[ramsudhir]

Originally Posted by rideon74

I'd recommend using headphones/earphones to really hear the commotion happening within my Kushaq's cabin.

Oh boy! That is a very irritating noise coming from all over. I too have a Kushaq Ambition 1.0 MT(Nov 2021 make) and luckily(or unluckily going to face the same after some more driving) don't have so much of rattling. What I hear is some squeaking noise when the car goes on uneven roads. On smooth roads & ramps, I have not heard any noise until now.

This is some serious shabby work from Skoda not expected in a car that costs so much. They should seriously recall the vehicles and fix this at the earliest else this is going to discourage prospective buyers.

I drove a Vento for 8 years(2013 make) before Kushaq but never faced these kind of QC issues(that was a different kind of loot by ASC though) in that car. The only saving grace is that the car is a joy to drive which is still luring people like us towards the brand but issues like these will definitely leave us disappointed and thinking

[rideon74]

Thanks everyone for taking the time out to respond/share with helpful suggestions. I'm taking a diplomatic approach with SGA cars out here in Coimbatore. To be fair to any SVC chaps, the Kushaq is a new launch. I think it takes time for a service team to get familiar with manufacturing/other hiccups. I suppose being among the the early buyers does put people like me in a spot when things wrong with the purchased product. But eventually, it's going to be the dealer's call on how best to go forward. No owner will wait indefinitely for issues to be sorted out...

Originally Posted by maverick_kushaq

Should we all Kushaq owners who are facing dashboard noises, tweet/email about this to Zac and get the same attention that EPC and door rattling got? Talking to service centers clearly isn't helping anyone in getting this fixed.

Honestly, that's what all owners who have such complaints must do. Stick together and take it up with Skoda. But I doubt if that's going to happen anytime soon. The major reason being many owners might not want to highlight any flaws in their new acquisition, especially on social media.

It was the same scene when the EPC errors where being suffered by many owners. Only a handful took the matter into public domain via social media. There were others too but one found that they only came up as mentions by someone else in the comments section of posts related to the EPC errors.

Today morning I spoke with the service manager at SGA cars, Coimbatore - a nice gentleman named Mr. Wilson - and he says that only myself and one other Kushaq owner have reported the dashboard rattle.

I told him I'm not bothered about the numbers - let's just focus on this one Kushaq which is mine. But I know this for a fact: when Skoda or any car company hands over poorly built cars to the customers, there's only a limit to which the dealership can rectify things later. I mentioned this to the SVC manager as well and told him I'll give him the car for as many times as they'd like to try various solutions - but eventually it looks like only a replacement of the errant part will do the job.

Originally Posted by ridehard

The door rattle, squeaking was just as bad for me or even worse. But after the beading change, it has been completely silent for the past 250+ kms. Please get that done, if not done already.

The dashboard creaking is too much, I have some slight plastic squeak/creaks but that's like may be 10% of what you are getting, and only on super bad roads, and definitely not on ramps. But it just may be that I've done only about 1700kms so far.
Since when did the dashboard issue start cropping up in your ride?

Hi. The dash-rattle started getting noticeable by around 1200km and I'd mentioned about it in my detailed ownership review thread back then itself. By now, I've covered 5700km in around 2.5 months of ownership and things had gotten pretty bad. All the hullabaloo from the dash happens only when driving over rough/patched/broken roads.

As for the door beadings, the car will be going over to the SVC tomorrow. It's going to anti-friction tape from Skoda now, they said. Well, whatever works is fine - as long as one noise related issue is solved, it'll help to better zone in on the other one.

Originally Posted by 2wheelerhoot

For folks who are having sound coming from the dashboard or A-pillar trim while going through rough road conditions, I stumbled upon this video where the owner says the sound comes from a clip inside the A-pillar which holding the wires for the tweeter. Owners facing this issue can check for the same as the SVC is clueless about this.

Thanks for sharing that video. The owner being an engineer has a fair amount pragmatism when dealing with the niggles that the Kushaq is/was suffering. Anyways, back to the point - the same clip I think was an issue in mine as well but for my car it was from behind the infotainment system. This was attended to when my car took it's first visit to the SVC for these niggles.

I never had any rattles from the side AC vents as the owner in the video mentions. The location of the rattles in my car is very easily identifiable and the SVC guys who had come home to inspect the vehicle the last time had noted the same.

Originally Posted by shancz

Thanks for that video, never imagined that things were this bad! Poor material quality and workmanship, missing QC, and that's a Skoda ? Didn't mention poor after-sales as it has been a Skoda hallmark since they entered. I am not going to recommend the Kushaq to anyone since these issues already indicate that the car will age poorly and become a resale disaster

Well, in my case SGA cars at Coimbatore have been very helpful till date. No complaints about that. But I agree with you: if any one were to ask if they should settle for the Kushaq - I really wouldn't know what to say except wait up longer for later batches or just get some other brand. I think the Taigun doesn't suffer inconsistencies this much.

Originally Posted by DeepCarTalk

I recently test drove a 75 km driven test car and can confirm that the same rattles and squeaks were present. It was a 2022 car (didn't have ORVM folding button) and made these creaking sounds when I drove it down the showroom ramp at an angle.

Very surprising info. These creaks and rattles weren't there when i took multiple TDs of the Kushaq and in fact, when I'd done a personal PDI before taking delivery, I'd actually pushed/poked around the dash and other areas to see if things were in order. Things were absolutely fine back then.

So what I've come to realise is that things are giving away slowly. 5700km in around 2.5 months, as I'd mentioned earlier. I wonder what I'm store for later

Originally Posted by Vid6639

If this is what Skoda calls 2.0, it's shameful to put a Skoda badge on the car. They should do like Nissan and put a cheaper brand badge on it like Datsun. This does not deserve to be sold as a Skoda.

When a person buys a Skoda or Ford they don't buy it for features, VFM or after sales. They buy it for what the brand stands for and the image the brand portrays. If you dilute your cars and they no longer represent what your ethos is, the person may as well buy any generic Hyundai, Kia brand.

Like many Ecosport owners, I was looking at Kushaq as an upgrade.

You're quite right. It's hurts because I could have opted for other brands and yet i thought well, let's go for Skoda. Because? Well, it is a Skoda, after all. Hoo boy! Was I wrong. The irony is that the Kushaq is a hoot to drive - especially when solo and hugging curves on hill roads. Dang! Seriously hope I can be rid of these rattles from the dash board soon.

I'm not too worried about the door beadings - that can be sorted easily in a number of ways.

Originally Posted by Newtown

Hello Sanjeev. I would recommend using the below Silicon spray. It will eliminate most if not all noises emanating from the friction of parts with similar materials.

Hey, thanks for the heads up. Haven't tried this product yet and the reason being I expect Skoda to sort it out for me. Especially not after knowingly paying up for the slightly overpriced vehicle from their stable. New cars don't need to be thought of as delicate darlings when it comes to today's day and age. The matters that plague the Kushaq are purely lapses in QC from Skoda.

But as far as the Wurth spray goes, I did read a earlier post in this thread which mentions the benefits of it's use. Will keep it mind, buddy. Thank you!

Originally Posted by ramsudhir

This is some serious shabby work from Skoda not expected in a car that costs so much. They should seriously recall the vehicles and fix this at the earliest else this is going to discourage prospective buyers.

I drove a Vento for 8 years(2013 make) before Kushaq but never faced these kind of QC issues(that was a different kind of loot by ASC though) in that car. The only saving grace is that the car is a joy to drive which is still luring people like us towards the brand but issues like these will definitely leave us disappointed and thinking

Hi there, Ram. Glad to hear that your Kushaq is not throwing up any tantrums like mine is. And I hope it stays that way. You're spot on about the earlier products from VAG. And why VAG for that matter? I've owned a Fiat Palio & a Punto earlier and I'm not exaggerating when I say that they just don't make 'em like they used to.

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[Jangra]

Originally Posted by rideon74

A few days ago, there were some discussions on the dashboard & door panel rattles that's been bothering some of the Kushaq owners. It is disheartening to note that:

1. The rattles were from the same locations as mentioned by the members - the center of the dash or the front passenger door panel.

Hi reideon, It sure is very disappointing when the new car makes any rattle.

When I heard your door squeaking sound, it reminded me of my Vento in 2016 which sounded exactly the same going through the ramp or the speed bump. I was seriously bothered by the sound and eventually this post helped eliminating that. See if this simple solution helps. That plastic pipe still serves me well after 5 years


https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post3581344 (DIY - VW Polo/Vento: Getting rid of Door Rattles)

[kiredd1005]

I can only imagine the quality of the plastics used and how they age over time! It is not acceptable at all in my opinion! The idea of localisation sounds great until such issues pop up especially on a car that is launched recently!

[rideon74]

Originally Posted by Jangra

When I heard your door squeaking sound, it reminded me of my Vento in 2016 which sounded exactly the same going through the ramp or the speed bump. See if this simple solution helps. That plastic pipe still serves me well after 5 years

Hey there. Thanks for the link. The present PoA is that I'll take matters into my own hands only if the SVC help eventually doesn't sort out these kind of ridiculous flaws. The car is just 2.5 months old and VAG probably has had various owners reporting these niggles with the door beadings since 2013/2014 - so why the heck is it still around?

Anyways, I have one earlier suggestion for the Wurth silicone spray and now this piping idea. Will try when all else fails. Thanks again!

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by rideon74

I'd recommend using headphones/earphones to really hear the commotion happening within my Kushaq's cabin.

Sanjeev, disappointed to hear your melancholy, your voice does exude that. From what I can see and hear in your brilliant video, especially the part where you press on the plastic panels on the head unit, it seems the plastic clips that join these two different set of plastics can perhaps be one of the culprit.

Reminds me of the ol' days riding a Pulsar 220 famous for these unbeknownst rattles and repeatedly changing the rubber bushes myself, but to no vain. Did try the double-sided tape method where the male and female clips slide to click, lo and behold they reduced the high speed rattles by 90% in some instances, at certain speeds by 100%. A jugaad that was worth it, and was extremely pleased till I eventually parted off with the motorcycle.

Is this a feasible option in yours? Perhaps yes and perhaps no (no cos, primarily it can't be done that way) or perhaps there can be a way, if the folks at the SVC can try it for your satisfaction. The jury's out there. Why not try it and observe if it helps, if it helps, then it helps.

The squeals and squeaks are definitely a mood killer and robs one off the pleasure of driving an otherwise capable motor. No amount of silicone spray will solve these rattles, at most they will lubricate for the time being, and once they eventually dry up, these sounds return with an even intense vigor, and that's definitely not a pleasant one, my personal experience.

Good luck Sanjeev.

Cheers!
VJ

[Raghu M]

Looking at the video, am just wondering how this car passed the QC test at all. That's a mess. Skoda seriously? We speak of cheap plastics on Maruti but I don't think even a 15 year old Maruti would rattle as much as this brand new one does.

[m8002?]

Really sympathize with the owner on the rattles. The kind of pricing they charge, one expects the cars to be much more premium than Maruti or Tata. Atleast the Marutis rarely leave you stranded on the road. They are built for a price but meet the expectations of their customers very well.

These cars have issues like DSG giving up, EPC issues and now the rattles. Skoda was very much in my list as a aspirational upgrade, but I have decided to stay away from them.

[vgaquarius]

Originally Posted by rideon74

The Kushaq: A victim of cost cutting?

Paying the hard earned money for squeaks? IMHO many people can't even stand the sound of a bottle squeaking against the door pockets and end up lining the cubby holders with felt!
Hats off to You sir who's managing with these squeaks on a daily basis.

Kushaq and Taigun are the newer offerings from the VAG group in India and are special in their own way.

I would openly like to condemn the people who claim that the Polo hasn't changed over the years. It did, and here's a list when I compared my decade old Polo TDi to a new TSi.

• Seat foam: Didn't subside in a 10 year old car but was literally forming a bum-pit in a 1 year old 4k driven demo car
  
• Steering Feedback: Steering Racks Made in Germany Vs Rane Madras. Believe it or not, it's different.
  
• Pathetic suspension: Gas filled Made in Germany Vs Oil filled Made by Gabriel in India
  
• Spongy braking: FS-III callipers Vs TVS Girling
  
• Spare parts quality standards: Factory-fitted Ate Make brake pads still have life left at 1.3 Lakh kilometres of hard braking in the hills
  
• Stories of Suspension bearings squeaking within months of purchase: Börsehung Germany to Local Suspension mountings
  
• Squeaks: Well put decade old interior Vs chu-chu on potholes
  
• Horror Stories of alloy wheel bends: Made in Spain 7 Spoke R15 Alloy Wheels Vs Made in India Portago R16 Alloy Wheels
  
• Prone to dents: The thickness of the sheet metal was reduced by VW. Yes! You read it right! They followed MSIL. Just go to the junkyard and compare a New Polo/Vento's Fender w/o indicator with the Fender having a hole for the indicator
  
• Features engulfed: Split rear seat in older versions Vs a bench seat in new one
  
• Hard plastics everywhere: At least the door armrests were covered in fabric. These guys managed to make it all plastic which is a pain to touch!
  
• Sticky switches: Everything in my 2011 Polo felt so reassuring after use. The stalks, power window switches, hazard light switch etc. Just to reiterate the difference, every switch/stalk feels to be sourced from aliexpress
  
• Prone to scratches: Not the paint quality but the PLASTIC LOGO! Any exterior chrome painted part like the lettering or the VW badge didn't fade or develop scratches even after rough use of 10 years but the test drive vehicle had every chrome part fading out
  
• ORVMS: Larger ORVMs with great visibility Vs the tiny ones which can be retracted with the switch. Come-on VW. I'm ready to fold the ORVMs with my hands to not compromise on blind spots if You feel that bigger mirrors were expensive
  
• Plastic Quality of bumpers: This is something which I came across while checking out a facelift kit at a VW service centre itself! The finishing of the bumpers in the older versions of Polo, their thickness and weight was much more when compared to the new bumpers.
  
• Underbody Protection: A full underbody protection Vs an engine guard available extra
  
• Foam Fillers: Hollow chassis casings in the older Polos like the fenders were completely filled with foam filler pieces as impact and road noise absorbers, however while observing a few newer Polos, they didn't have it. Kanjoosi for a piece of foam.
  
• Anti-theft monitoring system with a large cabin light: Even though the Polo didn't get it, the Vento did. The bump near the cabin light always felt to be a sore, but what's hard for a Vento owner? An amazing feature sacrificed to save costs

VAG cars have surely stepped down from their quality standards and I can assure you on it.
With my 10 year old Polo 1.2 TDi getting old, I did consider the 2021 Polo for an upgrade but all the above mentioned factors changed my mind.

Same is the case with Taigun and Kushaq. VW and Skoda pulled up decent numbers for these CSUVs because of their ancestral reputation in the name of build quality, TBH.
Just check out a VW T-Roc in flesh and you'll feel like home. A home to real quality.

Hard plastics? Yes!
Cheap plastics? No!

If You wanna have your meal at a fine dining restaurant, any amounts of welcoming gestures, food decor and designs on plates or cuisine presentation won't satisfy you until the food tastes good. Even if that restaurant employs the finest of all chefs, they won't be able to serve You a perfect soup with rotten tomatoes, right?

Hence, I believe, load as many bells and whistles You want, the product won't win the customer's heart until there is a proper quality management system involved to keep a check on the quality of raw materials. It's seriously a wastage of all the time invested in the research and development of these vehicles with on-spot driving dynamics if they aren't holding up good.

Wanting sales volumes with low flung quality standards would make you lose on the hearts of millions of automotive enthusiasts who actually love You as a brand, who actually love you for what You were.

Drive safe.
Vaibhav

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by rideon74

A few days ago, there were some discussions on the dashboard & door panel rattles that's been bothering some of the Kushaq owners. It is disheartening to note that:

1. The rattles were from the same locations as mentioned by the members - the center of the dash or the front passenger door panel.

2. These niggles are yet to be completely resolved by the SVCs of the respective owners.

I'm one among the owners (Nov 2021, Style 1.0L MT) who have the above mentioned dash & door rattle ruining my otherwise happy ownership experience. Plus in my case, the door beading replacement is yet to be successfully completed.

I'd recorded the rattling issue on video earlier and shared them to the SVC to help them understand how bad things are getting. On an impulse, I made a video today to detail out the above two niggles and added my analysis of what is the root cause of the same:

I'd recommend using headphones/earphones to really hear the commotion happening within my Kushaq's cabin.

It is most likely from dry rubber bushings in your anti roll bar, engine mounts or suspension mounts. The sound is not from any door rubbers. A simple silicon spray on the dry bushings will eliminate the noise for a long time. Just get your car jacked up in your FNG and ask them to lubricate all the bushings.
A dry door rubber sound will be more like leather crackling than this rythmic sound heard in your video.

[rideon74]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Did try the double-sided tape method...A jugaad that was worth it...Is this a feasible option in yours?

HI VJ, thanks for the suggestion. That might work or maybe not, I'm not going to try any jugaad from my end for now. I feel it's Skoda's/the dealers headache to sort matters out. The car's too new for me to try things on my own and who knows? I might end up with the "Sir, your warranty is void since you've taken off and re-fitted xyz components...". So I'll have to be patient till things hit a complete road block from the SVC (hopefully not!) and then decide what's the next course of action. Thanks for your suggestion though. Cheers, buddy!

Originally Posted by AirbusCapt

It is most likely from dry rubber bushings in your anti roll bar, engine mounts or suspension mounts. The sound is not from any door rubbers. A simple silicon spray on the dry bushings will eliminate the noise for a long time. Just get your car jacked up in your FNG and ask them to lubricate all the bushings. A dry door rubber sound will be more like leather crackling than this rhythmic sound heard in your video.

Not quite. Have repeatedly noted that whenever I give the car a wash at home, then wipe down the door beadings with moist cloth, let it dry & again wipe them down with a mild amount of dash polish - the creaking vanishes for a day or two (max.) After that, when the exterior heat dries up the polish applied, it's all back to square one.

I'd also conferred with my earlier sales contact at VW (when I was considering the Taigun) if they received any customer feedback with the same issue. His reply was that yes, but very few. Initially, their course of action was to apply silicone lube to the beadings but now it's a full replacement from VW similar to what Skoda's doing as well.

The 'rhythmic sound' I'd mentioned about in the video was from the dash rattling when driving over rough patches at just moderate speeds.

A point of note here: in the part where I've recorded the dash rattles for the video, I was off for the business trip early next morning, so the car got a wash the previous evening, with a rub down of dash polish of the door rubbers. I was driving on an empty but bad stretch at around 5:00am when I decided to take the video of the vibrations from the dash. Maintained a decent speed over the rough patches & since there was no door beading noises acting up at that time, it helped to pick up the dash rattles alone.

I've also noticed that if I press down on some of the center areas of the dash console when rattles act up (especially just below the centre AC vents), the noises are muffled to some extent.

I suppose there is only a certain amount of the experience I actually go through that can be imparted through a video. My vehicle's been picked up today morning by the SVC (again), so I'm waiting to see how it goes this time. Thanks much for your inputs.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by vgaquarius

Hence, I believe, load as many bells and whistles You want, the product won't win the customer's heart until there is a proper quality management system involved to keep a check on the quality of raw materials. It's seriously a wastage of all the time invested in the research and development of these vehicles with on-spot driving dynamics if they aren't holding up good.

Wanting sales volumes with low flung quality standards would make you lose on the hearts of millions of automotive enthusiasts who actually love You as a brand, who actually love you for what You were.

Drive safe.
Vaibhav

Very well said. VAG and Ford stood for great driving experience with minimal bells and whistles. But they have decided to follow the path of the Hyundai which loads their cars to the gills with fancy stuff. However, in that process, they have missed to keep up the quality of the other key components.

What is the use of having a long list of fancy electronics when the core mechanicals are not upto the mark? We have come to a stage where they start putting up things like Chrome finish handles, Chrome inserts on vents or grills, a "xyx" badging, as main features in a car.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The expectation was that Maruti will someday improve the plastic quality in their cars and that Tata would improve the QC on all their cars.

Tata has been working hard to catchup with other brands but it looks like things will be easier for them as brands like Skoda are going down to meet the likes of Tata and Maruti. It should have been the reverse, you keep pushing yourselves forwards and not regress.

Reminds me of a story of two ice-cream sellers. They both were selling the same thing, but the second seller always has a larger queue and sells more. When asked about her secret, she told she always scoops a little less, and then adds some more; while the first woman always scooped more, and then removed some quantity from the weighing scale.
With the first woman, customers saw more quantity initially, but got lesser eventually. While, with the second woman people always got more than what they initially saw.

Skoda is right now being the first woman - people have specific expectations from Skoda, but when one buy's Kushaq, the cost cutting makes them feel like they got lesser than what they saw/expected earlier from Skoda.

While - with a vehicle like Swift (one of the most successful models of Maruti India), they added a good engine while still having the usual bad build, rattles etc. But, still becoming the second woman. Buyers got more than what they had earlier seen from
Maruti.

[volkman10]

Skoda Kushaq and VW Taigun in January sales/dispatches. They seem to not cross the 3k barrier so far!



Source Auto Punditz

[ladha.deepak]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Skoda Kushaq and VW Taigun in January sales/dispatches. They seem to not cross the 3k barrier so far!

Attachment 2268863

Source Auto Punditz

Dec-Jan is stock clearance and hence relatively higher numbers still much much below Creta/Seltos usual numbers. Going by these numbers and recent experiences of new owners (shared in the thread here and elsewhere) as well as feature omission, I strongly suspect these numbers going south in below the 2K range for the month of February.