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

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

-   -   Skoda Slavia Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/248762-skoda-slavia-review-18.html)

It has to be either Slavia or City, can’t think of any other in your budget that’s as much value for money, in my opinion.

Of the 2, the Slavia is more involving to drive and has a proper modern infotainment system, with Skoda Sound if you go for the Style variant. But if you want a tried and tested engine gearbox combo with more plush and spacious interiors, the City should be your pick.

Hi rahil_29, congratulations on the booking! BTW, I own a OnePlus 7 Pro, and I can confirm that it does not charge wirelessly. The iPhone 13 Mini does, but any Qi-compatible charger would top it up at 5-7 W, which is painfully slow. Only Apple's own MagSafe charger supports relatively faster 15 W wireless charging.

Hi Dieseltuned. Amongst the cars in consideration, the Nexon is definitely VFM because it is from a lower segment, and would offer a decidedly less premium experience. The 3-pot turbo motor is the thrummiest and noisiest of the low, and it doesn't match the others on quality or features, as well. That said, it offers a solid build, good ride and handling balance, and sound mechanicals (has been around for quite a while, now, so service shouldn't be an issue). With the Slavia in contention, I see no reason to recommend the Kushaq. If space, ride comfort, smooth performance, and peace of mind are priorities, I'd suggest you go for the City (I'd suggest the City hybrid if you could wait). The Slavia 1.0 offers a more elegant design, a sportier powertrain and dynamics package, and a much more capable infotainment unit over the city; both are pretty evenly matched elsewhere.

Hello wonderful folks. I have finalized the Slavia 1.0(Style). Two questions:
1) AT or MT? I know I prefer the latter but my wife will practically learn to drive on this car. Would directly working an AT make her a 'poorer' driver?
2) How is the service centre in Skoda Kolkata? Since I will be based out of Kolkata for the the next three years at the very least. I really don't have the time to make repeated runs to the Service Station.
Thanks in advance everyone.

Did you try turning it off and back on in the infotainment settings?
Wireless charging was not working in my A4 as well after a couple of days of taking delivery and showroom was clueless about it. I decided to play with the settings in the car infotainment and I found that there is a toggle to turn on/off the wireless charging. It was on by default but I switched it off for a second and switched back on and it has been working after that.

Thank you for this, I will keep this in mind and try it if I face this issue once the car is delivered.

I think Skoda Kushaq is already ruled out since it is most expensive and not Value for Money.
Between the remaining 3, you should look at the following criteria.

1. Peace of mind + Reliability ( Honda City >> Tata Nexon > Skoda Slavia )

• Peace of mind and Reliability is one criteria.
• Honda is any day a clear winner here.
• If Peace of mind and Reliability is your top priority, stop reading further points and get Honda City.
• If you are fine compromising with this point, then you can look at Tata Nexon and Skoda Slavia as well.
  Now, please note, I don't mean that you will for sure loose your peace of mind. But, the chances are higher.

2. Space ( Honda City = Skoda Slavia >> Tata Nexon ).

• Space is another important aspect. But can be a problem as well. Finding space to park a Tata Nexon is much easier than City and Slavia.
• But, other than parking space, City and Slavia provides loads of cabin and boot space.
• If space is a bigger criteria and parking is not a problem, you should drop Tata Nexon.

3. Driving Dynamics ( VW Virtus > Skoda Slavia > Honda City > Tata Nexon )

• If you an enthusiast, love driving around those corners. Then you should opt for VW Virtus ( New Introduction to your list). However, you may have to wait a little longer for that. If not Virtus, Slavia is still a better bet.
• Having driven Honda City Gen 4 for 5 years, I can tell you it loves those curves as well. But, a german is a german.
• Tata Nexon, due to its crossover stance, may not be that fun.

If you want to test the audio system performance on Honda City, connect it to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and use a proper music app to play a few tracks. The stock output with Radio sounds a bit dull, however with connected tech it sounds much better! The audio settings (EQ, Bass, Treble, Mids) on demo cars can be out of tune, so check that once as well.

If you want to turn heads, revv the City hard on an open-stretch, hear it roar and feel your heart-beats racing... It's a revv friendly NA engine.

Very close/ similar to the dilemma I'm in. Based in Gurgaon, budget is slightly lower (INR 12-13 lakhs on road), and want to book within the fortnight. Use case will primarily be long drives, intercity commutes, and Road trips to Himachal/ Rajasthan/ Uttarakhand. Priorities are :
1. Safety
2. Reliability
3. Driving pleasure
4. Value for money (not purely a dump of features)

Accordingly, confused between:
1. Nexon Petrol Manual XZ+S/HS - Took a test drive, all good except the spongy/ notchy gearbox, although a non issue in the grand scheme of things. Primary issue is a mental roadblock around long term reliability of the engine / car, given hill/ long road trips. Seeing a video showing the engine vibrating / shaking a lot at idle didn't help either. Is this a non issue? About the only thing stopping me from booking this car.
2. Slavia 1.0 Active - Took a test drive, for sure a better drive and a more premium "feeling" car compared to the Nexon, but the base model just feels too barebones and not value for money.
3. i20 N8 iMT - Took a test drive, which was a disaster. While I understand driving a car for the first time would have a lot of hiccups, the IMT just did not sit right with my wife, and the highly sensitive breaks worsened the cause further. Don't really want to go for the regular Asta Optional Manual.
4. Vento Highline Plus Manual - Trying to find a showroom that has one available at the heavily discounted stock clearance rates.

How do I choose between these? Are there any other cars I should consider (no Maruti, Kia, Hyundai)? Try to wait a few months for new launches (Toyota D22, Nexon next generation, Honda something)? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

The VW dealer on MG road had Highline+ in auto available until last week, was asking around 14 something for that. Also the Skoda dealer on Golf Course Road had a Rapid Matte in automatic asking for about 13.5. Didn't check for MT versions as I am looking for AT.

Again, at the risk of sounding the odd man out, such handling tests at 65/70 kph with hard cornering etc. don't make sense because the underlying assumption is that of a driver with certain amount of skill, experience and physical/mental acuity. We have already seen and commented elsewhere on this forum how people are taking the meaning of 5-star rated cars out of proportion and perhaps risking their and others lives. In our context, there could be a first-timer or a less experienced driver trying out a City as a corner carver at 70kph only to discover a pickup coming in the opposite direction while not maintaining his lane and then you can only imagine what would happen. I think such test videos must come with a strong disclaimer.

Hello Shankzzz,

Nexon seems the most VFM if your area has a decent TATA service center with good hands there, than you can go ahead with Nexon. Nexon is like a "Jack of all trades" at the moment.

I would add following cars to the mix :

1. Honda City V and VX MT to the mix, has all safety features and drives beautifully with that NA petrol and also "feels" premium. It is definitely a good buy in terms of reliability as well. In Mumbai it is retailing for approx. 12-14 L.
2. Tata Tigor : I like its compact looks
3. Tata Altroz : Especially the i-Turbo.

I agree the base models of both Slavia and Kushaq are bare bones and miss all the nice features. If you decide to go ahead with the Slavia/Kushaq then up your budget (if possible) to get the Style variant, they give you a lot of features more than the Ambition variant for the additional moolah.

I was in the same boat as you and my preferences were :
1. Honda City ZX MT
2. Nexon (P)
3. Slavia 1.0 MT Style.

We as a family were decided on City ZX MT and were to book on this Gudi Padwa day, but life threw a whack and the announcement of Hybrid came at the right time, so I have put my decision on hold for the next 15-20 days and have decided to wait out for the Honda City Hybrid.

I spoke to my Honda SA and asked him to call me as soon as he has a City hyrbrid on display and TD. I understand that I will have to up my budget but for the additional 2 - 2.5 lakhs I can get a hybrid and save on petrol costs + also gain on the Honda sense feature.


Hi sankdadevil,

Yes, I could not check the AA and ACP on my last visit to the showroom, definitely will add this to my list of things to check in the car. Thank you for your helpful post.

Regards
Dieseltuned.

Thanks Motonomad! Will go talk to them within the week! Either should be good enough for the right price

Thanks again Dieseltuned! I know Nexon is the best fit at the moment, I'm at 90% for booking it.

Just want to avoid a scenario where the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere on a long road trip. Trying to get some comfort around that one point of reliability, is 5%.

The affluent-ish apartment I rent in has 500+ cars, across domestic majors to the holy German triumvirate, check them out everyday when I go for a walk, and despite Nexon having the kind of sales they do, not one of the 500 cars is a Nexon, and maybe just 3 Tatas otherwise. Just makes you wonder why that is the case, and for what type of customer is Nexon the right buy. That's the other 5%, and I'll be good to go.

Some other cars might have this 10%, but are lacking in the 90% the Nexon has. Ah, the sweet agony of reading and researching to no end, while your wife scratches her hair off at you. I think I'll post this on the Nexon thread too.

Sort of picked Nexon over Altroz Turbo already, but thanks for the recommendation, will take a test drive of the City. Budget is already stretched with the Nexon though, so seems unlikely that I'll be able to jump to the VX there.

Any article jumped up on the upcoming City Hybrid recently, looks interesting! Hope it's a good buy for you and your family :)

I was pondering over AT vs MT as well. But can wait a while before I buy.
Shall get in touch with you in 6 months for feedback :D

Will the Slavia be a great choice for an ex Rapid owner? His Rapid was a TDI and broke down the 5th time on the highway and this is where he gave up. Sold the car to the scrap yard immediately and wants a new one before May.
He is an architect and keeps travelling, his major run is on the highway.
His requirements are safety, stability, adequate performance and driving dynamics.

Budget is around 18 lakhs strict, he tested out various cars and immediately rejected Koreans and the Japanese for the lack of fun to drive element. Liked XUV 300 but he does carry stuff around so rejected, he doesn't like Nexon but I will pursue him to check it out.
Ecosport would be an easy pick but Ford as left( miss you ES)
Now enters Slavia, the 1.0 ltr Style, he does like it, will go and check out next week, so is it good car is the question.