• Hugely spacious interior 
• Optional third row of seats
• PHEV is five-seat only

The Skoda Kodiaq appeals to a very clear demographic and that’s predominantly families. Little wonder as this is where it has always excelled, and this new version doesn’t change that and only gets better. 

Unlike rivals such as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, the Kodiaq doesn’t come with seven seats as standard, so if you want the third row, it will be an additional £860 option. Even if you think you will rarely use the seven seats, we think it’s an option worth choosing as the seats fold away completely into the boot floor and they’re present if you need them.

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Used examples with seven seats will be worth more money too. If you’re buying a new plug-in hybrid, you should note this is not available with the third row because the large batteries take up more space in the boot floor. 

The second row offers ample space even for taller adults and it’s ideal for a growing family or taller teenagers. The third row is best reserved for children, however, as it’s not as accommodating as the seats in a Hyundai Santa Fe, for example. That said, with sliding rear seats, you should be able to find a solution where adults can sit in every row, at least for a short amount of time. 

Boot space and storage

The previous Kodiaq’s 720-litre boot was hardly small, but thanks to an increase in dimensions this new model is even larger. In five-seat mode, the boot measures a giant 910 litres, one of the largest of any SUV. That’s in five-seat mode, and with just the two front seats in place, the space increases to 2,105 litres – a figure that could trouble some small vans.

The third row of seats slightly reduces the boot’s volume in five-seat mode to 845 litres, but that’s still gigantic, while even with every chair in position, there’s 340 litres of room, roughly what you get from a small family hatchback.

The Kodiaq’s interior is also packed with useful touches, including levers in the boot to fold the third row of seats down and even a screen cleaner block that can quickly remove the dreaded fingerprint marks off the touchscreen. 

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Storage is also plentiful, throughout. Huge door pockets can easily hold a large water bottle. Skoda has also removing the gear selector onto the side of the steering wheel (rather than in the conventional space), which frees up a huge amount of space in the centre console.

There are up to four cupholders, depending how you choose to arrange it, plus wireless charging areas for two phones, a couple of USB-C ports and a lot of space in the armrest. You’ve still got Skoda’s handy umbrella kept within the driver’s door for if you’re ever caught in a shower, while there’s an upper and lower glovebox that are perfect for keeping things out of the way. No SUV does storage better than the Kodiaq. 

Is it easy to park?

At 4.75m in length, the Kodiaq is not a small car, though to drive it hides its dimensions well. Visibility is superb, with lots of large windows letting plenty of light in, but also ideal for tighter car parks. You get a decent view out up front, meaning threading the Kodiaq through a tight multistorey as you might expect. 

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Standard equipment also includes front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera, while a 360-degree camera system including semi-automated parking is available as part of an optional package. Just be mindful that the Kodiaq is still a big car so if you have a narrow driveway or only street parking, a smaller model might be better. 

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating
• Excellent scores in all categories
• Plentiful standard safety kit

With the Kodiaq primarily being sold as a family car, its safety rating matters even more than most. Thankfully, as with most Skodas, it doesn’t disappoint, with good scores in every area – the 83% rating for child occupant protection being particularly noteworthy. 

It’s equipped as standard with nearly every box ticked when it comes to driver assistance technology. On top of the usual now-mandatory (for new cars) features such as speed sign recommendation and lane keep assist, it also gets blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and a feature that helps stop you from opening a car door into other traffic. There are quick physical shortcut buttons on the steering wheel to turn these off, too, unlike sibling models from Volkswagen, for example. 

One of the first test Kodiaqs we tried in the UK did have numerous recurring issues concerning the safety assists being disabled, however, though subsequent test vehicles seem to have had these issues ironed out.