Hey guys
I know you must be a little confused with the title cos these are two different cars (yet same)in real butttt as of now ,for me these are the two machines to choose from .. Let me explain how ...
My love with Skoda started when i bought one in the mid of 2002 and TBH i had never driven a car(leave aside the mercs and the high end cars) which were so stable at high speeds, having excellent ride quality ,a diesel engine coupled with outstanding FE(which were unheard of),pricing the petrol and diesel version at the same price(whereas the other mnfrs asking for atleast a couple of lakhs more just for that diesel engine) ...
All these things(i may be missing out one or two more) made me a hardcore fan of Skoda and i swore my next car to be a Skoda as well ...
Its been more than a year since i lost my car in an accident ,since then i 've been waiting for a new good VFM car in the range of 15-16 lacs butt as you can see ,i am still where i was 1 year ago !
Initially, (when the laura was to be launched) i was extremely keen on buying it and was happy such a long wait paying of at the end but when i saw the car at the launch it seemed the other way around ... "the End of the beginning" ..
The laura is priced at 18.10 lacs in new delhi .Initially ,my budget was 15-16 lacs but when i heard skoda launching Laura at 18ish i stretched my budget butt as its my own Hard earned money (just like yourss) i am in two minds whether to go in for the Laura cos we all know its far away being called a VFM .
On the other side when i look in the market to find any good VFM diesel car (i drive 2500-3000 kms/month approx ,so diesel is a must for me) other than the Skodas,i feel blank ... The endeavours are not my kinds and the tucson i feel is expensive for what you get and the main factor is the depreciation on Hyundai cars ..
Now ,i dont think i 've enough of options left with me except for these two/three :
1) To go in for the laura and keep it for the coming 3-4 years
2) To wait for the base version if launched within a month or two (seems unlikely)
3) The other option is to go for the octavia rider which is for 12ish ON ROAD and keep it for a year or so and invest the remaining 7 lacs(adding few more lacs) somewhere ,so that i can buy a biggieee in 2007
Initally ,i thought of going for the accord too but now i dont think its worth cos the Face-lifted version is already out in most of the int. markets and it could take another 6 months(i cant wait) for HSIL to launch it in India and above all i dont feel as good driving an accord(mainly cos of the unsettled ride and the poor High speed stability) as in octavia .
The third option seems sensible to me cos i dont know of any good luxury car ready for a launch in the coming few months in my budget(15-17 lacs)and the main reason why i am thinking of buying a octavia again is cos of its fantastic resale value but the only downside of octavia rider 1.9tdi is the lack of ABS ...
This again makes me stand where i was ..
Please let me know guys ,what do you think is a better option ,which one should i go for ?
Thanx in adv .