[Al812]

This is my first post on this forum and I'm grateful to the moderators for approving my membership. I've been following and reading a lot of reviews and feedbacks since the last 1 year, and now finally decided on buying Skoda Slavia Ambition AT. I am based out of Mumbai and wanted a feedback about which dealership is more reliable - Mody Skoda (Andheri) or JMD Auto (Kandivali).

I spoke with both the dealerships and I see a few differences - like one of them not ready to let me buy insurance directly, very stringent with the price quote (no room for negotiation), the delivery wait time and model availability also differ.

Any feedback on which dealership would be more reliable?

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by m8002?

I dont see a reason to bring in Government taxes when comparing the quality/reliability/performance of cars in the similar price range. The taxes are the same for everyone - be it Honda, Suzuki, Skoda or Hyundai. For any 24L(ex-showroom) car, the company gets 16L and the govt. gets 8L. So why sympathy only for the VAG group?

Its happened multiple times in the VAG threads but I dont see anyone mentioning that in the Honda/Hyundai/Suzuki threads. Every manufacturer knows the budget, the margins, the tax, etc. So Skoda doesnt have any excuse to cut the features, use poorer materials and then increase the cost at the same time - especially when they keep harping that they are a premium vendor.

If you read my post, I said MnM also increased prices n dropped features. My first line infact says we should question VW on price raise.

I am not saying we should accept sub std cars from VW. Not at all but the final price is not only manf cost.

[audioholic]

One week with the 1.5 TSI DSG:
I brought the car home on 26th May and its been slightly more than a week so far. Have done 250kms till now and thanks to a wedding in the family, the car got to do lot of pottering around town and only on the second day after purchase, I had to drive till Hosur and then had some official work in the private airstrip there. Since we had rented the whole runway, I also used it to do a gentle high speed run and let the transmission run through all gears.

TLDR: Happy with the purchase, just the car I wanted and everyone who has seen the car have extremely liked it.

I dont think I have enough time or talent to create a whole ownership thread, but would list some observations as time goes by:

• Skodas India 2.0 has been a mixed bag so far. They got some things right, messed up some others and still have a long way to go to pull up their socks. But the hard truth is that, the Slavia has brought back life to the almost dead C segment sedan space. With the flood of the compact SUVs all over the market, the Verna, City and Slavia and Virtus are the only available choices today if one is specific about a sedan like I am. I am not a fan of the whole concept of a compact SUV. And with the 1.5TSI offering, there is literally no competition for this category of a high performance C segment sedan. So lets keep that as a niche offering.
• The mixed bag of India 2.0 also shows in the interiors. There are some bits of high quality, and others exactly the opposite. The door panels are hard plastic, so is the dashboard top and many other bits. Compared to that the steering, most touch points, seats are very well done.
• This car is a hoot to drive, just what I wanted. I dont give a damn about the dashboard being soft or the door panels having fabric. The car is very silent, smooth and the linear acceleration of the DSG is something to fall in love with. So far I havent used 10-20% of the throttle and only once I guess I went halfway to overtake a truck and that was scary. Acceleration is damped upto 2nd and 3rd gear after which all hell breaks loose. On the runway I remember accelerating upto 160kmph without realising the speed and without facing any sign of power drop. This was with less than half throttle mind you since I did not want to accelerate hard.
• Suspension is very balanced. It isnt too stiff nor too soft and that along with a rather light steering just goes where you want the car to, without the need of any correction nor body roll. This was lovely on curvy roads where I didnt feel nervous one bit. However, it makes a thud noise when there is a dip in the road and I guess the dampers are sort of slow to react.
• I did not get CEAT tyres but GoodYear Assurance Triple max. Initially thought of swapping the CEATs to Conti, but dropped the idea for now. They do their job.
• Brakes have insane bite and needs getting used to. The discs are rather huge and so are the calipers and pads. And this without trying hard braking since I want the pads and disc to bed in. Brake disc wiping function makes a light grinding noise when starting the car from a prolonged standstill. After that there is no more noise.
• Interior space is loved by all and even though the plastics have been reported as poorly fit, I dont think I am going to push those panels every day and feel bad that they flex. For the tropical climate, I am sure this was a India 2.0 adaptation to prevent any cracks with tightly fit plastics which would degrade over time due to temperature difference. Whatever it may be, I am not someone who will probe this and feel bad unlike those youtubers.
• Car has very good road presence, and is an eye grabber. I think so far 100+ people have seen my car from inside and outside thanks to the wedding, and everyone have liked it for various reasons.
• The much talked about AC issue isnt present. Of course, this isnt my Innova or SX4 where if I set the temperature to 25 deg C, I would not have to change it over my entire ownership(that has really been the case with our other cars). In the Slavia, I vary it between 21-23 deg C. What was funny was I was discussing this issue of German cars having weak ACs in my cousins Tiguan Allspace. He had also set his car AC to 21 deg C and looks like thats the 25deg of Japanese car ACs
• But I guess there are multiple factors for this AC issue. One is that the turbo and exhaust manifold of the 1.5 at least is near the firewall where the AC refrigerant pipes also enter the cabin. And there is no insulation here. Hence I believe some of the efficiency of the AC is gone due to this especially in traffic where the heat behind the engine and between the firewall isnt dissipated. I am planning to insert some insulation to check if this sort improves the cooling. But apart from the fact that I have to set the AC temperature a bit lower than my other cars, I have no complaints with the AC. I never had to switch it to completely LOW or manual mode unlike those facing problems with the 1.0
• One annoyance is with the start stop system. It is too aggressive and shuts off the engine even when the car is just coming to standstill like a speed breaker. This is horrible and in bumper to bumper traffic is unmanageable.
• Dealership hasnt provided foot mats and mudflaps which I had only asked for instead of that welcome kit.
• I wish I could customize the instrument cluster a bit more.
• Headlight low beam is very good, but high beam just average. This coming from other cars with insane lighting setups So maybe compared to the average halogen bulb, this is better. But I did a side by side comparison with a Seltos and the Slavia beat it with headlight brightness and even spread.
• Dad also liked the car a lot the way it drives and the refinement.

Thats it for now. Will share more observations as I log more kms.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

what is the cubic capacity of the AC compressor ? 100cc ? 120cc ?

Some small cars like the old model figo/fiesta had 150cc AC compressor, have heard even some TATAs and marutis have the same capacity.

The answer to this question will go a long way in unravelling the mystery of the kushaq/taigun/slavia/virtus "poor AC cooling" concerns expressed all over social media. Unfortunately, I haven't got an answer to this yet.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by audioholic

[*]This car is a hoot to drive, just what I wanted. I dont give a damn about the dashboard being soft or the door panels having fabric. The car is very silent, smooth and the linear acceleration of the DSG is something to fall in love with. So far I havent used 10-20% of the throttle and only once I guess I went halfway to overtake a truck and that was scary. Acceleration is damped upto 2nd and 3rd gear after which all hell breaks loose. On the runway I remember accelerating upto 160kmph without realising the speed and without facing any sign of power drop. This was with less than half throttle mind you since I did not want to accelerate hard.

With whatever shortcomings on India 2.0, fact is within 25 lakhs there are no cars that can match Slavia 1.5 performance. Really appreciate VAG for getting this full blown option in this segment.
Hope they sort out all those niggles ASAP.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

With whatever shortcomings on India 2.0, fact is within 25 lakhs there are no cars that can match Slavia 1.5 performance. Really appreciate VAG for getting this full blown option in this segment.

Absolutely. Enough has been spoken about unreliable DSGs and cost cutting and what not. I was on the look out for performance and the Kia 1.4 TGDI - DCT combo didn't impress much. Apart from that, there is nothing that will come close to the driving experience that the Slavia offered within that price band. On the other hand the interiors of the Honda City felt far better, but I felt a decade or two older when I drove the CVT Yes the DSG will fail some day, but that didn't justify driving around everyday in a boring CVT that was not fit to cross 90-100kmph.

[arunabh002]

Originally Posted by noo.b

Looks like there's no limit to VAG group's greed.
I love their cars and really hoped to get the Salvia 1.5 DSG in the near future, but now I feel conflicted putting down my money to a company that's so shamelessly deleting features while increasing the costs of an already expensive car.

Simply clever or simply cunning!

They're clearly kicked about the initial response, hopefully the market forces them to correct this mistake.

Exactly my feelings. After months of drooling over Slavia 1.5 (which was a stretch, budget wise) I concluded that no matter how great that engine is, this company is too arrogant to throw ₹20L (20.8L after the price hike) at.

Booked the Nexon Kaziranga Petrol MT yesterday and I am very happy with my decision.

[AROO7]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Skoda Slavia prices hiked by up to Rs. 60,000

Skoda has announced a price hike for the Slavia. Prices for the mid-size sedan have been increased by up to Rs. 60,000, depending on the variant. This is also the first price hike for the Slavia since its launch in February this year.

Who do they think they are? Neither their 2.0 products have that European engineering and build quality nor these glorified and so-called supremely engineered cars are reliable.

They are cutting down on features like there is no tomorrow. Come on power-folding mirrors, automatic climate control, etc are all necessary these days and not features.

It's high time people actually see what the real Skoda is 'a poor man's VW'. No offense to the owners.

Bottom line, they are selling cars sans features, sans build quality, sans reliability, sans everything the brand Skoda is known for, and still have the audacity to hike prices.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Absolutely. Enough has been spoken about unreliable DSGs and cost cutting and what not. I was on the look out for performance and the Kia 1.4 TGDI - DCT combo didn't impress much. Apart from that, there is nothing that will come close to the driving experience that the Slavia offered within that price band. On the other hand the interiors of the Honda City felt far better, but I felt a decade or two older when I drove the CVT Yes the DSG will fail some day, but that didn't justify driving around everyday in a boring CVT that was not fit to cross 90-100kmph.

Recently went to check both Slavia and Virtus. Drove Slavia DSG and was super impressed with the way the power was delivered and the way it kept pulling and pulling. The suspension did feel softer, mainly in comparison with my Octavia with performance dampers, but compared to the segment no other car came closer the way Slavia drove. If I am in the market for a fun to drive car < 25 lakhs, this (along with Virtus) is my only choice.
While in pictures I liked Virtus, in real I find Slavia better.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

The answer to this question will go a long way in unravelling the mystery of the kushaq/taigun/slavia/virtus "poor AC cooling" concerns expressed all over social media. Unfortunately, I haven't got an answer to this yet.

I am not sure if you can get this info easily. However, notice this:



Both the AC low pressure and high pressure pipes are routed above the exhaust manifold and turbo into the passenger cabin. Not sure which genius decided to do this and yet leave the pipe and manifold without insulation. This would definitely affect the performance of the AC.

[W16rocks]

Originally Posted by Guite

Difference is approximately 8 lakh. 8 over 16 is 50%. Right off the bat, we pay 50% tax before we pay road tax etc on the sub total amount. Of the total amount we pay, more than 1/3rd goes to the government. As if we have not already paid enough in direct taxes. I am flabbergasted.

As soon as any news comes like this about some price hike, there will be a person blaming the government for it, is it the government’s fault that such companies are increasing prices of already overpriced products, and at the same time reducing features.

Then such companies blame Indians for leaving the country as if there strategies were not at fault and that there products were perfect.

First Ford now VW Group…..

[volkman10]

Skoda Slavia loses its crown to Honda City. The Hybrid effect?




Source: Auto Punditz

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Skoda Slavia loses its crown to Honda City. The Hybrid effect?


Attachment 2316852

Source: Auto Punditz

Is that VW number for Virtus?

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Skoda Slavia loses its crown to Honda City. The Hybrid effect?


Attachment 2316852

Source: Auto Punditz

Good thing to note is sedan numbers are increasing. Doesn’t look like any of these of new launches are at the expense of other sedans. Verna has done some decent numbers too compared to previous month. Though Ciaz numbers seem to be going down.

[peugeot96]

An update to my ownership experience of the Slavia 1.0 active.

I have done 7.2k km.The brakes started squeaking at low speed around 4k km. The dealer (not skoda who reportedly did not approve under warranty) changed the rotors and pads free of cost. However the problem has started repeating after another 3 k of driving. I am usually gentle on the brakes and prefer mild engine braking where possible. The problem so far does not affect braking capability. I intend on driving and observing for the next few weeks. The tyre pressure monitoring sensors do not like heavy rain and tend to throw up false messages. I changed the stock ceats for continentals of same profile and this has reduced the mild wobbling I previously described and improved the already impressive road holding and ride. This feels like a car that will stay together well for another 2-3 lakh km. No rattles so far. A campaign for adjusting the wiring under the wiper assembly was carried out and caused no issues. Despite the above mentioned niggles, I have no regrets with the purchase so far. Mileage under heavy city traffic is around 13 and increases to 20 on highway driving at legal speeds. I used HP petrol and have faced no issues with this so far.