[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Well this is precisely the reason why the highest selling limited edition in India is probably the Swift RS. Some cheap skirting kit,painted wheel covers to look like alloys, gawdy blue paint splattered everywhere including the seats and a music system is all that is needed.

I am sure the Honda Amaze Type R or whatever they call it for India will be equally exciting for a petrol-head.

Wow, thats a lot of anger against the Jap twins, Suzuki & Honda. However you miss the point that the reason those 2 companies outsell VW & Skoda is due to their reliability and customer service, which ahem Skoda does not even know the meaning of. Maybe enthusiasts like you can appreciate troublesome cars which spend more time in the service centre than on the road, but the vast majority of Indians will vouch for the reliability of the Honda, Suzuki and Toyota.

[Vipin Kumar]

I visited the Skoda showroom (Vishal Cars) here in Lucknow yesterday. The sales guy came and received me as soon as I parked my car in their parking place. When I enquired about the new Rapid, he told me that it is launched not for India but only for Europe! I instantly asked him to get lost, and turned my face away! I told him the new 1.5 DSG and the Black Edition... He suddenly became serious and spoke to me as he found me to be a sharply informed customer who went there for the 1.5 TDI Black Edition MT (without doubt). Yes, I did tell him that everything depends on how I find the 1.5 TDI mill. They are yet to get one of the new batch here, and he said he would ring me up as soon as one arrives here. I also told him that I need to see a while Black Package vehicle in flesh in the showroom.

He said they have a lot of 1.6 TDIs in the stable. They are all available in that diesel for the price of petrol (ex-showroom) in almost all colours.

The new 1.5 Elegance BP costs here 11.25L on road. It comes with reverse sensors (which is a new thing) and the new illumination on the panels (as the green seems to be a thing of the past). But it does not have leather upholstery.

Will the reversing image (of the car) appear in the screen, as it does in Ecosport or in Vento?

They are expecting the first units to arrive here by 1 October.

Vipin.

[bhaskaracs]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

When I enquired about the new Rapid, he told me that it is launched not for India but only for Europe! I instantly asked him to get lost, and turned my face away! I told him the new 1.5 DSG and the Black Edition... He suddenly became serious and spoke to me as he found me to be a sharply informed customer who went there for the 1.5 TDI Black Edition MT (without doubt). Vipin.

A little birdie tells me that there are about 3000 old ventos (and an additional smaller number of Rapids) piled up in their yard. They seem to have made a mess with their inventory management due in part to declining sales of both Vento and Rapid. Further, the CIAZ launch led to customers apparently pushing out their purchases in C segment by extra few weeks.

For instance, one of the VW dealers in Chennai (a leading one) has received just two new DSG Ventos to sell and inside his showroom I see at least five ventos (old) on display. The birdie also said the trick is to lure the customer into a VW/Skoda showroom over the next few days and down-sell (now poor we, we always thought our companies made money through upselling and crossselling) the old vento for a fat discount!

The waiting period for the new vento, I am told is already above 30 days.

[rxpaul]

Seriously I feel only the DSG Diesel new Rapid is worth buying. If you are looking for a manual the old 1.6 lits Ventos & Rapids are good enough.

A friend has bought the New Rapid in black avtaar, with black grills, black alloys & red brake drums. Parked next to my Red Octavia MK1 it looks seriously ugg....like what the cat brought in

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by bhaskaracs

A little birdie tells me that there are about 3000 old ventos (and an additional smaller number of Rapids) piled up in their yard. They seem to have made a mess with their inventory management due in part to declining sales of both Vento and Rapid.

For instance, one of the VW dealers in Chennai (a leading one) has received just two new DSG Ventos to sell and inside his showroom I see at least five ventos (old) on display.

The waiting period for the new vento, I am told is already above 30 days.

I too visited the Volkswagen showroom near my home here today. Same situation: they are expecting the first units around 1/2 Oct, and that too only the DSGs. The MTs will come after the old stock is liquidated. So the guy offers me the test vehicle of 1.5 TDI MT only in November!

But he has given me one advice: Rapid may be cheaper at the time of purchase, but its spare parts are more expensive and rare to get, compared to Vento's. Driving dynamics, however, is an area he did not want to touch, apparently.

Will the Rapid's interior be as premium as the Vento's once we put leather seat covers? I did not like that brown shade somehow, but it may not matter if other things remain same. Back seat com for seems to be fine in Rapid too, but I felt somehow Vento is a tad better, may be because of the pleasing shade inside(?)

Vipin.

[chohan]

I visited skoda and volkswagen showrooms today. For me vento is a clear pick. The interior quality is clearly notch above Rapid's. The whole feel of the cabin is far more luxurious and we'll put together. The new brown color borrowed from jetta would almost fool you.
The black edition of rapid is good at the first glance ( i saw it in white) but doesn't grow on you. Im not saying it looks bad or something but It's a very crude design job.
Allot like an after market fitment. What actually looks cool are those projector lamps. I wish vento had them as well. It would have made the decision easier.

On another note, after dealing with both the brands, I'm very apprehensive about going for Skoda. With volkswagen I could see genuine efforts right from the sales staff to the way the launch was managed. I was in touch with them few days before the launch and they knew exactly when the test cars were going to arrive and the booking amount and other minute but significant details. I was actually amazed that i could test drive vento on the promised day considering Skoda has no idea even about the arrival of the test drive cars. Price list wasn't even printed in the showroom.
The poor quality of the launch event doesn't help either :-( are these guys even interested in selling their cars.

Coming to the vento diesel DSG test drive, IMPRESSIVE. I took the vento right after teranno 85 bhp. The initial lag felt slightly more than the teranno but not bothersome. Anyone can easily live with it according to me. Surprisingly the engine felt extremely smooth and silent. Better than the earlier vento 1.6. I didnt push it though so cant comment on the higher rpm manners. What is brilliant is how linear power delivery is. I don't remember last time I was so happy with the test drive (i think skoda Yeti). In comparison to the 1.2 tsi, abundant torque was in reserve throughout the drive. With four people on board, ride felt stiffer than the earlier vento, could be the tyre pressure. I'm not sure.
The dealer price list in Delhi mentions 11,16000 for DSG top of the line. I remember reading 10,94000 from the launch event. Can anyone explain?

[puchoo]

And it probably will get worse or at the very least might not come down for a while if they have 3000 odd units lying around , the would logically want to clear that before pushing the new car to ensure that they do no loose on the money front. Such big companies and cannot manage something as basic as inventory - these are cars at the end of the day not chocolates.

Originally Posted by bhaskaracs

The waiting period for the new vento, I am told is already above 30 days.

[magikrider]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

But he has given me one advice: Rapid may be cheaper at the time of purchase, but its spare parts are more expensive and rare to get, compared to Vento's. Driving dynamics, however, is an area he did not want to touch, apparently.

I was told the same thing by a SA of VW Downtown, Mumbai. he said that the parts are supplied to skoda by VW and so but naturally they will add their margin on it so the same parts will be more expensive with skoda compared to VW. frankly speaking I think this is just marketing line that all VW SA's say as the customers will compare vento to rapid. they are bad mouthing their own brand in a way!

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by chohan

For me vento is a clear pick. The interior quality is clearly notch above Rapid's. The whole feel of the cabin is far more luxurious and we'll put together. The new brown color borrowed from jetta would almost fool you.
The black edition of rapid is good at the first glance ( i saw it in white) but doesn't grow on you. Im not saying it looks bad or something but It's a very crude design job.

I have also asked the SA to inform me once a black edition arrives his showroom. Let us see how stylish it is. I personally felt that a black alloy might not look that great. The same design in white would have been a real hit!

The "Ultima" edition was indeed good-looking.

And yes, you are right. The Vento makes you feel much better inside, with greater light and roomy feeling, and that fine finish and leatherette upholstery, darker shade on the dash, and so on. The new edition has the attraction of a more refined diesel engine, new steering and the double barrel headlamp. I have to see its driving dynamics though...

Let us have a point-to-point analysis of Rapid and Vento somewhere here. The driving seat angle seems to be same in terms of ergonomics, I feel.

Vipin.

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

there are two sets of car buyers in the world (except americans) :
- the ones who buy german cars
- the ones who buy japanese cars

OT - There's more to it.
- the ones who buy Italian cars
- the ones who buy British cars
- the ones who buy French cars

The latter two especially are almost entirely because of nationalistic pride, if we exclude the supercars like Jaguars and Aston Martins. The French are known to make some really nice cars though from time to time. I'd also add those who buy Swedish cars , but they're again more closer to Germanic.

Back to subject - a colleague intends to buy a car soon, and a Skoda 1.6 TDI was one of the cars TD'ed , courtesy the eye-catching 7.99 lac ex-showroom price. Although the effective OTR price was still 9.3-9.4 lac, I think that is still much cheaper than the asking price before the news of the refresh.

Given the new DSG ones aren't even in the showrooms for TD yet, it's too early to predict offers yet.
Will they offer even more discounts in the coming months , seeing as they have a tough time selling their wares? My colleague is dilly-dallying, now talking of buying a used car after lowering his budget. He says he intends to keep the car for a long time - 7-10 years, so recommending a new car rather than used. A Rapid for 8-8.5 OTR would probably seal the deal.

[drmohitg]

NDTV has been carrying an article claiming the Rapid to be India's cheapest automatic diesel sedan. Is that correct? I thought the Zest would be the one entitled to that title.

Link: http://auto.ndtv.com/reviews/new-sko...-review-670953

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

NDTV has been carrying an article claiming the Rapid to be India's cheapest automatic diesel sedan. Is that correct? I thought the Zest would be the one entitled to that title.

Haha they've corrected the article to omit the mention of it being the cheapest diesel sedan. You're right doc, the Zest does hold that title. Guess it was a case of out of sight, out of mind

[r3ckl355]

I've seen this car in person, there are some cosmetic changes like smoked headlamps, new alloys apart from the DSG offering. It does look better!

[lalittalwar]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Back to subject - a colleague intends to buy a car soon, and a Skoda 1.6 TDI was one of the cars TD'ed , courtesy the eye-catching 7.99 lac ex-showroom price. Although the effective OTR price was still 9.3-9.4 lac, I think that is still much cheaper than the asking price before the news of the refresh.

Given the new DSG ones aren't even in the showrooms for TD yet, it's too early to predict offers yet.
Will they offer even more discounts in the coming months , seeing as they have a tough time selling their wares? My colleague is dilly-dallying, now talking of buying a used car after lowering his budget. He says he intends to keep the car for a long time - 7-10 years, so recommending a new car rather than used. A Rapid for 8-8.5 OTR would probably seal the deal.

I think these days are the best for deal hunters on VW and Skoda. ask your colleague to check out both Rapid and Vento. From what I hear, they are saddled with stock right now and are offering a cool 1 lac discount on both. skoda deal might be sweeter with more freebies and cheaper finance options thrown in. the base trims in both should now be about 7 lacs.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by chohan

I visited skoda and volkswagen showrooms today. For me vento is a clear pick. The interior quality is clearly notch above Rapid's. The whole feel of the cabin is far more luxurious and we'll put together. The new brown color borrowed from jetta would almost fool you.

It is the colour that fools you. I have a Rapid and my Dad has a Vento. They are equally well put together, with the same quality of parts and plastics. The only thing better in the Vento is that the door beadings do not squeal (so far).

Originally Posted by chohan

On another note, after dealing with both the brands, I'm very apprehensive about going for Skoda. With volkswagen I could see genuine efforts right from the sales staff to the way the launch was managed. I was in touch with them few days before the launch and they knew exactly when the test cars were going to arrive and the booking amount and other minute but significant details. I was actually amazed that i could test drive vento on the promised day considering Skoda has no idea even about the arrival of the test drive cars. Price list wasn't even printed in the showroom.
The poor quality of the launch event doesn't help either :-( are these guys even interested in selling their cars.

Skoda sales personnel are pretty bad. In my experience with Vinayak Skoda, they're OK until you decide to buy and make the initial payment. It all starts going downhill from there.

VW sales is much better, with my Dad getting a lot of attention right until purchase. Service on the other hand seems to be the same, cos Dad came away quite disappointed after the initial checkup last month (Sept). Note that he's a former Tata owner!

Coming to the Black edition, I didn't like it either. Much prefer the new alloys on the regular Elegance. Skoda does seem to have better taste in alloys, while VW does a better job with lights.