[thanixravindran]

My car purchasing conundrum and how I ended up with a Skoda Kushaq in 2022. Read on!!!

Prelude:
I own a 2011 Hyundai i10 Kappa2 VTVT Asta which has run 67,000 Kms. It was purchased when I was working in Bangalore and few years ago I have relocated back to Chennai. Thanks to our government rules/inefficiencies, I have to shell out Rs. 40,000 as road tax to register again here. I did not wanted to let it go as I love the car as it has never let me down in the last 11 years. It was running smoothly with just routine servicing both from Hyundai as well FNG. I was procrastinating about getting a new car for some time but kept delaying and the pandemic that struck two years ago delayed the decision further.

In between, due to circumstances I have to change my job and my new job is in Hyderabad. I am totally remote till now but the thought of moving to Hyderabad has put the car purchase decision ON HOLD. However, at the start of last year (2021), my i10 has started showing the age with AC failure (Guess AC pipe leakage or evaporate core leakage), Silencer rust (which is a common compliant) and the failure of small LCD in the Infotainment system.

It looks like Hyundai has designed with reliability target Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) of 10 years. Though I am willing to live with them after fixing, I do not want to be stopped often with the outstation car. Since we do not have any travel due to pandemic, the needs were not immediate. However by the end of the year, family really wanted a new car in Chennai and hence I decided to proceed for car hunt.

Car Hunt
I started my Car hunt in December though I have burnt my fingers in my first car purchase during 2007 when I was cheated by a Maruti dealer in Bangalore [Sagar automobiles agreed on the offer and after payment, simply gave it to some one else who gave few more thousands of rupees. I was told to take new Jan model. I walked away turning it down and got the money back].

My order of preference for a new car is
1. No car (Not the best time to buy a new car as the entire auto industry is in a flex)
2. Electric car (Futuristic and go for it if you don't want to pay obscene taxes and support the manufacturer)
3. Petrol Automatic (if you want to support yourself for better health in our congested roads)
4. Petrol Manual (It will always be an option in the table as 'Salt & Pepper' when all else does not work)

I do not prefer Diesel due to my low running needs. First option is obviously ruled out by the wife. Second option is ruled out as the electric supply at my area itself is erratic since it is on the outskirts of Chennai even though I have rooftop solar available. So it has to be a Petrol - Automatic (Preferred due to my Bangalore traffic experience) or Manual is acceptable. While researching, I realized how the market has moved from Naturally aspirated engine to small Turbo petrol engine cars. Now there are only very few options for NA petrol.

I shortlisted my requirements as below -

1. Ride comfort (obviously coming from i10)
2. Safety (11 years ago itself my i10 had ABS and 2 airbags)
3. Comfort Features (I like how Hyundai and now Kia brings all the higher segment features into daily usage cars)
4. Reliability (Being a single car garage, it is important to have less down time. My i10 has never seen beyond a single day service)
5. Immediate delivery (Not a big fan of long waiting time models as in our country there are too many variables and customer always bears the brunt; I like to book and take in the same month)

My constraints are
1. Parking - Since I stay in a independent row house, my parking is limited. It is exactly 4.3 meters.
2. Crossover - Since I stay in the outskirts of Chennai, Sedan is ruled out due to speed breakers.
3. Budget - I have a max budget of 15 Lakhs. I do not have option for any tax breaks as I don't have a business (depreciation benefit). As I am salaried, I do have company car policy but it is applicable only for Hyderabad. So I didn't wanted to go beyond 15 Lakhs. Also, I never buy things on loan and I will save the money even if it takes years and purchase outright only. Bliss of living a debt free life needs to be experienced!!

With the above constraints, I have considered the below cars - Sub 4m crossovers calling themselves as SUVs. This is the hottest segment in India and we are spoiled by choices. Combined with small turbo Petrols (< 1.2L), the tax structure results in competitive prices.

1. Ford Ecosport - Ruled out as Ford decided to pack the bags after creating the segment.
2. Maruti Brezza - I will never buy a Maruti after my first car buying experience.
3. Mahnidra XUV300 - Amazing car which has fitted the bill perfectly
4. Tata Nexon - I still think Tata cars lack quality control though recent experiences in the forum show otherwise. Ruled out.
5. Renault Kiger/Nissan Magnite - Very good VFM package.
6. Kia Sonet - After all everyone in the town buys a Kia.
7. Honda WRV - I was surprised that Honda still sells them.
8. Morris Garage Astor - Don't want to let the entire world know that there is Internet Inside (In reality we all know about the internet behind the great wall)
9. Hyundai Venue - I have lived with Hyundai for 11 years but really tired of their service center antics
10. Toyota Urban cruiser - Seriously Toyota, all you can do is to rebadge a Maruti?

With the above, I have done a Pugh matrix with Needs Vs Features of available cars. It is no wonder Mahindra XUV300 came as the winner with flying colors. Kia Sonet came second and Renault Kiger/Nissan Magnite came third. All of these on paper. Now it is time to validate the theory.

Showroom Visit and Test Drive:
Mahindra:
Visited Mahindra website and booked a home test drive at 12 Dec, 9.00 PM in the Sunday night. In the next minute, I got a call from Mahindra and got all the details and based on my location, he assigned it to OMR Dealer AMPL. I was impressed on the quick action. Next day morning, dealer contacted me and got address. They sent the Diesel AMT since they don't have Petrol AMT for test drive by lunch time. I took the test drive and the parking test.

+
1. Wide Cabin - Proper 5 seater.
2. Ride comfort - Okay but not very smooth may be because of test drive vehicle
3. Interior and Comfort features - Excellent. Loaded to brim. Dashboard and infotainment is well integrated.
4. Proven Safety and Build - Top notch. Everything was well put is a understatement.

-
1. Boot space - Very small boot and as written in Team BHP, they don't have parcel tray even in top model so that it masks the shortcoming.
2. Feature deletion - Long list of feature deletion over the period of few years. I got three different brochure for it. So it is a gamble to book.
3. AMT - I feel for the price, a proper automatic can be provided but this is not a deal breaker for me. But given Mahindra's poor track record with TUV300 AMT, I decided against it. Petrol AMT was just launched 1 year ago and I was not sure of its sales numbers and hence its reliability.

It passed both the test drive and parking test. So I have decided to go for Petrol W8 (OPT) MT. Price is 11.8 Lakhs Ex-showroom and On road price will be closer to 14 Lakhs. There are year end offers of Rs. 25,000 Cash discount and Rs. 4,000 Corporate discount. There is also a Rs. 25,000 Exchange bonus available. But the dealer is not transparent with these Mahindra offers. I have got this confirmed by Mahindra itself. I told I will visit the showroom and will finalize the booking in the following weekend with color choice but could not make it on 18 Dec. However I visited the showroom on 19 Dec, Sunday and looked at the vehicle and colors. Red was the choice of the family. Being Sunday, I could not finalize the price and book the car there itself.

Renault
I decided to visit other showrooms also since they are in the same area - Perungudi, OMR. I skipped Honda as I have already ruled out WR-V. I visited Renault showroom and looked at Kiger. They are straightforward and have only stock on the top end Dual tone and only two pieces - White/Black and Blue/White combination left. All else have a waiting list of 3 months. I somehow did not liked Kiger interior space and crossed it out.

Kia
Next visit is Kia showroom. We checked out the Sonet. This is a big disappointment as the interior space looked exactly like i10 and the Infotainment screen with its disproportionate buttons is a huge let down. The roof liner slopes towards the front makes it worse for me as my head almost touches the roof (I am 6 feet tall). My wife did not even want to sit in the car for a test drive. We checked out Seltos and was really impressed by the overall package. It ticks all boxes and no wonder it sells like the hot cake notwithstanding the safety rating. Seltos has too many variants and decently loaded variant is outside of my budget. However the dealership experience is very sub par - They did not even took my number or interested to about my requirements but gave their number to call if I wanted to book. This is how success have made them arrogant.

Skoda
Next to Kia is the KUN Skoda showroom. Providence has made me walk into the showroom to just show my wife the Kushaq just for comparison purpose. Little I know at that time I will eventually buy it from the same place. We checked out the display car and it felt okay though it lacked the finesse of Seltos. Biggest reason is the interior theme which is dull and reminded the Wagon R of past decade. On just casually checking the price, I was told Ambition has 50,000 INR discount and insurance discounts are also available (the feel good discount without any real discount). I realized how Skoda messed up the pricing and a new car within 6 months of launch is providing discounts. I was offered a test drive the next day, I politely declined and informed I will reach out if I need it as I was not keen on Skoda.

[thanixravindran]

Final Selection
How Mahindra dropped the ball

Next day (20 Dec), I tried to finalize the Mahindra XUV300 and contacted the Sales advisor. For some reason, he did not picked the call neither reverted my message. He messaged in the middle of the night informing he will call the next day. That call never happened. I thought he did not have stock and hence not wanted to engage.

I have reached out to the other dealer MM motors who connected after few days and was eager to finalize. However they have only Petrol W8 in Stock and no W8 (OPT) stock. They promised to revert if they can get a W8 (OPT) in stock. Also they informed that there may be a price hike in Jan. I am okay with that and told him that I will take insurance from outside or they can match the price. I also asked him to waive off handling charges as none of other car dealers - Kia, Renault and Skoda are charging in Chennai. He did not revert after this.

By the new year, the car exchange person from AMPL called to book an appointment for my old car evaluation. I informed that there is no response from your dealership to finalize the car. He promptly arranged a call from sales manager who assigned another sales advisor who never bothered to call. When I called, it seems there will be a price revision and they are waiting for it. After that there is no response from AMPL.

The third dealer Zulaikha motors did not even responded to my calls on XUV300. It seems they are in another world after the XUV700 and Thar success and do not want to sell any other vehicle. I was not happy with this attitude of Mahindra dealers as service may become even worse.

Later, even as I was about to close the booking with Skoda, I reached out one more time to get a final answer but no response. They are not interested to tell an Yes or No for the final price but simply vanish without replying or talking. There was a silent price hike on XUV300 for around 20,000 INR along with Thar and XUV700 price hikes. Though Mahindra is making great products, the situation on the ground is made dismal by the dealers they have chosen and has lost a willing customer.

How Skoda Kushaq was selected

I have thought of dropping the car purchase plan altogether as I feel car buying experience remains the same even after 10 years. However, my wife persisted to consider the next best thing she liked - Skoda Kushaq. So on 10 Jan, I called Skoda dealer and within 2 hours, I got the car for test drive. The assigned Sales Advisor Eswar is a gem to deal with. He is knowledgeable on the car as well understood my requirements. He immediately told Ambition MT will fit the bill and will check for availability. Parking test is also done and it passed narrowly.

My impressions after test drive in comparison with XUV300
+
1. Beautiful exterior design
2. Better ride comfort
3. Eager to be driven and better gear ratio (can drive around in 4th gear even less than 40Kms speed without lugging)
4. Usable better boot space

-
1. Dull interior and narrow width
2. Lesser features
3. Untested safety

After the test drive, I become smitten by Kushaq as an option despite the Skoda horror stories, initial EPC issues & niggles I have read. I asked for the availability/pricing and also decided to keep the i10 as back up in case i am bitten by Kushaq.

Booking

New price list was shared immediately. Interestingly, Skoda did not increase the Ambition variant prices. No handling charges were mentioned. No push for the standard accessories kit. 'Feel good' Insurance discount was shown which is nothing but matching the direct Insurance company quote. RTO charges are accurate. He is even okay for me to get my own Fastag which I did with PayTM as I have my other FasTag linked to the same wallet. Stock availability is Oct 21 manufactured, White color car for which offered price was 14.64 Lakhs. I have requested for 14.50 Lakhs. He came back next day, 11 Jan with 14.56 Lakhs as final offer in writing and beyond which they cannot come down.

I was pleasantly surprised by the openness and transparency of the dealer and agreed to proceed. However by now, my wife does not want White color as it is too staid to look. Her preference is Tornado Red or Carbon Steel color. Since I decided to retain my i10 which is grey, Carbon steel is ruled out. I checked for Red stock availability but no stock in MT but available in AT. He will check for December stock and if it not allocated we have to get the 2022 model only. He informed that discounts won't be applicable for 2022 models except insurance. I agreed and told I may drop the car buying if it is beyond 15 Lakhs even for 2022 model. He is okay and there is no cancellation charge also. So I booked the car on 13 Jan with Rs.10,000.

[thanixravindran]

Delivery
I was informed on 17 Jan that car is in transit and will be intimated once it reaches Chennai. During this period the news about Electric folding ORVM took the internet world by storm. I got another call on 21 Jan informing that car has come and whether I can finalize the purchase. I calculated the final price to be 15.16 Lakhs with same insurance which is 1% more my budget. I decided to visit the showroom.

On 22 Jan, once I reached the showroom, without even asking he immediately told about the feature deletion and asked whether I want to proceed or go back to 2021 model but compromise on color. I asked about the final price of 2022 model and he discussed and came back with finalized price of 15.00 Lakhs itself. It is a straight discount of 16000 INR for a 2022 model. I asked the details and was told it is through cash discount and further discount in insurance. I agreed to proceed and was shared the VIN number. Dealership is hesitant for doing PDI in yard but I was ready to go to yard but car was already en route to Showroom from yard. So I waited and did the PDI in Service center attached to Show room itself.

While I matched the VIN number and confirmed Jan 2022 model, my wife confirmed it with the ORVM electric closing option missing in the car (No wonder women are smarter than men) and car came out clean with 22 Kms in ODO which matches the distance from yard to service center. I have agreed to proceed for payment and delivery was set to 27 Jan (auspicious day). On 24 Jan, payment is cleared in the morning itself.

Here is the tragic twist, there is no sign of invoice being generated or Form 20 generated to get my signature for registration. I was already down with Sinus and hence could not follow up. In the evening, my sales advisor called me and told that internally they messed up the pricing and actual price is 15.10 Lakhs and I need to pay 15.00 Lakhs after adjusting the initial booking amount of 10,000 INR already paid. They did a 'mistake' in the pricing calculation while taking account of the 10,000 INR I have paid for booking. I was not impressed and SA also did not know what to do. He apologized and told his manager will call me to discuss further.

His manager called me and the conversation did not went well. First he blamed that his team member communicated wrongly to me that 15 Lakhs is the final price when in fact 15 Lakhs more needs to be paid apart from booking amount. I kept my cool and told him this is your internal issue and needs to be resolved by you as a leader and not by me as customer. First management lesson - Never throw your team member under the bus in front of customer.

He repeated that I have to pay the balance. I got irritated and told why should I pay the penalty of his pricing error. I am ready to drop the purchase. Now he bluffed that the car is already invoiced on Saturday itself after my PDI because there may be a tax change which will cost few thousand rupees more. Now I am at my wits end and asked him which business invoices without getting the money in the account and what tax is changing in the intervening Sunday. Second Management lesson - Do not lie to your customer.

Finally, I lost my cool and told him to drop the deal and refund the money. I was requested to take a day and reconsider my decision. I do not want to hear any more of this as the experience is already sour. I turned the table and told to bring a solution to the table by next day, 25 Jan noon.

Next day at 11.00, I was offered Skoda genuine accessories - Leatherette seat cover (11K), Floor mats (2.5K) and mud flaps (1K) worth Rs.14, 500 if I agree to pay the 10,000 INR as he could not get permission to invoice at 15.00 Lakhs and have to refund the money. I told him that this is nothing but making me purchase their accessories.

I would have been very forgiving if he has made a apology at the start explaining the pricing error and given a solution or no questions asked refund, I would have happily accepted the solution. End of the day, business is just not measured only by numbers but how you conduct it. I accepted the deal and paid the remaining Rs. 10,000 the same day.

Insurance was processed immediately from HDFC Ergo (with Zero dep, consumables cover, RSA, NCB protection, Engine/Gearbox protection) and Form 20 as generated and sent for my signature. Car was sent to registration on 27 Jan (since 26 Jan is Holiday. Once the RTO charges are paid online by dealer, we get SMS immediately. Once car inspection is over (which is still needed in TN) we get the Registration number by SMS immediately. Car was delivered the same day albeit late in the evening since accessories have to be fitted by them but without HSRP plates which takes max 3 days to arrive. We can download RC from Digilocker and add our vehicle in mParivaahan the very next day.

"All's well that ends well" - William Shakespeare

So with Skoda I have taken the leap of faith, only time will tell whether my decision is right.

Below is Kushaq meeting my i10.

[thanixravindran]

Week 1:

Exterior

The car came with Apollo Alnac 4G tyres (205/60 R16) from factory with date code of 51st week of 2021 and the spare tyre is Good year assurance Triplemax 2 (195/55 R15). I could not get the battery make as it is almost sealed.

I believe the empty recessed design element both in the front and rear bumper area are originally for fog lamps but Skoda being simply clever made the cornering lamp as fog lamp in the front and eliminated the rear fog lamps itself to save cost.

The first thing that I feel different from Hyundai is the heaviness of doors and the bonnet in Skoda. It took few days to adjust to the heavy doors for everyone.




Rear has too much Red and wanted to get a contrasting black strip like Kodiaq but accessory available is only the Chrome strip for 1,500 INR. Rear has wiper only but no wash functionality is available.




Interior

On the interior, Ambition gets brushed metal finish in the dashboard and glossy black dashboard line instead of Piano black+Chrome of higher variants. It gets fabric seats in black with contrast stitching in the middle. Door and center arm rests are also of fabric upholstery. It gets Sun glass holder with soft linen inside. Leather wrapped steering looks small but feels nice to hold.

Cabin ambient lighting is soft white light is my liking which is adjustable for brightness. All the user operated items like Window switches, USB ports and even the door openers are illuminated which is really a nice touch. The small bits like the ticket holder which I use to hold the Fastag without sticking makes you smile. The storage spaces are well designed with practical usage. No separate level to open the fuel lid. It is linked to Central locking and a single push opens the fuel lid only in unlocked condition.



Driving

I have covered closer to 300 Kms in a week mainly on the City and an short highway trip. On the first day driving back home from Showroom, I was trying to hear any rattles and there was indeed a rattle from rear left. I was mentally prepared to face the niggles after reading the threads. Rather what I found in the rear door pocket is this one probably left by the installation person. After removing it, no more rattles



Driving the manual felt easy in the city with shorter gear ratio. Ride comfort is good on rough roads. My i10 is bouncy whereas Kushaq will just leave you nodding. You can just trundle along at 60 Km/hr in sixth gear without lugging the engine. Also I feel 1.0 TSI is really eager to be driven hard and have the fun in highways. I tried the cruise control in the short highway run and it allows a relaxed cruising experience. Gear slotting is slick but I find clutch has long travel and a bit heavy. To engage the reverse, we have to press down the gear stick and then move to extreme left position. Reverse aid is through camera with static lines and dynamic audio warning from sensors.

Coming from an i10, the best part is the Headlights in both form and function. It is designed beautifully as well the LED light throw is excellent in both low and high beams. My son loves the cornering lamp function on the turns. Also, I like the Coming Home/Leaving Home functions provided for Ambition variant too which can be activated by tapping the high beam flasher once after switching off the engine. Lights stay on once the driver door is opened for the Preset time which can be set-up via Infotainment system. Also, parking lamp can be turned ON for one side only to prevent battery drain.

AC feels okay as outside temperature in Chennai still has not crossed 30degC. I have set the AC temp at 21degC and it does not chill but keeps the comfort in Auto mode. Blower becomes noisy from third level and has around 5 more. I did not dare to increase it further to save my ear drums. Interestingly, manual recommends setting the set point temperature of not lower than 5degC from outside temperature. It may work for European summer but not for Indian summer when mercury soars over 40degC.

Connectivity

My Skoda connect App is basic and is powered by Jio. I see it sends a heartbeat message once per hour and last online status reflects in the App. Though it is identical to the Taigun app (Same app with different skin), it does not provide the In car Wi-Fi connectivity like Taigun. We need to connect to our mobile hotspot if we need those App access during driving or home Wi-Fi for any app download or update. I am yet to try the Geofence/Timefence from the app as I am not sure whether it will create any battery drain. However, for service booking or any other things related to Skoda, it needs My Skoda app to be installed. Hope there will be a unified app in future.

I used the Wireless Android auto as well the wired Android auto and it works as expected (having the peril of leaving more data in the open).

Connected the Infotainment to my home Wi-Fi. Skoda app store is available with few Apps and need registration. Once done, it have few apps like Sygic, Gaana and booking.com. I can understand the first two but who is going to use Booking.com app in a car. Android auto/Apple car play is mostly sufficient and may not need the Skoda app store in near future.


Not so great parts

On the downside, the disappointment is the 3 cylinder engine noise at start up. It starts at 1200 rpm and lets out a thick groan and settles down at 1000 rpm after 10 seconds with soft groan. With windows closed, it is okay but when the windows are down, it reminds the diesel engines. Bonnet insulation is the need of the hour at least as an accessory.

Other noisy bits are the window up and down rollers and AC fan from blower setting three onwards. Either dampening is not done properly or a cheaper motor is used for the windows.

Documentation

User manual seems written in Europe and does not carry many important details like tyre sizes or battery amperage details. Neither they provide any sort of maintenance intervals and recommended fluids. Hyundai manual is very detailed and you can use it to service the car yourself.

But the manual covers the child seats type and installations in detail.



User manual refers to fire extinguishers and winter tyres and interestingly available in French in Skoda website. So Kushaq may be exported in future.

[thanixravindran]

Some interesting bits and quirks I found in the car till now.

Front passenger side carpet misses the lock buttons for the floor mat to prevent it from slipping. Skoda genuine accessory mat has the holes though. It is proper on the driver side. And Skoda does not have rubber boot mat even as accessory.



There are three different time period can be chosen - Long term, Refuel and Start for each statistics. My car has an additional 4 Kms in the long term than Odometer since PDI times. I believe it is the production testing and then ODO was reset by Skoda but reset was not done in the Infotainment for Long term statistics. As pointed out earlier, Infotainment still lists the Auto folding settings for manual ORVM.



Ambition models do not have the tool set in the leather cover as seen in Style. This is because in Ambition there is no sub woofer and hence tools are fitted on the Spare tyre well itself. I find this much better than having a bag that can go missing.



There is speed sensing door lock at 20 Km/hr in Ambition and good thing is no automatic unlock once car is switched off.

Overall, Skoda needs to design the cars for India if they want to sell it here. Skoda has guts to design with this fuel requirements -



Kia/Hyundai is being carried on the shoulder of Feature rich cars tag. Toyota/Honda is being carried on the shoulder of Reliable cars tag.

Skoda is being carried by the shoulders of its customers/fans, notwithstanding the India 2.0 project.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage tomorrow

[JaiHanuman]

Hi Thanix,
Very good account of your buying experience and review of your car.
Disappointed to hear about your experience with AMPL, OMR. They should have done better and instead they lost a confirmed customer.
I brought my XUV300 from them last July, just before XUV700 launch. It was their new showroom and experience was good at that time. Looks like their interest in XUV300 went down after XUV700 launch.


Congratulations on your new car.

- Narendran (I too live in the same area in the next street).

[gt3t0uring]

Congratulations on your new purchase! Red shade really suits her.
Talking about fuel requirements, i found out that Kushaq's sister; Taigun is homologated for min 91 RON. That's surprising given that both are mechanically identical.

[PrasannaDhana]

Beautiful car, beautiful colour!

Congratulations!

1.0 tsi is an exciting engine too. Wishing you many many lakhs of km of pleasurable ownership.

I was just admiring the beauty of Kushaq at an highway stop. Parked with my altroz. Two different shades of red

[FrAgile]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Rear has wiper only but no wash functionality is available.

Is this really true? I am hearing about this for the first time. Usually, manufacturers do give a washer functionality if they are putting a wiper. I thought it's as basic as a power steering in cars being sold in 2022.

[MayurS]

Congratulations on your new Car. Regarding in car WiFi connectivity option that you have mentioned there is a workaround for that. Download the JioMotive app from your App Store and login it with the same number which you use for My Skoda connect app and click on your car name. You will find the WiFi settings over there which you can used to turn on the WiFi.
Thanks

[AROO7]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

My car purchasing conundrum and how I ended up with a Skoda Kushaq in 2022. Read on!!!

Prelude:
I own a 2011 Hyundai i10 Kappa2 VTVT Asta which has run 67,000 Kms.

However, at the start of last year (2021), my i10 has started showing the age with AC failure (Guess AC pipe leakage or evaporate core leakage), Silencer rust (which is a common compliant) and the failure of small LCD in the Infotainment system.

It looks like Hyundai has designed with reliability target Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) of 10 years.

I too have the same make and model i10 but with half the ODO reading as it is used as a beater. But apart from that AC failure issue rest of the issues also cropped up in my car . The exhaust pipe was replaced and it costed me over 6,000 INR. For the small LCD, Hyundai will replace the entire unit, and that costs over 15,000 INR so I have skipped that. The ride quality of the i10 isn't the best by default so you will feel the difference in other cars with better suspension. If you are planning to keep the i10 then I would suggest you upgrade your headlamps to a 90/100 setup for better illumination. Use proper relays and don't remove the dust cap for accommodating the new setup. Also, adjust the beam properly and use low beam only in the city with the above setup as the lights are powerful and will cause issues to the oncoming traffic. Rest all you can keep stock. Lastly, congratulations on the new car. Happy Motoring!!

[cpabhijit]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Week 1:


Rear has too much Red and wanted to get a contrasting black strip like Kodiaq but accessory available is only the Chrome strip for 1,500 INR. Rear has wiper only but no wash functionality is available.

Hey, congratulations on the Kushaq. Lovely vehicle. My dad bought the same Red colour 1.0 Ambition MT in August last year and it is a delight to drive.

It definitely has rear wipe & wash. All you have to do is the opposite of front wash & wipe (yes, front & back sequences are different). Push the wiper stalk away from you to the 'Rear Wiper Turn On' position and push further and hold. Soap solution will trickle down from a small (red) nozzle, which is located to the right of the HMSL. Let it go and it will return to the Turn On position.

One more quick tip is, the rear wiper turns on in the 'Intermittent' setting. If you want continuous wipe, push the wiper stalk further away and release (quickly, in a single motion). Bingo, there's continuous wipe for you.

Originally Posted by FrAgile

Is this really true? I am hearing about this for the first time. Usually, manufacturers do give a washer functionality if they are putting a wiper. I thought it's as basic as a power steering in cars being sold in 2022.

Yes, whenever there is a wiper function, a washer is definitely provided, at least in cars, these days.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage tomorrow

Thanks GTO. I have now completed another team of my bucket list - A Team BHP ownership write up and featuring in the home page.

Originally Posted by JaiHanuman

Hi Thanix,
Very good account of your buying experience and review of your car.
Disappointed to hear about your experience with AMPL, OMR. They should have done better and instead they lost a confirmed customer.
I brought my XUV300 from them last July, just before XUV700 launch. It was their new showroom and experience was good at that time. Looks like their interest in XUV300 went down after XUV700 launch.


Congratulations on your new car.

- Narendran (I too live in the same area in the next street).

Thanks Narendran. After all its a small world. Yes, I saw very good google reviews for AMPL but unfortunately it did not worked for me. Congrats on your car too and will catch up with you in the street!!!

Originally Posted by gt3t0uring

Congratulations on your new purchase! Red shade really suits her.
Talking about fuel requirements, i found out that Kushaq's sister; Taigun is homologated for min 91 RON. That's surprising given that both are mechanically identical.

Thanks for the wishes. Even I am surprised as the same engine is in Polo and Rapid and what has changed to recommend 95 RON in Kushaq. This is not a super car and most of India runs in 91 RON. Probably Skoda's way out in blaming fuel quality in case of issues?!

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Beautiful car, beautiful colour!

Congratulations!

1.0 tsi is an exciting engine too. Wishing you many many lakhs of km of pleasurable ownership.

I was just admiring the beauty of Kushaq at an highway stop. Parked with my altroz. Two different shades of red

Thank you for the wishes. I regularly follow your videos in Road Safety threads. And the impressive social work you are doing for the children. God bless you. Hope one day will meet you in Tiruchirapalli!!

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Tata Nexon - I still think Tata cars lack quality control though recent experiences in the forum show otherwise. Ruled out.

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

After the test drive, I become smitten by Kushaq as an option despite the Skoda horror stories

One observation - While you are aware of the Skoda horror stories, you are willing to give it a try. On the other hand, you are aware that Tata is improving (based on the recent experiences in the forum as you say), but still you didn't want to try it. Interesting isn't it?

Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with this. It is a matter of personal choice. But, I read somewhere that men make most decisions emotionally first, and then try to justify it with logic. Do you think Skoda tugged more at your heart? (quite possible, as Skodas have always been a better driver's car compared to most Tata cars and also, I believe it is considered a premium brand when compared with Tata)