[rugsrags]

Congratulations. It's a great car for sure. I'm surprised with the FE of 21 mine only manages 12 to a litre of diesel!!! Guess I'll take it to the service center then. I mean how much difference could there be in the driving conditions.
There's another similarity though. Even I changed my white civic done nearly exactly the same amount of Kms 94210 to a white Octavia albeit an elegance trim!!

[wilful]

Enjoyed reading your detailed review of the Octavia. It is indeed a very handsome car! I hope you will have no issues on ASS. Wish you many miles of enjoyable motoring!

[MaxTorque]

Congratulations on your new acquisition. New Octavia looks stunning in the white shade. Happy miles ahead, as everyone will be keen to know about the after sales experience of Skoda, please do update us...

[Napo]

Congratulations Joe! Looks like white is your brand of colour

Originally Posted by joethomasv

The AC in auto mode cools the front windshields too for some strange reason. Not a good thing during and after rains

Did you take this up with Skoda? It could be very difficult to drive during monsoons in Kerala. A friend of mine who is a Rapid owner had the same issue with his car. The service guys asked him to adjust the A/C. Might something specific to Skoda.

[Joe M]

Congrats for the new purchase. The octy is my favourite in the segment. The looks are unmatched. Interior fit & finish is also awesome. Rear torsion beam suspension is a let down though.

I generally have a weak point for soft compound tyres because they offer very good grip but this is a bit too much wear for 4K. Usually tyres remain just like new after running 4-5K. Still, I feel it'll make to 20-25 K in good shape.

[Pferdestarke]

Congrats joe on your new acquisition. Nice write up with winsome pictures. Octavia looks elegant in white. Does the sound from rear suspension feel too irksome? Happy mile munching with your new ride.

[joethomasv]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Nice review with good details and some great photographs.
This is deja vu. I recall the very nice review thread of that white Figo of yours. Is the little Ford with you still?
Why didn't you get the benefits of excise duty cut?

Thanks Deetjohn! Yes, the little Ford is still with us, ready for the 70k km service.
I promise I'll post some more pictures of the car as soon as I get some free time. Skoda decided not to pass on the benefits of the excise duty cut. There was no price drop for the Octavia. I got the car before the Kerala road tax increase though.

Originally Posted by rugsrags

Congratulations. It's a great car for sure. I'm surprised with the FE of 21 mine only manages 12 to a litre of diesel!!! Guess I'll take it to the service center then. I mean how much difference could there be in the driving conditions.
There's another similarity though. Even I changed my white civic done nearly exactly the same amount of Kms 94210 to a white Octavia albeit an elegance trim!!

Thanks rugsrags! That's a strange coincidence! Looking forward to your review of your car. 21 kmpl is not my aveage mileage. That's the best I got with a gentle right foot.

Originally Posted by wilful

Enjoyed reading your detailed review of the Octavia. It is indeed a very handsome car! I hope you will have no issues on ASS. Wish you many miles of enjoyable motoring!

Thanks wilful! The A.S.S is what I'm worried about. Almost all Skoda threads start on a happy note but end up cursing the dealer.

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Congratulations on your new acquisition. New Octavia looks stunning in the white shade. Happy miles ahead, as everyone will be keen to know about the after sales experience of Skoda, please do update us...

Thanks MaxTorque! I don't have very high expectations from the dealer but even then I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed. Let's wait and see.

Originally Posted by Napo

Congratulations Joe! Looks like white is your brand of colour
Did you take this up with Skoda? It could be very difficult to drive during monsoons in Kerala. A friend of mine who is a Rapid owner had the same issue with his car. The service guys asked him to adjust the A/C. Might something specific to Skoda.

Yes white is our family colour
I'm sure the auto AC cooling the windshield is a 'feature' and not a bug. There's no fogging when the AC is in manual mode. I'll be taking it to the dealer next week to confirm.

Originally Posted by Joe M

Congrats for the new purchase.
I generally have a weak point for soft compound tyres because they offer very good grip but this is a bit too much wear for 4K. Usually tyres remain just like new after running 4-5K. Still, I feel it'll make to 20-25 K in good shape.

Thanks Joe! Yes it might last 20K kms with 4 tires. Since the spare is not an alloy, it can't be used. I still have the original spare that came with the car in my Figo, untouched.

Originally Posted by Pferdestarke

Congrats joe on your new acquisition. Nice write up with winsome pictures. Octavia looks elegant in white. Does the sound from rear suspension feel too irksome? Happy mile munching with your new ride.

Thanks Pferdestarke! I no longer notice the sound from the rear suspension unless the roads are really bad and I'm the only occupant. It's not annoying but I wish it wasn't there.

[nikhil_pon]

Congrats on the car JoeThomas, it looks classy in white - good choice you made

in hindsight, you might have been better off changing the tyres immediately after the car purchase.

Any particular reason you didnt consider the petrol given the usage of approx 14000km per annum stated and the petrol and diesel prices nearly up. Also you would have got the multilink suspension as well.

please update the thread whenever you can, it is nice the to see octavia threads coming up, gives due justice to this brilliant - hope Skoda improves their after sales support.
All the best on your new ride for many miles to come, enjoy!

[B747]

Originally Posted by joethomasv

It's been two months and 4080 kms now and except for the noise from the rear suspension ( especially when the car is not loaded) and the NCT 5s I'm happy with my choice. The noise seems to reduce/disappear when there is atleast three persons in the car. Same applies to the ride. It gets smoother with speed/load, exactly opposite to the Civic. I also feel that the car handles quite well despite the inferior rear suspension. Maybe not as well as the multilink one but I believe the torsion beam is better for highway runs with a fully laden car.

Superb review with superb pics, in the first pic it looks like a massive bird ready to fly, with the massive torque it literally flies.

Completely agree with you on the above statements. Suspension noise is very less on a loaded car and the massive boot amplifies the noise.
Torsion beam is bit more stiff compared to multi link and during high speed NH drives this gives better stability.

My octy is 7200+ on odo and I am not facing any abnormal tyre wear issues.

[joethomasv]

Originally Posted by nikhil_pon

Any particular reason you didnt consider the petrol given the usage of approx 14000km per annum stated and the petrol and diesel prices nearly up.

Thanks Nikhil! The primary reason for choosing the diesel ambition over the elegance 1.8 is the waiting period. Second, even if both the fuels cost the same, the petrol can't match the diesel's efficiency. Third, when I compared the service costs, the petrol seem to cost more. And finally the famed 7 speed DSG.

Originally Posted by B747

My octy is 7200+ on odo and I am not facing any abnormal tyre wear issues.

Thanks B747! Even Chethan's Jetta is doing fine with the Goodyears. I need to get the alignment checked ASAP.

[Utopian]

Congrats for the Octavia. It certainly seems an ideal upgrade to the Civic considering your new requirements.
You mentioned driving in manual mode to avoid DSG upshift to 2nd. Why would it hurt the clutch. I believe the transmission control unit would take care of that

[abhinav.gupta88]

One question, is your car equipped with a storage box under the front passenger seat

[joethomasv]

Originally Posted by Utopian

You mentioned driving in manual mode to avoid DSG upshift to 2nd. Why would it hurt the clutch. I believe the transmission control unit would take care of that

Thanks Utopian!
Unlike the torque converter, the DSG slips the clutch when crawling or creeping. The clutch is fully engaged only when the accelerator is pressed. So when you release the accelerator or press the brake pedal in D mode (which keeps the car in 2nd gear) when crawling over small rocks for example, I'm pretty sure the clutch is slipped to slow the car down. That can't be good for the clutch.

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

One question, is your car equipped with a storage box under the front passenger seat

No there's no storage box under the passenger seat. There's plenty of space for one though.

Here's the photos of the boot mat you wanted:

[abhinav.gupta88]

Wow, this mat looks really nice and handy, especially when there is some stuff which might cause the mat to get dirty.

Is this like the 3d mats which are water proof and easily cleaned.

How much did this cost? Was this done at the dealer itself.

[Amarendranath]

Hi Joe,

Where did you get this mat from and how much did it cost you? I would like to get a similar one for my Jetta. Looks real good. Would save time in keeping the carpet clean.