2022 Skoda Scala Pricing and Specs

If you’re convinced that the problem is a manufacturing or materials fault (rather than the glove-box having been slammed or forced shut) then keep at Skoda until you get a satisfactory result. Having video of the glove-box performing its unwanted trick should help with any convincing you need to do. Don’t bother going back to the same dealer, contact Skoda Australia’s customer service department and go straight to the top.

Don’t be put off by being told that nobody’s ever heard of this problem before, either. It has been raised by other Superb owners on forums, even though we’re yet to hear of it in Australia. In the meantime, here’s something to try for yourself: The next time the glove box falls open of its own accord, instead of shutting it straight away (only for it to open again) wait a few minutes and then try to close it normally. The theory is that the pins you’re talking about that hold the lid closed can be slow to glide into their proper position where they hold the lid closed. Giving them a few minutes to resume their correct position will allow the glove box to be closed and stay closed. If that does the trick, lubricating the pins to allow them to move more freely might be worthwhile. It’s worth a try.

This might sound like an small problem to some, but having a glovebox that falls open into the passenger’s lap is actually a safety issue in the case of a crash.

First things first; make sure the Karoq is actually as big as you think it is/need it to be. The reality is that this is not a huge SUV and is really comparable with something like, say, the Mazda CX-30, while cars like the Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage are all a size bigger.

Beyond that, the good news is that the car’s most problematic element, a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission has now been replaced on the 110 version with an eight-speed automatic with a conventional torque converter. And although the 1.4-litre capacity will ring alarm bells for those who remember the troublesome Twin-charger engine with the same capacity fitted to many VW and Skoda products, the unit in the new Karoq is less complex and doesn’t seem to suffer the same problems.

However, there are no blanket statements on this subject and your experience with your current Astra is proof. Given that many owners were appalled at the reliability of their Astras, you seem to have scored a good one. And the reverse can apply; sometime a car with even a great reliability record can throw up problems for a particular owner. Modern cars are incredibly complex machines and things can (and do) go wrong on a fairly random basis.

You’re right, there’s a lot of commonality between the various engines from Skoda, VW and Audi. There are many examples of engines from these brands that all use the same basic bottom-end (crankshaft and pistons) architecture. And yes, in some cases, the main differentiator is the turbo-boost pressure.

But that doesn’t mean that’s the only difference; differing boost levels require different engine management, so the electronic control of the various engines can be very different. There can also be hardware differences such as the actual turbocharger unit and fuel injectors. That’s why it’s not quite as simple as raising boost pressure to arrive at a higher output. Revising engine management to do this requires somebody who really knows what they’re doing. Even then, a moderately powered version of an engine might not have the oil-cooling or strengthened internals of what appears to be the same engine with a higher output.

The VW-Audi group is not the only manufacturer to take this approach, of course, and many other car-makers use the same strategy of producing a variety of different engine tunes from the one basic unit. It’s a great way of differentiating models within a range and, of course, saving money in terms of research and development.