[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

After a long and happy 9 Years and 9 months of Ownership of our Skoda Laura TDI, we have sold our car to a friend of a BHPian based at Kerala - the car will now find a new home at Ernakulam. The new owner was quite happy with the condition and maintenance of the car.

THE STORY OF HR 26 TO KL 07

Since the time i've started lurking on Team BHP and long before I became a member, Behemoth is a handle which i've come across many a times. More so after I bought a Laura MT in 2011. But never in my mind I thought we would meet one day and buy his beloved car for my close friend.

For the benefit of members reading this, let me write how Behemoth's HR registered car ended up with my friend in Kochi.

It was few months ago that I pinged him the first time and ever since we used to chat a bit on Laura. One day he happened to indicate that his car is nearing the 10 year mark and owing to NCR diesel ban, he will have to sell it. Knowing how well he has maintained the car, I was interested and recommended it to a close friend who has been planning to buy a German car since some time and he was very specific on Laura. But there was a little twist to the tale on two counts. Behemoth's family member outside NCR got keen in his car and he was gearing up to sell the car to him. But later the buyer changed his mind and wanted to buy a new car. This car was up for grabs again. In the interim, my friend ended up picking a VW Jetta TDI DSG. Even then, his dream of having a Laura has not quite died. I had opened a thread regarding this on his behalf.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedan...man-sedan.html (Upgrade from a run-of-the-mill car to a premium German sedan)

Over couple of Whats App chats with Behemoth, the price was agreed upon and my friend paid an advance immediately. He earlier had shared few images of the car and my friend gave the free hand to me to do the decision making. We would've still bought the car even without seeing the car's picture. Eventually, we flew down to Delhi and picked up the car and drove down to Kochi.

The car I must say has been immaculately maintained. After having driven my Laura MT TDI for 190k kms, I almost know the car and it's behaviour like the back of my hands. Behemoth's car drove like a charm. There are zero rattles or squeaks. He was kind enough to do a thorough check of the car before handing it over to us. He also got the wheel balancing and alignment job carried out at his preferred Bosch FNG and kept the car ready. It helped us to save half a day too after i've missed my flight from Bangalore earlier in the day. My friend arrived from Kochi separately the same day morning. We later reached Behemoth's home and then drove to Bosch garage in his Jeep Compass. After picking up the car, we came back and had lunch at his home before we bid adieu. We could sense that he was parting it with a heavy heart but at the same time he took consolation from the fact it's going to be in another home that will take good care of his beloved car.

VAG TDI is a gem of an engine on many counts and it's frugality is well documented. And as we know, the best Skodas we got here in India were during that period long before the word localisation caught the fancy of VAG group. IIRC, the Laura's were CKD units and it shows in the build quality and the cars of that vintage still feels tight and feels almost new. We drove the car at a steady pace of 100 kmph thereabouts and as expected it returned 25-26 kmpl and at times more, so much so that with a full tank fill at Hyderabad, we managed to reach Kochi with still a quarter tank diesel left. I'll post some of the MID snaps for reference. The actual FE must be 0.75-1 kmpl less than MID figures. Couple of tankful to tankful calculations too showed 25 kmpl consistently. We were sedately driving all through the journey and well within legal speed limits. With me driving a larger part of the journey and the car handling well and feeling so nice and tight , I was firming up my mind to do a complete suspension overhaul on my Laura as soon as I reach Bangalore. The same was kept in abeyance since the onset of pandemic. This drive made my love even deeper for Laura. These are such brilliant and timeless cars and with the right care and attention can serve you well for years. They can still give the modern cars a run for it's money. The whole trip was uneventful with His grace and the car just lived up to the expectations. It seemed like just another drive for the car. The 2750 kms trip was like a piece of cake for it. We didn't feel any sort of fatigue though we drove only only during the day and was covering 600-700 kms a day. Towards the end of the journey, my friend who's not very keen at driving was not leaving the driver's seat at all. I knew by then that he has totally fallen for it. A non enthusiastic driver has turned into one during the course of the journey. After reaching my home in Bangalore, I made him drive my Laura too. He has driven it before too but this was a back to back drive. And he couldn't feel any difference with my 190k run car vs the 85k run car of his except for the deterioration in suspension performance. His impression on these cars has grown further since then and today he's a happy Laura owner and he plans to spruce up the ride with some thoughtful upgrades.

Few pictures clicked during the journey and also the car with KL07 regn plate.

At the India Gate which the car will never see again.



A quick shower enroute.


At a hotel in gurgaon.






At Agra.






Somewhere in MP.


MID showing the FE at various stages of the journey. At one point it even returned 33 kmpl, I wasn't surprised one bit.







My car and Behemoth's car together at my Blore home. They may have crossed their paths before at Aurangabad factory as both cars are of similar vintage





Finally at her new home with the new regn plate.


Request Mods not to close this thread. The new owner plan to apply for TEAM BHP membership. In the event of him failing to come onboard, I plan to keep this thread live with the updates on the car.

[mytbhp_turbo]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

THE STORY OF HR 46 TO KL 07

Since the time i've started lurking on Team BHP and long before I became a member, Behemoth is a handle which i've come across many a times. More so after I bought a Laura MT in 2011. But never in my mind I thought we would meet one day and buy his beloved car for my close friend.

For the benefit of members reading this, let me write how Behemoth's HR registered car ended up with my friend in Kochi.

That's a hell of a deal and story, Ticks all required boxes, Reliable owner, well maintained car !

Knowing your love for Laura, I am not surprised that you suggested your friend to pick that one :-)

How will RTO change/Road Tax work out ?

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by mytbhp_turbo

How will RTO change/Road Tax work out ?

The re registration process was smooth and he paid ~75K road tax.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

THE STORY OF HR 46 TO KL 07

For the benefit of members reading this, let me write how Behemoth's HR registered car ended up with my friend in Kochi.

Request Mods not to close this thread. The new owner plan to apply for TEAM BHP membership. In the event of him failing to come onboard, I plan to keep this thread live with the updates on the car.

It was a pleasure to hand over the car to you and your friend and I am assured that it is in good hands! The car is good for another 1Lac kms and 10 years if maintained well, which I am sure it will be.
We really loved that car a lot and it was one of the best ownership experiences.

I just want to highlight the power of Team BHP as a forum. Bibendum had been following my threads for a long time and through TBHP we became connected. Without him ever having seen the car, he and his friend were convinced to buy the car and they flew down from Kerala and BLR to take the car. This is the level of trust which TBHP has built among its members and it is a friendship for life. It was a pleasure to meet you Bibendum and your friend during your visit here.

In fact my other car - the Yeti was also sold through TBHP and my Laura also has now been sold to a TBHPian's friend. It is this common passion and love for our cars that unites us

Kudos to TBHP and wishing many years of happy driving to the new owner! (Hope he is also able to become a TBHPian soon and continue the ownership experience.)

[vijuk21]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

If you got your car serviced at Skoda, they would have done it automatically when the car is connected to their system.
If it is happening without the software update the other reason could be dpf regeneration cycle in which the engine runs at higher idle to heat the engine to burn off excess carbon deposits in the exhaust system. Though this is generally only the case if the car is used only for short distances and does not get a chance to reach running temperatures frequently. ( If you are using your car only for short runs of 10-15 min and not taking long drives!)
Maybe its time for you to take the car for a long weekend drive!

Hi Behemoth, I have a 2006 Skoda Laura L&K and have this similar issue . To add to the issue, once the RPM increases, it does not come come down. It shows two behaviours
1. In the night, if the RPM increases, after a while, the climate control or AC stops working completely. The solution given by ASS is switch off and switch on the ignition. However, this is again temporary. The issue resurfaces
2. In the daytime, if the RPM increases, the climate control does work .

When I reported the issue multiple times to the Skoda ASS, they changed the accelerator pedal 2 times and said that things will be fine but no luck. Any updates with your experience will be helpful. I know its a old thread and I was catching up for some solution and thought to seek help.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by vijuk21

Hi Behemoth, I have a 2006 Skoda Laura L&K and have this similar issue . To add to the issue, once the RPM increases, it does not come come down. It shows two behaviours
1. In the night, if the RPM increases, after a while, the climate control or AC stops working completely. The solution given by ASS is switch off and switch on the ignition. However, this is again temporary. The issue resurfaces
2. In the daytime, if the RPM increases, the climate control does work .

When I reported the issue multiple times to the Skoda ASS, they changed the accelerator pedal 2 times and said that things will be fine but no luck. Any updates with your experience will be helpful. I know its a old thread and I was catching up for some solution and thought to seek help.

Well in your case the problem looks complex and may be a combination of several issues. You will need to get a full scan done to identify the causes. Also you have not mentioned whether it is a diesel or petrol car. The issues in both are quite different.
Few things which you should get checked (for diesel )specifically:
1) glow plug (as you mentioned as you have more of a problem in cold temp)
2) coolant temperature sensors
3) injector cleaning (for diesel)
4) ac compressor and wiring as your climatronic ac is also not behaving properly
5) radiator fans

[careind]

Originally Posted by vijuk21

1. In the night, if the RPM increases, after a while, the climate control or AC stops working completely. The solution given by ASS is switch off and switch on the ignition. However, this is again temporary. The issue resurfaces

I had this problem in my Rapid 1.5 DSG once when I travelled from Hosur to Chennai. The A/C was running perfectly fine for the entire trip From Chennai to Hosur. The car was parked for around 3 hrs. WHen I started back, The Blower was working without the A/C kicking in. I drove with A/C switched off.
But it magically started working when I tried after 20 or so kms and worked till I stopped for dinner after ~150 kms. But it refused to work after starting from Dinner.
My FNG troubleshooted it as a fatigued radiator fan issue.

[vredesbyrd]

This is an excellent story. Back in 2018, I tried getting my greedy little hands on 2012 TDI DSG L&K in Hyderabad. Man, it was loaded with tech and drove like a charm but was sold before I could close the deal.
So ended up with a 2010 Superb with many faults.

This is also a stark reminder that how much the courts and NGT are making owning a dream car impossIble. The only way a non-IIM, salaried middle-class boy like me could own an F10 is a through the used route and that too at a vintage of 9-10 years.

These heartless fools just want to see dreams crash. I hate the NGT for this. I bet the original owner wouldn't have parted with the Laura if it were up to him.

Funny thing? Banning the diesels did zilch in terms of AQI. Someone please veto out the NGT and shut down the offices.

[Air_Kerala]

What a lovely read. The trust between Team-BHP member owners and stories of pre loved cars exchanging hands deserves a thread of its own. And the Laura just looks pristine. Wishing the new owner many kilometers of joy.

[vijuk21]

Originally Posted by careind

I had this problem in my Rapid 1.5 DSG once when I travelled from Hosur to Chennai. The A/C was running perfectly fine for the entire trip From Chennai to Hosur. The car was parked for around 3 hrs. WHen I started back, The Blower was working without the A/C kicking in. I drove with A/C switched off.
But it magically started working when I tried after 20 or so kms and worked till I stopped for dinner after ~150 kms. But it refused to work after starting from Dinner.
My FNG troubleshooted it as a fatigued radiator fan issue.

Thanks for your inputs. Will get this checked this time

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Well in your case the problem looks complex and may be a combination of several issues. You will need to get a full scan done to identify the causes. Also you have not mentioned whether it is a diesel or petrol car. The issues in both are quite different.
Few things which you should get checked (for diesel )specifically:
1) glow plug (as you mentioned as you have more of a problem in cold temp)
2) coolant temperature sensors
3) injector cleaning (for diesel)
4) ac compressor and wiring as your climatronic ac is also not behaving properly
5) radiator fans

Thanks for your inputs Behemoth. Mine is a diesel car. Got the full scanning done several times in SGA cars and earlier Vinayak cars and they told me to change the accelerator pedal but the problem still persist. I will try FNG this time and tell them to check all that you have mentioned and revert

[Bibendum90949]

The car has undergone a wash and wax. My friend seems to be setting himself up for a long haul with the ownership.

[gururajrv]

In fact the FE delivered by the car proves how well the engine is maintained throughout. Bibendum made a clear call of buying an immaculately maintained car both inside out, the car looks class! Wishing your friend a happy and safe miles!

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

The re registration process was smooth and he paid ~75K road tax.

This figure was based on the original invoiced value of the car? How is the road tax calculated?

Drive on,
Shibu

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by shibujp

This figure was based on the original invoiced value of the car? How is the road tax calculated?

Drive on,
Shibu

Yes, based on the invoice value. It was 14 lakhs odd. 13% on prorata basis is what they calculated besides 1% flood cess also taken into account. MY of car is 2012. Refer page 32 of the attached document for the slab wise tax calculation.

Also my friend was told that the Transport Commissionerate has a database with vehicle models which they refer as well for which the exact details are not known. In short, the road tax comes to 14% of invoice value on prorata basis. The NOC issued date is taken into consideration while working out the tax for remaining years.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Worth the effort to get this well maintained car, RB color on Laura is dope and i also got the similar one.

I was actually surprised to see the mileage on my first highway drive, this thing never gives you a mileage below 18 even if you drive extremely aggressive on highways, and even if you stay b/w 100-120kph it can easily gives you 23-25 kmpl.

Mine is a 2013 model, but whoever got into the car appreciate the way it masks the age, the tighter feel the car offers even after these many years ensure it can outlast anything if you maintain it well.

This particular 110 HP state of tune with 5 speed gearbox, needs to be driven in a different manner, put to 5th only post 75 or 80 and inside city better be within 2nd and 3rd, Yes, you have to shift down to 1st on speed breakers. This makes the engine and you happy.

Sometime i feel a 17 incher makes the car droll worthy, but being in Bangalore even 16 incher doesn't makes any sense for the kind of road we are handling.

Wishing you and your friend a wonderful ownership ahead.

Hijacking this thread to post couple of pictures, please excuse.