[vishy76]

Originally Posted by Guna

Have these changes taken place over many years or is it possible to any particular year? Would 2019 models (basically BS IV models) still have the older/non-localised components?

Majority of these changes started taking place since 2014 when the car received it's first major facelift. Components like the suspension (dampers especially), steering rack and the likes were victims. Sometime later, the brake system also bore the brunt and other interior and exterior components were localised too within the next 2-3 years.

I have been told that VW has switched to Monroe dampers in 2021. Additionally, the Kushaq/Taigun twins also get ZF dampers. Hopefully, atleast the mechanicals are upto the mark in the newer products.

[eccentric]

Originally Posted by Guna

Have these changes taken place over many years or is it possible to any particular year? Would 2019 models (basically BS IV models) still have the older/non-localised components?

These localization activities take place throughout the product's lifecycle.

In fact, it is one of the main organizational goals and comes under the KPI(Key Performance Indicators) / KRA(Key Responsibility Area) mapped to personnel in the Sourcing department.

Usually, Class 'C' items say fasteners are the primary ones to be localized in the initial stages of a product lifecycle and this may vary depending on the nature of the OEM.

Since the Polo is more than a decade old, the level of localization would definitely be in the higher end of the spectrum even for a BS4 model.

Will be divulging much more on this later.

[cool_dube]

I have been eyeing the VAG cousins for a few months now. While the need is not immediate, my garage does require a car for city runs and occasional short outstation drives with our four-legged kid.

Was passing by a Skoda showroom yesterday and on a whim, decided to check the Kushaq out. Had a good look at the Style variant on display and also got to test drive the Style 1.0 MT and AT. The engine was surprisingly peppy for its size, as long as kept above 2,000 rpm and had a nice, throaty hum when revved hard. The MT was super-fun to drive with short throws and light clutch. The AT was as good as a TC can get, working very well to mask the turbo lag on the tiny mill. Could not try the 1.5 lit engine, as the car was out to a customer site for TD. My test drive car had ~10,000 km on the odometer and was already showing signs of wear and tear. The infamous creaks were present everywhere - on the dash, doors, and every time I applied brakes or accelerated, my seat moved fore and aft, quite similar to a 7D movie experience When asked about the noises and general condition of the interiors, expectedly the answer was - "Test drive car, sir. Quite abused. No noises at all in new cars, all issues have been addressed".

Net-net, the car did not feel worth 20 big ones! The Ambition MT at 15.xx would be better VFM in my opinion. Overall experience was just about average. I do not think the Kushaq is on my radar anymore.

BTW, the SA mentioned that going forward, all Kushaq variants will be equipped with 6 airbags. Not sure if this is correct.

[Venkatesh]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

BTW, the SA mentioned that going forward, all Kushaq variants will be quipped with 6 airbags. Not sure if this is correct.

Not all variants but Skoda will no longer offer the Style variant with 2 Airbags, Instead from 2022 Style trim comes equipped with only 6 Airbags.

[vishy76]

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 seems someone hasn't taken very kindly to your complaints

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J-q0FkXlIek

The best part in the entire video is when the dashboard actually creaks when he's pressing it lightly.

As long as people try to justify their choice of car blindly without accepting obvious faults, I don't think any company (Skoda especially) would be obliged to find solutions to these issues.

[eccentric]

Originally Posted by vishy76

It seems someone hasn't taken very kindly to your complaints

The best part in the entire video is when the dashboard actually creaks when he's pressing it lightly.

This someone is an ex-member of Team-BHP. The moderator team banned him for his biased posts in favor of Kushaq even amidst the EPC fiasco!
And, he has faced backlash for this over other social media sites as well.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

You seem to be a popular guy around Kushaq owner's club in facebook. That image is from Car blog india that appeared in my google now feed, Google being snoopy is rather old news by now.

I do hear your opinion but Kushaq is perhaps not as well accomplished as you consider it.

Originally Posted by GTO

Mod Note: A member has just been permanently banned for biased posts. Guys, we all love the cars we own. But it is important to accept their strengths as well as weaknesses. Please keep your posts absolutely neutral, for the benefit of the community at large.

His user handle: kapursaket.

Come on, Skoda! Hire the man! Or, is he already on the payroll?

[anto1212]

Would it be possible to retrofit slavia virtual cockpit in kushaq?

[Guite]

Originally Posted by Sahil00090

People who have not yet owned any VW cars will still find the current offerings good, it's the people who own/owned the earlier version feel the quality issues and that is completely understandable.

For e.g. ask your Dad or Mom about Bata shoes and their quality and take them to a bata showroom now, you'll understand. (I know German brand and all, giving this example for only a reference)

Everything, be it smartphones, computer components and even clothing brands. They are not offering same quality as they used to do previously. This is how it is now.

People who have not owned VW or Skoda are not necessarily not exposed to quality car interior. Hyundai, MG, etc offer very good quality interior. Taigun and Kushaq interior quality and NVH are a big disappointment. Exterior look neat, paint quality is excellent as usual. But the owner spends more time seeing, touching, feeling the interior than admiring exterior appearance and paint quality. Based on various comments in this thread, sheet metal thickness seems to have gone down a bit. So the body panels might be more prone to dents. My current Vento does not dent easily, fortunately.

To say that quality has gone down for all types of products is just not true. The last Bata I had (decades back), the leather side were hard enough to bruise your skin. I am grateful better brands like Lee Cooper came in with soft leather. The first car I had, Hyundai Getz, did not have proper contoured seats, have hard foam and no leather seat cover. My current car has proper contoured seat, firm foam and excellently fitted leather cover. Point is: there is progression in quality.

[Sahil00090]

Originally Posted by Guite

People who have not owned VW or Skoda are not necessarily not exposed to quality car interior. Hyundai, MG, etc offer very good quality interior. Taigun and Kushaq interior quality and NVH are a big disappointment. Exterior look neat, paint quality is excellent as usual. But the owner spends more time seeing, touching, feeling the interior than admiring exterior appearance and paint quality. Based on various comments in this thread, sheet metal thickness seems to have gone down a bit. So the body panels might be more prone to dents. My current Vento does not dent easily, fortunately.

To say that quality has gone down for all types of products is just not true. The last Bata I had (decades back), the leather side were hard enough to bruise your skin. I am grateful better brands like Lee Cooper came in with soft leather. The first car I had, Hyundai Getz, did not have proper contoured seats, have hard foam and no leather seat cover. My current car has proper contoured seat, firm foam and excellently fitted leather cover. Point is: there is progression in quality.

Yes, to some extent I agree with you and people are definitely going for good interiors as can be seen by the sales figures.

And regarding the quality has gone down, I think I was not clear but I didn't mean that quality has gone down, I wanted to compare it with the value it holds now (but I missed that point).

I like your example of Bata and Lee Cooper, I tried Lee Cooper twice I guess, for office use, soft leather but not lasting, you see creases to soon.

But I get your point about progression but then again some may want progression somewhere and some may want it somewhere else. Can't say about other products but I read a thread where Safari rammed a Polo from behind and that Polo is not old one but everyone was safe, sheet seemed thick enough to save them

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by vishy76

The best part in the entire video is when the dashboard actually creaks when he's pressing it lightly.

And that too, when he deliberately puts an effort to touch it as soft as he can

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by vishy76

As long as people try to justify their choice of car blindly without accepting obvious faults, I don't think any company (Skoda especially) would be obliged to find solutions to these issues.

There have been so many videos of the creaking sounds on the Skoda Kushaq dashboard, that I got curious about how specific is it to the Kushaq. I tried the squeak test on my 1-year old 2020 Mahindra Thar. Now, everyone agrees that this is a heavy, rugged, bullet proof car with a strong build. No amateur Youtube auto journalist has claimed that the Thar's dashboard creaks. I have not heard a single creak, rattle or squeak in 9000 kilometers of travel on my Thar, over all kinds of potholed rural and urban roads, all over TN. So what happens when I do a squeak test of the dashboard - surprise, it was creaking and squeaking at multiple places when applying moderate pressure. Does that bother me? Hell, no - I did not buy this car to sit and press the various parts of the dash all day and listen to it! Do have a look at the attached Thar dashboard squeak test I did this morning.

In my experience, every car will produce creaks and squeaks if you press-test the various parts of the dash and the ICE system. There would be some variation in the amount and volume of such noises for sure. However, this should not translate to rattles and squeaks while the car is moving. It may be a genuine complaint that the Kushaq has many rattles, squeaks and other sounds while running, but to attribute it to the fact that there are squeaks present when pressing the dash is illogical and nothing other than "Skoda- bashing" IMO.

I believe Indian car makers use a generous amount of anti-squeak grease, gels and sprays all over the car while it is built. I was surprised how much grease was applied to the seat sliding mechanism and door hinges of my Thar when I took delivery. Now, if even in the visible parts of the car they use so much of this material, imagine how much of these substances may have gone into the invisible interior dash parts that are prone to squeaking while the car is built at the factory! In the hot Indian summer weather, are these things going to emit "not-so-healthy" vapors that you may breathe over all the time you spend inside the car? I would not be surprised if this is not a big focus area of research for MoRT&H or the Indian car makers. Skoda and VW probably may have a slight "approval issue" in doing the same from their German headquarters!

This also shows how Youtube journalists can make or break the reputation of a brand, by their clever video-editing skills. Even highly experienced folk including members of this esteemed forum, may get swayed, because with clever editing, these journalists can prove any point and they can make people believe anything! Just amplify the volume of the sounds coming and adjust the pressure as you press and you can make the build look as good or as poor as you want. BTW, my Thar squeak test video here is totally unedited.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs3jLVO6Izg

[TheManOfMuscle]

Originally Posted by rohanjt96

My friend booked a Skoda Kushaq 1.0 AT Ambition from Malayalam Skoda in Ettumanoor, Kottayam in late December 2021.
Does anyone here have any experience with this dealer? Is this really standard procedure for Skoda?

Did he end up buying from that dealer? What was the color of the car that was offered to your friend? Was it a style variant or an ambition? And what color had they originally ordered? This information would help a lot as I just dealt with this dealer.

[DeepCarTalk]

Originally Posted by vishy76

It seems someone hasn't taken very kindly to your complaints

https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=J-q0FkXlIek

As long as people try to justify their choice of car blindly without accepting obvious faults, I don't think any company (Skoda especially) would be obliged to find solutions to these issues.

He is the same person who said that his Kushaq came with a DQ400 gearbox and was eventually banned from TeamBHP for creating pro brand centric misleading posts.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by vishy76

It seems someone hasn't taken very kindly to your complaints

https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=J-q0FkXlIek

The best part in the entire video is when the dashboard actually creaks when he's pressing it lightly.

As long as people try to justify their choice of car blindly without accepting obvious faults, I don't think any company (Skoda especially) would be obliged to find solutions to these issues.

LOL. I think you are supposed to press the dash and door plastics for it to creak and not lovingly caress it and then say no squeaks.

Hahahaha. Can't stop laughing. He is softly caressing it ensuring he doesnt apply pressure to induce a creak when shooting the video.

Guaranteed he would have heard the creek before shooting then had to touch it softly when shooting video.

[amey027]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

There have been so many videos of the creaking sounds on the Skoda Kushaq dashboard, that I got curious about how specific is it to the Kushaq. I tried the squeak test on my 1-year old 2020 Mahindra Thar. Now, everyone agrees that this is a heavy, rugged, bullet proof car with a strong build. No amateur Youtube auto journalist has claimed that the Thar's dashboard creaks. I have not heard a single creak, rattle or squeak in 9000 kilometers of travel on my Thar, over all kinds of potholed rural and urban roads, all over TN. So what happens when I do a squeak test of the dashboard - surprise, it was creaking and squeaking at multiple places when applying moderate pressure. Does that bother me? Hell, no - I did not buy this car to sit and press the various parts of the dash all day and listen to it! Do have a look at the attached Thar dashboard squeak test I did this morning.

In my experience, every car will produce creaks and squeaks if you press-test the various parts of the dash and the ICE system. There would be some variation in the amount and volume of such noises for sure. However, this should not translate to rattles and squeaks while the car is moving. It may be a genuine complaint that the Kushaq has many rattles, squeaks and other sounds while running, but to attribute it to the fact that there are squeaks present when pressing the dash is illogical and nothing other than "Skoda- bashing" IMO.

Let's one thing out of the way, Kushaq did/does have fitment issues like the door ratting (beading) etc. But people pressing the dashboard hard and complaining it squeaks is pure insanity. It's plastic, what did you expect? My family has had a dozen cars over the last 20 years including Suzuki, Ford & Hyundai and when pressed, the dashboard used to squeak. I remember this because I used to do it for fun as a kid. The dashboard rattling by itself when you are on the highway is definitely an issue, but you can't complain if it makes noise when pressed hard. Hell, even my 50k furniture makes sound if I hard press it at the joints.

Some of the posts are just getting ridiculous now