[raul]

Hey Swageo, I would love to be in your position. It appears that your heart is with Laura but your head says Civic. That's making you indecisive and setting you up for regrets whichever choice you finally go with.

I would go for a Civic. The Laura is a cosmetic update of the Octavia, the Civic is a brand new model. Honda has many faults but this you can't fault them with, they have always launched their best cars and newest models here and not tried to shortchange India as a market. Laura looks dated and too close to Octavia for me. I won't think twice before opting for Civic.

[vkiran_2000]

Originally Posted by swageo

But Laura pics posted by Kiran on another thread is creating troubles again :-)

Picasa Web Albums - Vishwa - Our new Skoda...

Apart from Rs 9000 for routine service, how costly is this Laura to maintain ? Like engine trouble etc.

I have been hearing of atrocious prices of service from Honda dealers as well, besides, I would recommend you take the bottom scraping civic for a real drive, I took my test drives on the Nandi expressway in Bangalore. This showed its true colors. I was doing a 160 with ease and the comfort was only exceeded slightly by the Accord.

[vkiran_2000]

Here's my experience with the Ambienete sales process: I spoke to both the delaers in Bangalore (Tafe Access and Vinayak). Both played the "no discount on new models skoda has said, so..." line for a day or two. When they saw that I was serious, the Tafe access guys buckled. I wrangled a corporate (Accenture) disount of 15K and free registration. Also, ICICI gave me the same deal for the Laura as they have for an Octavia (8.99%) for 10L.

meanwhile, Vinayak called back and murmured about "saar, you should have come and spoken, no saar". The moral of the story being - there is a discount on these babies ! If not from Skoda, the dealers at least

[androdev]

Originally Posted by raul

The Laura is a cosmetic update of the Octavia

You couldn't have been farther from the truth. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. No cosmetic changes - they look almost same. All the changes are under the hood - requires some homework to find out.

Originally Posted by vkiran_2000

The moral of the story being - there is a discount on these babies ! If not from Skoda, the dealers at least

I'm glad there are two dealers in B'lore. It is bound to change the attitude towards the customers and improve the overall ownership experience.

IMHO, after deciding to buy the car that you think you can afford, you should buy the one which is cheaper than that. If you were buying a house instead, you should decide what you can afford and buy something that is slightly more expensive than that. I vote for Civic in your case.

[swageo]

In chennai, I have only one dealer for Skoda and not ready to offer any discounts.

I am ok paying 1.5L extra (over Civic) and also spend close to 10k per routine service. But what I am scared is about major accidental repair charges and common issues like clutch replacement, break pad replacements etc.

Is Laura a low quality car, which could create lot of troubles ? I read couple of post in this forum, which talks about things like a/c problems, leaks etc.

[AMATMO]

yep i feel the same
undoubtedly it has to be the laura
and besides even though its just a new octavia
with the new name its got much higher branding now

[androdev]

Originally Posted by swageo

In chennai, I have only one dealer for Skoda and not ready to offer any discounts.

I am ok paying 1.5L extra (over Civic) and also spend close to 10k per routine service. But what I am scared is about major accidental repair charges and common issues like clutch replacement, break pad replacements etc.

Is Laura a low quality car, which could create lot of troubles ? I read couple of post in this forum, which talks about things like a/c problems, leaks etc.

i am just curious.. why don't you go for Accord instead? you will have the tension-free Honda ownership and also big-car feel. you sound like someone who can pay upfront but hate unplanned costs.

[swageo]

Originally Posted by androdev

i am just curious.. why don't you go for Accord instead? you will have the tension-free Honda ownership and also big-car feel. you sound like someone who can pay upfront but hate unplanned costs.

I have been dreaming about Laura for last 1 year and was almost sure that I will buy it within an year. But I realized how expensive it could be only when I started seriously googling.

Question still open, is unplanned [COLOR=black][FONT='Times New Roman']maintenances [/FONT][/COLOR]are high on Laura ?

[androdev]

i have not incurred any expenses so far but i can give you some idea of L&K spares:
each xenon headlight unit costs upwards of Rs 50K. so if you bang an auto and break just one headlight u will have to shell out Rs 50K. fortunately, the headlights are positioned well for protection in low speed bangs (how do i know?!) the ORVM also costs in excess of 10K. if you meet with some serious accident and the airbags deploy, you are talking about a minimum of Rs 2 lakh bill. even the bumpers with parking sensors,etc. will not be cheap. It is possible that some rodent eats and damages your timing belt or some critical electrical wires inside the hood (seriously!) and engine snaps out of the blue - resulting in another couple of lakhs. Mind you these are all accidental stuff.

It is a solid car and with very good reliability. You will not come across situations where things break down or failed just like that. As far as I can tell: there are no known problems with this car.

[csentil]

Cost of ownership on the Honda is low. I've had a Civic for almost a year and all I've paid is Rs. 550/- (+ tax) for a paid service and Rs. 600+ for an Oil & Oil Filter change.

No hassles with Honda, they will call you and remind you about your service being due and you will get your car back within the same day.

[swageo]

Ridiculously priced skoda spares is creating turbulence in my 'cost centric' brain . Enough, I am going for Civic. Called the dealer/bank and I should be owning a Civic in next 10 to 15 days.

Would introduction of Fabia create following

1) Reduction in spare part cost as Skoda might go for some localization
2) Laura getting old and possibly being replaced with newer platform

[androdev]

good decision. AT/MT? which color? congrats in advance.

i am just wondering.. doesn't your family influence your choice? it makes shopping so much fun and less confusing because you will feel good about letting them have their say when the contest is so close.

Now that more high-end euro diesels are entering the Indian market, Skoda's honeymoon will soon be over. It will soon be a VFM euro diesel option here just like everywhere else.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by androdev

Now that more high-end euro diesels are entering the Indian market, Skoda's honeymoon will soon be over. It will soon be a VFM euro diesel option here just like everywhere else.

Very well said.
Fiat Linea with powerful version of the legendary Multijet engine should mark the beginning of the end for Skoda (at least for their Pumpe Duse engines and ridiculous pricing policy). The only thing I would like Skoda to servive for is that fabulous DSG!

[swageo]

Originally Posted by androdev

good decision. AT/MT? which color? congrats in advance.

i am just wondering.. doesn't your family influence your choice? it makes shopping so much fun and less confusing because you will feel good about letting them have their say when the contest is so close.

1.8S MT + stanley leather + etc

My wife is no more interested in hearing about my confusion :-)

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

The only thing I would like Skoda to servive for is that fabulous DSG!

Laura Ambiente does not come with DSG.

And finally my thanks to all BHPians. This forum rocks

[redsfx]

Dude swageo Garuda motors are horrible in P.R. Go to Gurudev Motors in Teynampet. They help you out with good bank deals as well.Just play your cards right and let them know you are this close to getting a civic. Then they will work on your terms. Let me know what happens.

Cheers