BUY, LEASE OR FINANCE A SKODA KAMIQ FROM OSV: https://bit.ly/3iJHvgT

Skoda joins the segment for small, trendy SUVs with this car, the Kamiq. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Market and Model

Expect the Kamiq to sell in the £18,000 to £25,000 bracket, which is fractionally above what you'll pay for volume rivals like Renault's Captur and Nissan's Juke but much the same as you'd have to find for this model's two VW Group cousins, the Volkswagen T-Cross and the SEAT Arona. Kamiq buyers are offered a choice of four trim levels - 'S', 'SE', 'SE L' and 'Monte Carlo'. 'SE' buyers get the chance to pay £800 more to graduate from the entry-level 95PS version of the 1.0 TSI petrol engine to the 115PS variant. Further up the range, you have to have this perkier unit. Providing you avoid base trim and the base 95PS engine, you'll be offered the chance to pay £1,250 more for a 7-speed DSG auto gearbox.

Even the entry-level Kamiq S is decently equipped, coming with 16-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail lights, air conditioning and a 6.5-inch touchscreen display. Customers opting for the 'SE' model benefit from 17-inch alloy wheels, body-coloured bumpers, a better 'Bolero' infotainment system with an 8-inch touchscreen display and Wireless Smartlink for Apple CarPlay. 'SE' models also come with rear parking sensors, cruise control and light and rain sensors. 'SE L' models get a larger 9.2-inch 'Amundsen' infotainment system and microsuede upholstery.

Cost of Ownership

Skoda quotes CO2 figures for the 1.0 TSI petrol engine ranging between 113 and 116g/km - so not too far off what you'd get in a diesel. Expect around just under 50mpg on the WLTP combined cycle. For the 1.6 TDI diesel, you're looking at around 52mpg on the WLTP-rated combined cycle, while for the DSG auto, it's around 50.4mpg. With both transmissions, the CO2 figure is 112g/km. And maintenance? Well, there's the choice between fixed or flexible servicing regimes, depending on whether your annual mileage is short or long. Service intervals are every 18,600 miles or every 24 months. The available 'Skoda Connect' app has a 'Proactive Service' element included which, when activated, can send all the data needed from your car in advance to your local Skoda dealership prior to a service visit.

What else? Well your car will come with three years of pan-European Roadside Assistance that has no mileage restriction. The paintwork warranty lasts for three years and, as you'd expect, this model is protected by a 12-year anti-corrosion package. Finally, while it's certainly true that other rivals better the three year 60,000 mile warranty that Skoda provides, you can extend your cover to four or five years by paying extra. Not that you really need to. The brand regularly tops independent consumer satisfaction surveys: according to real people, there are few more satisfying cars to own.

Summary

There's nothing very original about the Kamiq, but it's more in tune with the current zeitgeist than the old Yeti was. And certainly more fashionable than the next model up in the Czech maker's SUV model line-up, the rather worthy Karoq. Skoda buyers are now well used to re-worked Volkswagen Group engineering with a bit of practical embellishment at a lower price - which is precisely what's served up here. If you're looking for something more outlandish and personalisable, buy a Nissan Juke instead.

But one of those might not be as easy or as pleasing to live with as a Kamiq. You get most of the sensible virtues we like in the brand's Scala family hatch, without the rather vanilla blandness we don't. A Kamiq, in fact, is without doubt the trendiest car the marque has yet produced. A fashion statement that's also a Skoda. Whoever would have thought it?

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