The Skoda Kodiaq was a part of the MotorBeam fleet for a month and I loved this SUV so much that I ended up driving it for more than 2500 kms in this duration, spending almost Rs. 37,000/- on fuel! The Kodiaq entered our fleet at a time when our shoot teams were bustling with activity and the Kodiaq quickly became our choice as the perfect support car.
The Kodiaq has a very practical cabin and the boot space is massive with the third row folded away. The driving position is also very good and never did I get tired even after spending hours in stop-go traffic. Every time, I used to look forward to the comfy seats and the crisp Canton audio system.
On my daily commutes to work it takes me roughly an hour to cover 15 kms and here’s where the Kodiaq truly shone with its comfort levels. It just felt so effortless to drive all the time. My evening drives back home were a little more fun because I usually take the elevated airport road on my way back and it is smooth and empty.
The Skoda Kodiaq’s 2.0 TSI engine is a proper powerhouse. Feels right at home in traffic as well as open roads. It likes being pushed and is extremely smooth. In bumper-to-bumper traffic too it remains quite sorted but the DSG does tend to get a little confused at lower speeds.
Once on an early morning drive to Lonavala I wanted to explore the driving modes of the Kodiaq properly. This SUV gets DCC which works rather well. I started my drive in the usual Normal mode before switching to Comfort mode for a while. The difference in the suspension setup is instantly felt and the ride feels softer in this mode. My family too enjoyed the ride quality this way.
On the ghats, when I was pushing the car a little more, I switched to Dynamic mode. The suspension got a little stiffer and with the gearbox in S mode too, the engine was revving higher and staying longer in gears. That made the drive experience very engaging. It was during this drive that I came to the conclusion that the Kodiaq is simply one of the best SUVs below Rs. 50 lakh in India. Great combination of fun and comfort.
We were once shooting at a slightly remote location in Maharashtra once and the Kodiaq was again our support car. The other car that we were shooting suffered a few cuts and tears on the sidewall and it was impossible to fix that tyre at that place. We put that car on the jack, removed the tyre and loaded it in the Kodiaq and two us went to the city area a few kms away to get the tyre fixed while two others waited with the other car.
It was pouring heavily that day and with all the muck around, the light interiors of the car got quite dirty. After driving back to Mumbai, the very first thing I did was took the car to a detailing centre and got the entire cabin deep cleaned. The results were fabulous and everything was clean just the way I wanted.
I faced a couple of minor issues with the car. For the first few days, the tail gate used to act funny and wouldn’t shut electrically. It required multiple attempts and some manual effort to get the struts moving. After that we played around with the tail gate height settings and reset everything post which it started working fine. The front tweeters used to give out a weird, crackling noise sometimes but the issue got resolved on its own.
What about the running costs? The Skoda Kodiaq is a big, heavy and powerful SUV. In day to day scenarios, in heavy traffic, the vehicle delivered barely 5-6 km/l and the lowest number I saw was 4.5 km/l. The engine gets more efficient on open roads and the best figure I saw was 11.5 km/l on a long drive. With average efficiency around 7 km/l, the running cost was close to Rs. 15 per km which is on the higher side. The diesel Kodiaq was far more efficient.
Despite the high running costs, I never shied away from driving this SUV. It is a genuinely nice product and does so many things right. I love its build quality and driving feel. It is stellar. The new generation Kodiaq has made its debut globally and is expected to arrive in India in 2025. While I’m not a big fan of the new design, I think the new one will take comfort and tech a few notches higher.
Unfortunately the Kodiaq has left our garage now so that’s all from my side. If you’re on the fence thinking about buying a Kodiaq right now, I’d say get one eyes closed. It won’t disappoint you and because it has been around since 2017, most of the niggles have been ironed out and the SUV is reliable. To celebrate 7 years of the Kodiaq, Skoda is also offering some tasty discounts of Rs. 2 Lakh + to sweeten the deal.
If you own a Kodiaq or have driven one, share your experiences in the comments below!
