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Old 27th January 2012, 22:11   #76
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Goutham, a little late here, but better late than never. Congrats on the Laura DSG! I wish you many safe miles in your new car.

When i read your through your decision making on the car, it was a dejavu of sorts. When we bought the Octavia back in 2006, we also jumped a segment high than we'd planned and got a car after increasing our original budget by a good 50%.

Needless to say, the Octavia has served us well since then and never did we regret increasing the budget and going a segment high. Also my experience with Vinayak Cars has been good as far as after-sales go. I don't think you have to worry too much about that.
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Old 27th January 2012, 22:18   #77
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Originally Posted by KINI View Post
Congratulations on your new car,the Laura IS a very elegant piece of machinery indeed.
Any plans of customising your car using the VAGCOM?
Thank you. Yes, I have discussed this with other BHPians. And will get some simple features activated. I did ask a person who has the Cable and has activated many features on his Laura. He did offer to do it. When i do it i will post back with more details.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shashank.nk
Goutham, a little late here, but better late than never. Congrats on the Laura DSG! I wish you many safe miles in your new car.

When i read your through your decision making on the car, it was a dejavu of sorts. When we bought the Octavia back in 2006, we also jumped a segment high than we'd planned and got a car after increasing our original budget by a good 50%.

Needless to say, the Octavia has served us well since then and never did we regret increasing the budget and going a segment high. Also my experience with Vinayak Cars has been good as far as after-sales go. I don't think you have to worry too much about that.
Thanks for those re-assuring words. i have heard that they are better than tafe.
How has the cost of living with your octy been over these 6 years? Was it the usual for a car from this segment or did you have any surprises?

Last edited by goutham_r : 27th January 2012 at 22:25.
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Old 28th January 2012, 13:41   #78
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
Thanks for those re-assuring words. i have heard that they are better than tafe.
How has the cost of living with your octy been over these 6 years? Was it the usual for a car from this segment or did you have any surprises?
I can tell you from my experience that Vinayak is light years ahead of Tafe. They were really very bad, but i've heard they've improved a lot now.

The cost of ownership has been as we expected.No surprises at all. The only expensive part that was replaced was the timing belt at 60k, apart from this the oil sump had to be changed but that was due to our driver's carelessness.

The car runs fine and everything works as it should However, our octy is much simpler when compared to the Laura. It has far lesser electrical components that may fail. My friend owns the pre-facelift Laura with the PD engine, and his car's been used on all kind of roads, apart from regular service and scheduled maintenance he's not spent anything due to failure of any parts in his car.

Last edited by shashank.nk : 28th January 2012 at 13:44. Reason: Added last line
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Old 28th January 2012, 13:48   #79
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
Sorry, yes the TSI is faster than the TDI, I had the TDI superb in my mind when i wrote that.

The laura and A4 are Ckds but the laura unlike the A4 is not a 100% CKD . 50% of the parts are made here and the remaining are imported. This is one way to get excise and tax benefits and therefore keep the ex-showroom price lower.hence the laura is cheaper.
Are you sure about this? I always thought being a CKD implied a certain amount of localisation.
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Old 1st February 2012, 21:37   #80
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by akshay1234 View Post
Are you sure about this? I always thought being a CKD implied a certain amount of localisation.
Maybe, But i thought CKD just meant getting the car part by part and then putting it together here. That way getting tax benefits because they are creating jobs here. But if they are able to localise some parts, then thats an added benefit and can further reduce prices. This would however require them to set up manufacturing facilities for those parts apart from an assembly line. This is my understanding, I maybe wrong.


Just bought a set of 3D Kagu mats last week after a great deal of hunting. Prospective buyers BEWARE there are many products trying to imitate the 3D brand. Here's my story. I enquired about these mats in Torque in indiranagar and also called up Ultimate Detailerz and a bunch of other dealers. Most of them quoted 5K for a set of beige kagu mats. Torque was a bit pricey - 5.8K.
But none of them had beige in stock. So i went and asked a dealer who was very close to my home. He told me that he doesn't sell these mats and can get it especially for me if i placed an order. He also said it'll cost about 5k, so i placed the order since he was walking distance from my home.
He got the mats in an hours time, I picked them up and only after i came home that i realized that those were fake. After going through a thread in Team-BHP where another person had bought the exact same mats for 2250! i realized that i had been a fool. I went back and after a good deal of arguments and heated discussions later he agreed to take back the mats and get another set the next day. I had given him full printouts of the product page of the 3D website and had made sure this time he would get the right ones.

So finally i have my mats now. These are the Maxpider ones, with a velcro-kind of material at the bottom. Got these for 5k.Custom made for the laura They fit perfectly. you also get an additional small mat to cover the transmission tunnel hump too.

Here are some pictures of the mats.
Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-img_0721.jpg

Rear passenger footwell and the transmission hump covered.
Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-img_0730.jpg

front passenger footwell
Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-img_0734.jpg

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Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-img_0723.jpg

The original 3D mats will have this logo and the braided pattern. Only the front two mats will have the 3D logo.
Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-img_0724.jpg
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Old 1st February 2012, 23:58   #81
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Re: Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
The Laura's First ever outing. A small roadtrip to nanjangud, its about 160km. from Bangalore.

Left early in the morning to avoid traffic, and it was a truly phenomenal first long drive. Cruising speeds were just below 120, did manage to hit 150 on an empty stretch but then went back to safer speeds.

I had a very scary encounter with a dog crossing the road. It just hopped on to the road from the median and i was in the fast lane doing 120kph. I was about 25ft from the dog when i noticed it and luckily didn't slam the brakes but swerved to the left and then back. I don't know what would have happened if i had just stood on the brakes. Mind you it was pretty crowded with, people behind me driving fast too. Anyway no theatrics from the car, it just went on to the left lane then came back to the right. No squealing tyres, No alarming body roll. Damn dogs!!
Congratulations on the new ride and I hope you really enjoy a trouble free cruising with this gem of a car. I have a 2011 Laura MT too, and till this day have never regretted the decision to go in for the buy!
Notwithstanding the high speed stability of this vehicle, (proved time and again), there is a driving maneuver that I never do at high speeds (120 kmph is a higher speed on Indian roads). Swerving. This is the reaction that is common among many when they are faced with a sudden obstruction on the road. This is the maneuver that you used to avoid hitting the dog. Experts believe that high speed swerving is a sure shot invitation to a toppling over or skidding off the road and hitting a tree, a pole or hard structures . Getting out of your lane to get back again is a considerable swerve at 120kmph, and it appears you were lucky not to have an oncoming vehicle (considering the fact that the Ambiente is not equipped with the ESP). You seem also lucky that none of your tyres seem to have lost traction during that maneuver.
Hitting a dog or a goat or a horse head on would have been much more safer. At least you're hitting something soft and malleable (to absorb the momentum), and then as long as you are on the road you are relatively safer. There is very less possibility that a dog would have come crashing through the windshield.
As far as I am concerned, I follow this rule to the hilt. I often remember saying out loud when I'm driving quick and just about miss hitting a dog, it goes like this " If I were to choose who's going to be dead between the both of us, I'd rather it be you"!
I leave it for you to consider if you find it workable for you. Happy and safe driving.
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Old 2nd February 2012, 07:06   #82
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R. Kotwal

Congratulations on the new ride and I hope you really enjoy a trouble free cruising with this gem of a car. I have a 2011 Laura MT too, and till this day have never regretted the decision to go in for the buy!
Notwithstanding the high speed stability of this vehicle, (proved time and again), there is a driving maneuver that I never do at high speeds (120 kmph is a higher speed on Indian roads). Swerving. ....

I leave it for you to consider if you find it workable for you. Happy and safe driving.
Thank you. I agree with you. luckily for me it happened in a dual carriage way, so no oncoming traffic. But then later i did realise that swerving to avoid the dog was a poor decision. You can't slam the brakes too can you. so the only way is it hit the dog. Fortunately for the dog, this time i made a poor decision but , like you said, The next its dog vs me, the dog won't be lucky..

That said i do pity these poor creatures. If you've noticed the dogs in the cities are much smarter than the suburban ones. Its extremely rare to find roadkill in the cities.
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Old 2nd February 2012, 11:09   #83
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Re: Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

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Originally Posted by R. Kotwal View Post
Congratulations on the new ride and I hope you really enjoy a trouble free cruising with this gem of a car. I have a 2011 Laura MT too, and till this day have never regretted the decision to go in for the buy!
Notwithstanding the high speed stability of this vehicle, (proved time and again), there is a driving maneuver that I never do at high speeds (120 kmph is a higher speed on Indian roads). Swerving. This is the reaction that is common among many when they are faced with a sudden obstruction on the road. This is the maneuver that you used to avoid hitting the dog. Experts believe that high speed swerving is a sure shot invitation to a toppling over or skidding off the road and hitting a tree, a pole or hard structures . Getting out of your lane to get back again is a considerable swerve at 120kmph, and it appears you were lucky not to have an oncoming vehicle (considering the fact that the Ambiente is not equipped with the ESP). You seem also lucky that none of your tyres seem to have lost traction during that maneuver.
Hitting a dog or a goat or a horse head on would have been much more safer. At least you're hitting something soft and malleable (to absorb the momentum), and then as long as you are on the road you are relatively safer. There is very less possibility that a dog would have come crashing through the windshield.
As far as I am concerned, I follow this rule to the hilt. I often remember saying out loud when I'm driving quick and just about miss hitting a dog, it goes like this " If I were to choose who's going to be dead between the both of us, I'd rather it be you"!
I leave it for you to consider if you find it workable for you. Happy and safe driving.
Not quite the animal lover eh? ! Just kidding. You are right but at that moment your natural instinct is to sway to avoid hitting that poor creature.
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Old 2nd February 2012, 12:35   #84
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post

Just bought a set of 3D Kagu mats last week after a great deal of hunting.
I have the exact same set of mats on my Laura. Bought it from Hot Tracks. The mats are a perfect fit and are easy to clean as well. But after about 5 months of use they started showing signs of wear on the part where the feet of the driver are resting. Mine is an MT so the portion where the left foot rests on the mat has the maximum amount of wear, due to the friction caused by the constant movement of the foot. I wear leather shoes to work, so the hard edge of the shoes have taken their toll on the mats. THe solution : A little DIY cut and paste job . Cut up a piece of one my old Palio mats and pasted it in the worn area using feviquick. The glue has held on pretty well so far atleast. Don't know how long it will continue to do so. But I'm sure if I hadn't done this, the mat would soon have worn down to the point where it would develop holes. Attaching pics.
Attached Thumbnails
Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-imag0020.jpg  

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Old 2nd February 2012, 12:43   #85
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
Thank you. I agree with you. luckily for me it happened in a dual carriage way, so no oncoming traffic. But then later i did realise that swerving to avoid the dog was a poor decision. You can't slam the brakes too can you. so the only way is it hit the dog. Fortunately for the dog, this time i made a poor decision but , like you said, The next its dog vs me, the dog won't be lucky..

That said i do pity these poor creatures. If you've noticed the dogs in the cities are much smarter than the suburban ones. Its extremely rare to find roadkill in the cities.
You seem a kind hearted person ,and you're right its tough to take such split second decisions at high speeds. But you seem to rule out slamming the brakes? Why? You have ABS, EBD and a slew of other high tech apparatus on this vehicle that ensures that you dont slip or fishtail even at 130 kmph. I've slammed the brakes at 110 kmph during an aborted overtaking maneuver and was pretty impressed with the straight line it held without any skidding, and how it deaccelerated without the wheels locking. So even if you had hit the dog, the momentum would have been that of a quickly deaccelerating car!
And you are right when you say that city dogs are smarter!
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Old 2nd February 2012, 12:52   #86
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Re: Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

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Not quite the animal lover eh? ! Just kidding. You are right but at that moment your natural instinct is to sway to avoid hitting that poor creature.
Well I can live with them! You are correct to say that our first reaction is to get away from that dog!
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Old 2nd February 2012, 17:53   #87
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
I have the exact same set of mats on my Laura. Bought it from Hot Tracks. The mats are a perfect fit and are easy to clean as well....
Oh, i need to watch out for that. Hopefully it won't wear out that soon cause the left foot is always rested. Will have to wait and see. I have got the universal mats which the dealer gave, just in case.

Quote:
Originally Posted by R. Kotwal View Post
You seem a kind hearted person ,and you're right its tough to take such split second decisions at high speeds. But you seem to rule out slamming the brakes? Why? ....

And you are right when you say that city dogs are smarter!
The question is not about the Braking ability of the laura. I know i can stamp on them and still control the car, but in a pretty crowded road like the one i was driving on, the chances of a car rear-ending you is very high. Given that every one around you are doing high speeds. Best way to avoid all this is to keep speeds down to 80 or 90. Since this was the first time i was taking the laura on a long drive, I was being very aggressive on the throttle. Its very tempting,knowing that you have 140HP waiting to burst out.
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Old 16th February 2012, 17:15   #88
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
will get some simple features activated. I did ask a person who has the Cable and has activated many features on his Laura.
what features to be precise ?? can you please elaborate ? i might as well get those features activated in my Laura L&K A/T
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Old 17th February 2012, 17:37   #89
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by sajid33 View Post
what features to be precise ?? can you please elaborate ? i might as well get those features activated in my Laura L&K A/T
Most of these 'features' would already be activated in your L&K by default. THe lesser versions have the hardware required for some of these features but remain deactivated to make the higher versions look better. Sounds absurd right? But that's how marketing brains work .
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Old 19th February 2012, 12:39   #90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Most of these 'features' would already be activated in your L&K by default. THe lesser versions have the hardware required for some of these features but remain deactivated to make the higher versions look better. Sounds absurd right? But that's how marketing brains work .
I have an Ambiente DSG. The newer batch. With stripped features. Can i still activate few more features? I have activated DRL. Frm skoda's workshop. Seatbelt warning is not possible coa ther is no sensor in the seat belt clip. Is it still possible to add it? I want to activate 'staging' or needle sweep. Is it possible in Ambiente?
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