[akhilj66]

I recently visited the Skoda showroom to test the Kushaq, my god, it is by far the best vehicle in the segment. The excellent heavy build quality along with the fit and finish, is just top notch. I visited Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Kia and no other car offers this level of build quality and the drive is the best that DSG gearbox along with Turbo makes the Car feel like a beast.

What I am here for is to tell you the reason why I did not go ahead with this car and bought a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and a solution to it.

1. For me, Skoda is an excellent brand but the mileage of their cars is not good because of the heavy build quality and the immediate turbocharged power delivery of the engine. It is unrealistic to expect everything, I get that totally.
2. People looking for a car under 20 lakhs do care about the mileage. Other brands offer 14+ mileage in real world but Skoda I have driven of my friend stays with single digit mileage.
3. Lastly, this is very small reason not a deal braker*for me is that the car is smaller than the other cars in its segment.

Solution:It is very easy to entice customers with a*discount but then my perceived value of the vehicle remains the same. If I get a car of 18 lacs for 16 lacs, I'll definitely be happy but this is just a discount for me.

What I am suggesting to curb the problem of mileage is instead of giving discounts give users fuel coupons partnered with some brand like Indian Oil, this way that brand also earns and mileage concious*people like me would know that my running cost for my initial months are covered, eg. you could offer Fuel Voucher for 1.2 lacs and I would see it as two years of fuel/running cost is covered and I can relax. My perceived value is increased as I am not seeing this as one one-time discount on the car but a discount on my running cost for a few months/years.

Now in my mind I'll let go of that mileage factor because I am now getting fuel for free, so my car's effective mileage would match to that of a Maruti or Hyundai.

I hope this helps.

I loved the car to its core but I wasn't able to go ahead because of the mileage. I just want it so badly yet I cannot but I want the brand to succeed as the value is far better than other non-German brands.

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by Voodooblaster

If this one succeeds, hopefully Skoda/VW will soon launch a heavily localised sub 4m , 1.0L CSUV version and price it predatorily by availing the tax benefits. Though it's the most crowded segment, it also has more numbers and decent margins.

Well, prayers have been answered : behold the Kylaq !! A truly excellent choice in this category.

[Mi10]

Went to book the Kylaq but ended up
Booking the Kushaq 1.0 Sportline AT

Primary reasons
+ more spacious Rear seat over Kylaq
+ Overall Build and some design elements are much better executed in Kushaq
+ Availability of our Fav colour in a weeks time compared to Kylaq’s 40 day waiting period
+ Discounts on Kushaq ensured the Sportline was just a little over Kylaq top end

Some misses compared to Kylaq Top end
- No keyless Entry / Start stop (even my 7.5L Ignis had this )
- No Ventilated seats , Motorized leatherette seats
- Skoda Virtual Cockpit

Some pics




Sportline (Jun’25) shares its Garage with Nline (Apr’25)

[BABABOT]

Originally Posted by Mi10

Went to book the Kylaq but ended up
Booking the Kushaq 1.0 Sportline AT

Congratulations. Waiting for a detailed feedback and driving experience.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by akhilj66

Now in my mind I'll let go of that mileage factor because I am now getting fuel for free, so my car's effective mileage would match to that of a Maruti or Hyundai.

I loved the car to its core but I wasn't able to go ahead because of the mileage.

OR, instead of doing all those mental gymnastics and ‘fixing’ a problem that doesn’t exist, you could simply just use the discount money on fuel (or whatever else your heart wants - which is the whole point).

A mileage conscious person would anyway almost certainly gravitate towards a Maruti or Hyundai. No surprises there. But, if you truly love a car, go for it for what it is and learn to extract more from it.

https://youtu.be/JmxUsGiGp3w?si=H5Wzt1Rth6nR3fFH

[akhilj66]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

OR, instead of doing all those mental gymnastics and ‘fixing’ a problem that doesn’t exist, you could simply just use the discount money on fuel (or whatever else your heart wants - which is the whole point).

A mileage conscious person would anyway almost certainly gravitate towards a Maruti or Hyundai. No surprises there. But, if you truly love a car, go for it for what it is and learn to extract more from it.

https://Youtu.be/JmxUsGiGp3w?si=H5Wzt1Rth6nR3fFH

They are already following this approach by offering service packs. Selling a product is more about conquering human psychology so yes mental gymnastics is necessary. Just go and research the market why people don't want to go with Germans, it's either service cost, maintenance cost or running cost. Nobody has ever said that Germans lack in any way, everybody wants it but nobody wants to put a huge hole when buying a car under 20 lacs.

[grey_tsi_9825]

Originally Posted by MeetSC

The problem is, mine doesn’t have a pressable button once I remove everything.

You can just disassemble the whole blade by taking a flathead screwdriver and placing it on one of the end of the wiper blade cap while applying slight pressure push the cap outwards





after this the whole blade will can be opened into pieces
just slowly slide out the rubber part of the blade and you will be left with 3 plastic pieces (2 for the side and one for the middle ) 2 metal strips and the rubber part itself

then take the middle plastic part



this is the part that keeps the whole blade locked in a position now if you look closely you will see that there are 2 tiny plastic bits that help to lock the whole blade by aligning themselves with the grooves on metal strips although in mine they are already melted as I took the picture after the melting process



melt those two tiny plastic bits very precisely so that once you assemble back the blade the fit is tight
for melting you can use a sewing needle and heat it up on a gas burner

after melting the tiny plastic bits on each side you will get something like this






Now for the final step just assemble the whole blade back and you are done
you can now freely move the middle part and set it according to the rear glass.

[ashutoshb]

Got my Kushaq's 60k service done.

I uploaded all invoices to chatgpt and with its help, here is a detailed post on:

• How even after purchasing a one-year Service Maintenance Package (SMP) to save money, I ended up spending ₹47.5k for two services.
• If I go by Skoda website's service estimate calculator, what I paid is even higher than what a non-package customer would pay for the same two services. 45K + 60K services, as per Skoda India’s own online estimate is ₹31,681.
• How facts were misrepresented, when asked if value-added items were part of the maintenance schedule.

Background:
In August 2024, I purchased the official Skoda Maintenance Package (SMP) — 2 Years / 30,000 km — for ₹14,266. This package included parts and labor for two periodic services, covering key components such as:

• Engine oil & filter
• Air/pollen filters
• Fuel filter
• Brake fluid

It also explicitly excluded:

• Spark plugs
• V-belts
• ATF oil
• Car detailing (AC disinfectant, engine coating, cowl cleaning, surface refinement, etc.)

I used this package for my 45,000 km service and 60,000 km service.

The Issue:
Despite this package, I was charged ₹7,560 (45K) and ₹25,696 (60K) — totaling ₹33,256, which is nearly identical to what a customer without any package would have paid, per Skoda India’s own website estimates (screenshots attached).

Even worse, I was:

Misled by the service advisor, who assured me that every job billed was part of the “official service schedule”.

Billed for multiple optional VAS items that are excluded from both the maintenance package and Skoda's official estimates.

Summary of Charges:

• Service @ 45,000 km - Total Paid: ₹7,560 - Unnecessary Add-Ons: AC Disinfectant, Cowl Cleaning: ₹2,300
• Service @ 60,000 km - Total Paid: ₹25,696 - Unnecessary Add-Ons: Surface Refinement, Engine Coating, AC Spray, Cowl, etc.: ₹6,600–₹8,000
• Total: ₹33,256
• Skoda Website Estimates (for non-package users): ₹31,681

I also paid ₹14,266 for the service package, but still ended up spending more than someone who didn't buy any package.

Total amount paid for two services: ₹7,560 + ₹25,696 + ₹14,266 = ₹47,522

This raises the concern: what did I even pay for, if the dealership would bill me as if no package existed?

Additional Concerns:

• ATF oil charged at ₹12,798 (₹3,000/litre) — much higher than Skoda's listed price of ₹4,266 (3 litres) (suggested by Chat GPT)
• Surface Refinement (₹4,558) and Engine Coating (₹828) falsely pushed as "essential"

Summary:
This experience defeats the entire purpose of purchasing a maintenance plan. I ended up paying even more than someone who walked in without any package.

I am not blaming the dealer, because I have heard of similar stories from other dealerships as well. So, I hope Skoda India takes some corrective action. It should ask its dealers to cease conning customers and instruct them to honor the maintenance packages.

And there should be no false under the guise of technical jargon or unnecessary upselling. Had they explained me how a value added addition benefits me, I could have chosen one voluntarily. But, calling all of them essential is cheating.

To summarise, the maintenance package I purchased, did not provide the intended savings due to unnecessary and misleading add-on charges.

Disclaimers:

• I have faced similar issue with MG and have successfully avoided the value added items. The difference was, if I ask the Mg person if these items are mentioned in the service manual, they will say no. But, with Skoda, they said yes. A lie, indeed.
• On my part, I did get a little lazy here. In my defence, I was on the move, in between a lot of things. Also, the high amount in the 60k service invoice was also contributed by the change of Automatic transmission fluid (ATF), which gets replaced every 60,000 kms. I was told that had I purchased a 4 year SMP, ATF would have been covered in the package.
• Before the service, when I got the quotation, I did tell the advisor that this is too high and this ain't a BMW. But he reiterated that all items are essential. And I did tell him that I will post on tbhp. The final amount of 25,696 includes discounts.
• Skoda's website has mentioned that the prices for service estimate are indicative and may differ from actual prices.

Side note:
I got both my headlamps changed under warranty, as the DRLs had turned yellow. Armed with my experience with MG, I told the advisor that if I have to mail someone at Skoda, I will. But, no such thing was required and the headlamps were changed without any fuss. I was told the headlamps were 45k a piece, had they been changed outside warranty.