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We've had leased Octavias for the past seven years. Now looking around for the next one and the Skoda landscape seems to have changed a bit. We still need something that can get the kids' stuff in it on moving day and can handle heading down to Cornwall to look after the MIL, is the Kamiq any good? It only appears to come in a 1.0 tsi, and I have no idea what that feels like these days on a car of that size.
Anything else we should be looking at?
Will let you know next week ! I have a new Octavia vRS estate been delivered on Friday, My Mrs has a Scala Monte Carlo been delivered in a couple of weeks. (Both company cars)
We did have some issues with the early versions (2021) of the latest Octavia's (Mk4) on our fleet but the more recent ones have been a lot better.
They do the Scala with the 1.0 and 1.5 petrol engine, so I imagine the Kamiq will be available with the same.
My wife has a new Fabia. Generally feels like a well built car. Two biggest complaints: small engine plus six speed gear box means you have to constantly change gear. The lane assist is over keen and a major pain on rural roads. You have to turn it off every time you start the car, you can’t permanently disable it.
I bought a 21 plate Octavia estate 2 months ago. I love it. I've had a few minor niggles with the infotainment system but mostly now resolved. I haven't had a nearly new or new car for yonks, so feel utterly spoiled by it. It's a solid, practical, refined, comfortable place to be.
Edit to agree with the post above about the lane assist. It is intrusive on country roads and especially with the recent snow. Feeling it tugging at the wheel on icy roads is most disconcerting! It just doesn't seem great at discerning the road/lane margins away from motorways and A roads. You can switch it off easily enough with 2 steering wheel button presses, but it defaults to 'on' whenever you start the ignition.
Got an Octavia iv. Is a lovely car, feels quality inside, got some nice gadgets etc. But as above, the lane assist can be quite enthusiastic sometimes, but I just put up with it rather than deactivating it. The adaptive cruise control switches from right hand drive car to left hand drive car randomly so sometimes jams the brakes on to stop you overtaking. It randomly bongs to tell me various features are unavailable, but they all seem fine (unless the above is happening.) The morning routine planner is random, sometimes the car is nice and warm when I get in, sometimes it's decided not to bother. But apart from that it's great!
I have an 18 plate Karoq (a size up from the Kamiq) on the 1.0 litre engine. It’s fine. I’m no boy racer but it’ll comfortably do the national speed limit & won’t take all day to get there.
The only issue I have is with the DSG box, it’s a bit hesitant at roundabouts & the like. You learn to anticipate its foibles. Would I have another? Yes I would
That's good to hear, just wondered if anyone had driven one. And whether you can get a bike in vertically with the wheels off...
Hesitance at roundabouts might be the bluemotion stuff ? I normally stick the car into sport mode when approaching a roundabout so the start/stop doesn't kick in.
The predictive crash stuff and adaptive cruise control on the VW was intrusive at times - car would fire up all sorts of lights on the dashboard warning me of my impending death. Still here and typing.
I must be unlucky. I lease a 70 plate octy 4 (the middle spec one).
Infotainment is a joke, those random error messages pop up on every trip but worst of all is the fact the unit just shuts off every 10 or so journeys. This renders everything controllable from the screen useless (sat nav, music, climate, phone).
It happened when I was in the south of France in the summer, Skoda UK response was 'go find a dealership and ask them to sort it'. I explained my french was not great...but they were not prepared to broker a call or anything.
Have to dona full software update at the dealership every couple of months now, skda don't seem particularly bothered.
(The infotainment is shit as well...having to press buttons on the screen to use the climate is insane, but I understand this is some jll thought out idea from VW.)
I have had several Skoda's over the years but will not consider another one.
We have a 2014 Yeti and borrowed a new Fabia while it was being serviced. The lane assist thingy is indeed terrible!
Got an octy estate on lease in October. 1.5 tsi sel estate. Lane assistant is a pain in the arse. I know it's a 2 button job but it should stay off. Same for sport as it resets to normal on start up. Love the car though, comfy and nippy enough for me.
@sc-xc try holding the off button on the infotainment system.
My one locked up once, but holding the off button for 30 seconds or do cause it to reboot.
All done while driving.
Is the Kamiq not just a Jacked up Fabia?
If you need internal volume They still do the Octavia and Superb Estates.
Not sure what happened there and can't edit.
Cheers, have tried reset/full reset etc but there's a specific sequence. Audio goes off, screen goes blank, all error messages flash up on left hand circle on virtual cockpit, screen reboots, sequence restarts.
Try and re-boot or hard reset, it comes on for a few secs then does the above cycle again.
The whole sequence takes around 45-60 seconds...the only thing that fixes it is the people at Skoda plugging something in to the car.
It's annoying!
(My post got eaten - edited the above)
Sounds like we'd better hang on to our 2 Fabias (11 & 16 plates) and the 65 plate Octavia!
Bought a 68 plate manual mk3.5 Octi vRS 245 this summer and I love it. On Skodas of this age you can permanently switch off lane assist. Very fun to drive and the perfect all round daily driver. Top vfm for the spec and performance.
I drive a Kodiaq at work. It’s excellent, very comfy and handles well. During Arwen it was a proper work horse easily finding its way over tree debris, mud, snow, floods and the old gate. Loads of room in then too so you could bring the MIL back with you.
I loved my Octavia with the caveat that that as above infotainment was a bit glitchy with android auto. 1.5 TSi was excellent, rapid enough to do a bit of overtaking,thrifty on long motorway runs.
Mate has just got a kamiq with the 1 litre and reckons that while performance is adequate the fuel economy leaves something to be desired.
Had Karoq 1.5 for 3 years and now have a Fabia 1.0. 1ltr engine is fine and will sit at 80 all day. No idea how it will last but I don’t do high miles these days.
Overall I rate Skodas. Seem well screwed together and just as nice as equivalent VW.
I'll be sticking with my 2018 Superb then if newer Skodas are all touchscreen. Mine has a decent 150hp 1.4Tsi engine and proper knobs for heater control.
One of the worst things about the £60k EV Volvo I drive at work is the on screen heating controls. Why this is anymore legal than texting on a phone I don't know? Numerous glances away from the road needed to adjust temperature.
+plus 1 for what xc-sc said.
Infotainment system is a joke. Mine has been in multiple times for system issues.
1st was due to loud bangs behind the dash. One time the info system froze and the car went into limp mode on the motorway. Had to restart car and had no system for a 400mile drive.
2nd issue the system pixilated after 20mins of driving
3rd time due to screen turning off regularly now
Due in again as I have an iV Estate and the manufacturer claimed distance in battery alone is circa 42 miles. Never had more than 35. Tops, using no other battery utilising features. Now lucky if I get 23 miles, which effects the overall efficiency.
Should've stuck with the Passat...
We've got 50 or so in our fleet for work. Half we're new last year, half are due to be replaced this year.
Every. Single. One. Of the new ones has had problems. All relating to the infotainment unit. A/c stopping working/ permanently on. Cruise control failing. Auto braking issues (yes, brakes on for no reason while driving), parking sensors not working/ constantly beeping while driving. Gearbox faults etc etc.
I'm still in a '69 plate Superb estate which had been excellent. New Octavia is due end of this year. The Service Manager laughed and said 'we'll be seeing a lot of each other' when I explained I was getting a new one.
Didn't exactly fill me with confidence.
Apparently there are known software issues and generally, each release fixes something but breaks something else in a viscous, never ending circle.
The spec has also taken and Dove by the looks of things. Current Superb is an SE Technology. Heated leather, LED lights. Adaptive Cruise Control etc and generally a nice place to be for hours on end. New Octavia (also SE Technology) has nothing nice whatsoever. Cloth seats, no heated seats/ mirrors, no ACC, no nothing without spending £££ on top. Not an option for me as its a company car.
Not looking forward to it. At all. Hopefully the issues will be resolved by the time it arrives. Maybe. The best bit about the Superb is that it's cavernous inside. The Octavia doesn't even have that going for it...
(The infotainment is shit as well…having to press buttons on the screen to use the climate is insane, but I understand this is some jll thought out idea from VW.)
Haha.. no.. that's the new normal across the industry!
that’s the new normal across the industry!
Going through this process at the moment. Had a couple of octavias and passats before that, so a VAG group car is the natural choice.
the number of cars that are going touch screen or touch key is unbelievable - even the buttons on newer VW steering wheels are touch sensitive. I get that looks bling in the showroom and that its probably cheaper to install a solid state unit rather than 3-4 separate buttons on the production line , but I really hope that manufacturers have a re-think in the future.
The current A4 still has button controls for the climate and wheel, but has lost the rotary MMI interface (which is great) in favour of a touch screen which you have to lean across to actually touch - madness.
Quite fancied and A6 but that has an entire extra screen devoted to climate controls
I'll probably end up with a volvo - as despite the touch screen, it does seem a bit better thought out.
I'll not be getting an Octavia MK4 - didnt like it aesthetically inside or out and the stories above are a real eye opener.
I think I'll stick with my '15 Skoda Rapid based on the above, 83k and no sign of quitting any time soon
(The infotainment is shit as well…having to press buttons on the screen to use the climate is insane, but I understand this is some jll thought out idea from VW.)
VW, and just about every other maker. It’s the same on Pug 208/2008, with the added irritation of a so-called ‘3D holographic display’ combined with a hexagonal steering wheel where the flat top cuts right across the actual bit that’s telling you how fast you’re actually going! Utterly stupid bit of design, that should never have been allowed past the initial design phase.
And lots are being used as driving school cars - if I, as someone who’s been driving for very nearly fifty years, and driven hundreds of different vehicles, am having issues with it, heaven alone knows how learners manage!
It’s for the above reason, touchscreen for every function, that I chose my EcoSport, along with the comfort and compact size; it has actual knobs to control the radio volume and fan/temperature, and actual buttons, not just a flat sheet of plastic.
There are touchscreen controls, but they’re easy to use, and less crucial to actual functionality.
I believe that VW have realised that the touchscreen fad has gone too far, and they’re now going back to using more tactile layouts.
Tesla is by far the worst of all, though, I’d want a fully trained passenger with me at all times just to find and operate everything that doesn’t actually involve driving the bloody car!
I’m sticking with my mk7 golf. Buttons for all the usual stuff 😎
Have you guys tried obdeleven? It worked wonders when I had the Audi . It could turn off default settings - I did auto start stop .
- I’ve not tried it on a Skoda but it’s VAG so may be worth a google .
Hmm. Not convinced I fancy the infotainment issues if they are as bad as you guys are saying.
What else should I be looking at? VW?
Budget?
This is probably the absolute top of it (Prepare your sunglasses)
Don't bother with Seat either. We have<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> a Leon ST FR . Quite a good car ruined by the stupid Infotainment interface. It needs 8 presses on the screen to disable all the annoying 'Smart Assistants' each time you start it. This one has the 1.5l/150 bhp engine and it's just not a patch on the 1.8l/180 bhp model we had previously. Also the previous model didn't have the touch screen nonsense.</span>
At least my Hyundai lets you disable most of them in your 'profile'.
Pleased to report that the heating controls on my 18 model Karoq are proper controls
For that budge you could borrow money and buy a slightly older car with real buttons quite easily.
Must add my dislike of the Skoda menu-controls and the digital dash.
No failures, but it sometimes takes an age to boot, which means that you can't get to some of the settings before you want to drive away and it resets everything when you switch off, grrr!
Pushbutton headlights which have an indicator on the switch where you can't easily see it and an "off", "auto" "dipped beam" message in the instrument panel. What's the matter with a rotary switch that you can use by feel rather than having to look inwards? It defaults to auto but sometimes I want to know that dipped beam is on.
Catch the steering wheel wrongly and the speedo and rev counter disappear to be replaced with a map
What's with the VRS microphone in the exhaust? It just makes the interior noisy, individual settings for that one, but it also resets on switching off. I could go on 🙂
Some cars, e.g. Volvo, can add your defaults to individual keys. If I take "my" car key then a lot of personal settings are remembered if I use the driver profile thingy. I haven't found the profile feature with Skoda
I'm going to add: a colleague has a new Karoq and likes it, although the infotainment keeps crashing. Turn car off, turn car on....
The boss turned up in a brand new hire Golf just before Christmas. It felt cheap, really cheap, had rather patchy response to some oddball touch sensitive controls for the heater which you had to look at to operate, and the steering wheel buttons kept operating as she steered causing more confusion....
I'm really missing my button laden and generally 'better car' V70. The Leon is OK, it handles and goes much better, DSG is good as is the 1.4tsi 150. But everything else around the car - from drips into the boot when wet, no ability to turn off reverse beepers, poor heater, LED lights that ice up, windscreen cleaner bottle hidden away from heat of engine, odd display that shows a billion things but not that clearly, radar which randomly panics (yesterday driving between snow banks was 'fun') and more. It's not a *bad* car, but it's not a *great* car either. It does at least have buttons!
It feels like whoever designed it thought that a) technology MUST be better and b) hasn't actually driven the thing for a while and thought 'that will do'. Proper form over function.
I haven’t found the profile feature with Skoda
There is a profile feature in mine, tried and failed to set it up for the second key. Was very easy in the last Octavia, not so in this one.
Actually came to add, because I forgot to mention this, that even when fully charged up, it sometimes decides "there isn't enough charge" and fires up the petrol engine. Turn off/on again and hey presto, there's mysteriously enough charge.
There are issues with it, but I am happy with it overall, it is a nice car. I'd have another one when this deal runs out, so long as there's a good enough deal to be had.
Some cars, e.g. Volvo, can add your defaults to individual keys. If I take “my” car key then a lot of personal settings are remembered if I use the driver profile thingy. I haven’t found the profile feature with Skoda
It is there and does work. My 21 plate Octavia knows if it's me or my wife driving and changes preferences accordingly. There's a tick box in the settings somewhere that says something like (from memory - maybe not exact) 'remember key settings'.
I've had a 19 plate Octavia SEL for 3 1/2 years now. Great car overall, and I've had a few random issues with the infotainment system. But not enough to force me to go to the dealers. I have an iV PHEV on order, but who knows when that will turn up. I've heard plenty of reports of the issues, but I'm sticking with it.
I've had no infotainment issues on the current (19) Octavia. As you say, great car, hence me wanting another Skoda. Really, really, don't like the idea of an entirely digital dash though, seems like asking for trouble.
Really, really, don’t like the idea of an entirely digital dash though, seems like asking for trouble.
It's really not that bad and you quickly get used to it. You might not have the choice soon, most manufacturers seem to be going in that direction. There are still a few physical buttons below the display to call up some functions - screen demist, door lock etc. there is also a button which takes you straight to the climate control screen. I also find the voice control works really well for heating controls, music, phone calls etc. Both Skoda's propriety 'OK Laura' and 'hey Google' via Android Auto.
Really, really, don’t like the idea of an entirely digital dash though, seems like asking for trouble.
Yes the unit might fail but then all you do is 'plug and play' a new one. What does put me off any digital dash though is the ones where you dont have physical buttons for stuff like heating controls etc.
Uhmmm, new Kodiac on order! Pretty sure a lot of controls are still manual buttons though as we're currently driving an xc60 and 'the screen' on that is just horrible. For the amount of space and toys that we got there was nothing else comparable at the price. Had a Yeti a few years ago and it was bomb proof, though I'm glad it wasn't my daily driver.
You can use the VCDS system to change many of the settings on VAG cars - I've not tried this but here's a YouTube vid showing how to enable lane assist memory so you don't have to turn it off each time
I have a '20 Karoq 1.4. Infotainment as stated isn't great. Skoda Connect never really worked and the inbuilt SatNav is terrible. Also Internet radio was a dud as well BUT the screen is fine and it works well with CarPlay 95% of the time. Occasionally it won't connect and it's very flakey on wireless but overall it's fine. Manual heater controls on mine thankfully.
I really like it. Had two Yeti's and it's a far better car. Really comfortable. quiet, easy to drive/park, surprisingly big esp if you take the seats out. Mine is due back in Sept and I'm dithering on getting the EV or another Koraq (or maybe even the smaller one as we don't need the space now). Wife has a 2016 Fabia, 70000 from new, rubbish lights but otherwise another reliable car from Skoda.
2 years in my Arona 1.0 TSI FR Sport (basically the same a Kamiq) and I do like it alot. It rides quite firmly on 18 inch wheels and sports chassis, but overall it handles well, is comfy, economical and good to drive. Don't expect masses of space though compared to an estate. I can't stand my Spur up in it vertically, it just about sits more than half up right with the 60 portion of the back seats folded down, doubt it'd do it on the 40 alone.
Overall a nice car and I love it, but the fact I know my next car will be a Leon/A4/Octavia Estate says it all as far as practicality goes for you OP.
A 2021 Octavia iV here and it is a great car except for two issues mentioned by many others.
I live in a rural location so have to knock off the lane assist at the start of every journey as it is so aggressive, it does its best to pull me into verges and parked cars. The screen blackout has happened three times on one occasion I was trying to leave an unfamiliar city with no satnav and another time I had no music or climate control for a two hour trip. That is a bit shit.
I would have another in a heartbeat though.
I've just got myself a 2020 Octavia as Edinburgh council chucked me cash to scrap my diesel Mazda 6 (low emissions zone coming in). The 1.5 petrol is almost 50% more efficient than the old car. Lane assist is great for when your eyes are off the road fiddling with the infotainment screen 🙂
They obviously think someone in the Rochdale area will buy it.
Got a new 22 Leon FR with the button less dash and touch screen infotainment system a month ago now. Have to admit I was worried about lack of buttons, however its not a deal breaker. First few days seems overload of options but once set up and used to it it just does it thing and you don't worry about it. The lane assist is annoying at times but not so much I feel I need to switch it off.
As other have said lots of new cars are going this way now so ignoring all cars with it will limit your choice. Yes I would prefer the buttons but if you like the rest of the car I wouldn't let it put you off.
For those with the infotainment crashing/locking up issue, and assuming the infotainment system is basically the same as the Seat Leon and you have an SOS button on the ceiling, or similar, then next time it crashes try pressing the SOS button until it causes that module to reset and the infotainment system auto reboots. It can take around 50 seconds. You'll then get a message on the screen and possibly audibly saying it's going to make an emergency call, just press cancel.
The infotainment should hopefully now work (until the next lock up).
Had the same issue on the current model Seat Leon which this used to sort. First signs before it would crash was the GPS location on both built in satnav and android auto would start bouncing about up and down the road I was driving along by about a mile. I told the garage about it at the last service and they replaced various bits under warranty, with no problems since. Definitely worth being persistent with the garage and trying to work out if there is any odd behaviour before it crashes each time to persuade them into investigating.
Sister in law works for VAG in MK and we get a car through the family lease scheme. Basically change for a new car every 6 months. This will be our 4th Karoq and I have to say they are great. Not had any issues with the infotainment except the fairly rubbish sat nav. I found them better than the T roc and seat ateca. I'd give them a big thumbs up. Should be getting an A3 next week (it's all VAG have available) so I'm really hoping the Audi is on par with the skoda.
I guess VAG group are having to cut corners to save money after having to pay out $4.3 billion in fines a few years ago?
Right, final question, hopefully.
Does anyone have any views on the Scala vs Kamiq? It appears to have manual heating buttons, which is a plus...
I would go Scala over the Kamiq unless you wanted a higher driving position. The Scala is kind of half-estate/half-hatchback, it's bigger than a golf/leon hatch but not as big as the estate versions. Looked at the Scala when I got the Arona but they were newer so out of budget.
Are they both based on the Fabia?