Skoda Karoq

I got this car for 1 week now and it has been a very nice drive. Can be comfortable drive or a bit more sporty if you like it.

Tires comes with Bridgestone but I would have prefered Michelin.

I did research on DSG and DQ200 and glad to say that the issue is resolved from what I'm hearing from many other drivers.

Skoda and Karoq has a large pool of drivers in Taiwan and it helps to understand the car better before I take the plunge.

This is my first conti car and I think it is very feature packed and dashboard is not plasticky. Definitely has a level of premium feel.

I think Skoda is an underrated car in Singapore and I won't be surprise if more car owners are buying their cars.

Practical, Good Looks, Can have fun with the car.

Comes with 3 years servicing and 5 years warranty. Hopefully with standard maintenance, it is a reliable car and so far fellow drivers from Taiwan is saying it is.

Tested the Karoq Ambition, fell in love with it the moment I drove out of Skoda during test drive. Had decided on Qashqai second hand alr, but went to SCS to find out about Karoq as it was the cheapest conti car of similar build. Engine performance thrashes Qashqai due to superior 1.5l turbocharged engine delivering 250Nm of torque. Had to be much more light footed or else car will zoom forward too quickly, bad for my heart but speedster would love it.

Interior wise, super comfy leather seats, spacious leg room for rear passengers who can get cold due to rear aircon vents! Middle seat has cup holders so rear passengers can sit comfortably on long drives enjoying a drink or two.

Huge boot storage with v clever netting, velcro organisers for u to hold items in place according to how big they are to prevent rolling about in the boot. Useful hooks too to hang items like shopping bags or takeaway food, so the cabin does not smell of food. Genius. If you are considering a Forester/Qashqai/other Asian SUVs, make sure u test drive the Karoq - I guarantee you will change your mind once u experience driving the Karoq.

I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the showroom to view the karoq, sgcarmart compact crossover of the year. Compared to a Q2 which has the same DSG gearbox, the car is feature packed for it's selling price. The karoq driving style is definitely more comfort based, and has the latest 1.5 engine from volkswagen

I just gotten this car for 1 month. Upgraded from a 1.6L sedan. Love the instant power coming from the 1.5L turbo engine and DSG. Super big boot and it comes with many practical design in the car. Heard many horror stories for the dry DSG DQ200 gearbox, only time will tell. But I love this car a lot now.

Collected this car just after easter break and have driven it for about two weeks.

The car is value for money IF everything was working as expected. My advice, check the car thoroughly and ensure everything is in order before driving away with the car. The Sales man won't respond and will direct you to aftersales.

After collecting my car, I noticed the leather seats were poorly fitted. Leather fitting on the front passenger seat was very loose. It was like the seat had lost 30kg and needed a skin remove surgery. The loose fitting in the rear seats resulted in the baby seat clips to fall off very easy. Contacted the Sales guy and was told that the I didn't know how to clip it. In my mind, I was thinking how difficult would it be to clip the plastic? I question if Skoda has quality assurance process in place before delivering the car to the customer.

As for the rattling noise,

Day 2 - Rear passenger seat

Day 5 - The rear book cover

Day 8 - Front passenger.

I did testdrive the Karoq last weekend. My impressions...

It appears to be a midsize SUV due to its muscular looking front grille, but in reality, a couple of inches shorter than VW Tiguan and Subaru Forester. Inside, it is very spacious, much more interior space and legroom than Honda Vezel/HRV and Toyota CHR. Compared to Mercedez GLA, either same or slightly more spacious than GLA.

Exterior look appears bigger than it really is, perhaps the way the body lines and contour give it a bigger silhoutte. Interior finish is quite good compared to Seat Ateca (which is its twin), specially with soft rubber and good mix of black piano finish and chrome sidings to the console and aircon vents. I felt the Ateca is more plasticky.

I tried the Ambition variant which is the lower variant than Style, but the features for the lower variant are already impressive. A lot of Auto features that I haven't tested each one of them during the test drive. For example, putting the lights on AUTO means it uses LED daytime running light by default, but automatically turns on the parking light and low-beam headlight when inside the tunnel, or it gets dark due to nightime or even when it was about to rain earlier. I thought it's quite smart.The start-stop system and start-stop engine works quite well and in harmony with the rest of other parts like the radio, the aircon, the locks, etc. Even locking and unlocking does not require taking out the remote key, and actually is quite smart how it's done. The provision of smart accessories like hooks where you need them, seats that can be reconfigured, nets to keep items in check, velcro floor holders preventing rollover of groceries, and even a penholder in the passenger compartment ensures there are no rolling noises. And under the passenger seat, there is a small umbrella. I think Skoda is quite good in these small "Creature comforts". The boot is extremely spacious, probably among best in its class, especially when rear seats are reconfigured.

Connecting to Carplay is such a breeze, very similar to VW and Audi cars I have used in the past. I can't say the same for Android Auto as I only brought iPhone today. Waze over Carplay worked well. The stock car radio is decent, just need to fiddle a bit with bass/treble settings.

Best of all, ride is very comfortable!

Went for the launch of Karoq and tested the Style variant.

First impressions is that its like a smaller version of Kodiaq (as this is a 5-seaters). Styling is pretty close to the Kodiaq as its meant to capture the crossover segment.

Seems missing the slit door protector that can only be seen in Kodiaq and not other range of Skoda models.

Interior was pretty normal and back seats comes with rear aircon, compared to some others that don't. Legroom is adequate only and headroom is ok if you are below 1.8m. Comes with only driver electric seats (strange).

Boot space seems small to my consideration too, in comparison to Vezel, Qashqai and other similar ones.

Features like blind spot assist, larger console screen (9.2 inches), paddle shifters similar to its elder sibling.

Drive off was good as it comes with high torque and gear changes are great too. Similar to Kodiaq as well.

Nimble drive too as a shorter car but Kodiaq drives as good too despite the larger and same engine too.

Overall, if you :

1. Want to own a SUV (where you are driving non SUV), this is the one to start off with a budget amount for conti.

2. Owns an Asian SUV and want a conti SUV of the same size, this is worth considering but only the Style one seems more visible to get.

3. Owns an Asian SUV and want to change another SUV, then Kodiaq is a likely better take as its like an upgrade from small SUV or crossover to a 5+2 or known considerable as a semi full size SUV.