[dkaile]

Congratulations Santosh on a beautifully kept car (though a little belated). This is what driving passion is all about, to maintain a car like its own baby! Nice to note the good FE levels you are getting which is very similar to what I am getting on my Superb. Your zero maintenance issues really strengthen my believe that the Skoda/VW/Audi TSI motor is a gem.

I too haven't felt the need to take my AC to the minimum level till now, in the sweltering North Indian heat, which is increasing by the day. Nor have I noticed any reduction in the oil levels till now (approx 1600kms). And No, I don't feel like a chauffeur driving my 'long' Superb along, if anything, it handles better than my Corolla. Most of the other points you mention, are either custom fit (like the Silver Tips) or user customisable in the Superb, like the DRL's, Auto Locking etc. I too find it irritating that the Auto AC does not start in the Recirculation mode and has to be put into it, unlike my Corolla.

I love your car's silver colour (same as my Falcon). Keep updating and revving...

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Congratulations Santosh on a beautifully kept car (though a little belated). This is what driving passion is all about, to maintain a car like its own baby! Nice to note the good FE levels you are getting which is very similar to what I am getting on my Superb. Your zero maintenance issues really strengthen my believe that the Skoda/VW/Audi TSI motor is a gem.

Thanks dkaile. After owning a Toyota for eight years and enjoying a long trouble free experience with the Corolla I was a bit apprehensive about going for a Skoda. I did do my research before taking the plunge and found that worldwide, the TSI motor was far more reliable than the earlier TPI motor they had on offer on the Octavia VRS. I also found that the certain weak areas like the AC etc.. were fixed in the face lifted Laura, which had very few owners facing reliability issues unlike owners of the last gen Laura. Of course Skoda shield and 4 years warranty just sealed the deal for me.

Unfortunately the Laura is not as good a vfm package as the Superb. When I bought mine, the discounts on offer were close to Rs. 1L only. You wouldn't believe if I told you my OTR cost was about 16.40L for the Laura TSI MT Ambiente! But then Skoda as a brand gives us Indians, who always look for value, an entry point to enjoy world class technologies like the 1.8 TSI engine, euro build and ride and handling qualities at prices like 16 ~ 18L which otherwise would be found in only very very expensive to own (and maintain) German sedans. Your Superb has some features which you wouldn't find in even some 50L German sedans!

[Santoshbhat]

Completed one year ownership last week.

Some ownership stats for those interested

1) Period of ownership : 1 year
2) Kms covered : 21,000 Kms
3) Issues faced : Nil
4) Breakdowns : None
5) Services completed : 1 (at 15,000 kms)
6) Cost of service : About Rs. 9k (including 4.4 lts of Synth Oil)
6) Engine oil top up done : Twice. A litre each at 3,000 Kms and at 8,000 kms
7) Avg FE : City : 9kpl, Highway : Anywhere between 12kpl and 16kpl depending on the mood

The best part about the car is that it is absolutely fatigue free to drive. Even after long drives I find myself very fresh. Thanks to good refined engine, good ergonomics, good suspension set up, smooth shifting GB, soft clutch, good brakes, excellent NVH characteristics.

The interaction with the A.S.S has been minimal. Just the first service. So far so good I must say.

Attaching a few pics taken from my mobile cam on a recent drive. Pardon the poor quality.

I am also posting the pics of the MID taken after the drive. I started out early morning and drove quite leisurely. Was pleasantly surprised with the FE the car delivered. 16 kmpl!! Not bad for a petrol engined car, weighing 1.4 Tons, with 160 bhp on tap, that can do 0-100 in the low 8 secs.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Completed one year ownership last week.

6) Engine oil top up done : Twice. A litre each at 3,000 Kms and at 8,000 kms

Congratulations Santoshbhat on completing a fine 1 year with your beauty. Contrary to what many say, it strengthens the belief that many Skoda's do run trouble free over long duration of time.

One question came to my mind, as I have completed the 3K mark on my 1.8TSI Superb, was the oil top-up issue. The oil level has decreased by say 1~2mm from when I bought it and is still very much near the 'F' mark. I don't presume that requires any top-up still. Will post a picture of the oil level on the Superb thread soon for you to gauge.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by dkaile

One question came to my mind, as I have completed the 3K mark on my 1.8TSI Superb, was the oil top-up issue. The oil level has decreased by say 1~2mm from when I bought it and is still very much near the 'F' mark. I don't presume that requires any top-up still. Will post a picture of the oil level on the Superb thread soon for you to gauge.

When I topped up oil, the oil level was hovering around two third's down between the the full and empty level on the dipstick. In fact I followed the instructions laid out in the manual. They have mentioned different levels on the dip stick. I was monitoring the oil level regularly and the oil level was nearing level 'C' , which is the level at which "you must top up oil" as per the manual.

Attaching the extract from the manual for you ref.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

When I topped up oil, the oil level was hovering around two third's down between the the full and empty level on the dipstick. In fact I followed the instructions laid out in the manual. They have mentioned different levels on the dip stick. I was monitoring the oil level regularly and the oil level was nearing level 'C' , which is the level at which "you must top up oil" as per the manual.

Attaching the extract from the manual for you ref.

Thanks for the illustration. Well mine is just near the top of 'B', so I will wait for it to fall to at least to the middle of the B level before I think of any top-ups.

[ketla2411]

[quote=Santoshbhat;2798026]Completed one year ownership last week.

Congratulations Santoshbhat. I am sure you will have a troublefree ownership from your TSi. Skodas are very rewarding if maintained by the book, trust me I know, my 2003 1.9TDi Octavia 125 is testimony to it. Still holds pride of place in the family parking lot.

My vRS arrived home on the 1st of June.
Am looking foward to the same kind of ownership experience with it.

[Santoshbhat]

Time for a small update.

The car is currently at 23,500 Kms.

I was carrying a litre of Shell Helix Ultra in my boot as this was the oil that was receommended when I bought the car. But during first service the service centre had filled Castrol Magnatec Professional 5W 40. I had enquired with some lubricant shops for a one litre can of this oil so that I could carry it as back up during outstation trips. Apparently this is an 'OE only' brand and is not distributed in the open market.

I have this habit of checking for oil levels every now and then. Found that the level was slowly and steadily going down by a about milimeter or so every 1,000 kms. The last time I checked it was close to the level at which the manual says 'You must top up oil'. So I decided to head out to the service centre for a quick splash and dash. But when I got there, they said that Skoda has revised service intervals from one service every 15,000 kms to one service every 15,000 Kms and one general check up in between. Well, nobody told me. Since I was in a bit of a hurry they agreed to do it in 1/2 hour , as it involved just checking fluid levels and cleaning some filters. The car drank about 1/2 litre of oil and Rs. 400 was charged as labour for the general check up. A little steep for a 1/2 hr job I thought . But the car did feel that wee bit more sprightly and smooth after the check up. Could be the effect of cleaner filters + better lubrication. Or maybe just plain placebo

There is a small squeak coming from the front left part of dashboard. Not bothersome enough to report this time. Will report this at the next service. That apart the car has had no issues till date and has been an absolute gem. She is a superb all rounder. You can have all the fun you want behind the wheel and at the same time she can be a real workhorse too.

The car is now more or less relagated to highway/ weekend runs only as we've got a new i10 AT for daily city runs. One of the biggest pluses of having the i10 AT as a daily driver is that it makes the Laura that much more enjoyable every time I get to drive her after a bit of a gap .

The car is returning a steady 9 kmpl in the city and 13+ kmpl on expressways at more than decent speeds. The mileage has been on a constant upward graph actually. I hardly drive for FE these days and it still delivers better figures than what it used to give around the 10,000 mark. I think I can put that down to me fully understanding the power characteristics of the turbocharged engine and driving in optimum gears.

[Santoshbhat]

THought I'd update this thread after a 900 km Bangalore - Mangalore - Belgaum trip. For details on road conditions refer this post http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2954038

Overall the car performed beautifully. The good ground clearance was a boon on some bad stretches of road and the car did not scrape its underbelly even once. This car is meant for the open roads. The good chassis balance, the accurate steering, good ergonomics, good grip from the 16" Michelins all combined to deliver a very satisfying experience. Even at the end of day I was feeling fresh and suffered from virtually no fatigue.

Overall FE acheived was a very satisfying 13 kmpl with 100% AC on, given that I made no effort to drive for economy.

The AC has been a revelation and contrary to other Laura owner's feedback on the forum, I am very satisfied with the AC performance. I usually set it about a quarter of the way up from the min temp setting and it does its job effectively.


Basically the car has been running smoothly with no major issues as such. Last month there was a 'light bulb malfunction' warning on the cluster. One the DRL bulbs was off. It seems that bulbs' contact was fused. Replaced the bulb with the spare one and the warning has gone since.

The front brakes pads seem to be on their last legs. The brakes stop effectively , but seem to have lost a bit of their progressive nature. Even with minimum force on the pedal they tend to grab hard and I need to baby the brakes for this reason. I had been to the service station before making the trip just to make sure that they're OK. THe service advisors were of the opinion that the brakes still have about 5k kms of life left in them and it is safe to take the 1,500 km journey without any worries and we can change them during 30,000 kms second service. Another observation is that within the city, the front brakes make a sort of a grinding noise just before the car comes to a complete halt. THis happens only after the brakes have heated up after constant stop and go and is not experienced on very short drives. On the highway I didn't feel any inadequacy in the braking and the brakes and did come to my rescue when a state transport bus decided to stop all of a sudden in the middle of the road for no reason.

The car is currently at 28,000 kms and I am thinking of getting it serviced soon.

Attaching a few pics taken along the way....

[anandpadhye]

Nice photographs.
it's really a timeless design by Skoda.

BTW, yours is TSi, am I correct?
If so, then it does not have real climat control - it's just the regular AC with thermostat and they have stuck temperature figures on the dial to make owners think that it's climat control (calling it "climatic" or something...). So when you set it a quarter above min, it's actually mixing hot air with cold in that proportion - not a good thing to inhale, IMO. If one is feeling too cold, a healthier way would be to adjust blower speed and manually switch the AC on/off periodically (of course, it's a bit of a bother).

And real test of AC should be conducted in April and May. Right now, even my TSi can be mistaken for a fridge.

Cheers!

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Nice photographs.
it's really a timeless design by Skoda.

BTW, yours is TSi, am I correct?
If so, then it does not have real climat control - it's just the regular AC with thermostat and they have stuck temperature figures on the dial to make owners think that it's climat control (calling it "climatic" or something...). So when you set it a quarter above min, it's actually mixing hot air with cold in that proportion - not a good thing to inhale, IMO. If one is feeling too cold, a healthier way would be to adjust blower speed and manually switch the AC on/off periodically (of course, it's a bit of a bother).

And real test of AC should be conducted in April and May. Right now, even my TSi can be mistaken for a fridge.

Cheers!

Yes it is TSi with manual aircon.

Ok, so by mixing hot and cold air the aircon blows out air at the desired temperature. I don't understand why it would be bad to inhale. I generally set the AC to recirculate off during long drives, so that there is fresh air to inhale.

I am commenting on the AC after 28,000 kms after seeing off two summers

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Ok, so by mixing hot and cold air the aircon blows out air at the desired temperature. I don't understand why it would be bad to inhale.

I am commenting on the AC after 28,000 kms after seeing off two summers

Bad for health is just my view. Another thing about it is - to have reduced cooling, instead of switching off the compressor, we are mixing hot air, so I feel it's inefficient.

Boss, you are lucky to live in bangalore - you have no summer in Bangalore.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Bad for health is just my view. Another thing about it is - to have reduced cooling, instead of switching off the compressor, we are mixing hot air, so I feel it's inefficient.

Boss, you are lucky to live in bangalore - you have no summer in Bangalore.

Switching the AC off and on constantly is not good for the AC compressor. In fact that's the reason why many AC / Fridge stabilizers have delay start programmed into their system. Besides won't the constant switching off and switching on of the AC make it very uncomfortable for the passengers?

Bangalore weather is not what it used to be like. Summers are getting hotter every year. Of course they're not as bad as Pune.

[ACM]

The Laura AC is fine especially for the people upfront it is the back sead occupants who suffer, if we make the AC cold enough for the rear bench then it tends to be too cold for the front seaters.

Based this on Laura L&K ACC with PD engine in Mumbai conditions as felt by me and my passengers. They always complain in the rear and if I satisfy them it becomes too cold for me up in the front. If I close the air vents on my side in the front it then becomes noisey.

Also by default the ACC is in outside air mode when we start the car and I always have to reset it to internal air mode but that switches of the Auto mode. For Indian conditions felt the ACC (Automatic Climate Control) of the Aria to be far better than that of the Laura. The rear passenger air flow if sufficently increased for the rear is too high for the front in the Laura.

But yes it is indeed possible to make the laura into something like a freezer in specific mode settings.

Santosh the updates are nice and interesting thanks.

[anandpadhye]

@ACM, Yes, even I get irritated on the fact that the AC starts on fresh air mode by default!

Santosh, yes, I feel bad for Bangalore - what a wonderful city going down due to unplanned growth, traffic and pollution. But there is something fundamentally pleasant in the air there. I always feel good whenever I am there. I can only imagine how it would have been in the 70's and 80's and even 90's for that matter.

BTW, you upgraded from 15" to 16"? Did you recalibrate the ECU/MFD for the upsize? Else, your actual FE will be better than the MFD numbers and even tank full to tank full calculations as your speedo is under-reading.