[adi_petrolhead]

I don't understand why they keep sending me emails of this sort. They mention the Anniversary edition is available only for 15.xx lakh ex showroom. Means 16.75 on road max. Mods, you need to take up this with Skoda's media team. Mis-leading ads for a 'benchmark executive sedan' as they mentioned here.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

I don't understand why they keep sending me emails of this sort. They mention the Anniversary edition is available only for 15.xx lakh ex showroom. Means 16.75 on road max. Mods, you need to take up this with Skoda's media team. Mis-leading ads for a 'benchmark executive sedan' as they mentioned here.

Even in their website, the advertisement is there.
As part of anniversary edition, they probably would have added some seat covers, etc, we don't know, we would need to call them to know. Or even they would have slashed prices by a few thousands for this variant.
About the features announced, these are specific to style plus variant. May be the anniversary edition is available with Style plus trim as well. So, the 1.4L TSI anniversary edition could probably cost 15.45L ex-showroom somewhere.

I do not feel anything misleading here. Don't we all know that the top variant OTR price costs in some cases nearly twice of the starting ex-showroom price?
e.g Creta starts at 8.6L on paper, but the top variant goes as much as 17L OTR!
Same with the recently lauched Baleno, starts at 4.99L, but the Diesel Alpha variant in Bangalore costs above 10L!

[adi_petrolhead]

If they mentioned the Anniversary edition starts at 15.45 lakh, i would agree, yet there is no such variant online. But here they say it is available for only 15.45 lakh.

People who have bought a Style Plus variant, very well know there is no cheaper variant available with Anniversary kit.

[itwasntme]

Hybridpetrol, your point is generally valid but wrong in this particular case. The Style Plus additions are available ONLY on the highest 1.8 TSI and 2.0 TDI (AT only) trims and not on the 1.4 at all.

Hence, teasing a starting price of the lowest variant for a special trim which is not even available anywhere close to that lowest variant is downright stupid and misleading!!

They did the same with the Rapid Anniversary Edition by quoting the manual 1.6 petrol price when they offer the Anniversary trim only with DSG.

Idiotic to say the least.

[vjois]

Well I received my blue petrol anniversary edition 2 days ago and needless to say it's brilliant!!! Having driven it around I can tell you about the features.

Let's start with the keyless entry. Just slid your hand on the handle and it opens. Put your thumb on the handle and it locks. Leave your hand longer while unlocking and it opens all the windows and sunroof and closes all of it while you lock the car. Power windows will not close if it senses a hand out of the window. Power driver seat with 3 presets. Steering has telescopic adjustment. When you start the car especially in the dark that's when the fun starts. The xenon head lamps move up and down as well as left and right. The dash lights up like christmas and the sound of the engine leaves you speechless.

Now about the car stereo. I have an iPhone so I can only talk about Car play. The android auto works on jellybean or higher I am told. You can also connect old school with Bluetooth and it transfers all the contacts.

Attachment 1434199

Well before we start have Siri and CarPlay on. Then connect the phone via cable. The connection is seem less and you are there. Now the major bad news which is obvious is no google maps!!! I know right well it's an apple Google issue and not a thing skoda can do about it. Even Apple maps isn't there for India so that sucks even more. Hopefully the guys will figure it out eventually. Another thing bad is if you don't have Internet then Siri doesn't work.

But now the good stuff. Voice commands work seamlessly and you just press a button and command Siri to call or message and she does it great. Didn't face any accent issue yet. Incoming messages are read and not displayed which sometimes is hilarious but still great. Accessing music is easy as well and so is tune in radio. Oh and the touch screen is not that bad either.



Another great item is the night mirror. It senses night and automatically darkens the all mirrors which is great for highways when idiots drive on high beam.

Now about the engine and how she drives well that's a whole other story. Bumper to bumper traffic you just touch the throttle and the minute you have space well let's put it this way you fly. It's a rocket and in the city I have never had to go more than half throttle and the cars just vanish behind in the dust. The steering is very good and the lights adjust according to the speed and steering so you never have to worry about missing anything. It can easily out run the entry mercs and audis which are at the same price point. Oh and the car sensors in the front and back are amazing especially when you are negotiating tough parking spots plus the new reverse cam works together very well.

But the most important reason why I got this car over the creta, Cruze,Corolla and Elantra is one word. Safety. This is the only car that has 8 airbags which by the way even the 3 series and the c class doesn't have. And more importantly it has ISOFIX car seat latches which especially in this country is a must. I fail understand why people don't think child safety which is why the Corolla and Elantra were eliminated. This is probably the most safest car in the country right now.

Now cost of ownership you say. Well a full tank of gas in bangalore is 3000 bucks which is about 500 kms of range as opposed to 2000 on a diesel so that's not much. Maintaining the car is a once a year thing as opposed to twice which is so much better and cost well let's put it this way it's slightly more expensive than an Asian car but much cheaper than a German car. And about the gearbox well hopefully it won't break but it's cost and probability of failing is the same as any other dsg. About the car burning well I have seen my share of marutis and mercs puff in smoke to realise that shit happens. A short circuit here or there and we have kababs for dinner. Having said that our family still has a 8 year old octavia with 2 lakh kms and it's cheaper to maintain than my old polo so all I am saying is that no one mentions the best stuff.

Overall I love the car. No issues yet. In a nutshell if you want a cheap car with no safety or power, get a Corolla. A cheap car with safety but no power, get a Elantra (no ISOFIX). A slightly cheaper car with power, adequate safety but no space in the back, pick a Cruze (has ISOFIX by the way). An expensive powerful car with no space, take a 3 series or an a3.

But if you want a car with plenty of space, safety and power at a reasonable price, look no further. The petrol car especially is simply sublime.



Don't know why that didn't upload

[motor_breathing]

Regarding the O2 sensor, its Bosh make and specific to this model. They have to send the part to OEM to identify the failure reason. Looks like a freak case. Spare is not available in India and they have raised import request and should arrive this week.

In the mean time Skoda Aurangabad (after some escalations) send me Superb for my use till Octavia is ready. On one side I am not comfortable leaving the car for so long at the service center, but on the other hand I feel skoda has done the best one could do in such a situation.

The superb is too big and a pain to navigate through traffic. This car has done 60K kms on the odo, but still still fell pretty solid. Its a TDI.

[Monaro]

Originally Posted by vjois

Well I received my blue petrol anniversary edition 2 days ago and needless to say it's brilliant!!! Having driven it around I can tell you about the features.

......
Don't know why that didn't upload

Congrats vjois! Few pictures of the blue monster would be great!

I am also looking to buy the Octavia, just confused between Petrol (Heart) and Diesel (Mind).

Then there is a sweet A4 (Petrol) deal for 30L that my dealer is offering. Snob value basically!

I am a confused wreck right now!

[vjois]

Well that's a sweet deal. If you want to compare the 2 well A4 and the octavia share the same petrol engine I think. Space well the octi is bigger and the sound system is hands down octavia thanks to Apple play n Google mobile unless of course the Audi has it. Yeah I know the Audi has the funky display but believe me the apple play experience despite its drawbacks is a world apart. Besides its easier to maintain the octi because insurance and services r way cheaper than the Audi or for that matter any German car. Expect shelling out lakhs a year on the Audi but not so much for the octi which is crazy to be honest. They are by most accounts the same car except 1 wears pricy jewellery. Every thing is at premium prices.

To be honest it's like choosing between Betty and Veronica really. The Audi is the rich pricy chick but the octi is the pretty down to earth one just the way I like it. I honestly don't care about brand name and more worried about practicality which the octi has. Maybe in a couple of years I will change my mind.

[itwasntme]

Congrats!! Pictures please!

Any discounts? Delhi Gurgaon dealers are readily offering 60k off on even the Anniversary Edition. Why not in BLR?

[sriramv.iyer]

Originally Posted by Monaro

Congrats vjois! Few pictures of the blue monster would be great!

I am also looking to buy the Octavia, just confused between Petrol (Heart) and Diesel (Mind).

Then there is a sweet A4 (Petrol) deal for 30L that my dealer is offering. Snob value basically!

I am a confused wreck right now!

I'd still pick Octavia in your place -

1. The gear box is CVT - Though the torque rating is higher, it is truly not a driver's delight.

2. Incredibly poor rear-bench space

3. New model is probably months away (and hence the lower price, I guess)

But, Audi badging is still special!

[motor_breathing]

The car is still in the workshop since 27 Oct and the part ( a Vicks inhaler size o2 sensor) has not yet arrived. Despite all kind of escalation, no body is able to commit a date by which they can return the car. Look like they ship the part from Czech to moon and the moon to Aurangabad and then to the dealer.

Of course the provided me a spare car, but I am not paying 50K EMI per month for a new car to rot in dealer service center.

Any one eyeing the TSI's be mentally prepared for such scenarios.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by motor_breathing

The car is still in the workshop since 27 Oct and the part ( a Vicks inhaler size o2 sensor) has not yet arrived. Despite all kind of escalation, no body is able to commit a date by which they can return the car. Look like they ship the part from Czech to moon and the moon to Aurangabad and then to the dealer.

Of course the provided me a spare car, but I am not paying 50K EMI per month for a new car to rot in dealer service center.

Any one eyeing the TSI's be mentally prepared for such scenarios.

If the buggers had any self respect they should have FedEx'ed it on priority rather than following the normal ordering/shipping channels.

This is unforgivable.

[vvb8530]

Hey Guys!!

I took delivery of my Magic Black Octavia 1.8tsi Anniversary Edition on the 21st of October after waiting for almost 2 months. I did not have a fixed budget or choice of fuel so had considered almost everything from the 320d, C200, A4, A3, Jetta to thinking about waiting for the new Superb, however the Octavia with the 1.8 tsi clicked all the boxes as it proved the most value for money considering the equipment on board, a terrific engine mated to the quick dsg gearbox and the interior space which was relatively more than the 320d, A4 and C Class, so paying about 10 to 15 lakhs more for the badge and compromising on the interior space did not seem worth it to me of course having said that one cannot discount the fact that the quality of equipment on these 3 would have been much better but as a replacement for a honda city the Octavia seemed good enough. Waiting for the new Superb seemed tempting but then for my personal self drive use the Superb would probably be a little too big and limousine like and hence maybe not as much fun to drive.

Had initially booked the Elegance as the Anniversary Edition was not launched by then and the car arrived in a months time, the same day that the car arrived at the dealer stock yard the anniversary edition was announced and I immediately changed my booking without getting any information on the price change as the features that were being announced in the new edition were exactly the features that I had thought were missing in a car which was other wise packed to the brim with features.

Then started another agonizing wait with the dealer having no information with them about the arrival of the anniversary editions and instead they offered me hefty discounts to the tune of almost 2 lakhs off the price I would pay for the anniversary edition if I took the older elegance version that they had got as per my booking and was with them in their stockyard, but i had made up my mind. After using some contacts with the higher ups in Skoda was finally able to get delivery which I was told was among the first in Mumbai.

Unfortunately I had to leave for a work trip abroad the day after taking delivery and hence the delay in posting here. I have still not been able to enjoy her to the fullest but did manage to sneak a quick short drive on the NH8 with a couple of Bhpians friends the day after she was delivered. A few pics below from the delivery day and the short drive;








Now I have a query regarding the functioning of the Apple Car Play, well as stupid as it may sound how the hell do I make it work?
I have not spent much time trying to figure it out but when i tried connecting my iphone 5s with the USB cord basically nothing changes and the phone does not get detected. Can someone please tell me what am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

[sriramv.iyer]

Originally Posted by vvb8530

Now I have a query regarding the functioning of the Apple Car Play, well as stupid as it may sound how the hell do I make it work?
I have not spent much time trying to figure it out but when i tried connecting my iphone 5s with the USB cord basically nothing changes and the phone does not get detected. Can someone please tell me what am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

AFAIK, you just connect your iPhone using lightning cable (wireless / BT doesn't work for CarPlay) - The system should auto-detect and CarPlay should start.

Does your phone have iOS 9 / 9.1?

[vjois]

Originally Posted by vvb8530

Now I have a query regarding the functioning of the Apple Car Play, well as stupid as it may sound how the hell do I make it work?

I have not spent much time trying to figure it out but when i tried connecting my iphone 5s with the USB cord basically nothing changes and the phone does not get detected. Can someone please tell me what am I doing wrong?



Thanks.

You need to switch on 3G or LTE, Siri and CarPlay in your phone settings. Hope it helps.