Skoda Kodiaq 2025 review: Australian first drive

The new 2025 Skoda Kodiaq has big shoes to fill. The first-generation seven-seater became a firm Chasing Cars favourite at launch in 2017, with a blend of sophisticated driving and genius packaging that made the big players sit up and listen.

Although categorised by Australian sales data as a large SUV, the first Kodiaq — being under 4.7 metres long — was really a ‘medium-plus’ player; a rival for the Mitsubishi Outlander, Honda CR-V and Nissan X-Trail. That is to say, the third row was tight for adults, but a stellar bonus considering the Kodiaq’s footprint.

For the second Kodiaq instalment, Skoda’s leaned larger, extending the overall length by 61mm and growing the boot by 29L. The greater exterior bulk means the Kodiaq now plays against larger competitors in the three-row SUV space such as the fantastic new Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento.

As for its appearance, there are clear links to the old Kodiaq, both proportionally and in the details. The extra length, some bulk at the rear and less chiselled fascia, though, lead to a car that’s not quite as handsome — at least in our eyes. Is it really an improvement, then?

What are the Kodiaq’s features and options for the price?

Skoda is launching the Kodiaq in two clear trims, the comfort-oriented Select (taking over from Style) and athletic Sportline.

List pricing is up by $1700 for the Select, though Skoda argues extra value inclusions are worth $5700 over the outgoing car, calling it $4000 extra value. Like before, Skoda offers a simple-to-understand national driveaway price, and the Kodiaq Select is $56,990.

Skoda Kodiaq Select features:

• On-demand 4×4
• 19-inch ‘Lefka’ alloy wheels
• LED headlights and exterior lighting
• Keyless entry with proximity
• Power tailgate
• 13.0-inch multimedia touchscreen
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• 10.0-inch digital driver’s display
• Nine-speaker sound system
• Tri-zone climate control
• Power-adjust driver’s seat with lumbar
• Heated front seats
• Leather upholstery
• Wireless charging pad
• Metallic paint

Moving up the range is the Sportline, with different body-colour bumpers, black styling pack and sporty-looking 20-inch ‘Rila’ alloy wheels. You also get Matrix LED headlights, scrolling indicators, heated steering wheel, upgraded sound system and sports bucket seats with Suedia and synthetic leather upholstery for $61,990, driveaway

The Sportline can be taken even further with the $4000 Ultimate package, adding adaptive dampers (DCC), a 12-speaker Canton sound system, head-up display, heated rear seats, 360-degree camera, kick-to-open power tailgate, front passenger power adjust and progressive steering.

We spent the bulk of our time in the limited-run Bronx Gold Launch Edition, of which there will be around 200. It essentially gets all the options, but based on the Select’s look — so silver badging and luxury-style bumpers rather than a Sporty look. It gets more kit than Sportline, too, with a horizontal LED strip in the grille, auto parking, and a panoramic sunroof.

The highlights are the massaging front seats which also add ventilation and can be trimmed in Cognac brown leather at no extra charge. Speaking of, the Kodiaq Launch Edition costs $65,490 driveaway.

The Kodiaq range will fill out more when the flagship RS arrives in September. We’re expecting a plug-in hybrid version to be offered in early 2026 as well — neither has pricing locked in yet.

How does the Kodiaq drive?

Our drive loop takes us on a meandering tour from Melbourne Tullamarine Airport north to Bendigo, where our trio of Skoda Kodiaqs encounters smooth motorways, choppy highways, more coarse chip surfaces than you could imagine and testing twisty roads.

We’ll start with the engine. It’s not a bad unit by any means, the 2.0L turbo-petrol four-cylinder, but with only eight kilowatts more than before it isn’t a huge upgrade on paper.

The Kodiaq’s 140kW peak is available across a much broader range (4200-6200 rpm), though, and the 320Nm torque figure now runs up an extra 200 revs, from 1400-4100 rpm, both of which make the Kodiaq more tractable than before.

Overtaking still requires more time than you’d expect from a car that sprints from 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds, but the Kodiaq’s engine is adequate and much more pleasant to listen to than a thrashy atmo four-banger.

It helps that the seven-speed ‘wet’ dual-clutch automatic is responsive and quick-witted. Plus, the all-wheel drive gives much-appreciated security on patchy surfaces.

Braking and turning is a highlight in the Kodiaq. The rack is crisp whether you get the standard Select or the Sportline’s progressive steering, with great weighting no matter what drive mode you choose.

Less impressive are the new adaptive dampers. They have 15 possible settings with rebound and compression circuits separated, yet no combination was ever perfect.

Body control in Comfort — affectionately named Cloud mode — is too loose beyond 60km/h and the same is true of Normal above 90km/h. Yet set the Kodiaq to Sport and you get a terse ride over high frequency bumps. This is especially true with the Sportline’s 20-inch alloys.

Conversely, the Select’s simple passive damper set-up is perfect. Natural body-roll, good bump absorption and no constant fiddling with settings. We’d keep it simple and go for the Select.

It was also the least rattly Kodiaq we sampled on test. These are early, but are pre-production, examples.

The Select and Launch edition both had consistent trim rattles from the dash/A-pillar area, and the Sportline’s doorcards buzzed alarmingly at certain rpms.

Visibility remains a strong suit in the Kodiaq, with a generous glasshouse and low — for the class — sill lines that will keep travel sickness at bay.

What is the Kodiaq’s interior and tech like?

Where the Kodiaq is most upgraded is within the cabin. The previous generation was feeling a bit dated with a small-ish centre screen and lack of connectivity by the time it bowed out.

The new Kodiaq improves with a three-inch-larger central touchscreen and some seriously (not just simply) clever features. Along the top are customisable shortcut buttons, for example, while the bottom has persistent jump-links to the home screen, or wireless smartphone mirroring.

The highlight, though, is the row of three interactive rotary switches below. The outboard toggles control air temperature as standard. Push them in and you can tweak the Kodiaq’s seat heating and ventilation settings.

In the centre, the rotary dial’s functions can be customised for various parameters, including fan speed, drive mode selection and more. Skoda’s solution is one of the neatest we’ve seen yet.

Not to be outdone is Skoda’s usual collection of Simply Clever features. The Kodiaq has the classic umbrella in the (driver’s side only) door, dustbins in the doorcards and parking ticket holder, but builds on the suite with a cloth-encased oblong which sits in a little holder.

Not a vape or chewing gum holder, it’s an included screen-cleaning cloth. Surely one of the best inclusions in any new car — bravo, Skoda!

Aside from some rattles mentioned above, the materials have jumped up in quality, too. The Cognac leather in the Launch Edition looks great and feels high quality, with classy cross stitching on the twin glovebox lid. Ambient lighting glows around for a classy look, too.

The Kodiaq’s back seat continues to be extremely spacious and accommodating, with the bench on sliders and the backrest able to recline to balance boot (or third row) space and passenger comfort.

The backrest and squab are both very supportive, a third climate zone is standard and heating is optional. A little plastic caddy sits above the transmission tunnel with pop-out cup holders (complementing the standard ones in the fold-down armrest) and a pair of USB-C charge points (bringing the total to four).

Other, perhaps unexpected, niceties include integrated sunblinds, and smart device holders that mount to the back of the chair. Less impressive are the Kodiaq’s hard plastic door tops.

The Kodiaq features Isofix ports for outboard second-row seats and top tether anchors for all second row seating positions. Unlike the Hyundai Santa Fe, though, the Kodiaq’s third row cannot be fitted with child seats.

On the third row, if you’re comparing the Kodiaq to price-proximity medium SUVs such as the Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan X-Trail and Honda CR-V, you’ll be pleasantly surprised as an adult can be squeezed in with relative comfort.

For those who use all seven seats regularly, though, the Kodiaq doesn’t offer anywhere near as much space as larger vehicles like the Santa Fe, Toyota Kluger and Nissan Pathfinder.

Where the Kodiaq fights back is with boot space. Picking up an extra 19L (three rows up, 289L) and 29L (two rows up, 794L), the Kodiaq is a capable load-lugger. Fold the second row, too, and the boot measures 2035L.

Smarts in the Kodiaq continue all the way in the back with sturdier aluminium cargo dividers, space-saver spare under the boot floor, standard cargo netting, remote pull tabs for the second row, and reversible boot mat included standard.

Is the Kodiaq a safe car?

The Skoda Kodiaq has been given a five-star ANCAP rating based on destructive testing carried out by Euro NCAP.

The new Kodiaq features:

• Nine airbags including front centre unit
• AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection
• Driver fatigue monitor
• Adaptive cruise control with stop and go
• Exit warning assist
• Lane keeping assist
• Rear cross traffic alert
• Turn assist
• Traffic sign recognition
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera

Crucially, the Skoda Kodiaq’s active safety systems are more helpful than hindrance. The lane-keep assist works well, as does the adaptive cruise control. You can also permanently disable the chime from the speed limit recognition.

What are the Kodiaq’s ownership costs?

Skoda covers the Kodiaq with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Kodiaq servicing is due every 12 months or 15,000km and you can choose to pay-as-you-go, or stump up for pre-paid packages. These cost $3000 for five years (average) or $3700 for seven (average).

One area the Kodiaq could do with improvement is fuel consumption. Even the combined ADR average figure is 9.2L/100km, which is disappointing when you can get a Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid that sips 5.6L/100km.

We saw 8.5L/100km on the Kodiaq’s national launch on a motorway and rural road-based loop. The incoming plug-in hybrid should improve things.

The honest verdict on the Kodiaq

Like the rest of Skoda’s SUVs, the Kodiaq used to sit in a perfect niche between two size segments — small enough to sneak through suburbs and large enough to offer the flexibility of seven seats.

Growing bigger had the potential to harm the Kodiaq’s niche appeal, though Skoda was smart enough to keep pricing sharp for the new model, aligning it just above the Mitsubishi Outlanders of this world.

That said, it would be hard to recommend a current Kodiaq owner to rush out for the new one. Improvements in tech and materials aside, the driving experience doesn’t leap forward and the build quality certainly doesn’t

The Kodiaq’s sweeteners are what they’ve always been: European slickness and thoughtful practicalities. This nameplate remains one of the very best just begging for a hybrid option to go big. Pick of the range for now is the slick and well-specced Select base model.