Skoda Kodiaq Review & Prices

If you’re in the market for a practical family SUV, there’s few that can match the all-round performance of the Skoda Kodiaq - a 2023 carwow Buy It Award winner. With its strengths in all the key areas, it’s the car market’s Swiss Army knife, rather than being just a simple hammer.

Where alternatives such as the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace and Seat Tarraco are exclusively available with seven seats, the Kodiaq offers a bit more flexibility. If you’d rather have five seats and a slightly larger boot, then you can - but only on the entry-level model.

The Skoda may not be the most interesting of the three to look at but it’s smart enough, and its cabin is attractive too. Again, its interior isn’t the coolest or most striking environment, but it does the job with solid build quality and some premium-feeling materials. There are also plenty of proper buttons and dials, rather than super fiddly touch-sensitive controls that can be tricky to use while on the move.

You won’t struggle to get comfortable either, as there’s loads of space in the front two rows. That said, adults will definitely want to avoid the cheap seats in row three. They’re more suited to children, as overall space is really pretty tight.

As with any Skoda though, there are some really cool, clever features that’ll help to catch your eye. An ice-scraper housed in the fuel bay door is one example, as are the umbrellas tucked away into the front doors - just like you get on a Rolls-Royce. Talk about posh... All the tech features are up to a good standard as well, with the option of a large digital driver’s display available. 

For storage, the Kodiaq is pretty impressive, and only if you have the rearmost seats up does the boot become a lot less practical. That said, even with the third row in place, you still get roughly the same amount of boot space as you would in a dinky little city car, so it’s not all bad news.

The Skoda Kodiaq is really easy to drive. There’s great visibility all-round, the steering is light so you can manoeuvre around town, and it doesn’t feel too large either. The suspension can feel a bit twitchy and firm at slower speeds though, particularly on rougher stretches of road.

Out on the motorway the suspension is smooth, and you won’t notice a huge amount of wind and tyre noise making its way into the cabin either. The seats are also comfortable and supportive, so you shouldn’t emerge from the car feeling all stiff and cramped up at the end of a long-range journey. 

You get the choice of two petrol engines – a 1.5- and a 2.0-litre – and a 2.0-litre diesel, with the option of front and four-wheel drive on offer. Only the entry-level option comes with a six-speed manual, while the rest of the models are fitted with a seven-speed automatic. If you’re after more performance, one of those is the vRS version that comes with 245hp and can go from 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds. 

Safety kit also comes readily available, with all-round sensors now fitted as standard. There’s also the option of travel assist and additional kit, including a rear-view camera. 

All up, the Skoda is a comfortable, easy-going and seriously practical family SUV. If it sounds like the car for you, head on over to our Skoda Kodiaq deals page to see how much you could save when you buy through carwow. Alternatively, you can check out used examples from a network of trusted dealers, or browse other used Skoda models. You can also sell your car through carwow, too.

The Skoda Kodiaq is very similar to the Seat Tarraco and VW Tiguan Allspace. What marks out the Kodiaq is that you can opt to have it with just five seats, whereas the other two are seven-seaters only. That makes the starting price of the Kodiaq the lowest of the three. However with seven seats, all three are relatively close in price but the spec you get is slightly different. Similarly, other running costs and insurance groups will be inline with each other.  

The Skoda Kodiaq is easy to drive and has a good range of efficient engines, but it can feel a little bumpy at low speeds

In town

The raised driving position gives you a good view over other traffic in town. The front pillar can cause a bit of a blind spot but it's not too bad and while the back window isn't the largest, you can still get a decent view out of it.

Overall, it's a comfortable car to drive, but at very low speeds the suspension does pick up a few bumps in the road and you can feel it fidget around a bit. You can get the Skoda Kodiaq with adaptive dampers, which has a comfort mode, but in all honesty the car is comfy enough without it. 

In terms of the controls, the brakes are good and the manual gearbox is a bit notchy but it has a nice positive feel to it (the DSG automatic is pretty good too, though it can be a little bit jerky - check it out on a test drive). 

The steering is nice and light for manoeuvring around town and parking. Speaking of which, you get front and rear parking sensors as standard and a rear view parking camera, so even though the Skoda Kodiaq is a big car, parking it shouldn’t be too much of a chore.

On the motorway

When you go at faster speeds the steering can feel a bit vague so it's best to put the car into Sport mode, which weighs up the steering and then it feels a bit more stable. On the whole though, the Skoda feels like a very secure car to drive at speed. 

There's not too much road noise either. There is a bit of whistle made by the wind as it goes over the big door mirrors but other than that it is a very quiet car to travel in. 

And it's relaxing as well because although the seats are a bit firm, they are comfortable. You will be able to drive lots of miles in the Kodiaq, no problem at all. 

Remember, though, if you do drive lots of miles or tow a caravan and the like, you probably still want a diesel engine. But lower mileage drivers will find the 1.5-litre 150hp petrol a great choice.

On a twisty road

For such a big car, the Skoda Kodiaq actually corners really well and it doesn't roll too much either. That’s good news for your passengers in the back as they shouldn't feel car sick when you are driving around lots of bends. 

You can get the car with four-wheel drive which will make it very grippy too, but remember it's not a serious off-roader like the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The Kodiaq is simply cavernous inside with lots of clever practicality treats, though the middle rear seat is quite firm and the plastics feel cheaper in the back

The Kodiaq has good storage around the cabin. The glovebox is a decent size and it comes with a second cubby above it. The door bins can fit a couple of water bottles and there's a deep storage bin between the two front seats. There are a couple of cupholders in front of that storage space. And in front of the gear lever there's a place for your mobile phone. You'll also find a there's a small drawer to the right of the steering wheel. Oh, and there's an umbrella in the front passenger door and an ice scraper in the fuel filler cap. How clever is that?

There are a further two cupholders in the back and one in the boot for when the seven seats are being used. All in all the Skoda Kodiaq is a very practical car.

Space in the back seats

Regardless of whether you go for five or seven seats, you will have absolutely loads of room in the back seats. There’s acres of headspace, loads of kneeroom and because the front seats are raised up slightly you have plenty of space to slide your feet underneath if you want to stretch out a bit..

The back seats are comfortable too, and they move back and forward - allowing you to choose between giving more space to the boot (or those in row three seats) or more space for your passengers in row two. These seats also recline.

You can fit three people in the second row of seats - it's certainly wide enough - the only problem is the middle seat is quite firm and raised up. But as there is so much headroom that shouldn't really be an issue.

Sure, there is a hump in the floor but again, as the footwells are so big, it shouldn't really matter - particularly if you’re only carting kids about.

The windows are big, too. So kids in the back seats won't have to sit up to look out of them - and the windows also go all the way down.

If your kids like an iPad to watch on their journeys, then the storage pockets on the back of the front seats will come in handy. The door bins are roomy too - they can easily handle a big, 1.5-litre bottle of water. 

The only downsides are that the quality of the plastics in the back aren't that great, but to be fair it's a similar story with the VW Tiguan Allspace - and that you only get Isofix seat points on the two outside chairs. 

Fitting a child seat is easy though. The doors open really wide and the Isofix mounting point is easy to reach behind some removable covers - although there is a chance you could lose these over time!

For the rearmost seats (in the seven-seater models) headroom isn't too good, so adults won't want to sit there for too long. Children will be fine, however. 

Kneeroom is OK, if your passengers in the middle row of seats slide forward.

Boot space

Choose the five-seater and you get a 720-litre boot that grows to 2,065 litres when you put the seats down. That’s a good chunk up on the likes of the Peugeot 3008, which gets 520 litres, and even the Hyundai Tucson’s impressive 620 litres.

If you go for the seven-seat Kodiaq you do lose a little bit of room to make space for the third row of chairs. With seats six and seven folded down, you get 630 litres and that increases to 2,005 when you put the middle row of seats down. When you have all seven seats in use, the boot is just 270 litres - about the same size as you would find in a VW Polo.

That makes it a bit less practical than the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace, which has up to 760 litres with seats six and seven out of the way. Fold down the second row too and the VW has 1,755 litres, which puts a score in the Skoda’s box. The Seat Tarraco has 700 litres with the rear seats folded and 1,775 litres with rows two and three down.

It has useful features too. There are tethering hooks to help tie stuff down, a boot light that doubles up as a torch and some underfloor storage that has room for the load cover. The middle seat in row two folds down, so you can have two passengers either side and still carry long thin items in the boot.

The boot floor is fairly flat and there's not really a lip so packing the Kodiaq is fairly straightforward. Speaking of which... how much stuff can you pack into the Kodiaq?

In seven-seater mode there is room for a couple of small carry-on suitcases and a few soft bags. Fold the seats in the boot down and you can fit two large boxes, two medium ones and two small boxes.

Fold all the back seats down and you can fit a bike in there without taking off its wheels, no problem at all. In fact, it's almost like having a van. In there you can get a large TV box, two large boxes, three medium-sized boxes, two small boxes, two large suitcases, two small suitcases and a couple of soft bags. Phew!

The Kodiaq’s cabin isn’t particularly stylish, but it’s well screwed together and the infotainment system works well

Skodas have never been the most attractive inside, as function has always been the lead over form. The updated Kodiaq does follow that trend, but there are some plush touches that help lift it. 

There’s a two-spoke steering wheel in most versions, while the Sportline and vRS models get a sporty three-spoke version. There’s fabric upholstery as standard, but depending on the trim level you choose there’s microfibre and leather instead. 

Material quality is good for the price point, while all the fixtures are well screwed together. It’s a lot of what you would expect from Skoda, but that’s more than good enough for most people.

There’s also more buttons and dials rather than touch-sensitive controls, which makes them far easier to use while you’re on the move. The infotainment system hasn’t really been updated either. That might sound like a bad thing, but given just how laggy and glitchy the latest Volkswagen Group infotainment systems can be, you’ll probably find you’ll prefer this slightly older set up.

You can also get a virtual cockpit system, which is a fancy name for a digital instrument display. Though it’s fitted as standard on the top two trims, it’s available optionally throughout the rest of the range. It runs very smoothly and looks smart too.

Unlike the first version of the Kodiaq, you get all-round parking sensors as standard, while a reversing camera is available on most versions right out of the box too. LED headlights are fitted as standard, while you can get Matrix adaptive headlights on all versions. 

For those who want it, there’s a panoramic sunroof available as an option, and you can also get a sleep pack that fits tinted rear windows, blinds, special head rests and a blanket if you need to get a decent kip in the back of your Kodiaq.

For fuel consumption, the diesel engine sits about 10mpg ahead of the comparative petrol options, returning around 52mpg when paired with the seven-speed DSG transmission. Adding four-wheel drive drops efficiency by 5mpg though, so if you need to go on long journeys regularly, and don’t think four-wheel drive is essential, then the front-wheel drive version is more than good enough.

However, where the diesel engine falls down compared to the petrols is vehicle excise duty (VED) tax. As all the diesels sit on the same level as the comparative petrol, you’ll need to pay more tax, and in this case that’s an extra £300 per year. Emissions are slightly lower than the petrol units with the help of AdBlue.

Due to the Kodiaq being a bulkier car and the engines not having as much torque, petrol options aren’t as efficient as the diesel, returning 42mpg at best with the entry level 150hp 1.5-litre unit. Emissions are a couple of g/kms higher as well, but as mentioned earlier, you’ll be saving a decent chunk on VED tax every year with the petrol engines. 

As you would expect, the top-spec vRS model with its 2.0-litre petrol is the least efficient, and priciest to tax (along with the top-end L&K version with the 200hp diesel). 

The face-lifted version of the Kodiaq is yet to be tested by Euro NCAP, but it should score a five-star rating as the previous version did. That means it’s safety equipment and crash structure are excellent, keeping you and your occupants safe.

In the test for the previous version, it scored poorly on safety assists due to having limited speed assistance and lane support, but Skoda has added both of those to the options list, and we would recommend adding them both.

All the other areas of safety in the vehicle were above 70%, which is what you would expect of most mass produced models nowadays.

The Kodiaq is fitted with an interior monitoring system, so you’ll hear an alarm sound if someone does try to break into your car. It doesn’t have proximity sensors or surround view cameras that you can access remotely like on a Tesla.

On all Kodiaqs, you get three years of warranty – two years of that comes with unlimited mileage. The third year comes with a 60,000-mile limit, whichever comes first. There’s also a three-year paint warranty and a 12-year body warranty.

You can also choose between fixed and flexible servicing regimes. The fixed version recommends usage of less than 10,000 miles per year and for the car to be mostly driven in town, while the flexible version uses the engine sensors to tell you when to go in for a service. The sensor engages between 9,000 and 24,000 miles, and will suit more people who will use this.

Skoda also offers a full servicing plan for £396 for two years, or £16.50 a month. This includes one oil service and one oil inspection and pollen filter service.

Very limited issues have been found on the Kodiaq, with only five recalls being announced during its time on sale. Skoda continues to rank very highly on reliability and customer surveys – with the Kodiaq ranking inside the top 10 regularly.