[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by CR07

Say you are travelling with your pregnant wife to the hospital for an emergency ( yeah the ambulance won't be able to come on time). Say you are in any other medical emergency. Say you are travelling for an important interview/office meeting that you simply can't miss to attend. Say you are in an extremely remote place with your loved one's with no help and network connectivity nearby. And the DSG issue crops up or the EPC error throws up and the car simply gives up !!

I fear the above scenarios panning out in exactly those 4 days and therefore will always be a bit apprehensive of skoda/VW cars.

For whatever personal reasons, you must buy a car that you are comfortable with, but I really feel that this smacks of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt: a marketing technique used to discredit the competition*).

Personally, I'd vouch for the reliability of VW cars, based on the experience of quite a few years (ten, I think, off-hand) of Polo ownership in India, a couple of years of Golf (company-) ownership in UK and quite a few hire-car trips there in Golf/Passat. The only trip-spoiling event was a broken accelerator cable on the Golf. Was able to limp home (it happened nearby) but business trip next morning cancelled.

As to the dealership/service experience, I can only add my name to the "good" list. I do accept that many have reason to join the "bad" list, and I do wish VW and Skoda could get their act together and regulate their dealers who, after all, are the sharp end of the business that we customers actually deal with.



*If I remember rightly, it was originally used in the computer industry to put customers off available new products, because, 'hey, ours will be along soon and will be so much better.' Which it often wasn't: along soon, or better.

[EaurougeatSpa]

Originally Posted by BleueNinja

This right here is what I have been trying to convey. As I have said countless times, today’s car market in India is “choose your compromise” market. There is no one car that can offer you everything and if I have to choose one I would gladly go with a car that performs well and is solidly built.

Who needs iso fix mounts and good build quality when you can have a 360* camera and wireless charger

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by CR07

I understand where you are coming from and I actually don't subscribe to the above thought. Those 4 days could be of magnificent importance in your life and you don't need to be cribbing about the choices that you made.

Say you are travelling with your pregnant wife to the hospital for an emergency ( yeah the ambulance won't be able to come on time). Say you are in any other medical emergency. Say you are travelling for an important interview/office meeting that you simply can't miss to attend. Say you are in an extremely remote place with your loved one's with no help and network connectivity nearby. And the DSG issue crops up or the EPC error throws up and the car simply gives up !!

I fear the above scenarios panning out in exactly those 4 days and therefore will always be a bit apprehensive of skoda/VW cars.

Perfectly put. You read my thoughts and put them in words. I always have this exact same thought whenever people say they are ready to have car in garage for few days in exchange of supposed European build quality and FTD quotient for rest of the year. For me, the thought that something will go wrong some time is scary. Its not question of if, but more of when.

I know my luck. With my luck, this will happen exactly when I am going to catch a flight, driving to hospital or just some other urgency.

[Mustang111]

Today I finally got up close and personal with the Virtus, no test drive yet. I have to say that I liked what I saw, the cherry red GT was on display and it it looked even better in real than the videos or photos. I was never really fond of VW neither did I dislike it, but I have to say the Virtus looks stunning. I also have to admit that the red panel on the dashboard did not look all that awkward, on the contrary it was quite presentable. I am definitely considering a Carbon Steel GT as a replacement for my present drive, Global Fiesta. But I'll wait for the test drive and may be a few months more to know about the reliability of the DSG and VW to fix initial niggles if any in the months to come..

[kaushiksudra]

Originally Posted by aniraghu

I am well on-board with the general idea of "4 days' pain in return of 361 days' pleasure", but I'd like to know "how much" pain I would have to go through during those 4 days, if you know what I mean.

I was skeptical as well about the same, but since one of close friends got Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo 2 years back, his words made a strong impact on making my decision. When he planned buying his Rapid he too relied on his friends who own VAG for more than 6 years and at least 70K+ kms without issues. I guess there will definitely be issues down the line no matter what vehicle you buy, but its utterly down to bad luck is what i understand.

I seriously hope to have 6-8 years of trouble free experience (after i get my Virtus..the wait feels like forever).

[CR07]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

For whatever personal reasons, you must buy a car that you are comfortable with, but I really feel that this smacks of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt: a marketing technique used to discredit the competition*).

This isn't an example of FUD. On team BHP itself we see repetitive examples of DSGs going kaput, EPC errors and what not. Most of these are dominated by VW/Skoda group cars. That aside, there's plenty of examples in my circle which have put a serious question mark for me for the VW/Skoda group vehicles.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by BleueNinja

I think kushaq, taigun, slavia and Virtus are the only cars offering a front differential lock

Did you really mean this ? that the MQB-A0-IN gets lockable (or even a limited slip) front diff ?

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by kaushiksudra

I seriously hope to have 6-8 years of trouble free experience (after i get my Virtus..the wait feels like forever).

How much is the wait time for you?

[BleueNinja]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Did you really mean this ? that the MQB-A0-IN gets lockable (or even a limited slip) front diff ?

Taigun/Kushaq gets electronic differential lock.

[robby0707]

Originally Posted by kaushiksudra

I guess there will definitely be issues down the line no matter what vehicle you buy, but its utterly down to bad luck is what i understand.

So true! I guess people have a myth that certain brands are absolutely reliable. That’s not true

I believe all cars have their share of problems. As a matter of fact, I have one Maruti Suzuki(S Cross1.6) , One Hyundai (Tucson) and One Skoda(Octavia). All with 40k plus on the odo. The only car that has ever left me stranded on the road is S cross and the only car that has never visited the service centre except for routine service is the octavia! The S cross was down for almost a week. The Tucson had the steering mounted controls replaced and some other part which was found to be a cause in some fire incidents reported in the US replaced as a part of a general recall.

[pavi]

I think the customers of a SKODA/VW already knows about the reliability of those cars. If I say, I was stranded on road with in one year from purchase in my Honda City, people say 'oh it's a one off incident'. If some one says, I never had issues in my Skoda or VW, we still say 'oh it's a one off incident'.

I always feel some bhpians look upon non bhpians as non enthusiasts, based on some comments. The definition of enthusiast cannot be determined perfectly. There are people out of team bhp community also, who are proper enthusiasts. They are happy spending 'time' for their cars even for simple issues. The vast majority of people who go for these brands have their expectations right. There is no perfect car in the market for you, all we need to decide is 'what is the perfect compromise for me'.

If you feel, 'this is what I really want, but what do you guys think', irrespective of what we think just go and buy your love. Why?? Because the prefect compromise differs from person to person. And if you ask me, what is the downtime I should be expecting and stuffs, include that calculation also in finding the perfect compromise.

Note: I graduated from a Honda City to a Skoda Rapid. Yes, I am stupid based on some other person's 'perfect compromise calculations', but for me my selection is rewarding me the way I wished for. But ABS sensor, yes I have already replaced two of them. My car is currently in service center to replace rear brake components under warranty. For me, if you really love something you will dedicate the time for it, no matter what people say and think. I know the post is a kind of philosophical, but hey love is blind. Pardon me if I bored you to death.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by BleueNinja

Taigun/Kushaq gets electronic differential lock.

This is how marketing misleads people.
It's nothing like an actual diff lock or an actual limited slip diff - it's something similar in scope to what the ABS and ESP modules do with the brakes - in this case, the "diff lock" you are talking about is just selective grabbing of brakes on one corner, to masquerade as momentary traction availability on the slipping corner, to fool the diff into sending power to the other corner. It's nowhere near as effective as a real LSD or a real lockable diff.
This is one of those "give an acronym/name that sounds complicated, customers will think it's a wonderful feature" things.

[amit_mind]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

For whatever personal reasons, you must buy a car that you are comfortable with, but I really feel that this smacks of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt: a marketing technique used to discredit the competition*).

Personally, I'd vouch for the reliability of VW cars, based on the experience of quite a few years (ten, I think, off-hand) of Polo ownership in India, a couple of years of Golf (company-) ownership in UK and quite a few hire-car trips there in Golf/Passat. The only trip-spoiling event was a broken accelerator cable on the Golf. Was able to limp home (it happened nearby) but business trip next morning cancelled.

As to the dealership/service experience, I can only add my name to the "good" list. I do accept that many have reason to join the "bad" list, and I do wish VW and Skoda could get their act together and regulate their dealers who, after all, are the sharp end of the business that we customers actually deal with.



*If I remember rightly, it was originally used in the computer industry to put customers off available new products, because, 'hey, ours will be along soon and will be so much better.' Which it often wasn't: along soon, or better.

Very well put. I think we had enough of worrying and criticising the DSG. The kind of situation highlighted here and possible outcomes due to DSG failure can very well be put for other cars with pother failures like brake failed, clutch wire broke, stuck in traffic, tyre got burst.

A lady got killed when the driver lost control of the steering and the polo jumped from the flyover on that poor lady!

I own a DSG Polo and drive it with a peace of mind and a smile on my face every time I push the accelerator.
BTW, list of high end cars with the DSG gear box (and many new mid seg cars like Hyundai,Kia etc):

BMW (DCT) 3 Series Coup, M3, Z4
Citroen (DCS) C-Crosser
Ferrari California
Mitsubishi (SST) Evo X
Nissan GT-R
Peugeot (DCS) 4007
Porsche (PDK) 911, Boxster, Cayman, Panamera
Volvo (Powershift) C30, S40, V50

[aniraghu]

I completely appreciate what you're trying to say, but maybe I wasn't clear earlier when I mentioned that this new purchase will be my main daily-commute - I intend to keep my trusted steed T-Jet as well. So requiring a ride during urgencies will probably not be that much of a pain given this redundancy.

Being stranded in godforsaken places is something I believe can happen to anyone at anytime, though I wish it doesn't happen to even my worst enemy (if I had one).

I've experienced it on my T-Jet as well - I stopped to stretch my legs for 5 minutes, came back in cranked the ignition and she refused to start. Turns out the battery went kaput and it took a few hours to get someone to temporarily jumpstart it, just enough to be able to nurse her back to civilization and get the battery replaced.

What I'm saying is a battery failure mid-run is something nobody anticipates, but it can happen even on the most reliable of vehicles - Murphy's law comes to mind (if something can go wrong, it will). Does it keep playing at the back of my mind whenever I drive the vehicle? Guess not - I have a very bad memory, plus the T-Jet's drive just helps make it that much easier to forget. As long as the new addition is able to do that I guess I'd be fine with a few days' downtime.

As some others too have pointed out it probably comes down to priorities and scoring / factoring various aspects into the purchase options - as grim as it may sound nobody really plans to get into an accident (and I truly wish no one ever had to go through that); yet a lot many of us opt for safety features like airbags, abs, crash-worthiness etc. It just means that they've factored that remote possibility into the purchase.

But thanks for your perspective - helped me calibrate my scoring a bit

[KI07]

Any update over the variant list?