable one out there still is there behind my head. Havent heard any Karoq owner getting a gearbox issue till now, but we all have seen the multiple threads here and frustuated owners who have had a tough time due to the dry clutch DQ200 unit. Just praying that nothing such creeps up in the Karoq.
2. The almost white coloured seats- For someone (like me) who loves cleaning their car, having these seats is a good thing. You regularly have a place to spend time cleaning the car. They get dirty very fast. But for the rest big bunch of people it is a pain to keep them clean.
3. Getting basic accessories- The problem of owning a limited run car is the fact that getting basic accessories like car cover, window blinds etc is difficult. I have searched multiple shops and all over Amazon and have never found them. Luckily Creta’s car cover was a perfect fit for the Karoq. But I’m still looking for sunblinds.
4. Fuel efficiency- The fuel efficiency from the 1.5L engine isnt the best in my opinion. There are owners here who have got even 19 kmpl in highways. But the best I have got on a highway drive is 15 kmpl. That too being very easy on the throttle. Its worst during stop-go traffic, I have seen figures like 6 kmpl on drives within the city.

The best FE I have got till date



Also noticed that the car runs much better and smoother on 95 octane petrol. The recommended fuel rating in the Karoq is 95 octane fuel. In the last one year IOC have been aggressively rolling out the XP95. And its come to a point that its available in almost all IOC bunks. Initially I used to fill only normal petrol, but once XP95 came, I stuck to filling XP95 all the time. The change in refinement especially during cold starts is very obvious after that.

Overall Impressions after 2 years
The Karoq still proves to be a brilliant car. Even after 2 years, it still looks and feels like new. A perfect do it all car with great build quality and interiors. The other day I happened to check out the top end Kushaq Monte Carlo model which is around 24 lakhs on road. Sadly for that money the Kushaq lacks the finese that Skodas are known for. No offence to Kushaq owners, but Skoda should seriously consider bringing back the Karoq in India, atleast as a CKD. We really deserve such well built cars.

Some photos of the Czech beauty










The Karoq after its yearly visit to Ceramic Pro, Kochi



The Karoq with its younger brother

[W16rocks]

Originally Posted by Mr.Perera

Living with the Karoq: Part 2: 2nd year/ 21,000 kms Update

The tyre availability issue
The Karoq’s front tyre had encountered a sidewall burst while I was driving on the infamous Trivandrum-Kochi Highway. The front left tyre fell in a pothole, I was doing around 70kmph and I squeezed all the muscles in my body and heard a loud thud from the front left wheel. Luckily I was able to stop safely. When I got out and checked the wheel i saw the tyre had torn pretty badly. I was unsure if the impact had caused more damage to any other components, so I decided to call the RSA and got the car towed to my service centre.

The Art
Attachment 2342312

The Artist
Attachment 2342311

I had an eerily similar accident with my City when we were travelling from Ahmedabad to Bhavnagar, due to very low visibility as it was raining we missed a pathole as it was filled with water and it was dark and ended up with a torn tyre, but with god’s grace in that very isolated patch there was a tyre guy who changed it to Stepney and we proceeded but it bent the front axle which had to be repaired and also brushed the front bumper from the underbody due to the low ground clearance of city.

Happy to see Škoda being active in helping you out with a new set of tyres for your troubles, that’s what a proactive company should do to solve the problems of their customer.

[tristis2008]

It appears that both T-Roc and Karoq's tyres are unsuitable for Indian road conditions. I have come across few owners of T-Roc who have had tyre bursts. In some cases the car got severely damaged. I have had cuts on the Continentals. I have replaced those with Bridgestones.

[tj112]

Have been noticing that the car interiors tend to heat up quite a lot when parked in direct sunlight. The roof liner under the sun roof is thin material & semi transparent, probably allowing more than normal heat to come in.

Car takes a bit of time to cool down, generally after fresh air circulating for a bit & ac running on high.

Anyone else facing similar issue?

In Delhi NCR, so the heat on clear days is pretty intense.

Done about 12K on the beauty so far, still marvel each day on the build quality & the fantastic interiors. Glad i did not go in for the top end Kushaq & found this, at a similar price (pre owned).

[GForceEnjoyer]

Originally Posted by tj112

Anyone else facing similar issue?

In Delhi NCR, so the heat on clear days is pretty intense.

This is something I notice in our Superb at times; the cabin can take a while to cool down in Hyderabad's peak summers (cooler than Delhi's by a couple of degrees but more humid). The heat in Europe never normally gets close to Delhi's summers, so it's probably why these cars aren't equipped with a very powerful A/C system.

I think you'll have to resort to measures such as the reflective foil placed inside the car in the windshield. This can help block out at least some of the heat. I don't know if anything can be done about the translucent sunroof cover though.

[adv]

Great review! This issue with the DQ-200 gearbox which has plagued so many in the past; are the newer cars like the 2020 Karoqs and later batches of the facelifted 3rd gen of Octys more resilient to it? Or are they just as vulnerable? Specifically in case of the Karoqs, since they have been around about 3 years now, are there any known cases of DQ200 related problems?
I’d love to find a preowned Karoq because it’s just the perfect size for predominantly city self-driving but I’m apprehensive about the fabled history of the gearbox!

[aneezshah]

Hi, does anyone know which company manufactures Skoda Karoq's headlights?

Thanks.

[Schneller]

Originally Posted by tj112

Car takes a bit of time to cool down, generally after fresh air circulating for a bit & ac running on high.

Anyone else facing similar issue?

In Delhi NCR, so the heat on clear days is pretty intense.

.

This used to be the case until I modified the AC settings for the compressor to run on “extra cooling” mode. Don’t know if that is the correct term to be used. But post this change, my car cools up faster than before.

[tj112]

Originally Posted by Schneller

This used to be the case until I modified the AC settings for the compressor to run on “extra cooling” mode.

Can you share how/ where to access the settings?
Thanks

[Schneller]

Originally Posted by tj112

Can you share how/ where to access the settings?
Thanks

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