The car

It's a 2017 Skoda Kodiaq Sportline in 'Pearl Black', powered by the 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine. That's paired with a DSG automatic gearbox and front-wheel drive. It's loaded with extras, including navigation, powered tailgate, parking sensors, tinted rear windows, Apple CarPlay and more. Bought in 2019 used, Noel had covered about 25,000 kilometres when he submitted this report - though he says that's quite low because of lockdowns etc.

The owner

Noel, married with three kids and a dog, lives in Dublin, working in technology sales. In his words: "The car is used mainly for personal use, which includes short runs with the kids to various sports and at school breaks trips down to rural Ireland, mainly Kerry.

"I'd be a fairly frequent changer of car, with most recent being Audi A6 Avant, which was fantastic and Volvo S60 before that."

In terms of Noel's use of the car, it's mostly in an urban area for day-to-day family life, but is then put to proper use for regular longer trips:

"Most regular use is within a five km radius for various kids' pastimes, shopping, social visits etc. We do holiday domestically quite regularly, so it has to do minimum five to six return trips around the country on journeys of three to five hours.

"I'd be on the conservative side in terms of speed etc. It moves through the gears well and it's not found wanting for power and handles corners well. It's comfortable on the motorway at 120km/h, too."

The ownership experience

"The Audi A6 Avant was a beaut. It had low mileage and was in pristine condition and the decision to change was nothing to do with it per se. It was the usual case of making a decision with your gut, then justifying it with your head. The gut was that after three years of ownership, which was longer than I usually do, I was getting a wandering eye on the road and car parks etc.

"The justification was a) the need for seven seats, to bring kids' friends and grandparents on road trips and b) desire to have the higher seating position of an SUV. I might have even blamed a sore back."

"The car ticks all my boxes. It's spacious, reliable, stylish, comfortable and relatively efficient. There is nothing I need from a car that it can't do, really.

"I was worried that it would lack the premium feel of some of the previous brands I drove. but it's hard to pinpoint where that is the case. The only one I can think of is the cabin could be a little quieter at times but that's being picky."

Problems experienced: an anti-lock brake sensor and the alternator had to be repaired "at manageable expense."
Average fuel consumption: "About 700km to a full tank, which was about €90 pre-madness. Greater efficiency on motorway, but it's not too bad for short runs." (That works out at about 8.0 litres/100km or 35.3mpg by our calculations)

Advice to prospective buyers

"When buying SUV, how much value do you put on it having seven seats? How often and how important are those trips to you? It severely limits your options and increases prices, so make sure it is a must. On the upside, the seven seats will help the car hold its value well for resale. Lastly, leather seats are highly recommended for keeping clean and maintaining the luxury feel."

What next?

"Electric or hybrid will be next step. I'll stay in SUV bracket and see what options emerge - mostly just the Volvo XC90 right now. There are very few seven-seat options, but I'll see what happens. If I go for a five-seater, I've always liked the Lexus NX 450h. It'll be another year or so either way."