Skoda Karoq SUV SportLine 2.0 TSI 190PS 4x4 DSG auto 5d Owner Review

The Karoq Sportline is an excellent replacement for my Golf SV. It is well equipped, and has an excellent range of extras such as the 360 degree cameras, heated windscreen, seats and steering wheel. The boot is well sized, although the rear seats do not slide in my model. The engine has plenty of power, and the DSG transmission makes driving effortless. However there are some annoying features too. Skoda have equipped the 2.0TSI Sportline with the gimmicky VAG Soundaktor, which generates a fake engine noise in the car. Luckily this can be turned off in the Individual Driving Mode, or disabled all together by the dealer. The most frustrating features are changes introduced in its 3rd generation (MIB3) infotainment system. Unlike the previous VAG infotainment systems (MIB1 & MIB2), owners can no longer add radio logos to the radio presets, or download and install free map updates, as the files cannot be read via the USB ports. Instead you have to put up with some radio stations having logos and some not - and the missing ones are popular stations such as Classic FM and the Smooth stations. (Skoda claim this is due to 'licensing issues'. And the maps can only be updated online if you have paid the 70 euro annual licence to do so! Finally, the radio claims to provide access to Web Radio stations and podcasts. It is only after several months of complaints that I have discovered an undocumented reason for my failure to be able to use this feature. You need to buy an extra data allowance from Cubic Telecom (at prices from 7 euro per month to 72 euro per year) to be able to download the signals! This was not mentioned in any sales literature or the owners manual. It is a great pity that these software design flaws have been introduced in VAG's MIB3 infotainment system (I have seen similar complaints from owners of Seat Atecas, VW T-Rocs, as well as Skoda Karoq & Kodiaq owners). But it would seem to be a deliberate move by VAG to prevent owners installing radio logos and updated maps that they have downloaded from the internet via a PC, so that they have to pay for annual service contracts instead.