2024 Skoda Kodiaq Sportline review

The Skoda Kodiaq you see here is almost gone from Australia.

A new model is set to touch down in the latter stages of 2024, spelling the end for the current iteration of the first seven-seat Skoda sold in Australia.

Before it goes, the current Kodiaq has been treated to a price cut. The Sportline is now priced in line with the base Style for less than $60,000 drive-away; and a fully optioned model will set you back less than $65,000 on the road.

Although that’s not cheap, the Kodiaq packs in a lot of equipment for the money. There’s more than just a long equipment list to the runout Kodiaq, though. Even with just months to live, it has plenty to offer.

How much does the Skoda Kodiaq cost?

Skoda is currently offering a run-out discount on the middle Sportline variant that matches its price with the Style, as it gears up for the arrival of the SUV’s next generation in November this year.

To see how the Skoda Kodiaq lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.

What is the Skoda Kodiaq like on the inside?

The Kodiaq is looking its age inside alongside more modern rivals, but in some cases that’s a positive.

Sure, the touchscreen is a bit small, but you get proper buttons and dials for your climate controls. That’s right, actual buttons – not capacitive panels pretending, or a touchscreen with an old-school layout.

When you’re driving, it means less time with your eyes off the road to take care of simple tasks.

The fundamentals are excellent here, too. The bucket-style front seats offer an excellent blend of support and long-haul comfort, and it’s easy for drivers of all shapes and sizes to get comfortable. It’s a brilliant car for highway driving, especially with the optional heating and cooling functions active.

The driver is faced with a digital instrument binnacle, which was updated with new graphics in 2022.

Like most Volkswagen Group products, it allows you to pare things right back and show just your speed and revs, or to bombard you with information about everything from your navigation to the assist systems.

Taking pride of place in the middle of the dashboard is a 9.2-inch touchscreen. It looks a small alongside the widescreen displays offered in rivals, and the responses are slower than we’ve come to expect in the iPad age, but it’s still full-featured thanks to navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay, and wireless Android Auto.

Storage spaces abound. There’s a space beneath the central armrest, and a tray in front of it that can act as cupholders, or flipped to hold coins and keys. Beneath the centre console is a wireless phone charger and USB-C ports, while the door bins are big enough to swallow 1.5-litre bottles.

The driver’s door also houses a bin, which is ideal if you chew gum compulsively.

While we’re talking ‘Simply Clever’ touches, there’s an umbrella hidden in the driver’s door, a parking ticket holder on the windscreen, flip-down pieces on the headrests to support sleeping heads in the rear, and blankets that attach to the headrests to keep the kids warm.

Space in the second row is standout. Headroom is excellent, even with the panoramic sunroof fitted to this tester, and there’s enough legroom there for six-footers to sit behind leggy drivers.

The fold-down central armrest, air vents, sunshades, and rear temperature controls mean the kids will be comfortable in all conditions, although the lack of rear USB ports is a miss.

I’ve spent six hours in a Kodiaq with four adults on board and no-one complained, which says a bit about how comfortable it is.

As for the third row? It’s not as spacious. The Kodiaq is a more of a 5+2 than a full-time seven-seater, with seats suited to small kids on short trips.

Access is tight, but with the rear seats folded forwards little kids will be able to scamper through, and enjoy enough space for shorter trips.

The cupholder on the left and storage pocket on the right are nice touches, but you don’t get USB outlets or face-level air vents back there.

This is understandable when you consider how ‘small’ the Kodiaq is relative to segment rivals.

At 4697mm long it’s 269mm shorter than a Toyota Kluger, but offers similarly excellent space for five and a better drive in the city.

The floor folds totally flat with the third row folded, and there’s storage beneath it for the cargo blind. This is a very smartly packaged vehicle, no matter which way you spin it.

To see how the Skoda Kodiaq lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.

What’s under the bonnet?

There’s one powertrain shared across Kodiaq Style and Sportline variants, and they both come with all-wheel drive as standard.

To see how the Skoda Kodiaq lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.

How does the Skoda Kodiaq drive?

The Kodiaq remains a polished car to drive, with smooth-moving turbo power and a comfortable ride.

I ran a Kodiaq Sportline for three months in a past life, and the car spent most of its life locked into Comfort mode… which was also the case during my week behind the wheel this time around.

It dulls the engine’s responses down, and dials the adaptive dampers right back for a lovely relaxed feeling behind the wheel. Although it’s called the Sportline, this Kodiaq is the sort of car that makes you breathe a sigh of relief.

The steering is light enough to make parking a breeze, and its upright design and tall windows make for a car that’s easy to see out of in tight spaces.

It’s not perfect, of course. Although those 20-inch alloy wheels look sharp, they also transmit sharp-edged bumps into the cabin more than the 19-inchers on the Style sitting below it in the range regardless of which drive mode you’re in.

The dual-clutch transmission occasionally trips over itself when you put your foot down away from the lights and the start/stop system has been active, with an awkward pause before moving away.

With experience you learn how to give the system what it needs to work smoothly, but there is a learning curve there.

Once you’re rolling, the 132kW engine has plenty of punch. The dual-clutch transmission defaults to a tall gear, but put your foot down and it kicks down smartly to put you in the meat of the torque band.

For the cut-and-thrust of daily traffic it has plenty of go, although there are times when you put your foot down that the Kodiaq feels a bit like a big car with a small heart.

It’s never particularly loud or uncouth, but the extra punch on offer in a Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 162TSI or the 180kW Kodiaq RS with its Golf GTI engine is noticeable.

It’s not a problem at a cruise, where the Kodiaq settles down nicely. The engine hums along at less than 2000rpm in seventh gear doing the limit in Australia, while noise and vibration suppression are exceptional given the price.

European brands often struggle to make their cars quiet over coarse chip Australian country roads, but the Kodiaq maintains its composure nicely.

It’ll be interesting to see how far forward the new model due later this year moves the game, because even in the twilight of its life the current car punches above its weight.

Skoda’s driver assistance technology is some of the best. The adaptive cruise control system smartly maintains a gap to the car in front, the lane-keeping assist confidently nudges you back between the white lines when required, and blind-spot monitoring is neatly integrated into the mirror housing. It’s the little things, right?

What do you get?

Kodiaq Style standaard equipment:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• 9.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Wireless phone charger
• Satellite navigation
• 10.25-inch Virtual Cockpit digital instrument cluster
• Power-folding, auto-dimming, heated side mirrors
• Adaptive cruise control
• Dual-zone climate control
• Keyless entry and start
• Power tailgate
• Automatic headlights and wipers
• Door edge protectors
• Leather-trimmed sport steering wheel
• Leather upholstery
• Privacy glass, rear window sun blinds
• LED headlights
• LED daytime running lights
• Fog lights
• LED rear fog lights
• Tablet holders on front seat backs

Kodiaq Sportline adds:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Alcantara/leather sports seats with silver stitching
• Matrix LED headlights*
• Headlight cornering and poor weather function*
• Gear shift paddles*
• Power-adjustable driver’s seat*
• Drive mode selection
• Progressive steering

*Available for the Style as part of an optional package

Options

Run-Out Pack: $4600

• Adaptive Chassis Control (dampers)
• Park Assist
• Power front passenger seat
• Heated front, rear seats
• 3-zone climate control
• 360-degree cameras (Area View)
• Adaptive Lane Guidance
• Emergency Assist
• Off-Road mode
• Sleep Pack
  • incl. airline style rear headrests

Ventilated front seats: $2300

Panoramic sunroof: $1900

Is the Skoda Kodiaq safe?

The Skoda Kodiaq does not have a current ANCAP safety rating, but it did achieve a five-star rating in 2017 which expired for vehicles sold from 1 January, 2024.

Standard safety equipment includes:

• 9 airbags
  • Driver and front passenger airbags
  • Driver’s knee airbag
  • Front and rear side airbags
  • Front and rear side curtain airbags
• Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
• Adaptive cruise control
• Driver attention monitoring
• Reversing camera
• Front, rear parking sensors
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic assist – with braking
• Multi-collision brake
• Lane assist with adaptive lane guidance
• Traffic jam assist
• Emergency assist

How much does the Skoda Kodiaq cost to run?

Skoda offers a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty across its range.

The brand offers prepaid service packs that can be bought upfront, or at any point before the vehicle’s first service. The five-year, 75,000km service pack will cost you $2900, while the seven-year, 105,000km plan is $3350.

CarExpert’s Take on the Skoda Kodiaq

There are fancier, newer, and bigger seven-seat SUVs out there, but at its new drive-away price the Kodiaq still has plenty to offer.

What it lacks in high-tech sparkle it makes up for with its solid, practical interior, and driving dynamics that still stand up in 2024. The Sportline is the pick of the range, given the extra equipment on offer relative to the Style that costs exactly the same amount.

The new Kodiaq coming to Australia later this year will no doubt move the game forward for Skoda, and put more pressure on the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sportage, along with the Nissan X-Trail and Mitsubishi Outlander.

In the meantime though, the outgoing model is a rock solid way to carry a family around for less than you would’ve otherwise paid.

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