Comparison test : Skoda Laura V Octavia .

[MrBoombastic]

Originally Posted by GTO

My only worry with the C220 is the surfacing of problems as I cross the 10,000 mark. Even the pitiable C180 was error free till 10 - 15 ks. Fingers crossed.

GTO

Sorry!

The biggest reason for me not to buy the C... After hearing about the maintenance experiences my aunt had with her E class and reading another thread on our forum discussing the same issue, Mercedes India scares me.

What can I say? Mercedes screwed me with maintenance issues, Hyundai screwed me with their "bare" Indian Sonata Embera, Skoda screwed me with the pricing/ engine specs of the Laura and Honda is still screwing me by giving us no clue as to if and when the 2006 Honda Accord will be coming to India/ what engine/s we will be getting with the Civic... The 1.8 SOHC, the 2.0 DOHC or both like in the case of Honda City/ Honda Accord (eg: 2.4 and V6).

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by GTO

you were just about to start a debate out there.

hehe .. Nope GTO i am in no mood to start a new debate , i feel there are many more things to do ...

GTO ,boombastic - I did not mean ,the TDI engines are better than the CDIs.. What i meant was ,the VFM factor ..compare the two cars thoroughly(leave the brands game aside for a while) and it wont take much time for you guys to realise which one gives you more bangs for the bucks ..

Personally ,(no offence to anybody) i feel its a crime that DCIL is selling a car like C class at a premium of 27 lakhs ! IMHO it does not justify the high sticker price ... but on the other hand when you look at that 3 pointed star , suddenly .. the price seems justified ... Remove the Star and i wont buy it even for 20 lacs ...and i am sure ,none of us would ...

Nope i havent driven the 220 cdi but many a times i drive my aunts(bua's) 200cdi ... But having said that how many of you 've driven the latest v6 superb diesel ..All i can say is go and take the drive ,you wont be dissappointed ...

Rtech - I knew this thing would be coming sooner or later but a very practical answer to this ques would be ... A person who purchases the maybach,has to be a billionaire ,so if he wants to take his family of 5-6 people along with him ,theres always the mercs/beemers/audis following the Maybach but unfortunatly thats not the case with me .. So for me , a car which cannot seat 3 people at the back and cannot provide me those airy interiors at the price of 18 l ,its out of my reckoning ...

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by GTO

The ONLY advantage that the Superb has against the C Class is interior room.

GTO , i know many of those C class owners and mostly 've admitted to the fact that , Remove the 3 pointed star from the Bonnet and they aint gonna buy it again ... Now what would you say to this and its not that i 've heard this from one or two owners ,i am kinda use to of hearing this !

Even after so many mercs around these days ,i would say ,merc is more of about that 3 pointed star and the image assosiated with it !

Originally Posted by GTO

And Engineering depth.

Buddy ,how many of C class owners(in india) ,you think are aware of the engineering and technology behind a merc , all they know is " Its a mercedes having that three pointed star" .

Originally Posted by GTO

My only worry with the C220 is the surfacing of problems as I cross the 10,000 mark. Even the pitiable C180 was error free till 10 - 15 ks. Fingers crossed.

You need not to keep your fingers crossed when buying a Superb or a laura ...

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Beemer

You need not to keep your fingers crossed when buying a Superb or a laura ...

Untill you blow a relay, fail your alternator or get bad fuel and relalize that you just spend as much as an indica to repair it!

[Beemer]

I suppose you are talking about the Kartik case ... Now i dont know what exactly went wrong ,but his case is kinda exception , i know thousands of skoda owners and why go further , even i had a very pleasurable time with my tdi for more than 1.5 years(clocked nearly 40k kms) but never faced any major problems/crackdowns and that is the case with most of the Skoda owners .

Talking about the problems , i had a terrible time with my Honda 1.5 exi .. I had got approx Rs. 2 lacs of parts replaced under warranty in a span of 8-10 months .. Now what would you call that ?

Guys we are going totally . Lets continue the same discussion of Laura v/s Octavia .

Thanx.

[MrBoombastic]

Okay, I know I am going to be bashed for this, but still... Comparing the Skoda Laura to the Skoda Octavia, I have always seen the Skoda Octavia as outdated and ugly when it comes to looks (looks are subjective) right from day one... That, coupled with very poor interior space and passenger comfort make the Laura a better car anyday... but again, at what cost and with an almost similar engine as the Octavia?

Also, Beemer Bhai, even if we leave out Karthik's problem with his Skoda... Most Skoda owners would agree that Skoda maintenance/ repair/ spares costs are high when compared to other cars in the same segment (obviously cheaper than Mercedes though).

PS: Some old cars look really beautiful, but sadly, the Octavia looks downright ugly to me.

[Beemer]

[quote=MrBoombastic]Most Skoda owners would agree that Skoda maintenance/ repair/ spares costs are high when compared to other cars in the same segment (obviously cheaper than Mercedes though).

Dost , all i can say is pls tell me a car in that price range which gives :

1) Rock solid German build quality
2) Examplary Ride comfort
3) Excellent diesel engine coupled with the great Fuel mileage
4) Outstanding petrol engine(Vsr)

and the list could go on and on and on ....

What else you want from a car of Rs. 12 lacs ? So what if its little high on maintainance ,after all its giving you years and years of Blissful motoring ..

[tsk1979]

No just his case. Consider a car which runs 20000 kms/ year. After warranty runs out any part which breaks costs a fortune.
Alternator is 48000rs, seats cost a bomb, oil change is 7000rs. such high maintainace costs are okay on a 25lakh car but somebody who affords a 20-25000 emi/month a 50000 repair bill in one month is a killer.
If the parts were costly as such things would be excused. Lets say there is something made of platinum or gold so its expensive. The same parts from the same suppliers(for example bosch alternator same spec) costs 18000(Including duties and taxes) in open market. through skoda the dealers make a ton of money.
Regarding german solid build and all, I dont think accord will be rattely or civic will start vibrating after use. think metal is good, but all you want is solid build buy a Telcoline.

Laura is overpriced. the 6 lakh hike over the octavia is not justified IMHO. at 14 lakhs it would have been great, but 18?

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

No just his case. Consider a car which runs 20000 kms/ year. After warranty runs out any part which breaks costs a fortune.

Hey dost ,FYI the Skoda Auto india from the last one year or so is giving a warranty of 2 years/unlimited Kms .

Originally Posted by tsk1979

If the parts were costly as such things would be excused. Lets say there is something made of platinum or gold so its expensive.

All the german cars are lil high on maintainence ,Skoda is no exception .

[quote=tsk1979]Regarding german solid build and all, I dont think accord will be rattely[quote]

Pls go and test drive the accord on the Highways ,you ll come to know the difference between the two .

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Laura is overpriced. the 6 lakh hike over the octavia is not justified IMHO. at 14 lakhs it would have been great, but 18?

Bingo . The day Laura is launched at 14ish ,it would be a real charm to own this machine and i dont think its that difficult for Skoda india to do so ... but they 've to do it sooner than later ...

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Beemer

All the german cars are lil high on maintainence ,Skoda is no exception

.
@beemer, I am not saying german cars are not expensive. but the exact same parts which cost 18000-20000 in market cost 50000 from skoda showrooms. this practice is adopted to benefit dealers who earn high profits. If you are a dealership you will get the part at wholesale rate around 12000rs, the mrp is 50000. thats a killing of a profit.

skoda is not alone in this. All manufacturers do this. But in that case a 20000 part is priced at 25-30K not more than double. Merc and Skoda are notorious for this. S class seats cost 15 lakh+

If you take a merc or a skoda and do the sum of costs of parts the cost will come to about 6-10 times the cost of a car, while for tata/hyundai/maruti it comes to 1-2 or max 3 times.

As of now with extended warranties and all you may not be too bothered, but what happens when the new insurance policy comes. then you will see that a 10 lakh german car has a premium of 2 lakh rupees in insurance but a similar priced korean will be insured for 25-30000.

People who buy such a car will not have to pay this high insurance, but what after that. If the policy is passes(And its going to be passed one insurance is completely deregulated), imagine your premium jumping from 40K to 200K.

This is a short sight which even tbhpians suffer from. the scene wont be the same forever. Look at all these factors and then decide on a car. As MotorMom put it, dont buy an elephant which is easy to buy but killing to maintain.

Another problem with laura is that low sales will prompt skoda to drop prices, like what hyundai did with elantra. So people who bought it as early birds stand to lose

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

.
@beemer, I am not saying german cars are not expensive. but the exact same parts which cost 18000-20000 in market cost 50000 from skoda showrooms. this practice is adopted to benefit dealers who earn high profits. If you are a dealership you will get the part at wholesale rate around 12000rs, the mrp is 50000. thats a killing of a profit.

I completly agree with you on this ..In real , skoda's parts are not as expensive as other german marques but its the way the Skoda india works, makes them very expensive ... We hope they reduce the dealers margin sooner than later and i feel they should do it ,or else the day is not far away when Skoda india find themselves, totally vanished from the indian market ..

Originally Posted by tsk1979

.As of now with extended warranties and all you may not be too bothered, but what happens when the new insurance policy comes. then you will see that a 10 lakh german car has a premium of 2 lakh rupees in insurance but a similar priced korean will be insured for 25-30000.
People who buy such a car will not have to pay this high insurance, but what after that. If the policy is passes(And its going to be passed one insurance is completely deregulated), imagine your premium jumping from 40K to 200K.

.

Well, thats a news to me ,could you pls throw sm light on it ?

[tsk1979]

@beemer, follow this thread I started. Surprisingly nobody took any notice of this thread, though if it comes into force costs on road will rise by 10% or more in case of some cars
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ight=insurance

[GTO]

Personally ,(no offence to anybody) i feel its a crime that DCIL is selling a car like C class at a premium of 27 lakhs !

I totally agree! The C220 CDI is 30.xx lacs on the road in Mumbai and is grossly overpriced. But then, I never paid that amount.

when you look at that 3 pointed star , suddenly .. the price seems justified ...

An Omega will tell you the same time as a Timex. Brands do count, and its not only at the higher end of the market. The image has a tremendous influence even for cars purchased in the 5 - 10 lac segment.

Nope i havent driven the 220 cdi but many a times i drive my aunts(bua's) 200cdi ... But having said that how many of you 've driven the latest v6 superb diesel ..All i can say is go and take the drive ,you wont be dissappointed ...

I have driven the Superb Petrol at length. And lived with two C Classes for 3 years. Hence my position to comment.

Buddy ,how many of C class owners(in india) ,you think are aware of the engineering and technology behind a merc , all they know is " Its a mercedes having that three pointed star" .

I dont care about others, including those who buy the OHC Vtec to be only chaffeured around.

I am a car guy, and whats under the skin of my machine matters the most!

You need not to keep your fingers crossed when buying a Superb or a laura ...

There are no long term ownership reports yet, but I can safely presume they wont have the problems that I have experienced with the Silver C Class.

As mentioned earlier, I have my fingers crossed. As of date, there have been no problems at all but I will reserve my judgement until the 25,000 km mark.

GTO

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by GTO

. Brands do count,

I completly agree buddy but what i meant was ,the C class's steep price has more to do with the Brand associated with it ,more than anything else !

Originally Posted by GTO

. As mentioned earlier, I have my fingers crossed. As of date, there have been no problems at all but I will reserve my judgement until the 25,000 km mark.

GTO

GTO Buddy , all the best and we all hope your C class to give you the real joy of owning that 3 pointed star in the long time to come .