Skoda Kodiaq
The options we wished we’d chosen
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Rational brand makes its most rational car to date: a seven-seat SUV. Can it score what’s surely an open goal?
On the one hand, £550 is a lot of money. It would certainly buy a lot of socks. On the other, in the context of a car that cost £31,615, it is not. And, despite no scrapes or scratches to speak of so far (touch wood), I still wish the money had been spent on a rear-view camera for the Kodiaq.
Why? Well, I would rate my parking ability as average and not a smidgen above (I rarely end up at right angles to my intended space, but sometimes I have to have a couple of goes before I slot in), and I live on the outskirts of London where I am forever bumping up kerbs to parallel park, squeezing into a just-so space or parking up against walls.
Yes, I do have rear parking sensors, which are fitted as standard on SE L models. They are well calibrated and generally work superbly. But I like two things about cameras: chiefly, that they back up the pulse-hastening beeps of the sensors with the option of a calm overview of the prevailing situation, and also that they can provide a longer-range look at what’s going on around you.
Now, lest you put pen to paper on the latter point, I’ll acknowledge now the need to always look over your shoulders and survey a situation for yourself. Whatever it says on the big warning sticker about always heeding your surroundings and never trusting the camera (lest you sue its makers) is entirely sensible. But, hopefully, you will also acknowledge that, once armed with some quick glances, having the scene around your car laid out on a screen in front of your eye can be an asset.
Let’s be honest too: at 4697mm long, the Kodiaq is a big car. The fact it sits high boosts visibility in some regards but reduces it in others. Overthe-shoulder visibility is adequate but not amazing, and gets harder if you have all seven seats in use or have filled the boot, neither of which are unusual situations given they are both scenarios that are likely to have led you to consider a large SUV in the first place.
Of course, there’s still the option of retrofitting a camera. I’m clearly not alone in suffering from spec regret, as a quick Google search reveals that there are aftermarket units aplenty, available from as little as £28. Of course, at that price you have to fit it yourself, and the solution is going to be far from as neatly integrated as a factory option, but it also makes you wonder quite how large the mark-up is for Skoda.
Other spec regrets? I feel a pang of sorrow when I’m loaded to my arms’ capacity and remember the ‘Virtual Pedal’ option, which allows you to open the boot with the wave of your foot under the bumper, and which feels like the kind of thing that you’d soon wonder how you lived without. Then there’s the possibility of fitting tray tables to the back of the front seats and hidden storage under the front seats, both of which appeal. However, at £610, £130 and £55 respectively, I think I’d opt for some new socks and keep the change.