2025 Skoda Karoq Select review

• Doors and Seats

  

  NA

• Engine

  

  NA

• Engine Power

  

  110kW, 250Nm

• Fuel

  

  Petrol 6.6L/100KM

• Transmission

  

  NA

• Warranty

  

  NA

• Ancap Safety

  

  NA

Family Cars Guide

Skoda’s Karoq has been with us for a few years now, and like most of its Czech brethren, it has just got on with the job of being a solid if unspectacular seller for the brand in Australia. Lesser companies would have dumped it, but Skoda seems committed to the bit, and speak to an owner and you can see why – I’ve never met a disappointed Skoda owner. I’m sure they exist, I just haven’t met one.

The Karoq is a slightly curious proposition. Small for its segment but with a surprisingly roomy interior, it sits at the lower end of the medium SUV market sharing space with the compact but still medium SUV Honda ZR-V.

In 2024 we got a very mildly refreshed Karoq line-up, with a mild rejig of the specification and a lower entry price point to go with the improved spec on the base model now called Select. The Select replaces the previous Style grade, and joins the more performance-styled Sportline (which comes in both front- and all-wheel drive) to make a three-variant range of one of the most overlooked Euro SUVs.

At under 40 grand for a European mid-size SUV, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is going to be a stripped-out, ascetic machine, but it’s actually not bad at all.

You get 18-inch alloy wheels, auto LED headlights, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 8.0-inch digital dashboard, rear-view camera, front and rear parking sensors, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, fabric seat upholstery, keyless start and a space-saver spare.

You will have to do without the Sportline's sportier styling touches with body-coloured cladding and blacked-out brightwork, bigger 19-inch alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights, heated front seats, and a few other bits and pieces. You should definitely do a proper comparison if some of the more useful features in the Sportline are deal-breakers.

Front seats in this segment are almost uniformly good, but the Karoq’s are really good. Being the entry-level model, the cloth trim is a fairly drab grey but seems very hardy and, as ever, I will confess to being a fan of quality fabric interiors.

The doors do have some expanses of hard scratchy plastic that do little for the ambience either in colour or texture, but the actual door pulls and armrests are nicer materials, while the sliding centre armrest is in a rather pleasant black leather-type material. White stitching on the seats and armrests along with subtly patterned inserts in the seats lift things slightly to stop it being too dark.

Under the sliding armrest is an example of Skoda’s knack for thoughtful useability. There are two smallish cupholders (coffee cups rather than 7-Eleven buckets), a slot for the key and some coin slots. If you need more space, you can whip that assembly out. If you’re not using any of it, you can just slide the armrest over it.

Ahead of the console storage is the stylish shifter surrounded by a few blanks and selector switches, plus a space for your phone next to a 12-volt and two USB-C ports. More blanks feature above the lovely damped cover for the phone tray, and above that are the easy-to-use dual-zone climate controls. I’d prefer less piano black here, but it’s hardly overwhelming. Atop the dash is a shallow, lidded storage bin.

The front seats also feature handy drawers underneath the seat cushion for hiding valuables or containing loose items.

The rear seats are unusually shapely, or at least on the outboard pair. Skoda could probably afford to do that because the middle seat isn’t especially useable for long, given the hefty transmission tunnel and the shape of the centre console robs some shin space.

Speaking of the centre console, you get air vents, a storage slot and a 12-volt charging point. The doors each have a bottle holder and the big centre armrest – which also reveals a ski port – featuring two cupholders.

Skoda's individually removable VarioFlex rear seats aren't offered in the Karoq Select, instead requiring a step up to the Sportline FWD.

The boot comes in at 521 litres, which is a pretty decent size given the Karoq would be among the smallest in this class. Like the rest of the car, the boot doesn’t suffer much from its smaller footprint, and that is a large part of its charm. The larger cars in the class (RAV/Sportage/Tucson/Tiguan etc) have larger boots but not by much.

As I’ve already mentioned, there’s a ski port, and if you fold the 60/40 seats flat you have 1810L. You’ll find a pair of bag hooks on the left-hand side for lighter shopping trips and various pockets and nets. Under the floor is a near full-size spare.

The theme of simplicity should be apparent to you by now, and it continues with the 8.0-inch touchscreen. You wouldn’t call the software cutting edge or the size extraordinary, but neither does it dominate the space. And despite being the basic car, you get wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the latter of which behaved itself impeccably in my week with the car.

It’s a shame there isn’t, therefore, wireless charging to go with the integration, but the two USB-C ports should see you right. Although I’d recommend getting short ones so they’re not sprouting all around the shifter.

An uncommonly generous eight-speaker stereo does a decent job, and the non-phone offerings of FM and DAB+ radio are easy to use. The lack of AM is annoying in Sydney if you’re old like me and listen to ABC Sydney and have to drive through a tunnel, as the signal disappears soon after you’re through the portal. Bizarrely, AM is repeated through the various tunnels but not DAB, so if you listen to AM stations, get their phone app if you’re in a DAB-less area.

There isn’t much to the software but it’s easy to use, with the screen flanked on both sides by shortcut buttons and physical volume and secondary control knobs. It’s all really simple to use.

The digital dash is the smaller 8.0-inch unit from parent company Volkswagen but is perfectly fine, only missing out on a few extra views and available data points.

Skoda doesn’t currently offer a phone app and connected features for the Karoq.

The Karoq’s original 2017 ANCAP rating expired at the end of 2023, so the car is currently without a safety rating. That rating was gained under older rules and the Select in particular has enjoyed an increase in specification.

Despite being cheaper than a couple of years back, the Karoq now has reverse cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist and blind-spot monitoring as standard. It is missing some of the more advanced features of the higher models in the range including traffic jam assist and a 360-degree camera view.

The forward AEB is limited to cyclist and pedestrian detection. There isn’t road sign recognition, but given the hit-and-miss nature of these systems and the disastrous mess of signage in Sydney in particular, I didn’t miss it but you might.

All of the systems behaved well and I can’t recall any false positives. I found the range of the reverse cross-traffic alert particularly useful, as it twice helped me avoid awkward instances when reversing out of a driveway in an overparked street.

Seven airbags – including a driver’s knee airbag – round out the specification, and the rear seat has two ISFOIX and three top-tether anchors.

Servicing is a big concern in this segment and it differs between makes and models. Skoda offers two methods of payment – prepaid or pay as you go. Pay-as-you-go is Skoda’s capped-price servicing model, with individual service pricing available online. Over three years you’ll pay just over $1570, which isn’t cheap but not outrageous.

The Karoq’s Japanese rival, the RAV4, is cheaper by a long way over five years (although the capped price ends at that point), and the Koreans, depending on spec, are in between.

Average prices rise over five years to just over $600 per year and remain steady if you go to seven years. The pricing jumps around a bit over then, but is consistently higher after the three-year mark.

Picking prepaid servicing saves $563 over seven years, keeping the average yearly cost to about $520. Ideally that would mean not putting your hand in your pocket when you do visit the dealer, but it obviously doesn’t cover some consumables like windscreen wipers or tyres.

Insurance worked out at a surprisingly reasonable $1100 per annum based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Skoda quotes 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres for the front-wheel-drive Karoq, and given my time with it was mostly in urban a traffic, my 7.4L/100km result is pretty decent.

With its 50-litre tank, you can expect nearly 675km between fills if you don’t mind a bit of white-knuckling or 758km based on the ADR figure.

The Karoq is an interesting proposition in just about every respect, and that includes on the road. With just 1.4 litres across its four cylinders, you’d be forgiven for thinking driving it would be a bit of a chore. This engine is shared with the larger Volkswagen Tiguan 110TSI, delivering 110kW and 250Nm.

In the Karoq the engine is paired with an eight-speed torque converter automatic. Previously VW Group cars used a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic, but some models (like the Volkswagen Golf) stray from this strategy with a more urban-friendly torque-converter auto.

It’s an excellent transmission, and given it’s not a twin-clutch, it’s more responsive off the line and you don’t get that annoying hesitation or roll back with anything less than half throttle. It also delivers a smoother low-speed drive and in urban running makes the engine feel bigger and more muscular than it is.

The torque figure isn’t exactly weedy for a 1510kg car, but you will obviously feel it if you load up with people and stuff. If you’re running around by yourself, as a couple or in family car mode, it’s more than adequate. 

I quite liked the way the electric steering was set up too – just the right amount of weight to connect you to the road but without being too chatty.

The suspension is very much set towards comfort. Accelerating through a curved freeway entry, the grip is good at the front end but there’s a bit of body movement before the car settles. Overall, the body control is good, and the comfort level is spot on for what I imagine most of these cars will be doing.

In faster traffic the Karoq keeps up, but you will need to plan overtaking on 100km/h-plus roads. In these conditions the engine will work hard – and do it cheerfully – up hill and down dale, but again, with a load on you’ll have to be patient and refuel a little more often.

The Karoq offers a 1500kg tow rating for braked trailers and 690kg for unbraked. That looks reasonable on paper, but with a towball download of 90kg knocking down your 430kg payload figure, that’s not going to leave you with much to spare.

Added to that, 250Nm is going to struggle to haul a gross combination mass of well over three tonnes. We’d suggest the Karoq is more of a lifestyle tower, say, a couple of motorbikes, a small tinnie or a jet ski. Trips to the tip with a small box trailer would also be fine, but again, if you need more than that on a regular basis, it’s unlikely you’d consider this car anyway.

Where the Karoq Select shines is in the places most of us live, the city. It’s comfortable, quiet, refined, and has everything you need. By medium SUV standards it is small, so it’s really easy to park. I’d like a better reversing camera, but as a not-so-basic five-seat SUV, it’s a really nice car. And because it isn’t too high or overtly SUV-ey, it’s easy to live with.

The Karoq range is mostly powered by the 110TSI engine, so if you’re wanting a bit more power and adventure, you have to move a long way up the range to the Sportline 4x4 that swaps out the 1.4-litre for a 2.0-litre turbo. The front-wheel-drive Sportline is all about adding more luxury touches and a bit more safety specification.

The Select probably makes the most sense in the Karoq range, as it nails the pricing without getting crowded out by what’s available in the $40–$50K range where you have substantially more choice from Europe, Japan and Korea.

Skoda is, to my mind, unfairly tagged with the 'quirky' descriptor. I think that’s a bit odd because underneath is some great engineering, and in 2025, they’re pretty standard-looking vehicles but with some really clever details in the cabin that set them apart.

And while the Karoq is getting on a bit, there are plenty of older cars that are selling well despite not having long spec lists. Cars like the CX-3 and ASX should be well past their use-by date, but they’re still chugging away. The Karoq is a spring chicken compared to either of those cars.

The best place to start on your Karoq journey is the Skoda website and select the Karoq. You can build a specification – which is easy, it’s mostly about picking your colour because that’s about the only variation. There’s a stock locator, and Skoda Australia tells me there is plenty of Karoq stock in dealers, so booking a test drive should be straightforward, again via the website.

If your budget allows, definitely look at the Sportline with its subtle but useful specification improvements. Although, as I’ve already said, the Select’s sharp spec is enough for family transport.

If you want to keep up to date with all the latest news on the Skoda Karoq, click here.

Family Cars Guide