Skoda Kodiaq (2017-2024) review

The vast majority of Skodiaqs come with seven seats as standard. Only the base-spec SE L lets you have five instead, saving you around £1,000 and liberating a few more litres of bootspace if you really want to.

Those two rearmost seats are only for kids, though you can up the amount of legroom back there by sliding the middle row of seats forwards in a 60/40 split (it folds in a 40/20/40 split). Erecting and stowing the Kodiaq’s sixth and seventh seats is easy enough, giving you up to around 700 litres of bootspace.

It’s not electric, like some bigger, posher SUVs, but you could do it with one arm if the other was occupied by a small, petulant child. Kids will have no problem getting in and out of them. And with all the seats up, there’s still 270 litres of space for a few bits and pieces behind. 

I guess the rest of the storage is good?

There are lots of places to put things. Two gloveboxes, a deep well under the centre armrest and the massive door bins are most useful. The SE L Executive version gets little drawers under the front seats, which are lost once you get traded up to sportier or heated and ventilated numbers.

You’ll want the £195 Family Pack, which from SE L Executive trim upwards gives you roller blinds for the rear windows, electric child locks for the rear doors, a little rubbish bin and clever door-edge protectors that automatically deploy when you open the doors to stop your kids from dinging other cars in carparks. Other now trademark Skoda-y features include the ice scraper hidden behind the fuel filler cap, and the umbrellas in the front doors that will surprise and delight new passengers. 

Is it all easy to use?

Everything inside the Kodiaq feels very well made and hard-wearing – and well considered for family use too. The dashboard’s layout is simple and well thought through, with physical climate controls and a big, easy-to-use touchscreen. Pity the bigger screen fitted to higher-end models does without twiddly volume and zoom knobs. The conventional instruments are clear, but you can have a fully digital display on higher trims if you prefer, though if you’ve not gone for a sporty trim line, it’ll be tucked behind a slightly odd two-spoke steering wheel.

Nowadays the USB ports are all of the new-fangled C variety – so remember those adapters or bulk-buy some new cables online. You can spec a socket in the rear-view mirror for hooking-up a dashcam without having to trail wires all around the cabin.