[revvy_bhala]

Hi, I am looking at Rapid Onyx MPI MT (Blue) and I got a quote of 8.4L ex showroom and 9.9L On road (without insurance ad it is for company lease). How is this deal at this time? Sounds good to me considering rapid rider is/was a hit at 8.3L on road (again w/o insurance).

I took the TD and I am satisfied with performance of 1.6mpi. Have read it in many places that it's an engine with just adequate power, but for me as my first car, it's satisfactory.

[sree5999]

Hi,

Can anyone please guide me where in Hyderabad I can visit a FNG where suspension work can be done. My Rapid has clocked 76K and Mahavir Hyd has quoted 45K for the suspension work to be done.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by revvy_bhala

I took the TD and I am satisfied with performance of 1.6mpi. Have read it in many places that it's an engine with just adequate power, but for me as my first car, it's satisfactory.

Don't worry, it's a brilliant piece of engineering. The petrol motor is by no means dull, just upgrade to wider tyres and you'll be all set to fly. Hitting 170 kmph is a no-brainer. Seriously.

[aadya]

My 2018 RAPID MPI AT is due for first service (1year/10000km) on 21 November 2019. My car has run 10450 km and I am planning to service it in next week or so.

Mean while I got this warning lamps before starting ignition. Is this a routine warning for service or something of concern?

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by aadya

My 2018 RAPID MPI AT is due for first service (1year/10000km) on 21 November 2019. My car has run 10450 km and I am planning to service it in next week or so.

Mean while I got this warning lamps before starting ignition. Is this a routine warning for service or something of concern?

If the signs go when you turn on the ignition then there is no issues. This is like a check and not a warning.

If the signs are still shown when you start driving then you can get them checked with the Service Center. However, I am sure it must be the first case so nothing to worry.

[aadya]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

If the signs go when you turn on the ignition then there is no issues. This is like a check and not a warning.

If the signs are still shown when you start driving then you can get them checked with the Service Center. However, I am sure it must be the first case so nothing to worry.

You are right. It gets switched off after engine starts. Cant be sure with VW/Skoda hence wanted to double check.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by aadya

You are right. It gets switched off after engine starts. Cant be sure with VW/Skoda hence wanted to double check.

We as happy owners should at least stop worrying and extending their past horrors even today. VW and Skoda has done quite a good in the previous years and are quite reliable as well.

Enjoy living with the car and not worry just because it a Skoda / VW.

[gasinveins]

This is my first post on Team-bhp!

So, I moved to Coimbatore from Chennai after two years of work in September 2019. My first job was in Chennai. Moving back means, I can stay along with my parents and younger brother. Thus, I felt the need for a car for me to have good family outings. The search began for Sedans which will be comfortable for my parents in long journeys. I always loved sedans and the SUV craze didn't hit me though but stuck my father. Later on how I figured that out.

I sat down along with dad on a weekend to decide on the options and fuel. It was decided that we shall opt for petrol as both our offices are less than 3km from home. Mileage wasn't a concern. The options were decided
VW Vento,
Honda City,
Skoda Rapid and
Hyundai Verna.

I also wanted to try out Nexon too. Ciaz wasn't an option because we were pretty sure our garage won't fit the car in. Didn't consider Automatic transmissions for its maintenance costs in the long term.

So the TD's began first with Nexon. All the Test drives were Petrol MT.

Tata Nexon: Invited mom and dad to join the test drive at Tafe access on Sunday evening. The executive explained features available and arranged the car for a test drive. The power delivery was good. The suspension was stiff. It looked more of a car than a compact SUV to me. Mom's feedback was it being too bumpy at the back and car's looks weren't subtle and classic. She is a fan of classic looking cars. Top trim OTR came around 10.5L with discounts. Verdict: Rejected.

Honda City: Honda showroom was on our way home after Nexon TD and it was open on Sunday 7 PM! I informed the executive we were looking for City. But he kept insisting us to go for Amaze( Stereotyping middle class maybe?). After a couple of minutes into amaze briefing session, I clearly mentioned we came in for City. He immediately invited us for TD. The suspension setup was good, Spacious enough, free-revving powerful engine. The turnoff was the Infotainment unit which looked like an aftermarket fit. The tyres were so small for the car of this size. We looked for the VMT trim as the OTR came to 12.91L with discounts. Mom's feedback was too much chrome(I know, she is picky on little things) and looked too big. Dad hadn't much to say. I felt the price too exorbitant for the quality offered. I still wonder how it's flies of like hotcakes with poor quality interior. Verdict: Rejected.

By now, dad had his eyes on WRV. He felt it will help him in his field visits. The Top trim cost about 11.5L OTR. He was sceptical on this as he didn't see many of WRV's on road. No TD's taken. Verdict: Rejected.


VW Vento: Three days after visiting Honda, visited VW as its just 300 meters from the office during my lunchtime. The executive listened to my requirement. The vehicle wasn't available during my visit and promised TD on weekend. The showcased vehicle was an outgoing model with slatted chrome grille and 16" wheels with DSG. The weekend arrived, The executive came to my requested location and I took it out for a spin. The OTR came to 12.1 L and promised a rear camera and some discounts if booked for the Highline trim. DSG wasn't considered as we rarely take the vehicle into the city and we have an Omni to the job. Loved the ride and handling. Steering felt so good. White and Silver were both available. I wanted the 16" wheels on Highline trim and service centre was 16km away which was the only downsides. Verdict: Considered.

Three days later, the executive called me and said the Diesel Highline is available for 12.25 OTR which was really tempting. But dad didn't want the burden of maintaining a diesel but it was on the list still.

Skoda Rapid: The showroom was hardly 2.5 kilometres from my home. Fixed an appointment with executive by a call for the evening. Due to work commitments, I arrived late. The executive left for the day. His colleague explained the features and handed the price chart. The OTR for 1.6MPI style came to 11.75L after all discounts. Monte Carlo was available for 12.20L. The TD was scheduled for the weekend as it was already 8 pm. The weekend arrived, Both my dad and I took it out for a spin. Impressed me in all aspects. The car felt solid. Dad was also impressed. Mom felt comfortable at the back and impressed by its subtle styling. Verdict: Considered.

Hyundai Verna: The next day after rapid's test drive, I accompanied my dad to Hyundai to check out Verna. We waited for a few minutes for the executive to arrive. meanwhile, dad checked out Venue and for the same reasons as WRV, he wanted to test drive it too. He loved the venue's commanding view of the road and a typical SUV like the design. Took the Verna for a drive, The power delivery was superb, The car felt good but not as good as Rapid. The OTR for SX(O) came to 14.3L. The car lacked some features like Auto-IVRM and others which was available for lesser price in Rapid. Dad felt these features were necessary. The Venue looked good and boxy. The suspension was far better than Nexon and felt comfortable. But the OTR for Venue top trim(SXO) came around 13.5L which I felt it's overpriced for a sub 4M car. Not a fan of connectivity features as I feel they will look outdated without OTA just like mobile phones and I can't switch cars like mobile phones. Verdict: Both Rejected.

So finally it was between the german twins to decide on and it all came down to the price factor. I went through almost all the threads on Skoda's service experiences on t-bhp. But the fact that they opened India's largest service centre in Coimbatore made me assume they are here for something good and will probably live up to new Skoda standards. The close proximity to the service centre was the sole reason I decided Rapid will be the one.

So, I visited the showroom to see if I can get any discounts so I can invest in some OEM/dealer level fittings. To our surprise, 1.6MPI style silver/white was out of stock and the only available colour was Cobalt grey. Mom preferred silver. I dialled my relative who is also a 1.6 MPI owner. He got me in touch with the general manager. The price was non - negotiable. The GM said there is no stock for the silver or white and the next lot comes only in the last week of November. He also offered us 1.5D for 12.20L and again, the burden to maintain the diesel and our low mileage put us off. However, he promised to check with other dealers the next day. The car buying process consumed a lot of time for me already and I didn't want to delay it anymore. I went home praying that 1.6MPI Style Silver is available somewhere. I got a call from GM, The Style silver 1.6MPI was available. I called the executive to collect the booking amount and allot that car to me. The finance process took about 10 days. Once the finance was passed through, I called them for a PDI. The executive directed us to the Service centre which also has the yard. We went there a couple of times for PDI, but the vehicle has not arrived yet. The experience reminded me of the Skoda experience in the forums. However, The car arrived 10 days later than the given date. I got a call from the reception during a heavy rainy day. I had the tbhp checklist with me and drove to the yard completely drenched. The car was all good with 14kms on the odo. Their customer care was quick to respond to all my queries despite the delays. This made me feel better with the logistics delay. Everything was perfect. I also visited the next day in bright weather to do a PDI again.

This was my first sighting of my baby in the yard. Drenched in rain. They parked in closed space so I can do my PDI.




The delivery was decided on November 1, 2019. The final payment was made on Auspicious day(It's my parents!). I wanted the same number for my new car as my bike which is the classic RX100. I had zero knowledge about those process for getting the advance registration number. Enquired with a lot of people and was surprised to find that it costed a minimum of INR 45,000 everywhere. So I ditched for OEM accessories and paid the same. The registration was delayed due to Diwali Holidays and it was eminent that I won't be able to get hands-on my registered car on November 1. The showroom agreed to bring the car to a temple or arrange a pooja in the service centre. We decided we will do pooja in the nearby famous temple and its very close to the service centre itself.

The day finally came Nov 1, Friday, we went to the service centre and jumped into the car. They drove us to the temple. They also provided us with Pooja kit including Garland and lemons(I liked this touch!) and also bought the car to home for a few minutes and drove it back. The number was allotted on Monday and was registered on Tuesday.



They delivered the car to my home the day after it was registered. We got a garland, lemons and Chocolates from Ooty along with manuals. The final paperwork was done and baby became mine! Pleasantly surprised with their smooth delivery process. Everything went well except for the logistics delay. The tank was 1/4 filled with a range for 100kms by the showroom itself. I didn't opt for an extended warranty or service package as I invested the money for the advance number.

Got the tank filled 3/4 and replaced the air with Nitrogen.

Changing to nitrogen.



Drove 570kms in 10 days with trips to Erode and Tiruppur. The odometer now stands at 980 Kilometers exactly after month.

The first trip to Tiruppur had mixed city and state highway traffic. Got a mileage of 13.5kmpl with four persons and the second trip to Erode of 200 kilometres was on highways gave me 15.5kmpl with 5 people and cruising at 100kmph. Impressed with mileage too. And intermittent city runs with two people in Coimbatore city with bumper to bumper traffic fetched me 8-11 Kmpl. The trip of 140 kilometres to Mazhampuzha dam and its surroundings, The average was 14 Kmpl. All the above figures are with Air-conditioning on with temperature set between 20.0 - 22.0 degrees in Auto mode.

What I like about the vehicle,
Subtle, clean and understated design,
Good highway handling,
ABS doesn't kick in very early,
Comfortable rear seats,
Cools the cabin quickly,
Solid Build quality,
can be cleaned easily with no big ridges or inaccessible places,
12V charger in the rear,
The door "Thud",
Good speakers,
Huge fuel tank,
good brakes,
Seatbelt alert for front passenger(I always insist on it).

The cons,
Fuel economy can be better by 1-2kmpl.
Engine Bay is huge to fit the 1.6MPI and can see the ground below,
ORVM mirror joystick can be a bit tricky to operate at times,
The knee room is good but not on par with city and Ciaz,
The transmission tunnel is huge,
The rear windows don't go all way down,
Engine start-stop button could be provided.



The steering is so light and weighs up nicely as the speed builds up. The cruise control is pretty effective. I hardly use the pedals during the cruises and helps with fuel economy as well. I had to get used to those indicator controls on the left and the wiper controls on right. The doors house the ORVM controls. All the windows come with One touch and anti-pinch functions which are appreciated. The windows can also be rolled up/down with keyfob which comes handy during hot weather. The panel gaps are all even, uneven panel gaps are not in their dictionary. I initially felt the stalk mounted controls for cruise control and MID can be tricky to operate, but now I feel they are in easy to operate in stalks rather than on steering. The typical European style headlight switch is easy to operate.



The tyres, They come with factory fitted 195/55 R16 tyres which provided decent grip. Nothing much to complain about. The front tyre comes with disc brakes. Those brakes instil confidence. I haven't scratched the underbody yet even with a fully laden vehicle, Thanks to those 195/R16 tyres. They look huge compared to our previously owned Maruthi Omni which we still have it.



The lights, however, don't live up to its looks. The HighBeam doesn't have the throw to drive in rural roads after the sunsets. The DRL's looks sleek and the respective DRL turns off when the indicator is switched on. This trim comes with Auto headlamps and they work really well. I'm also looking for suggestions on the headlight part to improve the throw and brightness and shouldn't blind the oncoming traffic as well.



The infotainment system is so flawless and looks well integrated into the dash. Absolutely no lags. It comes with Android Auto and Apple car play. The Apple car play works flawlessly. Yet to test with dads Android. The Audio quality is pretty good and it surprised my friend.




The Mirrors provide decent visibility. The IRVM comes with an auto-dimming feature which works seamlessly. The ORVM's joystick is sometimes tricky to operate.




Wish the boot opens like the one in Octavia/superb. But it's spacious and suffices the luggage needs for a family of four. The loading lip is not deep which aids in the loading and unloading process. I got to use the rear defogger only once during the monsoon rains, It defogged the rear window in less than 5 minutes. The accessories kit comes with a removable sunblind for the rear window as well as the quarter glass.



These are the sensors for the rain and headlight auto operation. I have to say the wipers work as per the sensitivity settings which we can adjust. I hardly touched the wiper stalks and left it on low sensitivity as the window will be lubricated with rainwater and dust will be washed away before the wipers swung into action.



The design looks timeless. In fact, I sometimes keep on looking at it. The bonnet is really heavy. One has to eat a lot for it.



The side profile looks proportional. Hard to believe it's a 10-year-old design. The B pillars are gloss black finished. The windows are slightly tinted as well.



A side and front profile shot.





The sleek-looking rear. When the rear fog lamps are turned on, The C shaped lights glow a little. I hardly use the keys to open the boot. The Lip spoiler doesn't come as factory fitted, but it's kept in the boot and fixed during the delivery. I must say it looks sporty with the rear boot lip spoiler. The Antenna could have been more shark fin type like the ones in new honda city. The fake diffuser also adds to the sportiness. The boot can be opened with long pressing the boot button on the keyfob.



A picture of the beauty in the Woods of western ghats.

The clutch is light compared to diesel rapid and the gear shift is smooth. Sometimes the vehicle can be moved from 20kmph in third gear (I feel they have some kind of feature that prevents stalling by revving the engine a little bit, Anti stalling feature maybe?). I haven't revved the engine past 3000 rpm and kept it below 2200 rpm 90% of the times for the running-in period. The MID is informative. The car is so good around high-speed corners. I hope to rev it post 2500 kilometre mark.

The suspension is stiff which is hugely helping the car with its highway dynamics. I can't keep boasting about its highway performance.

The NVH levels are good. Can be masked with music. It was fitted with an Equitas Fastag. Pretty simple to use but would fancy an iPhone app from Equitas. The iPhone app for Skoda works well, but the interface is bad and needs improvement.

The car comes with a 4-year warranty and we didn't get the extended warranty.
The overall experience is good until now.

P.S: Pardon me for the Mobile Images which I captured. I will add my experiences below as I enjoy driving in the coming months.

[VIKINGTILLDEATH]

Dear All,
I am in process of booking Rapid Diesel Manual. I wanted to buy Rapid some time back but was not able to do so due to some personal reasons. Meanwhile my friend had picked up Rapid on my suggestion some 2 years back. So just to have a feel of it I had borrowed his car for a outstation trip of about 240 kms with a small ghat section. I own a Swift ZDI-2014 which has run 1.5Lakh kilometres. It has been a completely fuss free ownership and am overall happy with the performance . Primary reason to shift to Rapid is safety on highway trips as I have to travel monthly thrice on highways for my outstation visits.
However today was a complete surprise for me and my driver also. We felt Rapid to have a very slow pick up and had to downshift to first gear frequently. My Swift usually climbs ghat effortlessly in 2nd and 3rd gear. However Rapid had to be downshifted to 1st and 2nd.Also it was a bit difficult to drive in city due to constant need for shifting gears.Clutch was very hard as compared to my Swift.Infact my driver overall was not impressed as he will be the one bearing brunt of hard clutch and difficult driving in city :-).
Has anybody had experience with Rapid after driving Swift for long time?
Was the present experience due to ill maintained Rapid of my friend or is this expected ?
Highway manners and braking were however completely different as compared to Swift with Rapid being rock-stable and confidence inspiring .
Inputs from Pundits will be helpful for me to take the plunge to buy Rapid.
Thanks in advance.

[Turbo_anup]

Originally Posted by VIKINGTILLDEATH

Has anybody had experience with Rapid after driving Swift for long time?
Was the present experience due to ill maintained Rapid of my friend or is.

Boss, this is not the expected behaviour. I have the cousin - Vento TDI highline 1.6 TDI - driven 166K kms till date. I have driven across varied hilly terrain across Jammu, Himachal, Uttarakhand, western ghats and Nilgiris without any issues. In fact, in a recent trip to Tirthan valley - Himachal, I drove the car under full load - 6 passengers + full boot load with no fuss. Infact, it was quite cold in those hilly areas, yet, car performed awesomely. There must be some issue in your friend's car

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by gasinveins

This is my first post on Team-bhp!

P.S: Pardon me for the Mobile Images which I captured. I will add my experiences below as I enjoy driving in the coming months.

Welcome to TBHP! Mods, this post needs to have its own thread!

Congrats on your new MPI, probably the first silver Rapid here on the forums. Enjoy it for miles to come. A fellow MPI owner here, albeit the pre facelift version. The engine is a gem, easy to drive at lower revs and rock solid and rev happy above 4k. Not so boring!

Expect FE figures to go up after a couple of services. Do try to run in the engine for the first 2000 Kms as a safety measure.

P.S- images are brilliant!

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Welcome to TBHP! Mods, this post needs to have its own thread!

Congrats on your new MPI, probably the first silver Rapid here on the forums. Enjoy it for miles to come. A fellow MPI owner here, albeit the pre facelift version. The engine is a gem, easy to drive at lower revs and rock solid and rev happy above 4k. Not so boring!

Expect FE figures to go up after a couple of services. Do try to run in the engine for the first 2000 Kms as a safety measure.

P.S- images are brilliant!

I had the same 1.6 MPI on Vento. It did rev happily but there was little you could guess it was a petrol or diesel engine. It was coarse for a petrol engine but mileage was good if driven sanely. Highest I have got is 24 kmpl and lowest being 4 kmpl.

[VIKINGTILLDEATH]

Originally Posted by Turbo_anup

Boss, this is not the expected behaviour. I have the cousin - Vento TDI highline 1.6 TDI - driven 166K kms till date. I have driven across varied hilly terrain across Jammu, Himachal, Uttarakhand, western ghats and Nilgiris without any issues. In fact, in a recent trip to Tirthan valley - Himachal, I drove the car under full load - 6 passengers + full boot load with no fuss. Infact, it was quite cold in those hilly areas, yet, car performed awesomely. There must be some issue in your friend's car

Thanks buddy.
Even I felt same way after being with car for some more time.
I think every car has its own way of being driven and it takes time to find sweet spot.
All said and done I have booked Rapid- Style- Diseal.
Now waiting for delivery.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

I had the same 1.6 MPI on Vento. It did rev happily but there was little you could guess it was a petrol or diesel engine. It was coarse for a petrol engine but mileage was good if driven sanely. Highest I have got is 24 kmpl and lowest being 4 kmpl.

4 kmpl? Lord, what did you do to get something that low?

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

4 kmpl? Lord, what did you do to get something that low?

I know

Blaming it to the bumper to bumper traffic on BKC road, Mumbai. And it is not just once but it has hovered around 4-5-6-7 kmpl for long.