[Hayek]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Interesting how he makes zero effort to mention the 4 year ext warranty. I am beginning to wonder if it even covers the trans.

Extended warranties are offered through insurance companies - so it would be inappropriate for the company to talk about that in my view. The company warranty is two years.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Extended warranties are offered through insurance companies - so it would be inappropriate for the company to talk about that in my view. The company warranty is two years.

That's interesting. But on my Superb's extended warranty certificate nowhere has the name of any insurance company been mentioned. It is issued and stamped by my selling dealer and the booklet is printed directly by the manufacturer. Also if that is the case, what happens if the owner does not get the car insured by the same insurance company in subsequent years as he did when he purchased the car in the 1st year. Will his extended warranty still be valid?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by dkaile

That's interesting. But on my Superb's extended warranty certificate nowhere has the name of any insurance company been mentioned. It is issued and stamped by my selling dealer and the booklet is printed directly by the manufacturer. Also if that is the case, what happens if the owner does not get the car insured by the same insurance company in subsequent years as he did when he purchased the car in the 1st year. Will his extended warranty still be valid?

Extended warranty is offered through insurance that the manufacturer takes and not the owner so you will not see the company name on your warranty.

Basically Skoda has insured itself for 3rd and 4th year against any customer coming with defective parts replacement. So in the end it is the insurance company that pays Skoda for the parts replacement. You don't deal with any insurance co.

The result is very long processing for the extended warranty claims as it has to go through this insurance process from their side before it can be replaced.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Extended warranties are offered through insurance companies - so it would be inappropriate for the company to talk about that in my view. The company warranty is two years.

As dkaile mentions, the extended warranty booklet that I received for my Skoda is issued by Skoda and there is no mention of any insurance company.
Now if Skoda gets these warranties insured separately, that's a contract between Skoda and the insurance company.

Many dealers confuse their customers that the extended warranty is tied to the insurance product that the dealer is marketing. This is done to compel the customer to buy insurance through the dealership only. This happened to me. The dealer said the extended warranty is tied to a Bajaj Allianz zero dep policy and you couldn't buy one without it. I wanted to go outside for the insurance but later relented as I didn't want to compromise my extended warranty. Later when I received the warranty booklet (which is quite comprehensive in terms of details and terms) I realised I was taken for a ride.

[tbppjpr]

Recently a BHPian, who owns Rapid, posted a query regarding ext. warranty. That time I got to know that Skoda doesn't provide ext warranty t those who don't get insurance from them. After knowing this, I searched on internet and learnt some facts:

VW and Skoda provide different type of extended warranty covers. VW provides generic type of extended warranty cover where some of the parts, which are covered under standard warranty, are not covered under ext warranty. Though engine and gearbox are covered.

But in case of Skoda, the 'Skoda Shield' is more powerful and covers more risks. To opt for this, users have to take first year insurance from them and the premium is way higher and I think the warranty cover is applicable for all 4 years.

If you want to get more comprehensive cover in case of VW, you can get 'VW-Bajaj Drive Assure Elite policy' which even covers consequential damages. For instance suppose oil chamber is damaged and you keep driving the car without oil and engine receives some major damages. Now oil chamber will be covered under insurance since it got hit and got broken but the engine damages will not be covered since you kept driving without oil. Now those engine damages will be covered under this Elie policy. But to get this cover, you will have to renew your insurance with Elite policy each year.

I think the Skoda Shield covers these damages through out all 4 years and amount is charged in that first year premium itself which remains applicable for all 4 years.

[Guite]

This may sound like a stupid question for a performance oriented car but I am curious about the sound this car makes. At 60 to 80kmph what is the engine rpm and how is the engine sound (in whichever drive mode which will achieve that speed in lower rpm)? What is the NVH level of this car?

[Pilot77in]

Having taken a few test drives and been impressed with the GT TSI no end, I went to book the car today but realised that there is no extended warranty on the car.Its just 2 years for now and while the price break up includes the extended warranty, it is not being offered for now.I am a little wary having read about the DQ200's reliability in this forum and wonder why does VW hesitate to offer an extended warranty if they see no worries with it.I have always had 2+2 year extended warranties offered upfront for my Maruti and Mahindra vehicles.I withheld my booking for today due to this - but the way the car performs, I will have difficulties resisting the urge to go and book this car, extended warranty or not. Any views on the extended warranty? I also read the 'country specific' DQ200 issues and the VW claimed 'non relevance' to the Indian GT TSI - not very convincing.

[NevGin]

Originally Posted by Guite

This may sound like a stupid question for a performance oriented car but I am curious about the sound this car makes. At 60 to 80kmph what is the engine rpm and how is the engine sound (in whichever drive mode which will achieve that speed in lower rpm)? What is the NVH level of this car?

I believe the note at high RPMs is not very "sports car" like. I however have not heard this and am quoting this from a recent review that I saw on YouTube

[sandeepmohan]

Tharian and I decided to go train spot as we were both jobless at home. When we did hit the rails, no trains showed so we decided to visit VW and hope for a test drive of the GT. After some horrible traffic (as usual) leading to the VW showroom on ring road, we were greeted by a nice young chap who seemed to be an intern at the showroom. There was a red display GT and beside it was the R Cup. There is nothing really different on the inside of a Polo. The same high quality interiors continue on the GT and this is one interior that will hold no matter what abuse the car is subject to. Popped the hood and what you notice first is the acres of space around the engine. The engine bay can easily take a much bigger engine. I don't recall noticing a sump guard. The gearbox looks like any other gearbox except for what is inside it. I could not find any mechanical link from the gearbox to the shifter so I guess the modes are triggered electronically. I could not find a inter cooler too. I did notice some device made by Mahle right up front and beside the exhaust manifold cover. There was actuation rod running from this Mahle device to something under the exhaust manifold. Wonder what it does.

As for test drive, before we could ask, the young sales chap at VW asked us if we would like to drive the GT. The wait was not long though the car was already out with another walk in customer. First was me at the wheel. I struggled initially as I kept using my left foot to brake (clutch regulation), slowly took the car out of their busy parking area, feathered it down the service road in D (gear box mode), switched on to the main ring road, straightened the car and mashed the throttle. It took about a second for something to happen and then it was yeeehawwww all the way to the ton and beyond. I did notice some lag during the start and in between some gears. There is no car in the segment and many beyond that can touch this GT. It is incredibly quick and effortless. Lets keep DSG failures aside, this gearbox is brilliant. It is responsive and easy to use. While driving down ring road, after the initial rush had come to and end due to traffic, I asked the sales chap on the other gearbox modes and if I could shift on the fly. He did confirm but I was hesitant as to what might happen so pulled over and next up was tiptronic. This was even better. All that lag I felt initially was not as pronounced and the car picked up speed even faster. Nudging the stick to shift gears is so easy and fast. I never went beyond fourth as traffic would not permit. After my stint behind the wheel it was tharian's turn and he started off in S. The sales chap was instructed not to allow customers to use S so I looked at him, smiled and promised him we are not here to wreck the car and he was cool. Just to give you an idea of the joys associated with the S mode; F1 driver reaction in the cockpit just after winning the race, hands clapping (tharian actually did this) and the joy associated with winning a race. That is how incredible S mode was. S behaves like how you would drive a car with a manual. 6000rpm shift points (5000 for D if you gun it) and a nice blip of the throttle when you come down gears, just like how you would do it in a manual during spirited driving. I did not notice this blip until tharian pointed it out. With all of this, you get a really nice engine note that I liked very much. The suspension and balance of the car was excellent. I can't say how it would feel when you push it up a hill but it felt like it will keep you informed of everything happening around you. It was an incredible short driving experience with the GT. I love this car and take back my views on the pricing. You are not going to find anything remotely close to this car if it has to be fun behind the wheel. I found the GT quicker in feel than my T Jet and I attribute this more to that incredible DSG gearbox. I can even live with the fact that it is prone to failure (maybe not on the GT). All I ask is VW to support me well when I am in trouble. With a gearbox like the DSG, I don't see the point is wasting time with manuals on a car like this. Forget shifting gears and focus more on your driving. That's the way to do it. It also made me realise how pathetic the gearbox is on my T Jet. The ratios are so bad that at times you wonder if the engine just died on you. None of this on GT.

What is not to like, well, I found the steering too light and never felt at home with it. Then again, a short 5 km test drive on a straight road cannot be the best judge.

I found the brakes more an on/off feeling. Coming from a T Jet with an all disc set up, this drum disc combo felt sharper. I did manage to regulate the brakes after a point. I have to say that this car has immense stopping power that you don't need discs all round.

All in all, an excellent driving experience with the GT. Stop worrying about DSG failures and just go buy a GT is what I would say.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

That is how incredible S mode was. S behaves like how you would drive a car with a manual. 6000rpm shift points (5000 for D if you gun it) and a nice blip of the throttle when you come down gears, just like how you would do it in a manual during spirited driving.

Is that the rpm at which gear shift occurs in each mode?

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Guite

Is that the rpm at which gear shift occurs in each mode?

In the case of S mode; Yes.

Please note that in D mode, the gears will shift earlier when driven casually. The system will sense, depending on how you regulate the throttle and based on this will decide whether it needs to shift early or let the rpm rise to 5000 and then shift.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Wonder what it does.

The device turns out to be a electric waste gate actuator.

http://www.mahle.com/MAHLE/en/Mechatronics

[drpudhi]

Originally Posted by Guite

Is that the rpm at which gear shift occurs in each mode?

In the DSG the shift points are not rigidly fixed. It also depends on the throttle input that you give. When driving sedately D mode upshifts quickly at 2.5 to 3k, but when pressed to floor it will not upshift upto 5k. The same goes for S. It will upshift on redlining if you drive pedal to floor but might upshift little earlier if driven sedately.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Guite

Is that the rpm at which gear shift occurs in each mode?

As mentioned, it is dependant on the throttle input. The only rpm that is fixed is 6k limit for the S mode.
In D mode, with throttle not mashed, gear shifts occur b/w 2-2.5k rpm, in S mode, the same shifts occur around 3k rpm.
When floored, the shifts happen b/w 5-5.5k rpm in D mode and in S, it redlines at 6k rpm.
And the way the tacho needle moves is like a weighing scale needle as soon as a weight is placed on it.

[stringbh]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

All in all, an excellent driving experience with the GT. Stop worrying about DSG failures and just go buy a GT is what I would say.

Your review and incredible experience should lay some of the pricing worries to rest. But, sure you cannot not worry about DSG. You will, once the initial Euphoria has come down (seems it won't be over, from the driving description you gave!).

[Guite]

Thanks a lot for the responses. In my current car I shift up at approx 2k to 2.5k rpm. Can I do similar thing in tiptronic mode?

I do not want to rev my car too much because I do not like high revving sound. The reason this car appeals to me is because its low end torque and high power means effortless city drive. I never exceed 80kmph. I just want a quiet relaxed drive.