[TheGodfather]

First Car of my family - a pre-loved Skoda Rapid 1.6 AT Monte Carlo 2019

This is my first response on Team-BHP although it has been my go to place for any and every suggestion and clarification for automobiles. This, a big thumbs up to all the esteemed members who are full of knowledge.

Background:

I'm 29 years old, working as an engineer with a diesel engine manufacturer. The nudge to get the first car of my family came when the 5th gen City was launched in March 23 and I test ride it. It is a childhood dream to own a City as it is for a lot of 90s and early 2000s kid. But even with BH registration, ongoing discounts and insurance quote matching, it was getting tough to manage the expense since the final deal was at 14 lakhs. The first car owning thread on Team-BHP along with some other threads on finances also dissuaded me to get myself bogged down in loan.

I got to drive an automatic while learning at Maruti Driving School and that sealed the deal that I'll get an automatic for its convenience. Slight diversion from the topic but full marks to Maruti Driving School for their professional and extensive driving course.

So my requirements were:

1. Petrol - Due to low expected running and sickness due to diesel fumes.
2. Automatic - for its convenience in city where majority of the travel will be.
3. Hatchback or Sedan: Because my mother can't easily get into taller cars like any of the CSUVs.

The next stop was Spinny and Cars24 but after a lot of patient scrolling for months, the prices were exorbitant for the models being offered. And I didn't want to go for a car older than 5 years/40k kms as suggested in the pre-owned cars ownership thread. This, this option also went into cold storage.

Next, I went to Hyundai for an i20. It was September so the facelift hadn't been declared yet. After aligning everything with the dealership, I booked the i20 Asta(O) iVT at final cost of 11.2 lakhs but the dealership took me for a toss and delayed the delivery citing one thing or another till the facelift was launched - at higher cost and lower features making the Asta(O) less VFM. Thus, cancelled the booking since I had explicitly told the dealership after the announcement of facelift that I'd be expecting a pre-facelift model. The pre-owned cars ownership thread again played a role and I thought of shelving this plan for some time to ponder over.

Team-BHP classifieds and rekindling of desire

One fine Friday I was going through the forum, reading threads and it came to my mind to check the classifieds again. I had checked the classifieds earlier but couldn't find anything that ticked my boxes at the right price point. Suddenly found an ad by BHPian JitendraK78 for his aforementioned Skoda Rapid. Since it was already a couple of weeks old, I thought it must've been closed but gave it a try anyways.

Originally Posted by JitendraK78

After using my Rapid Ambition MT Petrol - 2012 for almost 7.7 years & 68k km, I replaced it with Rapid Monte Carlo AT Petrol last week.

The overall experience was very good compared to the past.

To my surprise he responded that the car was available. Went for a first inspection the next day. The car was maintained in a very detailed manner with all services done at service centre. The repaints were also done at service centre. Did the price discussion and although the final price of 7.5 lakhs was a bit higher than my current ability, thought of giving it a dedicated try.

Took all the details of the car and went to Skoda service center for the verification of service details. It all aligned well and only the door repaint was something that was done other than the required services replacements. Gaining more confidence, I called one of my contacts who does PDI for a fees in Pune. On Sunday, the inspection was completed with the car passing on all required parameters.

The other expenses to be incurred were:

1. Zero Dep Insurance - ~28k including the NCB that'll not get transferred to me
2. 4th service - ~23k quite expensive due to scheduled gear oil change and coolant drain on my request
3. Extended warranty for 5th year - ~15k
4. Available service package - ~14k for 2 years but limited spare parts coverage (not the comprehensive one - it can only be availed if a comprehensive service package for first 4 years has been initially taken).

After some thoughts and financial calculations, I gave it a go ahead. Called up my bank for a personal loan and after it's disbursement, sealed the deal.

So, effectively till Friday, I was not having any plans for a car and by the next Saturday, I took the delivery of a pre-loved Skoda Rapid with 18.3k mileage on the odometer. I'm very impressed with the quality and attention to details given by Skoda. Getting a mileage of 10.8 kmpl in city traffic on tank to tank calculation.

Got a DDPAI Z40 dashcam with CPL filter and Strontium microSD card for 12.5k. I went through all the threads and saw the problems in the app and support but since I wanted a supercapacitor based camera due to lack of covered parking and that nexdigitron is located in Pune, I went ahead with it. With all inclusive, it has costed me 8.5 lakhs. Even though at first sight it might seem to be an expensive deal but I'm hopeful that I'll keep it for more than 7 years and thus it'll hopefully pan out to be a prudent decision.

Sharing my experience and requesting all the esteemed BHPians to give their opinions and suggestions for a seamless ownership. Will keep on updating the thread with the updates if and when available.






Please excuse any grammatical, typographical or forum mistakes and let me know, I'll edit the post accordingly. It's my first post on the forum.

[JitendraK78]

Originally Posted by TheGodfather

First Car of my family - a pre-loved Skoda Rapid 1.6 AT Monte Carlo 2019

..
Sharing my experience and requesting all the esteemed BHPians to give their opinions and suggestions for a seamless ownership. Will keep on updating the thread with the updates if and when available.
..
Please excuse any grammatical, typographical or forum mistakes and let me know, I'll edit the post accordingly. It's my first post on the forum.

Really happy to see that my car has found a good home.

I had always used Shell regular petrol for the car and I used to get mileage of 14 kmpl in the city, and at least 18 kmpl during highway run. I believe the mileage you are getting will improve further as you continue driving the car.

You may try to use CC on empty stretches. That will further increase the mileage.

My best wishes to you.

[TheGodfather]

Originally Posted by JitendraK78

Really happy to see that my car has found a good home.

I had always used Shell regular petrol for the car and I used to get mileage of 14 kmpl in the city, and at least 18 kmpl during highway run. I believe the mileage you are getting will improve further as you continue driving the car.

You may try to use CC on empty stretches. That will further increase the mileage.

My best wishes to you....

Thank you sir for the response. I hope I'll be able to deliver on the expectations. I've been using HP power 95 till now since the recommended RON is 95. For the next calculation I'll use shell regular for comparative study. I've been using only COCO pumps since I'm not sure of quality of fuel elsewhere.

The drop in mileage could be due to the recent increase in ethanol blending percentage in petrol across the OMCs but I'm not sure.

Haven't yet been able to go on any highway drives or to use cruise control, but will update the thread with the figures once I get a chance.

[sapien]

Originally Posted by TheGodfather

Took all the details of the car and went to Skoda service center for the verification of service details. It all aligned well and only the door repaint was something that was done other than the required services replacements. Gaining more confidence, I called one of my contacts who does PDI for a fees in Pune. On Sunday, the inspection was completed with the car passing on all required parameters.

Please excuse any grammatical, typographical or forum mistakes and let me know, I'll edit the post accordingly. It's my first post on the forum.

Congratulations! And welcome to the forum

This is one of those nice looking sedans which will look good even 10 years down the line. The white color looks dope! Please share how’s the drive like.

If your experience with this PDI person is good, can you DM me the details. I’d be needing a professional PDI service in near future.

[lamborghini]

Congratulations on picking up a beautiful car! The 1.6 being a NA with the conventional TC gearbox will also be more reliable, though finding a honest and experienced independent mechanic will help keep costs reasonable in the long run.

Originally Posted by TheGodfather

[*]4th service - ~23k quite expensive due to scheduled gear oil change and coolant drain on my request

Just one point: Since yours is the 1.6 with the torque converter unit, an oil change may not be required so early. The 4 year mark is generally for DSG equipped vehicles.
Do check the owner's manual to be on the safer side!

[Clansman86]

Congratulations on a great choice! I have a 10 year old rapid 1.6 TDI MT with 90k on the odometer and the car feels as good as new with regular maintenance.

You're absolutely right on the attention to detail. It has features that my 2023 Kia Carnival Prestige that costs 3.5 times as much doesn't have. One touch up down on ALL windows with anti-pinch, beautiful leather wrapped steering wheel, window up/down control from your key are some I really love.

The only thing I started missing at some point was the convenience of Android Auto/Apple CarPlay. I changed out the dated infotainment system to a Sony XAV5500 (cost about 23k) and it feels fresh now. The 1.6 AT that you've got has been doing duty on VW Polos and all the polo based models for the last 3 decades with great reliability records worldwide. You should be set for a long and happy ownership experience! Take care of her well!

[TheGodfather]

Originally Posted by sapien

Congratulations! And welcome to the forum

This is one of those nice looking sedans which will look good even 10 years down the line. The white color looks dope! Please share how’s the drive like.

If your experience with this PDI person is good, can you DM me the details. I’d be needing a professional PDI service in near future.

Thank you so much @Sapiens. I think all the traditionally designed sedans mature very well. I've been an ardent admirer of sedans so it adds to the pros. I'll update the thread with a Pune-Mumbai-Pune drive review very soon.

I'll add the details of the PDI person here for reference of all.
Name - Mr. Ashwini Mishra (PDI Expert Service Car & Byke)
Address - NDA Pashan Rd, off 1, Chandani Chowk, Bavdhan, Pune, Maharashtra 422021
Mobile - 9936720677

https://g.co/kgs/hWmFz2E

My experience with him was good. He took care of all the important points of PDI. Attaching my PDI report for reference.

[TheGodfather]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Congratulations on picking up a beautiful car! The 1.6 being a NA with the conventional TC gearbox will also be more reliable, though finding a honest and experienced independent mechanic will help keep costs reasonable in the long run.

Just one point: Since yours is the 1.6 with the torque converter unit, an oil change may not be required so early. The 4 year mark is generally for DSG equipped vehicles.
Do check the owner's manual to be on the safer side!

Thank you Lamborghini for your kind words. The combination of a 1.6 NA engine with TC gearbox was one of the primary reasons to go ahead. I was looking at Honda City for similar 1.5 NA+CVT combination. I think this combo gives the best all-round experience with peace of mind for robustness.

The gear oil change was mentioned in the service manual and also showed up in their service system database. One difference was that in the manual, gear oil filter change is mentioned while it was not to be done as per their database linked to VIN. Thus, it was not done in the service as the service centre guys didn't agree and I didn't want to do anything untoward with risk of violating the extended warranty. I'll get it done in the 8th/120k kms service.

Sorry for digressing from the thread but for the DSG, I'd like to understand if an oil change is needed because a friend of mine has a 2017 VW Vento 1.2 TSI DSG and he got a feedback from the service centre that the DSG is sealed for life. Does 'sealed for life' refers to 80k or 100k or 120k kms in reality ?

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by TheGodfather

The gear oil change was mentioned in the service manual and also showed up in their service system database. One difference was that in the manual, gear oil filter change is mentioned while it was not to be done as per their database linked to VIN. Thus, it was not done in the service as the service centre guys didn't agree and I didn't want to do anything untoward with risk of violating the extended warranty. I'll get it done in the 8th/120k kms service.

Sorry for digressing from the thread but for the DSG, I'd like to understand if an oil change is needed because a friend of mine has a 2017 VW Vento 1.2 TSI DSG and he got a feedback from the service centre that the DSG is sealed for life. Does 'sealed for life' refers to 80k or 100k or 120k kms in reality ?

This is quite interesting - generally the traditional gearboxes - TC & CVT are more likely 'sealed for life' - though an oil change is absolutely recommended on them either ways when they are 7-10 years old (depending who you ask) as preventative maintenance.
My wife had a Vento 1.6 AT - I do not recall her mentioning about a gear oil change ever : maybe worth speaking to another dealership / checking with owners of the Vento 1.6 AT as well - could just be a mis-print since your MY Rapid 1.6 AT was launched in parallel to the 1.5TDi DSG & was there along with the Vento 1.2 DSG & 1.5 DSG.
About DSGs - especially the dry clutch : stick to whatever the manufacturer recommends. I do believe they recommend the 4year interval there too - same gearbox as the 1.5TSi, 1.8TSi cars.
VW / Skoda dealers don't have the best history of knowing their cars IMO : they serviced my car overlooking a torn bush & nearly worn out brake pads; which my independent discovered while doing a paint touch up a few weeks after while driving it to his workshop.
Either case, it's 7 years old - no harm changing the gear oil even if it's a 'sealed for life' piece, especially with a notorious gearbox like the 7 speed DSG.