Team-BHP - Skoda Rapid : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser (Post 3255700)

This month (16th October) my car insurance will expire and I got below quotation from Bajaj Allianz. Totally I have to pay only, Rs. 17,171/-.

Wanted to check whether this is good or I can get a cheaper one outside?

My car's (TDI Ambition+) insurance is also due for renewal next month. A salesman came to my house and offered me a quote of 17300 for comprehensive insurance + 5000 for 0-depreciation, total 22300 from Bharthi AXA.
I cross-checked with an online quote and found the split to be comprehensive 14000 + 3300 for 0-depreciation, total 17300; same company, same policy. How can there be such a difference?! I can't believe the salesman thinks customers to be so naive.
The online quote matches with Conty's experience too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by torque18 (Post 3230950)

I got a chance to visit the VW service center today. Checked for the under body protection again. The SA showed me the panel from one of the cars and it wasn't fabric. It was hard plastic/fiber, similar quality that we see in bumpers (may be even harder). I am attaching a pic of the panel below. Its different from the one we see above and has a different part number as well.

The part number is 6RO825902A and the price quoted was Rs. 5500.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser (Post 3231001)

Thanks! This is certainly different from what I have seen. Also this is less priced. Probably the SA do not know of this or I did not explain him properly :(

If lots of people are interested, I am willing to join in installing one.

Please include me if someone is going for it (especially Bangalore people).

Quote:

Originally Posted by nileshch (Post 3231778)

This is good news! Attaching a photo of how the fabric under-body cover is. This hard cover certainly wasn't there in the older Ventos, I guess.

Hi

Has anyone considered the underbody protection further?

Last week i was at the Skoda service centre for my car's second service and observed that this panel is there in superb and laura also. Looked exactly the same to me. However, closer inspection of the one in superb revealed that it is screwed on a mounting in the front specially for this purpose. That mount is not there in our Rapid.

The stores people said it cannot be installed in Rapid but I am still hopeful simply because the car shares its underpinnings with Vento and if one can have it then there is no reason that the other cant!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nma83 (Post 3304202)

May I suggest you to first check that the Insurer has the cashless facility with the company's service centers.
Also, check with a few other insurance providers to compare the features and prices (e.g. Royal Sundaram does not deduct NCB if you claim for Windshield replacement)
Secondly, yes for the same company there can be different quotes due to the varying commission margins. In my experience, the best quotes are received from the Company itself once they call you after you check the quotations online.
Just yesterday, we got the Insurance reviewed for my friends Vento's for 17600 (via online agent of TATA AIG) as against the 20300 quoted by the TATA AIG agent from the showroom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by achopraa (Post 3306292)

I confirmed that cashless facility is available. One difference between online quote and the agent's was the IDV: online - 7.3L, agent - 7.8L. So accounting for the increased IDV, the online quote came to 19500. I bargained with the agent and settled on ~20000, with a hopefully truthful assurance of personal support in case of a claim stupid:.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nma83 (Post 3309802)

I do not recall when was the last time I bought an online policy from an agent, probably only when I bought the car. I just take a quotation from the agent and then either it is Online or via one of their call center agents which always beat the agent's price by a good margin.

20K is not bad I would say but from what I have seen they usually match the Online quote. Good that you saved cool 2300. Power of bargaining lol:

Skoda India joins hands with Gurgaon Rapid Metro to promote its Rapid sedan.

Skoda Rapid : Test Drive & Review-gurgaonrapidmetro01.jpg

Quote:

Skoda India joins hands with the Gurgaon Rapid Metro with an innovative marketing initiative. For the first time, the entire train on the Gurgaon Metro line will be branded with the Rapid model line from Skoda Auto India. The collaboration was a natural fit as the Gurgoan metro line also bears the ‘Rapid’ name which coincides with the product ‘Rapid’ from Skoda India. It also happens to be the first time the entire metro line is branded by a single product. The metro moves around the Corporate Hubs like DLF cyber city and Unitech corporate parks which is a catchment zone for Skoda's target audience.

http://www.cardekho.com/india-car-ne...edan-11815.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by nma83 (Post 3309802)

I would trust the IDV from the company, rather than that given by the agent.

IDV is what you will get in case the vehicle is stolen or is a total loss. Just having a higher IDV in the insurance policy does not mean you will get more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zulfi hansi (Post 3315247)

New scheme on Rapid, pay only 1.7L down payment for diesel base and no emi for 12 months. Calculated the deal works out to almost 10% interest on 48 months. Looks interesting, your old car can be the down payment also covering road tax and insurance (about 3.5L in Bangalore at least). Its already on their website.

It has been raining deal for long on Rapid now but most of the deals are on the earlier 2013 models.
Obviously the inventory is piling up for all and they need to get rid of it.
The deal just before this was 0% Finance but then the dealer would take out some freebies.
Anyways, in Delhi & Gurgaon the pre-Projector lamps Ambition edition TDI is available at 1L+ discount.

HI

Just tried computing the effective rate of interest on the new pay in 2015 scheme. It comes out to be 7.41% (as per the below schedule) reducing which is actually very good given this market and interest rate scenario. I have done calculations based on the details available on skoda webiste for 1.6 Diesel Elegance Model, where there is a downpayment of Rs 195,246 and Loan of Rs 780,980.

This is good deal considering there is no cash outflow in the first year. The catch here is that this is not for the new 2014 model :Frustrati. I was looking to buy this car but all the dealerships in Mumbai are not giving this scheme on the new 2014 model. They are ready to give this only on the 2013 model.

Regards
Abhi

Quote:

Originally Posted by caabhishek (Post 3316379)

Not so good considering the fact that early 2013 cars are offered at 1L + discount. Even with this scheme you can extract some cash discount on cars without the xenon headlamps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 3310097)

Ah is it! Hmm, I would need to scrutinize a bit then...

May be I am wrong but, the buy now pay in 2015 offer didn't make lot of sense to me.
The total outflow / duration cited by above posts mean an EMI of 20290 approx (973926/48). that would be the EMI of a loan of the same amount at 11.3%.
The current market rate is 1% lower than that.
I am no fan of bullet payment especially some banks are ready to fund 100% on road for eligible profiles.

Also, Some dealers are ready to offer cash discounts (in the form of free insurance) even for M2014 models.

And FYI, I got quote for retrofitting projector headlamps is 26K and alloy wheels 9K.
It would make more sense to go for Ambition+ with discounts IMHO. This offer was from a Tamilnadu dealer.

Guys, after waiting for an exhaustive 4 months for ecosport in vain, I've canceled my booking today and I'm now thinking of rapid. Need your inputs on ownership experiences, maintainence and service costs etc. Just took a test drive and I'm happy that I didn't get the ecosport, the ride quality is far better in rapid than ecosport though NVH levels are on a higher side IMHO.