Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   Skoda Kushaq Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/238363-skoda-kushaq-review-87.html)

Here goes a short TD.

Test drove Kushaq 1.0 AT Style, 2 weeks back for my wife’s next car.

Drive was in a busy traffic area and also in water flooded roads. Car was having 1450 kms odo reading.

Overall the Drive was confidence inspiring. I never felt I was driving the car first time. Well manner and predictable behavior. You can control her easily. You don’t feel the size as corner visibility / judgement is very good.

Steering: Felt so nice to hold, precise, accurate & you can get the car where you want without any fuss. Only drawback was little weight with the steering, but not a Hyundai type. One can live with that. Otherwise no complain.

Engine/gearbox: struggling in 1st gear, you need to revv little more to pick up her speed. Afterwards it’s a smooth sailing. No jerky moments during gear shifts. I am Not happy with downshifts though.

Brake: Average feel, because it’s not a progressive one. Better than Maruti or Hyundai, but you need to press hard for a casual stop, light press of brake pedal does not help. Car is very eager to move ahead.

Body control: Excellent. Minimum rolls, sorted behavior, suspension soaks up everything, will be great for city and highway drives. It will be a sure drivers delight.

Interior: Beige lovers stay away, overall on darker side. Seats hold you in place nicely. Lot of leg room at rear and at front. But strictly a 4 seater. Small but very usable boot which is deep. AC worked very well. Average to poor rear view camera. Good music system, and I am not very much into those snazzy displays, which looked okay to me, but did not went into detailed check up of infotainment. Need to take your eyes off to adjust ac settings. Cooled seats was a boon (first time for me).

You must drive the car once to satisfy your needs. I regularly drive X3, and I am not disappointed with Kushaq’s driving dynamics.

My wife is happy but I am worried about ASS and only 2 airbag even after paying a heft.

Cheers
Sail

It will be interesting to know how often ACT activates when Cruise control is on. T Roc does not have cruise control:Frustrati.
ACT can activate upto 130 kmph speed, rpm 1400-4000 and 25-100 Nm torque

A recent trip in T Roc from Pachmarhi (hill station) to Jabalpur.
-20 km downhill (Pachmarhi to Matkuli) : 23 kmpl Mileage
-40 Km on good 2 Lane road (Matkuli to Dauriya Kheda): 15.7 kmpl Mileage , credit goes to kickdown.
-13 km ( Dauriya kheda to Tamia) Ghat section
-124 km (Tamia to Seoni) 2 lane road : 18.2 kmpl mileage
-154 km (Seoni to Jabalpur) 4 lane highway(NH44) : 20 kmpl Mileage

It depends a lot on your driving style... the DSG adapts accordingly. I have an Octavia 1.8 TSI L&K which I bought in Jan last year and it easily returns a figure of 13-14 km/litre in city driving (not unduly congested areas). Infact the mileage I get on the Octavia is much better than that on my Honda Civic, which just returns 10-10.5 kms.
At the end of the day it all depends on your driving style..... but am happy to see the ARAI figures for the 1.5Tsi. The actual figures may turn out to be quite close to the listed ones, unless one floors the pedal, then its a diff. story

Finally I got to do a walkthrough of Kushaq Style variant at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon today. I was with my wife, so got on the spot feedback.

To give a brief background, I have been waiting for Kushaq since January and my wife supported me patiently in this long waiting period.

Now that we did the walkthrough today, the feedback was - "It's a cute small car".. definitely not a SUV. Next she felt this isn't even a worthy upgrade over our current 2017 i20 Asta model, from dimensions perspective. Boot was also a big turn off.

I didn't feel like explaining to her how intelligently Skoda has made boot or how good fit and finish of car is and how powerful 1.5L Turbo engine would be..end of the day it doesn't seem to help me convince her or anyone else (whom I asked to wait for this car over last 6months).

I will wait for XUV700 (though may command some premium over Style variant) (Please don't think why am I comparing Indian car with European one, but sorry we Indians are VFM seekers). Also will wait for MG Astor, as it is expected to have all blings (more than Koreans and offcourse VAG siblings) and has scored good NCAP rating overseas (assuming same in India, it will be better than Koreans).

Hence will wait till November and then start TDs. Will TD Kushaq as well, to be sure why I shouldn't buy it. Hope to see all black Monte Carlo by then.

PS - There was black Octavia also in display. Oh boy the interiors felt class apart with fabulous seats and high quality of fit and finish. Only if it was priced more competitively, would have chosen it over any crossover SUVs.

With the prices of the XUV700 revealed today, it is actually the Kushaq which demands a premium over the XUV lol:
The XUV700 prices have really hit the ball out of the park and it is really suprising how much value Mahindra are able to offer in that price.


(Prices courtesy Autocar)
The Kushaq and Taigun are going to have a really tough time ahead and will surely see some deep discounts if they are to sustain.

Agree on your view of Octavia, that car has really classy interiors and truly worthy of a Skoda. The Kushaq on the other hand, is not what we all expected from Skoda.

Tell me about it! Makes the likes of Kushaq and Taigun look like daylight robbery.

And I've booked the Taigun, so can feel the pain even though the 7OO won't fit in my garage! :coldsweat

I have gone through price list of two dealers. Both have this "essential kit" compulsory for a king's ransom of Rs 18,799 for sundry knick knacks like mud flaps, body cover, tyre inflator, car perfume, etc. Has anybody been able to circumvent this attempt at daylight robbery?

Yes, the essential kit is completely optional. I managed to get only the mudflaps, rubber mats and rear window shades for my ride. Skoda has permitted to sell accessories separately so its no longer compulsory. If your dealer is pushy, reach out to Skoda customer care.

+1 to that. The dealer did try to push this, to the extent that they refused to sell the rear window shades separately till I escalated. But , in no way is this a compulsory purchase.

Very true! I am still shocked at the pricing. While we watched global premier, with so many features from next to next segments, we were expecting it to be priced north of 20L ex-showroom. (Slightly discounted for being desi brand)

But after price reveal, this car is now at top of my list. Mahindra has kept 1 lakh diff for variant jump and 50k for AT. For AX7 automatic, that makes it priced around 15+1+.5=16.5L. Assuming some features are made optional - add another 1 lakh (higher side), makes it priced around 17.5L ex-showroom, with a turbo petrol with almost double power compared to Korean and European siblings which sell top model at similar price.

One thing is clear, Koreans and now Europeans have been charging way too much premium for lack of competition and that too will limited bling / creature comforts.

Mahindra has pulled Jio in SUV segment. I am expecting waiting for Koreans and VAG will vanish. Tata will have to provide better interiors. Good times ahead for us who are planning to buy a new ride.:cool:

This also makes the case for Skoda to bring - (1) Monte Carlo / L&K in Kushaq (2) Introduce Karoq as CKD and at a lower price point, hence leading to price reduction in Kushaq (make it leader in sub-compact crossovers category and not be lost for recognition in compact SUV segment).

Dear SKODA/VW
If you have not seen the XUV700 thread on TeamBHP yet, kindly go there. This thread could have been similar to that which has overshadowed the excitement that was seen on this thread earlier and by a huge scale. I guess Mahindra did a similar consumer research like you did but their analysis went beyond naming the car Indian and understood the pulse of the folks. Suddenly a car that was ugly looking till yesterday looks beautiful to most and the remaining to whom it still looks ugly are willing to ignore that feeling at the VFM being offered. Kindly do some price correction with the Taigun or the only customers left for you will be few fanboys and people who do not have the patience to sit through the waiting period that the XUV is going to command.
Regards,
A fan.

Hi guys, my cousin has booked Kushaq Style 1.0 AT variant and buying his first car. Location Mumbai Andheri JMD Skoda

Would like to know below...

1. Do we have to pay full amount before pre-inspection delivery and car details like VIN, chasis number is shared?

2. How was your experience in PDI and what all I should be checking.. apart from Team-Bhp list? It has not been updated from 2013 anything else to be overseen apart from that list?

3. How do we ensure they don't handover showroom demo car?

4. When/ What stage are car details like VIN, Chasis number is shared with us?

Looking forward to your valuable inputs and thanks in advance. Regards.

1. Never pay the full amount before the PDI.

2. The VIN should help you get the manufacture month if the car. Take a pic of the odo when you do the PDI and share it with the SA. Make it clear that the odo should be within 5- 10 km of what you have noted during delivery. This will ensure your car is not used for test drive.

3. The month of manufacture should be within a month or two of the PDI. This will ensure you are not given a demo car.

4. These details can be shared with you once the car is allotted to you. If not you can note all of them yourself when you do the PDI. If at all the dealer refuses a complete PDI for any reason, do not make any payments till he has atleast shared images of the VIN, engine number and the odo with you as a minimum.

Hope this helps:)

Saw a Kushaq on my street today. Appeared to be a mid Ambition trim. From a distance I thought it was a Kodiaq or a Karoq. The front has incredible road presence! The rear is steeply raked and also looks very SUV-ish. The car appears short from the side profile though, as is to be expected. Overall no qualms about road presence at all for me. The engine was running and the car stopped on the street. It is really silent.

Took the test drive of the 1.5 DSG yesterday
The car is real fun to drive
It has good ride and handling and that engine + gearbox combo is fantastic
Found the steering to be bit light and does not weigh up at speeds
I felt the fit and finish and interiors were not bad. Expected a lot worse from the reviews
Overall found the car to be really good