[Gorkey]

Damn. You definitely did a stellar job of restoring that vehicle. I hope you did the same with the interiors . I am laura petrol fanboy after seeing many stage 3 laura with APR turbos.
You can get a stage 1 later if you want a little more oomph in your ride.
Other mods which I can suggest are:
Vrs steering wheel 3 spoke
Vrs rear spoiler( looks neat)

[Clayton Crasto]

Congratulations on the purchase. The 2L diesel has always been a hoot to drive and is a favourite among tuners.
However since it has clocked over 1L kms, tuners like Harmonix will not agree to do any work without a proper dyno run.
Lastly, take care of the engine as some of these cars were known to consume too much oil while also throwing up issues with the water pump and tensioners.

May you have many joyful miles with the Laura!

[civic-dk]

Originally Posted by onej_maverick

• 10 inch android player with Android Auto/Wireless Carplay - 12k
• Momo Alloy wheels (post exchange) - 24k
• RS bumpers - 25k
• DRL ordered outside - 7k

I haven't added wiper change and tinting costs (i did the rear glass first and then the remaining)

It will be great if you could share the model and price of the android player with android auto/apple carplay. I went with Blaupunkt key largo for my wife's Tiago, but it doesn't have android auto / apple carplay. Also the blaupunkt sound quality is nothing great.

[onej_maverick]

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

This is an absolutely wonderful adventure and a total plot twist like some of the best anime out there. Great that you spent on prep and replacing things like shock absorbers immediately. Laura is mighty fun. Try retrofitting paddle shifters at some point.

P.S: Don't sell the A6.

Paddle shifts along with a flat bottom steering sounds like a great idea . About the Audi, you just made me feel really emotional by mentioning that mate, but its too late now.

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Welcome to the club. The moment one overcomes the brand obsession, and badge value, this is a great buy. As you rightly pointed out, Skoda maintenance would be cheap, when you look from Audi point of view.

Btw, is the RS bumper fully functional with headlight washer?

Thanks. Honestly, even when i purchased the Audi, it was mostly for the performance of the engine rather than the badge value, but it did spoil me with everything it came with air suspension, active dampers, great interiors. The biggest pill for me to swallow was that i didn't need that performance anymore. It was a huge mental battle for me, but i think i will write a separate thread on how i decided to move on.

Yes, the we did fit the headlamp washers in the same position, it is working. But what i failed to do was fit the front parking sensors which the L&K comes with, i still have it in the boot of my car, i will do get it fixed in the upcoming service which is due in a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by kamilharis

Haha such a wonderful friend you have got, he should definitely work in the sales department of SKODA I would say, for making someone pick up a 10yr old DQ250 Laura over a Corolla.

Anyways jokes apart, such a wonderful car to own and I wish you a lot of joyful kilometers on this beauty.

More and more pics please.

Yeah, i have been owning Skodas without any service trouble, thanks to him. But i also think DQ250 is fairly reliable compared to the DQ200 (i had in the superb petrol).

"My friend : Lets just ask for a test drive, i have 3 engines, 2 gearboxes and everything you might need at my garage, why do you care then ?"

I have seen a bunch of Mechatronic units lying around in his garage, hence the psychological peace of mind.

Originally Posted by ShivWason17

Something similar happened with me last year. I went to Cars24 dealer here looking for some decent mid size Suv and ended up booking a sparsely used 1 year old octavia (a sedan was never even in my preferred car list).

The Laura looks good after the restoration work you have done. This can be your project car for the future, dont let your age come in between , 30s are the new 20s in todays world I feel. There are plenty of tasteful mods available for your steed, will make your ownership experience even better.

Cheers to many miles ahead with this machine.

Thats amazing to hear, so i am not the only one who loses track while purchasing cars hope you are having a great time with the octy ! Talking about 30s, i am 6 foot 4 inches and the low seating was starting to hurt my knees.

Originally Posted by ArTigor

Wow this is an interesting purchase, generally people stay away from even the best spick and span used skoda and you purchased a skoda laura which is almost a decade old and was not in its best shape too! Im not talking about expenses but the fact that Skoda and maintenance dont go well with each other especially older ones. But one benefit on your side is your friend who knows skoda well. Just imagine if Skoda had such talented mechs and no ripoffs at all their service stations!
By the way please post some interior pics too.

Totally agree with you, Skoda with good, honest and knowledgeable maintenance network would be wonderful. It was been wonderful for me, never had big problems with the Mk1 Octy, Superb 2 and also this Laura till date.

Originally Posted by Sridhar C E

Onej_maverick,

Quite an interesting post, that! I suppose your friend being a Skoda mechanic turned the tables in the Laura's favour. After all, the issue with Skoda has always been its after-sales bit!

All the best to you and do post a review after you've used the Laura for a period of time!

Thank you, Sure, i will keep the thread updated. How a 10 year old car still keeps up today is amazing.

Originally Posted by Malluspec

Laura / yeti were easily the best skodas ever produced. So a great choice . The sound system in laura is the bestest i have ever experienced in a car .

Audio system was a surprise to me too, it was no worse than the Bose system in the Audi (except for the bass from the sub).

Originally Posted by vtecblast

She looks neat (now) Laura is easily one of the whole package vehicle I have driven.
Few questions:
1. Is ECU remapping on the cards?
2. Is your friend open to make some more friends? I need a person like this in my friends list

Yes, the Laura has very little weaknesses, i never thought it was such a great option until i purchased one.

1) Yes, my previous Superb petrol was stage 1 with Cat bypass and EGR delete (made approx 200 BHP )
2) Haha, have been running around cars with him for 10 years now, has been a great journey all around. DM if you need his contact

[vsaravind007]

Congrats on the new buy onej_maverick! FL Laura doesn't come with sun roofs for some reason! I do have a question around the LED headlights, what brand of LEDs? Do you have any lights out errors in the instrument cluster? Really curious to know since the L&K has the projector lights, normal LEDs won't work correctly!

Happy motoring!

[SILVER-ARROW]

Nice writeup buddy. Excellent first post. Your friend must have good convincing power to convince you to pick a car from yard and guide you through the whole restoration process.
Many enthusiasts have soft corner for Laura Including me .

Originally Posted by onej_maverick

This also pushed me to make one of the hardest decisions of my life, selling the A6 i loved. I’m gonna write a review of that special machine soon

Eagerly awaiting your writeup of the special machine!

[W.A.G.7]

Nice intro. I think people are scared, to even touch clean Skodas with a barge pole; yet you went ahead and bought one that had full Christmas tree lights on the cluster and a zillion dings here and there! I think you got a genuinely good piece out there in the yard. Otherwise, it would have just sat there and rotted away. Congratulations on the car and wish you many more trouble-free kilometers! Please post more pics of the car and also of the interior. From the pics that you have shared, it looks like the car will easily outlast 2L kilometers and above.

[voldemort]

Congrats on your gorgeous ride.

Ok so, let me get this straight:

1. You had an A6 3.0 TDI
2. You needed a 2nd car
3. You went to check out a Corolla
4. You came back with a 10 year old Laura with the notorious DQ250 (well done my man )
5. You love the Laura so much that you sold your A6

Now my question is — aren't you back at square one, where you need a 2nd ccar

Once again, congrats on your new ride. Wishing you thousands upon thousands of kilometres of trouble-free ownership.

[vigneshram]

Welcome to the club. The car looks amazing.
I also have a Special place in my heart for the Laura.
Had one MT 2.0 CR until I was in India.

We did a similar project for my dad in 2020.The car had done 60k km and was in great shape mechanically. Did the following to bring it back to glory.
1.Full body paint job
2.upholstery and door cards
3.RCD 340g HU
4. New headlamps
5. Strut mounting changed
6.New brake pads and discs
7. DSG oil changed immediately after purchase@60k
8. New Yokohama Earth1 15" Tyres(dint go for 17" since my dad was particular about ride quality)

Your mechanic friend is Paneer? I am a regular with him for a few years now. My rapid and Laura go to his workshop.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Please point out your Mechanic friend's contact/address, helps a lot of us who needs service support from independent garage for our Skodas.

[clementw]

Nice first post! Coming just after friendship day it reminds you how good it is to have friends who know their cars! I am trying to hazard a guess as to how much the cost has overshot above the cited budget in the post but the car looks amazing!

Best wishes for many happy miles and keep sharing more posts.

[vignesh.cv]

Congrats on picking up a really underrated car. Not saying because I own a Laura myself, but more so after having seen others in the same segment. The combination of torque / driveability / fuel efficiency / handling / brakes is hard to beat.

Nice that you got the vRS bumper to go with. The car looks sleek and classy with that. The DQ250 gearbox is reliable provided you change the gearbox oil every 60k kms. If you are planning for some modifications, this is a very mod friendly car and very reliable if you keep everything in check.

[onej_maverick]

Originally Posted by civic-dk

It will be great if you could share the model and price of the android player with android auto/apple carplay. I went with Blaupunkt key largo for my wife's Tiago, but it doesn't have android auto / apple carplay. Also the blaupunkt sound quality is nothing great.

I just ordered a Android 10 player with decent specification on Aliexpress. It works really well, and audio quality is very good too.

Originally Posted by vsaravind007

Congrats on the new buy onej_maverick! FL Laura doesn't come with sun roofs for some reason! I do have a question around the LED headlights, what brand of LEDs? Do you have any lights out errors in the instrument cluster? Really curious to know since the L&K has the projector lights, normal LEDs won't work correctly!

Happy motoring!

Thanks ! I think the FL Laura L&K with 2.0 PD came with a sunroof, but the CRD version didn't get it. If my memory serves right.

Philips based chinese LED, one with xenon conversion, other was a direct fit. It does throw an error. But not really bothered by it as long as i can see the road well.

Originally Posted by SILVER-ARROW

Nice writeup buddy. Excellent first post. Your friend must have good convincing power to convince you to pick a car from yard and guide you through the whole restoration process.
Many enthusiasts have soft corner for Laura Including me .



Eagerly awaiting your writeup of the special machine!

Thank you. For sure i will write it when i find time. Its gonna be hard to put 4 years of ups and downs with the car at one go. But lets see!

Originally Posted by voldemort

Congrats on your gorgeous ride.

Ok so, let me get this straight:

1. You had an A6 3.0 TDI
2. You needed a 2nd car
3. You went to check out a Corolla
4. You came back with a 10 year old Laura with the notorious DQ250 (well done my man )
5. You love the Laura so much that you sold your A6

Now my question is — aren't you back at square one, where you need a 2nd ccar

Once again, congrats on your new ride. Wishing you thousands upon thousands of kilometres of trouble-free ownership.

Thank you, and i think you have asked the right question to me now Its a grey area in the review i wrote. To answer your question in short, Laura did not replace the Audi, but it did sort out my priorities.

So i sold the Audi and got a 2019 Skoda Kodiaq L&K. It was a very tough decision for me, most of you might even think i am mad, but i am really happy with my decision now, but also i do miss the Audi !

Originally Posted by vigneshram

Welcome to the club. The car looks amazing.
I also have a Special place in my heart for the Laura.
Had one MT 2.0 CR until I was in India.

We did a similar project for my dad in 2020.The car had done 60k km and was in great shape mechanically. Did the following to bring it back to glory.
1.Full body paint job
2.upholstery and door cards
3.RCD 340g HU
4. New headlamps
5. Strut mounting changed
6.New brake pads and discs
7. DSG oil changed immediately after purchase@60k
8. New Yokohama Earth1 15" Tyres(dint go for 17" since my dad was particular about ride quality)

Your mechanic friend is Paneer? I am a regular with him for a few years now. My rapid and Laura go to his workshop.

Brilliant work, car looks amazing !! And doing the DSG oil change and diff oil change on time is crucial for these cars.

Small world, yes ! I also had a word with him today, he did says you were/are abroad. He is more of a car enthusiast buddy than a mechanic to me.

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

Please point out your Mechanic friend's contact/address, helps a lot of us who needs service support from independent garage for our Skodas.

Not sure if it is cool to share contacts on the forum, so i will DM you ! If it is allowed, i will post here. Admins, please let me know. Thanks.

Originally Posted by clementw

Nice first post! Coming just after friendship day it reminds you how good it is to have friends who know their cars! I am trying to hazard a guess as to how much the cost has overshot above the cited budget in the post but the car looks amazing!

Best wishes for many happy miles and keep sharing more posts.

Thank you. Having a friend like that can be awesome but also bite our wallet at the same time ! Experienced it too many times !

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

Congrats on picking up a really underrated car. Not saying because I own a Laura myself, but more so after having seen others in the same segment. The combination of torque / driveability / fuel efficiency / handling / brakes is hard to beat.

Nice that you got the vRS bumper to go with. The car looks sleek and classy with that. The DQ250 gearbox is reliable provided you change the gearbox oil every 60k kms. If you are planning for some modifications, this is a very mod friendly car and very reliable if you keep everything in check.

Thank you and Yes, I really think the car is underrated too, if not for the shoddy after sales service, this should have been a really good car for our conditions. GC, fun, reasonable space, safety, comfort and features too.

Always a big fan of RS bumpers. So i jumped at it the first chance i got. The DSG oil was replaced twice as per history. I will again do it in the upcoming service. Do you think i should replace the front diff oil too ?

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by onej_maverick

The DSG oil was replaced twice as per history. I will again do it in the upcoming service. Do you think i should replace the front diff oil too ?

It's good the DSG oil was replaced twice considering the age of the car. Also, ensure you keep the gear lever in N whenever you have to stop for more than 20 seconds or so. I'm not aware of separate oil change for the front diff, I suppose changing the DSG / gearbox oil should take care of it.

The great part about modding this car is that, a lot of components are shared across variants and VW owned brands. That way, if you wish, you can keep the OE theme and get better stuff especially around brakes, suspension, turbo, intercooler etc.,

[RMN]

Good lord that was a perfect 180! Loved the write up and I was kinda able to relate it too! The SKODA is looking great buddy but surprised you are letting go of the Audi!