[BabySchumi]

Hello World,

First things first - I wish to congratulate and thank t-bhp founders and moderators for their initiative in starting t-bhp and their unflinching determination & perseverance to keep this community clean and shining.

Got my t-bhp membership in my second attempt (first try was a casual attempt and a lesson learnt!). Got so much excited on seeing the mail in my mailbox, I couldn't login immediately as i forgot my password! (is it a sign of becoming old or sheer excitement causing short term memory loss - your guess is as good as mine)

From the holy land of Super Kings, in my mid thirties (36 to be precise), I'm a management graduate and an entrepreneur by a pleasant twist of fate (will save that story for a separate post as this intro has got longer than i thought it would).

My daily drive is a Blue Swift VXi (2006 - 74500kms). It was love at first sight and I ordered the same vehicle (brand new) parked inside the showroom and paid full payment in a single cheque (as I couldn't wait for 1 month for a black colored car of the same model which I originally intended to buy).


Currently (should i say for the last one year) I'm in grand pursuit of my next Car/SUV.

Test drove
->Old Gen Corolla
->Laura 1.8TSi
->Civic
->Laura 2.0TDi
->Laura L&K
->Jetta 2010
->New Civic facelift
->New Corolla Altis
->Toyota Fortuner
->Merc C220 EE prefacelifted (in the same order I guess).

My brain says go for Japanese brands Toyota/Honda and heart pounds for the Euro Merc/Jetta. Still unable to decide eitherway. A post coming up on what car section & test drive experiences soon (hopefully).

My other interests are Cricket, Movies (Action & Comedy flicks aficionado) & avid gamer (I own a PS3). Currently though, I must admit my 16 month old son keeps me busy and he does not let me even to think about these activities. Even to write this intro, it has taken me almost a month.

Before knowing about T-bhp, (thanks to the god of search - Google), my knowledge of cars didn't give me enough courage to participate in any automotive related discussion. Thanks to T-bhp and my last 2+ years of reading innumerable posts and ownership experiences on this forum, I feel confident now and cannot be taken for a ride by any Car Seller/Service provider easily like any other noob customer.

My time spent in this site is getting longer every visit and becoming more frequent. Guess that mainly due to the installation of T-bhp apps on my Galaxy S2 and I pad2. Great effort guys!

To me, T-BHP = Pure addiction dot.

Happy motoring folks!

I'll be back -
Sathish

PS :- Yes, I also like Formula 1 and my favorite team is Scuderia Ferrari and drivers are Ayrton Senna & Michael Schumacher (all time) and Sebastien Vettel (current). My handle derives its name from here.

PPS:- Oh ya! I have also got my t-bhp stickers ordered from the store. Waiting for the new ride to put them on (soon).

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by BabySchumi

Currently (should i say for the last one year) I'm in grand pursuit of my next Car/SUV.

Test drove
->Old Gen Corolla
->Laura 1.8TSi
->Civic
->Laura 2.0TDi
->Laura L&K
->Jetta 2010
->New Civic facelift
->New Corolla Altis
->Toyota Fortuner
->Merc C220 EE prefacelifted (in the same order I guess).

My brain says go for Japanese brands Toyota/Honda and heart pounds for the Euro Merc/Jetta.

After reading a couple of threads on the forum about experience at the authorized service stations of different automobile vendors, you would probably stay away from Skoda and Honda. Maruti (you've probably experienced their service station goodness as you own a Swift), Mahindra, and Toyota have a decent service network in India.

BTW, do you consider Maruti Suzuki a Japanese brand too? Maruti cars carry the 'S' for Suzuki badge. Suzuki owns a large stake in Maruti and a lot of the Maruti tech comes from Suzuki.

[Ascari]

Welcome Baby Schumi!

I have owned two Skoda's.One was a fantastic Octavia and now I have replaced the Octavia with the Laura.Frankly I have had no problem with them.The service in Bangalore is not much of a problem.I have no idea about Chennai though.

The Laura is a pretty solid car and I guess the initial problems have now been thoroughly sorted.Just my two cents,buy a car if you like the car and not for service and other considerations.You could get a lemon even from Maruti if you are unlucky.

[BabySchumi]

Originally Posted by Ascari

Welcome Baby Schumi!

I have owned two Skoda's.One was a fantastic Octavia and now I have replaced the Octavia with the Laura.Frankly I have had no problem with them.The service in Bangalore is not much of a problem.I have no idea about Chennai though.

The Laura is a pretty solid car and I guess the initial problems have now been thoroughly sorted.Just my two cents,buy a car if you like the car and not for service and other considerations.You could get a lemon even from Maruti if you are unlucky.

I know that skodas make fantastic VFM cars. I think the A.S.S ghost is still haunting them still. During my test drive recently, the SA reeled out some stats which didnt do any good. When i asked him about happy customers, he said out of his 150 customers, 60 are quite happy, 20-30 have mixed feelings, rest are unhappy. Any happy customers from Chennai? It does not help things that there is only one dealer in Chennai (with 3 showrooms) and the same dealer has showrooms in Trichy, Madurai and Vellore. Another deal breaker for me was rear seat comfort - bench is tad too upright for my liking.

About getting a lemon, you've hit the nail right on Maruti head. Could be due to the fact that they sell in huge volumes and in that price range, those customers simply think they were unlucky! I too thought so- had AC compressor problems from day one and it took almost 5-6 weeks for them to fix this. The guys at the service had no clue whatsoever. It was almost a year Swift was launched then, the replies I got from the Service Manager were on these lines - we have not received any training on this AC issue and people from Delhi will be coming. Yours is the only car we have come across having such problem?!

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

After reading a couple of threads on the forum about experience at the authorized service stations of different automobile vendors, you would probably stay away from Skoda and Honda. Maruti (you've probably experienced their service station goodness as you own a Swift), Mahindra, and Toyota have a decent service network in India.

BTW, do you consider Maruti Suzuki a Japanese brand too? Maruti cars carry the 'S' for Suzuki badge. Suzuki owns a large stake in Maruti and a lot of the Maruti tech comes from Suzuki.

I dont consider Maruti Suzuki a japanese brand though Suzuki owns a controlling stake. Two of my colleagues own Honda Civic and they seem to be happy with their service till date. Both cars are 4 years old. My service experience with Maruti too was mixed ranging from pathetic (initial 2 years- Khivraj) to satisfactory (last 1.5 years - Maruti Service Masters). I have read about good dealers of Skoda in Bangalore and other cities. So, it could depend on the city you live in.

[raj_srini]

Originally Posted by BabySchumi

Hello World,

First things first - I wish to congratulate and thank t-bhp founders and moderators for their initiative in starting t-bhp and their unflinching determination & perseverance to keep this community clean and shining.

Got my t-bhp membership in my second attempt (first try was a casual attempt and a lesson learnt!). Got so much excited on seeing the mail in my mailbox, I couldn't login immediately as i forgot my password! (is it a sign of becoming old or sheer excitement causing short term memory loss - your guess is as good as mine)

From the holy land of Super Kings, in my mid thirties (36 to be precise), I'm a management graduate and an entrepreneur by a pleasant twist of fate (will save that story for a separate post as this intro has got longer than i thought it would).

My daily drive is a Blue Swift VXi (2006 - 74500kms). It was love at first sight and I ordered the same vehicle (brand new) parked inside the showroom and paid full payment in a single cheque (as I couldn't wait for 1 month for a black colored car of the same model which I originally intended to buy).


Currently (should i say for the last one year) I'm in grand pursuit of my next Car/SUV.

Test drove
->Old Gen Corolla
->Laura 1.8TSi
->Civic
->Laura 2.0TDi
->Laura L&K
->Jetta 2010
->New Civic facelift
->New Corolla Altis
->Toyota Fortuner
->Merc C220 EE prefacelifted (in the same order I guess).

My brain says go for Japanese brands Toyota/Honda and heart pounds for the Euro Merc/Jetta. Still unable to decide eitherway. A post coming up on what car section & test drive experiences soon (hopefully).

My other interests are Cricket, Movies (Action & Comedy flicks aficionado) & avid gamer (I own a PS3). Currently though, I must admit my 16 month old son keeps me busy and he does not let me even to think about these activities. Even to write this intro, it has taken me almost a month.

Before knowing about T-bhp, (thanks to the god of search - Google), my knowledge of cars didn't give me enough courage to participate in any automotive related discussion. Thanks to T-bhp and my last 2+ years of reading innumerable posts and ownership experiences on this forum, I feel confident now and cannot be taken for a ride by any Car Seller/Service provider easily like any other noob customer.

My time spent in this site is getting longer every visit and becoming more frequent. Guess that mainly due to the installation of T-bhp apps on my Galaxy S2 and I pad2. Great effort guys!

To me, T-BHP = Pure addiction dot.

Happy motoring folks!

I'll be back -
Sathish

PS :- Yes, I also like Formula 1 and my favorite team is Scuderia Ferrari and drivers are Ayrton Senna & Michael Schumacher (all time) and Sebastien Vettel (current). My handle derives its name from here.

PPS:- Oh ya! I have also got my t-bhp stickers ordered from the store. Waiting for the new ride to put them on (soon).

Welcome aboard Sathish. I'm sure you'll have a ball of a time out here. Do start a thread on your buying thoughts and you'll find a lot of people contributing to your cause. Happy revving !

[BabySchumi]

Thanks to all folks who have read my intro and especially - nitin, ascari and raj_Srini for your comments. I'm currently reading what car forum and post a query after going through them.

[C300]

Welcome Sathish!
Love that username - 'BabySchumi'

[BabySchumi]

Thanks C300. You are the first to comment one my handle. as it turned out, it was another baby's weekend out at Singapore! He seems to be just too good for others to catch up.