Delivered: Skoda Rapid Ambition AT

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by ronline

Hi joslicx,

When did you book? Its kind of interesting, when I went to a dealer in Delhi last Thursday, Apr-19, he showed me an official email on his blackberry regarding Vento Highline AT to be manufactured April-June this year. It clearly mentioned ex-showroom Delhi price as ~9.72 lacs i.e. further increase of 34K after the post-budget increase.

It also mentioned some addons like - rear camera with park assist, leatherette upholstery, steering mounted audio controls, stereo with USB & Aux in etc, Climatronic display backlight color change etc. Are you getting all of these?

The Chandigarh dealer also confirmed this.

Rgds,
RS

Hey RS

your thread had disappeared for some days

Yes you are right and I was wrong! There is another increase (apart from the budget induced one) on the Vento Petrol Highline price that I came to know only very recently (my sales advisor still is telling me the old price only!) The new ex-Showroom price in Karnataka is 9.84L for the AT model (last year it was 9.37L) so there is an increase of about 45k. All in all, compared to pre-budget prices the increase is about 60k. So with this increased price Vento AT is finally more expensive than ANHC V AT.

Yes 2012 model has all these features except for the leatherette seats! It is still 'livon' fabric seats for the Petrol Highline models, I'm told.

Rapid AT is super VFM compared to Vento given these prices.

How much was the corporate discount for you? Wanna share?

[ronline]

Mod Note : Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another!

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Any view on the rear seat comfort and ergonomics?

Hi,

I've not traveled on the rear seat yet but I've received the following comments from my co-passengers so far:

- The leg room is more than the Kalka Shatabdi Chair Car seat !
- The rear centre armrest is very beneficial.
- There has been only once when 3 people (5.5 to 5.10 height) sat for a city ride of 40 Km and they said it was comfortable.

The rear AC vent is good too and comes with a cup holder below it. Rear doors can also hold a water bottle each.

Regards,
RS

Originally Posted by joslicx

Hey RS

your thread had disappeared for some days

How much was the corporate discount for you? Wanna share?

Yeah it was in the Assembly line.

The corporate discount was 15K. Vento and City are offering 24K and 12K respectively here.

Rgds,
RS

[madnish30]

Great review! And great car, I too was initially looking for a C /C+ segment car in AT - since have driven AT until now, though was keen on Diesel - Verna was the only option with Diesel so went for a MT Vento Diesel.

Wish we had more Diesel AT options, hope VW and Skoda come out with AT Diesel variants in their cars - will sell well IMO.

Wishing you many happy miles on your Rapid , be warned about the A$$ though, the only reason I rejected Rapid without even TD'ing it.

[ronline]

Originally Posted by madnish30

Great review! And great car, I too was initially looking for a C /C+ segment car in AT - since have driven AT until now, though was keen on Diesel - Verna was the only option with Diesel so went for a MT Vento Diesel.

Wish we had more Diesel AT options, hope VW and Skoda come out with AT Diesel variants in their cars - will sell well IMO.

Agreed. The first diesel cars with a 'complete' AT box are only Laura/Cruze. We also missed AT in the Polo 1.6 Petrol. We would have definitely bought that over the Rapid. Imagine a Polo 1.6 Comfortline AT for ~6-7 lacs! That would have been so good. I hope in the future AT option will become common in all cars and all variants.

[madnish30]

Originally Posted by ronline

Agreed. The first diesel cars with a 'complete' AT box are only Laura/Cruze. We also missed AT in the Polo 1.6 Petrol. We would have definitely bought that over the Rapid. Imagine a Polo 1.6 Comfortline AT for ~6-7 lacs! That would have been so good. I hope in the future AT option will become common in all cars and all variants.

Well, Petrol and AT are a disasterous combo from FE point of view, experienced that on all my previous cars. Which is why we need more Diesel AT options in all segments - sadly none besides Verna, Scorpio in the sub 15L segment, not even one!

Hope the manufacturers are listening!

[noopster]

Congrats on a great car and an excellent ownership thread, ronline! I especially liked the comprehensive AT car summary that you compiled.

I have the Vento AT completed over 24,000 km as of today and am very satisfied with my purchase. The price of petrol pinches but that's hardly the car's fault! It was very interesting that your observations about using D/S/tiptronic mode etc. matched almost exactly with mine in the early days of ownership Even the mileages I have observed are very similar.

Good luck with the car and keep updating this thread!

[pareyshaan]

How does Rapid AT compare with Vento AT, anyone has an idea. Rapid AT has a cheaper version and there must be more Skoda dealerships and service centres than VW. If anyone has driven both please give your inputs.

[ashwin49]

@Ronline, Just want to check with you again on any niggles or issues with the Rapid AT. How has the experience been so far( I see that your last post was almost couple of years ago).

This still is the most VFM AT sedan at this price point( Skoda after sales not withstanding) - its sad that manufacturers give a short shrift to AT cars in India.

[Amarendranath]

Congratulations on the car man!

A very helpful review mentioning the traits of the transmission. One of my aunt is considering to get this car and your thread would help her further. Wishing you miles of safe and trouble free ownership.