Civic Vs Laura Ambiente

swageo · 12th November 2007, 23:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

Gurudev Motors deals with Skoda, and as any other skoda dealers, these folks are also useless. Though I was very serious in my plans for Laura, they never came back with answers for some of my queries.

entropy · 13th November 2007, 01:57

Congrats sawgeo on your decision.

I'm in the same boat as you. Head says Civic but heart goes for Laura DSG. Somehow Civic looks too space age for my taste. Cannot go for bigger cars due to garage length limitation (4.6m max). Laura DSG seems perfect except for one issue - rear leg room. I'm 6'1" and mostly would be using rear seat. Mostly chauffeured (95%).

Pros for Laura DSG are IMO
- Safety (ESP, 6 AirBags, Solid build)
- A feel of solid build and quality all around. Civic is not bad but comparatively feels flimsy.
- Gizmos .. Gizmos

Pros for Civic
- Space and better leg-room
- Cheaper to maintain

Maintenance cost etc are not a big issue. Except for that rear leg-room. A smaller boot and larger leg-space would have been just perfect. CRV was also an option but its a CBU and all CBU's are out of my list.

Any suggestions to resolve this dilemma !!

Vino_David · 13th November 2007, 11:54

congrats swageo hope to see u someday in ur Civic in chennai, i want a ride in ur civic one day

abhinav.gupta88 · 13th November 2007, 12:27

What all discounts did you get in the civic and what colour etc.

Sam Kapasi · 13th November 2007, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by swageo

Gurudev Motors deals with Skoda, and as any other skoda dealers, these folks are also useless. Though I was very serious in my plans for Laura, they never came back with answers for some of my queries.

And so you bought a civic. Perfect.

Car companies need to realise how important the buying experience is for people.
My friend Revvhead (a member here) was choosing between 2 cars a few years ago, a Ford and a Suzuki.

Later his favourite line was "I went to the Ford Showroom and they sold me a Suzuki" I guess that explains it all.

androdev · 13th November 2007, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by entropy

Congrats sawgeo on your decision.

I'm in the same boat as you. Head says Civic but heart goes for Laura DSG. Somehow Civic looks too space age for my taste. Cannot go for bigger cars due to garage length limitation (4.6m max). Laura DSG seems perfect except for one issue - rear leg room. I'm 6'1" and mostly would be using rear seat. Mostly chauffeured (95%).

Pros for Laura DSG are IMO
- Safety (ESP, 6 AirBags, Solid build)
- A feel of solid build and quality all around. Civic is not bad but comparatively feels flimsy.
- Gizmos .. Gizmos

Pros for Civic
- Space and better leg-room
- Cheaper to maintain

Maintenance cost etc are not a big issue. Except for that rear leg-room. A smaller boot and larger leg-space would have been just perfect. CRV was also an option but its a CBU and all CBU's are out of my list.

Any suggestions to resolve this dilemma !!

i am the official laura sales person here ;-) but if u see my posts in this thread, i have been asking sawgeo to buy civic.

my requirements were similar to yours.. i didn't want a big car for several reasons and it has to be under 20lakhs.. i looked at SX4 too.. (i am not big on brand).. i prefer the 'executive' laura to 'sporty' civic.. i realized during the brief test drive that i enjoy diesels more than petrol. good mileage is just a bonus - who wants to stop by at the petrol station that often. diesel rocks! (not for economy mind you!) in your case, i suggest you go for laura as you said maintenance is not your top priority. regular service is not expensive even considering the expensive consumables - only accidents will hurt. it is a reasonable risk. i will be upset but i wont be devastated if i get a bill for a couple of lakhs if i bang the car big time.. at least, i will be alive to cherish the bill :-)

today i got 18+ kmpl in thick city driving in B'lore (i have been playing with the car to get max KMPL with the help of its on-board computer!) with my l&k manual.

rear leg room is not that big an issue.. yes it can't seat 3 ppl behind like civic, but two ppl can sit like kings. and if the front passenger seat is empty, you get all the space u want.. it has rear AC vents too.. a test drive should help you on that.. but yes i admit.. it is more of a driver's car.

swageo · 13th November 2007, 15:44

Yes, Skoda folks sold me Honda.

entropy - you should go for Laura if maintenance cost is not bothering you much. Its like 50k for each headlights, 10k for each RVM etc. Drive is much superior compared to Civic, and that low end torque really rocks.

abhinav.gupta88 - I got 23k as discount and I am pushing for 30k on Civic. Its seems vkiran got some good discount on Laura too from Bangalore (check this thread itself)

suman · 13th November 2007, 16:50

Swageo, congrats on your decision!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Later his favourite line was "I went to the Ford Showroom and they sold me a Suzuki" I guess that explains it all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swageo

Yes, Skoda folks sold me Honda.

To each his own but I have a different take on this - if I know exactly what I want, it would take more than a dealer's apathy or lethargy to make me choose another manufacturer. Its only when I'm confused that these things might come into play. Most times, one would be leaning towards one of the choices (which may or may not be the better or best choice) and try & grab the first negative against the other (s) to swing it in favour of the favourite amongst the choices

mobike008 · 13th November 2007, 17:37

Congrats on your purchase. However, it would be a Laura, if it was me!

swageo · 13th November 2007, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

Swageo, congrats on your decision!

To each his own but I have a different take on this - if I know exactly what I want, it would take more than a dealer's apathy or lethargy to make me choose another manufacturer. Its only when I'm confused that these things might come into play. Most times, one would be leaning towards one of the choices (which may or may not be the better or best choice) and try & grab the first negative against the other (s) to swing it in favour of the favourite amongst the choices

Yes, I was confused and doubtful on Laura. But dealer's behavior confirmed my doubts.

PJSPEED · 13th November 2007, 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by swageo

they never came back with answers for some of my queries.

Hi Swageo,

Pls Let me know what you want to know about Laura.....

Regards,
PJ

unknown · 13th November 2007, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

What all discounts did you get in the civic and what colour etc.

Honda don't offer/give any discount on it's cars but they gives offers like free "Accomodation" across india for 3-4 days in 4*5* hotels with every honda purchase that's too because honda has completed 10 years in india, except they do give discount sometimes when they have old stock left of previous year models .

Quote:

I got 23k as discount and I am pushing for 30k on Civic.

Whooping 23k from dealer itself that's strange really , or maybe you are talking about finance discount ?

thefreak · 13th November 2007, 21:32

Hey! The discount is definitely whopping but then your reference point is the dealerships in NCR. In NCR the Civic is selling like hot cakes while in other metros it is not selling as much. Hence the difficulty in getting discounts in NCR. (This was what was told to me by a Honda dealer outside NCR when I actually asked him about how come he was able to give discounts when the NCR ones were saying that they wont give any discounts). Also getting the discounts depends a heck lot on the amount of bargaining one can put in.

swageo · 13th November 2007, 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJSPEED

Hi Swageo,

Pls Let me know what you want to know about Laura.....

Regards,
PJ

Hi Speed, here goes my Qs

- How much front/back bumper costs
- How much rear break light unit cost. I heard headline is close to 50k per unit
- Is Laura Ambientes headlight are cheaper compared to Laura. AFAIK, it does not come with xenon lights. If yes, how much
- Will I get any corporate discounts. One of the BHPian got some good discount in Bangalore (I guess free regi, which is like 80k)
- And lastly why the hell your receptionist told me "you have to wait" when I came to after fixing an appointment

- Do you have any banks offering special interest rate for Laura

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefreak

Also getting the discounts depends a heck lot on the amount of bargaining one can put in.

I got 15k corporate discount, which I guess they are offering in most of the places. 8k discount on insurance = 23K. I am bargaining for more, as I am not in a hurry. I am expecting some more "year end" discounts.

entropy · 14th November 2007, 00:22

Thanks androdev/swageo

My pre-sales experience thus far

Skoda: Call up the Autostrada sales guy for a test drive. Got "Sir, this is a *luxury* car. You would have to come to our showroom for a test-drive". Ok. Smitten by Laura land up at the showroom. Got "Sir, our driver is not here today ... Also we are busy with test drives until Diwali. We will call after Diwali". Ok. (Another thing that I hardly noticed any other customer in the showroom). I wait and wait and not getting any response, call up today. And to my shock !! the phone is hung-up. Retry again after one hour. After several rings again hung-up. Hmmm .. I guess Laura is not meant for mere mortals like me.

Honda: Call up for a CR-V test drive. Car arrives as per schedule. The sales guy is quite friendly and explains about features enthusiastically. However reccommends me to not go for 2.4 CR-V as it is too fuel hungry and rather wait until Jan next year when a cheaper and more fuel efficient CR-V 2.0 is expected. Anyway fixed up second test drive for Civic the next day. Again car comes as promised. Overall it was a pleasent experience with Honda.

This leads me to wonder and give some shivers also ... if this is pre-sales attitude god knows what would happen if I do go with me heart. Even my heart is giving away after this experience ;-). Somewhere deep down now I'm getting more inclined for Civic. Lets see what happens in the next few days. I used to think Honda service is terrible but SKoda seems to be in its own class (Based on my interactions and experience thus far). I have found Toyota and Hyundai to be the best so far.

13th November 2007, 01:57	#47
entropy BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lost Posts: 405 Thanked: 51 Times	Congrats sawgeo on your decision. I'm in the same boat as you. Head says Civic but heart goes for Laura DSG. Somehow Civic looks too space age for my taste. Cannot go for bigger cars due to garage length limitation (4.6m max). Laura DSG seems perfect except for one issue - rear leg room. I'm 6'1" and mostly would be using rear seat. Mostly chauffeured (95%). Pros for Laura DSG are IMO - Safety (ESP, 6 AirBags, Solid build) - A feel of solid build and quality all around. Civic is not bad but comparatively feels flimsy. - Gizmos .. Gizmos Pros for Civic - Space and better leg-room - Cheaper to maintain Maintenance cost etc are not a big issue. Except for that rear leg-room. A smaller boot and larger leg-space would have been just perfect. CRV was also an option but its a CBU and all CBU's are out of my list. Any suggestions to resolve this dilemma !!
	() Thanks

13th November 2007, 11:54	#48
Vino_David BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 87 Thanked: 4 Times	congrats swageo hope to see u someday in ur Civic in chennai, i want a ride in ur civic one day
	() Thanks

13th November 2007, 12:27	#49
abhinav.gupta88 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Delhi , India Posts: 4,092 Thanked: 325 Times View My Garage	What all discounts did you get in the civic and what colour etc.
	() Thanks

13th November 2007, 15:44	#52
swageo BANNED Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 323 Thanked: 31 Times	Yes, Skoda folks sold me Honda. entropy - you should go for Laura if maintenance cost is not bothering you much. Its like 50k for each headlights, 10k for each RVM etc. Drive is much superior compared to Civic, and that low end torque really rocks. abhinav.gupta88 - I got 23k as discount and I am pushing for 30k on Civic. Its seems vkiran got some good discount on Laura too from Bangalore (check this thread itself)
	() Thanks

13th November 2007, 17:37	#54
mobike008 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 11,703 Thanked: 14,856 Times View My Garage	Congrats on your purchase. However, it would be a Laura, if it was me!
	() Thanks

13th November 2007, 21:32	#58
thefreak BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 362 Thanked: 7 Times	Hey! The discount is definitely whopping but then your reference point is the dealerships in NCR. In NCR the Civic is selling like hot cakes while in other metros it is not selling as much. Hence the difficulty in getting discounts in NCR. (This was what was told to me by a Honda dealer outside NCR when I actually asked him about how come he was able to give discounts when the NCR ones were saying that they wont give any discounts). Also getting the discounts depends a heck lot on the amount of bargaining one can put in.
	() Thanks

14th November 2007, 00:22	#60
entropy BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lost Posts: 405 Thanked: 51 Times	Thanks androdev/swageo My pre-sales experience thus far Skoda: Call up the Autostrada sales guy for a test drive. Got "Sir, this is a luxury car. You would have to come to our showroom for a test-drive". Ok. Smitten by Laura land up at the showroom. Got "Sir, our driver is not here today ... Also we are busy with test drives until Diwali. We will call after Diwali". Ok. (Another thing that I hardly noticed any other customer in the showroom). I wait and wait and not getting any response, call up today. And to my shock !! the phone is hung-up. Retry again after one hour. After several rings again hung-up. Hmmm .. I guess Laura is not meant for mere mortals like me. Honda: Call up for a CR-V test drive. Car arrives as per schedule. The sales guy is quite friendly and explains about features enthusiastically. However reccommends me to not go for 2.4 CR-V as it is too fuel hungry and rather wait until Jan next year when a cheaper and more fuel efficient CR-V 2.0 is expected. Anyway fixed up second test drive for Civic the next day. Again car comes as promised. Overall it was a pleasent experience with Honda. This leads me to wonder and give some shivers also ... if this is pre-sales attitude god knows what would happen if I do go with me heart. Even my heart is giving away after this experience ;-). Somewhere deep down now I'm getting more inclined for Civic. Lets see what happens in the next few days. I used to think Honda service is terrible but SKoda seems to be in its own class (Based on my interactions and experience thus far). I have found Toyota and Hyundai to be the best so far.
	() Thanks