John Challen reflects on the Kodiaq as it heads back to Škoda HQ.

On more than one occasion, the sat nav displayed congestion on the road, only for our tester to find there was nothing about

Our time with the Škoda Kodiaq has come to an end and it’s with more than a hint of sadness that KY19 VRW heads back into the sunset (or, more likely in the current weather, the dark clouds and rain).

Škoda – possibly more than almost any other car brand – has flourished in the past decade or so, thanks largely to the Kodiaq. At a time when the world decided to embrace high driving posi- tions, crossovers and the need for seven seats in a vehicle, the Czech manufacturer delivered with this car. Itmight have been a little late to the party, but the value for money and the driving experience offered by the big Škoda more than made up for the tardiness.

Spacious, comfortable and packed with clever features (interior bin, integrated umbrellas, ice scraper, boot storage partitioners, to name just four) the Kodiaq is a pretty complete package. It rides and handles well, is quiet and pretty frugal for a car of its size. Heated seats all round and more storage space than you’d ever need are other plus points.

It’s not without quirks – on more than one occasion, the sat nav displayed congestion on the road, only for me to find there was nothing about (see picture for reference). Meanwhile, the aforementioned fuel economy’s ‘long term’ figure has a tendency to reset itself I still think the infotainment setup could be altered to make switching between functions a bit more straightforward. But they are minor gripes, which goes to show how highly rated the car really is.

P11D (BiK): £36,650 (37%) MPG/CO2: 37.7-39.2mpg (WLTP) /145g/km (NEDC Correlated) Test MPG: 38.4mpg