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Old 1st May 2014, 12:14   #31
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Many many congratulations Narsi on your Rapid and have a great time with her. I feel similarly towards my Fabia but also fortunate that in the jugglery i had to do when buying my T-Jet i could still retain her , and to this day she drives trouble free and being an excellent companion to my wife!!



The cooled glove box is something which was present in the earlier models of the Fabia and it was then taken out so for recent owners of a Fabia shifting to a Rapid might not really miss it.

I agree on the parking ticket holder , really nifty and useful and sorely missed as i do in the Fiat once you get used to using it.

If you have not already fixed the cover of the arm rest try it with double sided tape once before using glue to see if that will work out or if it will hamper anything. I would assume that it should not have anything to do with the locking mechanism either , the fiat has one more or less at the same spot and what it does it provide access to the workings of the arm rest and has no role beyond that to play. In the case of the fiat it comes off so no chance really of breaking it.

Best of luck in getting the new tires quickly!!
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Old 2nd May 2014, 16:27   #32
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Re: Let the Pictures Do the Talking - Interiors

Quote:
Originally Posted by motomaverick View Post
Congrats Narsi, I was quite surprised to see that you chose a sedan. I remember the discussions last year were for a SUV. But in the end the Rapid matched all your requirements. And quite a nicely written log even if it was your first time. Have fun clocking miles on this car.

By the way the selection criteria seemed skewed towards the Rapid
Thanks for the wishes Hirak. Yeah, you are right about our discussions and at that point of time SUV (XUV) was in the radar. But the situations changed drastically post Oct 2013 which forced me to go with a Sedan. In fact this was also kept as second option and the first option was to revamp the Fabia and use it for another 50k kms.

And regarding the selection criteria being skewed towards Rapid may be due to my addiction towards the European cars

Quote:
Originally Posted by nda992 View Post
A very well written post. One can sense the pride of the owner and the love you have for your car.

Happy and safe driving ..hope to hear more stories of your Rapid.
Thanks for your wishes nda992

Quote:
Originally Posted by puchoo View Post
Many many congratulations Narsi on your Rapid and have a great time with her. I feel similarly towards my Fabia but also fortunate that in the jugglery i had to do when buying my T-Jet i could still retain her , and to this day she drives trouble free and being an excellent companion to my wife!!

The cooled glove box is something which was present in the earlier models of the Fabia and it was then taken out so for recent owners of a Fabia shifting to a Rapid might not really miss it.

I agree on the parking ticket holder , really nifty and useful and sorely missed as i do in the Fiat once you get used to using it.

Best of luck in getting the new tires quickly!!
Thanks puchoo for your wishes. You are right that there are many features which were removed from the updated Fabia. The Fabia from initial batches had many nifty and good features. And regarding the tyres, there is an update to share.

Quote:
Originally Posted by narsi_6989 View Post
Now waiting for reply from Apollo Tyres. Fingers crossed.
As you guys might be aware of the torn tyre issue in my Rapid and the subsequent mail sent to Apollo Tyres for goodwill warranty, there is an update.

Skoda showroom received a mail from Apollo Tyres mentioning they are ready to offer goodwill warranty on 50% cost sharing basis. 50% of the amount (approx 2250/-) will be from my pocket and the remaining from Apollo Tyres. I have accepted the same and now waiting to hear from them on how, where and when to get the new tyre.
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Old 3rd May 2014, 01:22   #33
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Congrats Narsi,

I am driving a rapid since more than a year, and i love the way it is!

Its an excellent vehicle with no extra useless features. and put a smile everytime i floor the accelerator in the 3rd gear at 1800 rpm all the way upto 4200, its just addicting.

Wish you many happy miles ahead!
All the best.

thanks
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Old 6th May 2014, 15:05   #34
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

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Originally Posted by don_carmaster View Post
Congrats Narsi,
Wish you many happy miles ahead!
All the best.
thanks
Thanks for your wishes don_carmaster.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today I got my torn tire replaced . As mentioned in my earlier post, the warranty was honored on goodwill basis and the tire was offered at 50% of the price. The service engineer from Apollo Tyres called me yesterday and asked me to pick up the tire today. Went to their godown and the person there provided me with the warranty award letter and invoice for the new tire along with the tire. It cost me 2114/- for the tire. Since I got the tire from the godown, I could not get it fixed there. I need to go to a tire shop to get it fixed. My question is, do I need to get the alignment and balancing done with the new tire?

The Award Letter:
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-warranty-award.jpg

Tax Invoice:
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-tyre-invoice.jpg

Mean time, yesterday I received a call my from my SA Mr. Arun informing me that he got a customer seeing this review of mine. The customer had specifically asked for him it seems. Now he becomes the 3rd customer including me (2nd was my cousin who got his petrol Ultima delivered last month). I am happy that this review was helpful to people out there. However, I would like to mention that I am in no way related to Skoda or Gurudev motors and not canvassing for them. It is just my opinion and experiences I have penned down here.

Whoever that customer is (BHPian or not), if you are reading this now I would like to wish you all the best with your purchase .

Last edited by narsi_6989 : 6th May 2014 at 15:10.
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Old 6th May 2014, 15:20   #35
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Never hurts to get the balancing and the alignment checked out anyway , its not a costly proposition at all and since you were driving around on a damaged tyre , if i was in your shoes i would do it just to be on the safer side.
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Old 8th May 2014, 11:04   #36
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Quote:
Originally Posted by narsi_6989 View Post
My question is, do I need to get the alignment and balancing done with the new tire?
Good to hear that apollo tyres has offered you the tyre replacement for 50% price on goodwill basis. That's definitely a commendable act. Regarding the alignment, whenever you fettle with the wheels, alignment is imperative to be done IMHO.
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Old 15th May 2014, 12:22   #37
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Noticed two things while giving a good bath to my ride on Sunday. One showed the heights of part sharing between Vento and Rapid while the other is about few interesting drain points in the car.

We all know that Vento and Rapid are twins and most of the parts like windshield, windows and the list goes on are shared. But did you know, the chrome lining in the dashboard is also shared? The chrome lining that runs just below the hazard light button has a small 'VW' engraved on it.

Heights of part sharing - The engraving can be found in the circled location:
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-details-2.jpg

While washing the car noticed that the water goes inside the window panes and door and drains out at the bottom. At first was shocked to see this in the passenger side. The noticed the same pattern in all the doors. It may be available in many cars but I have not seen till date. This is the first car in which I am observing this. The pictorial representation is given below.

A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-details.jpg

The above mentioned things happened on Sunday and I was very happy and proud about my gleaming car, until yesterday evening when tragedy struck . Dad went to Kanchipuram temple festival yesterday and there he met with a minor accident with an Auto. The passenger door is dented and the rear door has scratches. The fault was on my dad who did not notice the Auto and also did not check the steering position before taking the car. The good thing was that no one was injured. Lost my sleep whole night yesterday. An interesting thing happened though. Yesterday, my dad told about this nearly 2 hours after I reached home. It was just like a boy revealing his results to his dad . We were talking and suddenly he asked me about today's plan and then told me about this and asked me if I can take the vehicle to the workshop. Appointment fixed for Monday and need to register a claim. I was about to take my ride for Summer Check up Camp this weekend and now I am taking it for a totally different reason. The saddest part is that it is not even 2 months old and the car has run only 3500kms.

A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-acc-1.jpg

A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-acc-2.jpg

Last edited by narsi_6989 : 15th May 2014 at 12:31.
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Old 15th May 2014, 13:36   #38
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Quote:
Originally Posted by narsi_6989 View Post
The saddest part is that it is not even 2 months old and the car has run only 3500kms.
I am totally crestfallen to see your ride in such condition. But these sort of things happen very commonly in our country. Being a new car, the paint matching would be effortless and perfect, so need to worry on that front. Keep us updated on the repair costs.
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Old 19th May 2014, 13:05   #39
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

I don't know how to say this. Skoda Workshop has asked me to replace the door for that dent .

Today was my appointment and I went in with the car. The SA while preparing the job card told me that the door will have to be replaced and they will not do any tinkering job on it. I was adamant and pressed my case. I had done tinkering in the same workshop for my Fabia. I insisted to see the mechanic myself and to get his opinion. The mechanic came and he too said the same. One of his reasons was ridiculous. He says, they won't be able to bring back the perfection of the ridge at the bottom of the door. The ridge highlighted below. This I found to be a stupid reason. A friendly neighborhood garage was ready to take up the tinkering and painting job, but I wanted to get it done from Skoda as the car was pretty new. Now replacing the door has forced me to go for insurance claim. The claim is registered and once the claim is approved, the car will be delivered in 3 working days. Checked for the stock and it is available.
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-ridge.jpg

The other reason the mechanic gave was that there is rod inside the door which is damaged and that can't be repaired. I am not sure whether to believe him or not. The approximate position of the rod as mentioned by the mechanic is shown below.
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-rod-position.jpg
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Old 19th May 2014, 13:21   #40
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

I find this argument funny that this dented door cannot be brought back to factory shape! Sheer incompetency. The only valid reason which I can think of is that of a damaged door impact beam or the anti-intrusion bars. If these are really damaged, then you should replace the door. However, a minor dent like yours, I do not suspect that the beam would have been damaged. However, I see that you have already taken the call for replacement. BTW, what is the cost of the door?

Regards,
Saket
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Old 19th May 2014, 13:30   #41
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

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Originally Posted by saket77 View Post
I find this argument funny that this dented door cannot be brought back to factory shape! Sheer incompetency. The only valid reason which I can think of is that of a damaged door impact beam or the anti-intrusion bars. If these are really damaged, then you should replace the door. However, a minor dent like yours, I do not suspect that the beam would have been damaged. However, I see that you have already taken the call for replacement. BTW, what is the cost of the door?

Regards,
Saket
I very well know that it can be brought back to factory shape, but they are not ready to do it. I won't term it as incompetency, it is laziness and greed. It will take time and cost lesser than replacement. As I already said, he said that intrusion bar is damaged and I am not sure whether to believe him. If that is the case, replacement is the best option. As for the cost, the SA told he will mail me the quotation by EOD. still waiting for it.
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Old 19th May 2014, 22:20   #42
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Quote:
Originally Posted by narsi_6989 View Post
I very well know that it can be brought back to factory shape, but they are not ready to do it. I won't term it as incompetency, it is laziness and greed. It will take time and cost lesser than replacement. As I already said, he said that intrusion bar is damaged and I am not sure whether to believe him. If that is the case, replacement is the best option. As for the cost, the SA told he will mail me the quotation by EOD. still waiting for it.
Sad to see the car in bruises and sadder to hear that they are pressing on replacing rather than repairing.

I too met with a very small touch and go kind of an accident wherein one edge on the front left of my bonnet got dented.
The dent itself is very small but is noticeable.
I took it to a nearby denting/painting shop and he said that to remove the same they will have to puncture a whole in the sheet below the bonnet and it is rather advisable to leave it as it is (nazar ka teeka).
Haven't yet checked on with Skoda because not worth wasting insurance on it.

Meanwhile, do you have a Zero Dep cover?
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Old 22nd May 2014, 13:53   #43
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

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Originally Posted by achopraa View Post
Sad to see the car in bruises and sadder to hear that they are pressing on replacing rather than repairing.

I too met with a very small touch and go kind of an accident wherein one edge on the front left of my bonnet got dented.
The dent itself is very small but is noticeable.
I took it to a nearby denting/painting shop and he said that to remove the same they will have to puncture a whole in the sheet below the bonnet and it is rather advisable to leave it as it is (nazar ka teeka).
Haven't yet checked on with Skoda because not worth wasting insurance on it.

Meanwhile, do you have a Zero Dep cover?
Sorry to hear about the dent in your bonnet. Before selling my Fabia, a Tata Ace reversed and that caused a dent in the bonnet. That was fixed by the local mechanic in the friendly neighborhood garage. As in your case, there was a need to puncture the sheet below. But I insisted not to do any such thing. The guy did a neat job by without puncturing a whole. Yes it did take some time and effort, but it was worth it. I would have gone with the same guy had my Rapid been 1-2 years old. Unfortunately it is not even 2 months old.

As for the query on insurance, no I do not have Zero Dep insurance. My mistake, I should have taken one. But no issues, since the car is new 95% is covered by the insurance and rest 5% should be from my pocket.
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Old 27th May 2014, 15:18   #44
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Feels great to be back behind the wheels of my Rapid after a week. The door was replaced and got back my ride yesterday evening. Car was ready by Friday but since I was out of station, took delivery yesterday. The good part is that, car was delivered in promised time of 5 working days that too after insurance approval and disbursement. The total bill was 26383/- out of which 19155/- was covered by insurance. I had to shell 7228/- from my pocket. The painting and finishing was also neat and there is no noticeable difference anywhere.

As I suspected, there was no damage to the intrusion bar . On closer inspection I could see that outer shell is damaged and inner part did not suffer anything. But it would have taken some effort to tinker and bring back to shape as there is no opening in the inner sheet to access the outer one.

The intrusion rod without any damage:
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-door-1.jpg

The arrow points to the damaged sheet. This is the inner one, while the outer shell which has maximum damage could not be accessed. If I had opted to tinker it from outside garage, a hole would have been punctured to do the needful:
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-door-2.jpg

The Invoice:
A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI-invoice.jpg

Ironically, I had to ask for the damaged door. At first I was of the opinion that the insurance company will take the door but when I asked to show me the door the SA said that I can take the door if I want. Out of curiosity I asked what if I come and ask for the door later. "It will be sold to the scrap market" came his reply . So one will get the old part only when he asks for it. The smaller parts are always given back, but the parts which will fetch them money (read bigger metal parts) are not given. The other reason might be the customer will find it difficult to transport it and has to spend money on Tata Ace or similar vehicle to transport the bigger parts. There is no gain to the customer here. I loaded the door in the rear seat with proper precautions and got it home.

What do I do with this door now? Market cost is ~10k and scrap market will give me not even 1k. Any pointers?
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Old 27th May 2014, 15:38   #45
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Re: A Skoda makes way for another Skoda - My Rapid 1.6L TDI

Sad to see the damage but in the end alls well that ends well. By the way why did you have to shell out 7 grand even after insurance. I thought bumper to bumper covers everything?
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