[fesar79]

This is my first Ownership report.

To start with why Scala and what made me to decide this....

I work for Renault-Nissan, just because I work there I didn't choose this car. Its because the Employee discount I get for the car and with the price after the discount the Scala RxZ came to the price of the Nissan Sunny XV. For the money I spend I felt it is VFM.

The hunt for the new car started in July and I decided on Sunny and then when I spoke to my Engineering team I heard Scala is just a month away. And being an employee I got to see the car before and even feel it at the plant. By the time it was launched I was decided for the RxZ Scala.

Booking & Delivery

The next day after the launch, went to Khivraj Pearl Annanagar Showroom, Chennai and made the booking advance of 50k. Then the color has to be decided. In my house we already have Swift - Red, Dzire - Silver. So we wanted to choose another color which left us with Metallic Blue, Black and Pearl White. The showroom had only the silver and White. There was one Blue but it was kept for some launch function at a star hotel. The dealer was so kind enough to take us and show the color. This Metallic blue was different and hence it was the color decided.

Then the car was ready but we need the state authority approval to get the RTO registration of the car in Tamilnadu. The whole process took almost a month, TN government is not co-operative and I know the dealer and Renault has nothing much to do, but keep waiting.

On October 5th the car was registered and delivered. This is where i was little disappointed. No Mud flaps, No mats and nothing given except ribbon. Dealer had almost a month to deliver the car but still they could replenish the basic needed accessories. I am writing this review on 23 October as of today I haven't got the basic accessories still.

Dealer as usual not responsive. They miss your call often, never call back when they commit. But with the help of Renault all the things were handled well. But still as of date I am running behind them for the basic accessories. Chennai monsoon started already without mud flaps its difficult to maintain the car daily.

Accessories/Mods done to the car

1. After taking the delivery, I went directly and changed the tyres to Michelin Primacy LC 195/60/R15.
2. Then the audio HU was changed to Caska AT 1624 HU with the Reverse Camera, Bluetooth, iPod/iPhone support, DVD, Radio. The HU has also features to setup the Steering control. Reverse camera can be used even without being in reverse gear. Tyre Pressure Monitor system capable (Yet to upgrade).
3. Vkool VK-70 Front, Rear and sides sun Film.
4. 3D Kagu Mats (Nissan Sunny fits perfectly)
5. 3M Care 1year Sealant Paint Protection Program
6. 3M 5 Year underbody Body Schutz paint.
7. Philips headlight Wiring Kit with Philips Essential Vision 100/90 White Rally Light.
8. Interior room light changed to LED white lights.

Initial Impressions

My daily driving is atleast 120kms and of which around 60-70kms on highway and the remaining on worst to ok traffic depends on the luck and time.

I have driven 1500kms as of now.

1. Gear shift, Clutch are very smooth and gears are easy to engage.
   
2. Gear ratios are good .... I could drive in 40 kms with the 5th gear. Especially in the highway I never had to downshift and also to overtake I never need to downshift just hit the pedal and it goes. A real good shift from my swift.
   
3. Never went beyond 120kms. but especially before the tyre change I felt the tyre was noisy in the highway and after the change to Primacy LC it was silent, with LC the car suspension is very smooth and glides most of the potholes. It grips well on both dry and wet roads.
   
4. Seat adjustments and the driver seat are very supportive and gives better height as well as the steering adjustments gives you a better driving position for any driver.
   
5. Controls on the car are well placed. The MID is also very useful and gives good information at all times.
   
6. External side mirros are big not as big as my swift. But it gives a good amount of view.
   
7. Never felt any turbo lag i feel it is very minimal. I can still drive the scala as I used to drive my swift. Driving inside the city is very easy for such a big car.
   
8. Rear seats as we all know its very spacious. One problem is that, it is so spacious and the lumbar support is not so good and I feel the seat should have been a little longer under the thigh. I had few experience on sudden braking, people tend to slip from the seat as long as they are not on seat belts.
   
9. Brake is very mediocre, i feel my swift has the best ABS brake when compared to this. The braking doesn't give you any response, Almost 40% of time on sudden braking I am not confident if the car would brake or not. It does brake but as a driver I don't get the confident feedback from the brakes.
   
10. Storage inside the car is very disappointing, for such a spacious car the are only 2 bottle holders in the door and it is also for 0.5 litre bottle only. In the rear there is nothing. Still you can keep under the front seats. With such legroom we have space there. I feel it should be more. Front passenger seat rear has a storage but not the driver seat.
    
11. Just 41 litres of tank capacity. The competitors of this cadre has atleast 50 - 55 litres and my swift itself has 36. This is unfair. I feel is this cost cutting ...
    
12. Leather seats are not stitched to the seats they are like the after market seat covers zipped on the seats.
    
13. Boot space is huge, if you remove the boot cover you still have more space under that to keep things. I feel the space are utilised very well to get the most of it.
    
14. Noise inside the cabin is so silent. I hardly hear outside noise and the other cars honking noise. This is impressive inside the cabin. I never felt any vibration as of now.
    
15. As of now for my driving my FE was 18.2.
    
16. Sound from the Caska HU is much better that the OE HU. The mapmyindia GPS is very good and from the last time I used it, it has improved so much.
    
17. Plastics inside the car is very cheap and quality definitely has to be improved. Cost cutting is more obvious at many places.

Conclusion

Overall I am impressed with the car, Good FE, Good Ride Quality, impressive engine and interior cabin. Coming from Swift and Dzire its a great car. This is definitely not a car for enthusiast drivers. But surely a great car for chauffeur driven with such a space on the rear.

[vasanthn21]

Congrats for the new car. Is this the first ownership report of Scala on Team-BHP?

Since you mentioned that you had decided on Sunny earlier, I am assuming you have driven Sunny at least a few times. What do you think are the major differences between Sunny and Scala?

Also, you are saying braking is not even as good as Swift? Swift is known for bad brakes. I have read reviews about Sunny mentioning that there is an initial play in the brake pedal - meaning nothing happens for the first few seconds of braking and then the brakes start working, but I am told it is a matter of "getting used to it". Is this the case with Scala or is the braking bad?

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Scala. Does the caska head unit has inbuilt navigation which is active?

My friend picked up a Petrol RxL last Friday. The dealership experience is very similar to yours. No basic accessories given which was promised at the time of booking. Neighter the car was cleaned when delivered.

Now enough of my ranting.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the car.

[MHG]

Congratulations on your buy. If you were offered company discount I presume you must also have been offered a discount on the Sunny making it an even more VFM option. Any particular reasons for picking the Scala instead ?

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Swift is known for bad brakes.

Swift non-ABS is known for bad brakes. Swift ABS is known for really good brakes. Atleast that is the urban legend

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by MHG

Swift non-ABS is known for bad brakes. Swift ABS is known for really good brakes. Atleast that is the urban legend

Sorry, my bad!

I am also interested in knowing the answer to the question you have posed to fesar. I had test driven Sunny a while back, and was totally in love with it, then came GTO's ownership review of the Sunny - which made it even more irresistible!
Need to sort out my finances ASAP to acquire it.

[fesar79]

Originally Posted by MHG

Congratulations on your buy. If you were offered company discount I presume you must also have been offered a discount on the Sunny making it an even more VFM option. Any particular reasons for picking the Scala instead ?

Swift non-ABS is known for bad brakes. Swift ABS is known for really good brakes. Atleast that is the urban legend

The reason is that I felt the gear shifts and the suspension felt better than the Sunny and hence I decided for scala and of course the looks.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Congrats on the Scala. Does the caska head unit has inbuilt navigation which is active?

======

The caska HU comes with builtin Mapmyindia navigation kit with all India maps loaded.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Congrats for the new car. Is this the first ownership report of Scala on Team-BHP?

Since you mentioned that you had decided on Sunny earlier, I am assuming you have driven Sunny at least a few times. What do you think are the major differences between Sunny and Scala?

Also, you are saying braking is not even as good as Swift? Swift is known for bad brakes. I have read reviews about Sunny mentioning that there is an initial play in the brake pedal - meaning nothing happens for the first few seconds of braking and then the brakes start working, but I am told it is a matter of "getting used to it". Is this the case with Scala or is the braking bad?

Yes I drove both the cars before deciding on scala. I felt the ride comfort, gear shifts was much better in Scala. I also felt the suspension was better in Scala.

The brakes yes the initial play was hard in sunny and the scala I test drove. But in the car I got I didn't feel that. I feel the brake lever is hard and u press hard and u get a bit of feedback. U press light u never get any feedback but however car stops.

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Hi fesar79, congratulations for the scala. Would have preferred scala against sunny just for the front profile. Enjoy many miles of happy driving and do post more interior pics especially the seats etc. Which other cars did you consider apart from sunny and scala?

[fesar79]

Originally Posted by Shreyas Aterkar

Hi fesar79, congratulations for the scala. Would have preferred scala against sunny just for the front profile. Enjoy many miles of happy driving and do post more interior pics especially the seats etc. Which other cars did you consider apart from sunny and scala?

Personally I liked the Vento and Rapid. However the rear comfort and space in the sunny/scala can't be beaten by any of its competitor. To the discounts I got, the high-end of the Rapid/Vento was around 1.2 lakhs more. Hence my decision.

[arup.misra]

Congrats on your Scala. Liked the shade. Is is the same Blue that is available on the Sunny to?

What's the service interval like. Enjoy a hassle free ownership.

[fuel_addict]

Congratulations on getting Renault's version of the CAAAAR. A Scala at the price of an equal variant Sunny is a sweet deal.

The tyre upgrade was a good move considering the lesser bite the brakes are known to have. You have gone for quite a few electrical changes upfront which is quite a bold move. I am surprised you went with expensive V-Kool sun films when the recent court order has created a dilemma in the minds of new car buyers. Beware of "hungry" cops in your area.

All the best for a hassle free ownership experience.

[fesar79]

Originally Posted by arup.misra

Congrats on your Scala. Liked the shade. Is is the same Blue that is available on the Sunny to?

What's the service interval like. Enjoy a hassle free ownership.

The blue on sunny is bit light and non-metallic. First is due on 2000kms, then 10000 and then 20000.

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

Congratulations on getting Renault's version of the CAAAAR. A Scala at the price of an equal variant Sunny is a sweet deal.

The tyre upgrade was a good move considering the lesser bite the brakes are known to have. You have gone for quite a few electrical changes upfront which is quite a bold move. I am surprised you went with expensive V-Kool sun films when the recent court order has created a dilemma in the minds of new car buyers. Beware of "hungry" cops in your area.

All the best for a hassle free ownership experience.

I have the same films on my swift and so far no issue. In terms of electric there is no wire cutting done to anything. Hence no worries of warranty.

[fesar79]

Completed the first service and 2500kms

1. Took the car to Khivraj Service Centre Mountroad on Saturday October 27th at 9 am.
2. As mine was the second car, they took the car and said it will be ready in 2 hours.
3. Asked them what will be done, he said just general check up on all oil levels, screw tightening, greasing and then water wash and interior clean.
4. All was done and the car was handed over to me by 12.
5. First service price is 0.
6. I asked the service engineer, is there anyway where we can improve the braking, he said one way is to upscale your tire. I said I have already done that. He said that is all as of now.

During that time, I found many cars coming inside for small issues and they were fixed immediately and I saw more happy customers going away. Its a good sign as long as they maintain this. I also felt it is because the number of customers they get is not high at this moment.

Regards,
Francis.

[akhil_rpmlover]

Congrats on your new Scala fesar. Nice point by point write up.

You have daily 120kms of driving ? Awesome bro. Looking for more of your ownership reports and more pictures of-course.

Forgot to mention the color is stunning.Though I'm a blue fanatic, this one looks well with the car and with the front chrome bit. The HU gels well with the central console. Good choice.

[MAS]

@faser - Congrats on your new drive.

This is Scala's first ownership review on Team-BHP.

How is the ride & handing when compared to the Swift?

[the VTEC guy]

Congratulations on a beautiful car. Love the TV commercial for Scala.
Casaka seems to be providing options for lot of new cars. Your unit seems to be a 2 DIN straight fit. Does it integrate with the steering mounted controls?