[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Travelling_Monk

Not all owners of Kushaq are facing problems. I have one from the first batch, took delivery on 12th of July and have done around 2500kms.

Originally Posted by Travelling_Monk

The problem with social media is that 10-15 people can blow an issue out of proportion and make it look like everyone is facing similar issues.

Happy to know of your good ownership experience. And wishing you thousands of miles more.

However, a few points -

1. There are 31 examples on this thread alone. 32 including one I'm posting below. Not 10-15. However - 32 out of 5000 odd cars delivered is still a small percentage, statistically speaking. But -

2. The severity of the issues also need to be considered. Come on, 3 breakdowns in a month! Can't go much wrong with a brand new car ownership, can it?

3. Completing 5000kms without a breakdown doesn't mean the car isn't affected. Some owners were unlucky compared to others - but ALL cars are affected. That's why the fuel pump is being replaced for ALL the cars, and not just a particular batch of VIN numbers. Same has been confirmed by Zac Hollis and Skoda.

4. The owners who completed 3000 - 5000 kms in last three months without issues should actually be thankful to those who used social media to voice there issues. Thanks to these people - these unaffected owners are getting a solution (a "robust" fuel pump) so soon without having to befriend the flat bed driver themselves.

Assuming the issue is truly resolved - Would Skoda have worked so fast if no one knew the trouble the others were in? Fat chance!

5. The "robust" pump hasn't completed a few thousand kilometers in any of the cars. And already there are issues EPC errors reported. Don't believe the owners - but Zac himself says these EPC errors could mean something else. Worst may not be over still.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

It is getting quite funny to read his responses for the issues on the Kushaq. On the social media platforms, it is being labelled as conspiracy against the Kushaq.

I see it is a common theme on the groups from owners who are yet to face issues to accuse those who are facing issues - that they are spreading negativity. Saw one example of one such owner taking a U turn and blasting Skoda after his car broke down!

I guess it's only fair that those who accuse the owners of spreading negativity - should also mention a disclaimer that they will never complain or seek support on social media or forums, if they run into problems later. Sounds fair?

Meanwhile, another one goes on flatbed (with a Temp registration that too!) as the dealer was yet to recall the car for the robust fuel pump change -


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Originally Posted by Travelling_Monk

Lastly would I suggest this car to an enthusiast?? Definitely a big resounding 'YES'.

All said and done - 'YES' the 1.5 TSi options are the best in the segment for an enthusiast, though falling well short as an overall package. But even the enthusiast would also do well to wait a few months for Skoda-VW to sort out all their quality issues.

[officer416]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

Mate while I drive a VW car and I am supremely happy about the product, I am not a torch bearer for the Group. But we need to be really objective when we discuss issues like this. Even a Company like Boeing has been impacted with some malfunctioning parts which caused serious damage to life, Boeing and airline industry. Boeing has the most stringent QC policy and onboarding of new vendors and x-ray very part before being dispatched before by a component supplier. Still there was an issue. Any new technology will always have its share of issues. Yes the new product has an issue either for all the buyers or some of them. Skoda should get into a root cause analysis and give a new vehicle replacement to enhance customer experience. I am sure if the engine had issues it would have been picked up during extensive test drives. I hope Skoda fixes the issue on a most high priority as they would have sold 9 k vehicles at max. The Group has invested 8k cr and their intention would not be to take Indian market for granted.

Mate when Boeing 737 Max had two major crashes, travelers panicked and refused to board the flights where the plane being used was 737 Max. So much so that Air Canada had to cancel all their flights of 737 Max because passengers weren't comfortable being on it. Those planes stayed grounded for two years and even today when American Airlines is putting it back in service, you have an option to opt out and fly on another aircraft if you don't feel comfortable. Boeing says they have fixed everything and its safe now, I can accept it, you can accept it because we might be risk takers but not everyone follows that suit.
I bought a Nexon EV when many on the forum were saying its unreliable first gen product, doesn't have charging infrastructure and so on, but I can take the risk and I went with it. But that's not how majority of the market works. They want trouble free ownership and slightest of issue can spook them out. There must be a reason why Skoda and VW has to battle the stigma that their cost of ownership is high.
As I said, small quality niggles can be dealt with, engine problems really leave a scar on the product's reputation.

[AKSarkar1]

I am not an engineer or mechanical expert by any means but when I saw both the Taigun and Kushaq, it was evident to me that this car is not up to the standards of the group.

I have owned 4+ VW cars over the period of the past 10 years (3 of which are still with me). I'm sure all veteran VAG owners would testify to the fact that the overall package of this car (be it mechanical components, finishing of materials etc) seem to be like an afterthought.

No matter how novel a new car is, the owners shouldn't have to suffer such a wide range of issues. More importantly, they shouldn't have to suffer from the same problem over and over again. Every time a carmaker tries to justify their problem by giving a 'robust replacement' makes me nervous because it essentially means the first time they didn't do something right and that isn't really an excuse with modern cars and the facilities available.

I sincerely hope all the new VAG owners get their problems rectified permanently.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I see it is a common theme on the groups from owners who are yet to face issues to accuse those who are facing issues - that they are spreading negativity. Saw one example of one such owner taking a U turn and blasting Skoda after his car broke down!

I guess it's only fair that those who accuse the owners of spreading negativity - should also mention a disclaimer that they will never complain or seek support on social media or forums, if they run into problems later. Sounds fair?

I think this is as fair as can be. Like you pointed out - it's a bit rich when someone unaffected poohs poohs the other guys' problems and then later takes a U turn when it affects him.
I wish you had posted that example as well here.

[Kosfactor]

Happened to see this on facebook. As per the manual normal petrol is to be used only during emergencies.



Owners can confirm if this is indeed the case.

Premium petrol is rare outside of major cities limiting the utility of this vehicle.

[Rahul9229]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Happened to see this on facebook. As per the manual normal petrol is to be used only during emergencies.

Attachment 2213867

Owners can confirm if this is indeed the case.

Premium petrol is rare outside of major cities limiting the utility of this vehicle.

I think this should be added as a major highlight of our official tbhp review, that only if you can ensure 95 octane petrol 100% of times, then only you should buy this car. Otherwise be prepared for regular fuel pump breakdown till you get frustrated and sell the car.
It's unethical to sell a car that is only designed to run on a fuel that is not available at even 1% of pumps across the country. FYI, Speed and power are regular 91 octane fuels with additives, which again are not skoda approved additives if you are a person who goes by the book and strictly follow the manual. I have seen speed95 at just a handful of pumps in my city and Its illogical to go 10 kms and waste an hour for refueling a car . Even electric fast chargers are more common here than 95 octane pumps.
The car should have come with a disclaimer and appropriate "BEWARE OF DOG" like warnings if it cannot handle regular adulterated fuel sold in our poor country which every other car from humble marutis to Aston Martins and Ferraris gobble without a burp. It's a very very Immature and shortsighted suggestion to fill 95 octane fuel to avoid this issue.

[Kiran Joshi]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Off topic - it's about time kushaq should be branded as a lemon car.

Cheat me in price, but not in the quality of goods. In an attempt to localise the project, possibly quality control has been compromised. VAG group is known for good quality (tank like) cars along with fun to drive property. But they have gotten away from very core for which they are known for i.e. robustly built with high quality cars. They should not deviate from their path. Its huge mental stress for owner after spending 2 million rupees.

[roamer012]

There are several doubts, questions and opinions going around in the matter.
Being a part of petroleum industry (Downstream), I can confidently say the following:

1. Fuel Quality issues is not what it has been made out to be in the context of petrol pumps in India. I do not remember the last time when a case of adulteration was established.
Petrol Pumps are sampled on random basis by oil industry officers and still in case any customer complaint is there, samples can be drawn on customer's demand. But do bear in mind, if poor fuel quality is suspected, you can not be the only victim and there will be a que of customers asking for the same, unless you see a ruckus at a petrol pump with customers demanding sampling to be done, there is probably nothing wrong with the quality fueled.

2. All the PSU OMCs are as of now selling ethanol blended petrol (In majority of the geographies). Ethanol has an octane number of 100+, The 10% ethanol blended petrol (Usually available) has over 95 octane value.

Thus blaming poor fuel quality or digressing to people buying premium fuel in my opinion is not an option.

Remember, several premium vehicles (MB, BMW and Audi) ply on the same roads and fill the same fuel as being filled in Kushaq. If the poor fuel quality or low octane number is to be blamed then the German firms would have shut shop years back.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

1. Happened to see this on facebook. As per the manual normal petrol is to be used only during emergencies.
2. Premium petrol is rare outside of major cities limiting the utility of this vehicle.

1. Quite weird, hope the owners were explicitly informed about this and not assumed.
But still it mentions the side effects of 91 fuel as low power and high fuel consumption.
Nothing about an EPC error stalling the car or the check engine light coming on and the car refusing to start.

2. Skoda already know this, not the issue, IMHO.

[Hayek]

Don’t think that the problems the Kushaq is facing are acceptable by any stretch of imagination - one buys a car in order to be able to drive it across the country with reasonable care but not buy filling up at only one reliable pump. And I agree that Skoda has an obligation to get to the root cause of the problem and solve it. But it is obvious that this problem was not found in the hundred of thousand kms of testing they did, that the new fuel pump has not yet been proven and it is by no means certain that the problem is really with the fuel pump.

But to extrapolate from that to say that no one should buy the Kushaq is ridiculous. People very often quote the problems I faced with my Superb (Skoda Superb: The saga ends at 57000 km) as an example of why one should not buy a Superb or a VAG car. But revealed preference - I followed it up with a Vento in December 2012 and a Tiguan Allspace this year - and was am happy to live with whatever occasional breakdowns and problems the Superb and Vento gave - because of the feel good factor about those cars. So the way I look at the problems with the Kushaq is this - if you want a reliable but boring car, stay away from this one. But if you enjoy driving, don’t depend on a reliable car to survive, and are willing to look at the sum total of your experiences over 2500 days of owning the car rather than the 15-20 days of exasperation you will face, the VAG cars are the ones for you.

I did not intend to spend ₹35 l+ OTR when I started looking for my Vento replacement. But after test driving the Seltos, Hector, Compass, Innova and Carnival, I concluded the Tiguan met my needs perfectly - even if it will almost certainly give problems sometime during its life.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Hayek

--- So the way I look at the problems with the Kushaq is this - if you want a reliable but boring car, stay away from this one. But if you enjoy driving, don’t depend on a reliable car to survive, and are willing to look at the sum total of your experiences over 2500 days of owning the car rather than the 15-20 days of exasperation you will face, the VAG cars are the ones for you. --

I am not sure how many will subscribe to the above statement and buy a car, unless it is a pure fan following for the brand.

[shibulijack]

Originally Posted by Hayek

But to extrapolate from that to say that no one should buy the Kushaq is ridiculous.

It would be ridiculous if Skoda had actually acknowledged the issue publicly, recalled the vehicles, and fixed the problem with a robust solution that actually worked. But given that people are still facing the issue even after the fuel pump changes, I'd definitely advise everyone to not buy Kushaq until Skoda gets their act right. I wouldn't want anyone (not even those whom I hate) to get stranded with their families in the middle of the road. So no matter how delightful it is to drive, DO NOT buy a Kushaq until this chaos and catastrophe get over. Not worth it, irrespective of your risk appetite.

[Nalin1]

1. There are 31 examples on this thread alone. 32 including one I'm posting below. Not 10-15. However - 32 out of 5000 odd cars delivered is still a small percentage, statistically speaking. But -

If these numbers are accurate, can be looked at both ways. Only 32? Oh 32? .

It is no laughing matter for those affected owners!. But if I am in the market shopping now and the Kushaq is one of the contenders, I will not reject it outright due to these issues, but will not ignore them either!. And if I decide this is going to be the car, I will hit the pause button for now and wait for more updates .

[Rahul9229]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

If these numbers are accurate, can be looked at both ways. Only 32? Oh 32? .

It is no laughing matter for those affected owners!. But if I am in the market shopping now and the Kushaq is one of the contenders, I will not reject it outright due to these issues, but will not ignore them either!. And if I decide this is going to be the car, I will hit the pause button for now and wait for more updates .

32 is a very small number given the magnitude of this issue. 15 days back when I collected my car after its second breakdown, a guy skoda told me kolkata has around 5 issues which is very less given the number of complains that have been reported in North India and north India had over 100 stranded cars over 2 weeks back. I am assuming a maximum on 10% users have reported thier issues online giving a realistic figure of breakdowns anywhere between 200 to 400 ...
If you look at it from another perspective, I have not seen a single user who has driven more than 4000km without facing EPC error. And total no of positive reviews across platforms is less than 10. So we have 10 positive feedbacks with less than 4k on odo against 32 who have already had their worst ownership experience ever across cars within 2 months of buying this vehicle.
I'll be really amused if someone still goes ahead and buys this car before the company actually fixed this issue. I wouldn't have ever got this car just because of such reviews even though I was someone who liked it so much that I pre booked it and am the proud owner of one of Kolkata's first kushaq.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

If these numbers are accurate, can be looked at both ways. Only 32? Oh 32? .

It is no laughing matter for those affected owners!. But if I am in the market shopping now and the Kushaq is one of the contenders, I will not reject it outright due to these issues, but will not ignore them either!. And if I decide this is going to be the car, I will hit the pause button for now and wait for more updates .

I agree with you completely. Spending 10-20 L is not something which easy for an average upper middle class Indian. If I am in the market to buy a new car, I will pause the Taigun/ Kushaq purchase till things are sorted. Skoda should pause further deliveries and find the issue and replace the car for 32 people or 3200 people. In the age of customer experience it is critical and instills a lot of confidence in customers mind. I hope Skoda engineers really take the wake up call quickly. Also I know that several Audi and Merc owners fill petrol in PSU bunks and cabbies fill petrol in Shell. When all these cars can run on those petrol not sure why Kushaq cant. Also when i bought Vento, the SA told me not to fill any premium petrol as those have additives which may impact the engine. He told me use normal BPCL/IOCL fuel. I have filled fuel from non COCO outlets all my 5-6 years and there is no issues. Dont think its fuel issue