[Rambo-RS]

Presenting our First European Car – Skoda Kushaq 1.0 TSI

What I like:-

• Engine! It’s a turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine (GDI) and that too from the masters themselves – the Volkswagen group. Although just a tiny 1.0 Liter 3 Cylinder, it can easily smoke the bigger naturally aspirated engines offered by the competition.

• NVH! No one can guess it’s a 3-cylinder motor. Sounds very refined at idle and lower revs.

• Gearbox and the Clutch – Very smooth gear shifts and incredibly light clutch.

• Suspension! The perfect balance of comfort and handling. Stiff but not bone-jarring. Glides over small potholes and speed breakers with ease. Bigger ones too are tackled without causing much thud or discomfort inside.

• Space! For a car that looks a bit smaller than the competition, it is a big surprise on the inside. Loads of legroom is available both at the front as well as the rear. 5th passenger of an average Indian height will not be a very tight squeeze but just about enough to be comfortable.

• Seat Comfort! The car is very comfortable to sit in, seats are large and supportive with very good side bolstering that hugs you well.

• Ergonomics! Absolutely spot on, nothing that can be pointed out as odd. Even the turn indicators on the left side, I have gotten used to them and find them easier than the conventional right-sided blinker controls.

• Safety Features! Even in the base variant, all the important safety features are present.

• Build Quality! Definitely far better than the competition. Each panel has a nice heft to it and doesn’t feel light. The car cocoons you and gives a sense of sitting in a solid cabin.

• Pricing! For what I paid, I am getting so much value for my money. (Don’t miss this point in the ‘Dislikes’ section too).

• Dealership experience! More on this in the latter part of the write-up.

• Peace of Mind with 6 years extended warranty and 4 years maintenance package.

• Road Presence! The car does attract good attention, especially in Punjab, where a Kushaq is not a common sight.

• Snob Value – Rather than calling the car by its name Kushaq, people call it a Skoda. Feels nice!

What I don't like:-

• Reliability is a concern for me. Although I am covered for 6 years, IMHO, too much power from a small engine is going to definitely have a negative effect in the long term. I suspect engine oil burning will become a common phenomenon for most cars in the future as gasoline direct injection is becoming mainstream.

• Carbon Deposits reported on GDI engines – The way these engines are engineered, carbon deposits on the valves are bound to happen. This surely will add to service costs in the later years of the ownership.

• No underbody engine protection.

• No bonnet insulation. Although the NVH levels are good, but this simple thing would have improved it even further.

• Mileage – Being a turbo-petrol, it is very sensitive to the throttle inputs. I manage to get more than 16 Kmpl on the intercity commutes (mostly a good 2-lane state highway) but Mom and Dad barely manage to get 14 Kmpl on the same route. This too on the MID, real-life mileage would be even lesser.

• Boot Space – Rated at 385 Liters, although just marginally smaller than the competition, should have been more for a car that measures more than 4 meters.

• Ground Clearance – Rated at 188mm, it is low for a Compact SUV. Not going solely by the numbers but have actually managed to scrape it.

• Roof Liner - Yes, I have got the car with the so-called improved roof liner, but it still doesn’t suit a Skoda car. I would have preferred the net-type liner like the one offered in the Slavia or the Virtus.

Mixed Opinions:-

• The engine has a special tuning such that it is difficult to stall the car, just like a diesel engine. This is a good thing but on releasing the clutch the car accelerates too much such that it becomes difficult for a new person to adjust to it easily. This results in having to ride the clutch sometimes in stop-go traffic for a smoother motion.

• No infotainment system is offered on this variant. Although a downer for most people, I am happy because I got a huge discount of about 1.5 Lacs and can now install the one according to my taste.

• I really miss a cruise control on the beautiful highways they are building nowadays. Yes, for what I paid, it’s ok to not have it. But in my opinion, companies must provide an option to install it through the dealer, because it’s just a simple coupler fitment of the part on the steering.

• Aftermarket accessories in tier 2 cities like Patiala, and Ludhiana are not available for this car. I couldn’t even manage to get floor mats specific for the car here and have got a generic noodle mat for the car as a result.

[Rambo-RS]

Why a new car?

We are a family of 3; Me, Dad, and Mom and were currently owning a Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 which was bought brand new in December 2015. The car was primarily bought just for the sake of owning a car. Our usage was barely 3000 Kms per year at that time. My father’s office was at a stone-throw from our home and mom’s commute to her college (she is a professor) was covered by a very good private bus service on the route, such that the need for a car was never felt. Even the bus stop was just 50m from our house.

Things changed in 2016 when my mother got transferred to the Govt (State) College of Education, Patiala. Although the distance was now reduced to almost half this route had only govt bus service, exclusively. This route mostly had student commuters and the buses were very low in number and were flocked with students at office hours i.e., the same time my mom was to travel. So, my mom learned to drive at the age of 43 years. I am very proud to say that she is a very good driver now (of course not better than me ).

So, the car which mostly stood watching the walls of the porch was put to full use now. So much so that it has run 76,000 km in 6.5 years now. Out of this, 70K km were put in just 5 years and 85% were driven solely by mom.
Although the K10 was aging very well, no rattling noises which are usually associated with a Maruti car, no premature failures of any parts, and just a regular annual service for less than 3.5K from our trusted FNG. But now an itch to upgrade was strongly felt mainly because of the very small size of the K10. Our luggage along with us 3 used to be very difficult to fit in the car, especially since I joined the college in Delhi. Also, the lack of any comfort features like a touchscreen infotainment/ larger seat, etc. the need for which was felt on longer trips amplified it even further.
So, we decided to let go of the Alto K10, which also gave us incredible resale value (Maruti!) as well. May God bless Maruti for making such a nice small, reliable, fuss-free, and zippy-peppy car like the K10! Sharing its latest pictures with you all !

[Rambo-RS]

Alternatives Considered?

Read on, I assure y’all it's going to be very interesting the amount and type of cars we considered and test drove. From a humble Dzire CNG to Bolero neo to Gurkha, we tested them all before finalizing the Kushaq!

I am sharing our (Mom, Dad, and Mine) honest opinions and feedback about all the cars and the dealership experience.

You will be amazed to know that the brands considered to be best in terms of sales experience were disappointing and vice versa.

The only criteria for a new car were – an upgrade! Upgrade in engine, size, features, safety, and feel. Any car meeting this and a budget of Rs. 12 Lacs would make into our consideration. And surely, we went to almost every brand catering to this budget segment, irrespective of the body style (although Crossovers/SUVs were preferred). So, we started looking for an upgrade for us. This search lasted for almost 11 months before we finally met the one !

1. Bolero Neo:
   

This was the first car that was considered by us during our new car hunt which started in July 2021. This was just launched back then with a lot of hype about using the same platform as Thar and next-gen Scorpio, MLD, etc. Contrary to the general opinion, we really liked the looks of the car. We went to the nearest Mahindra Dealership for a test drive and were promptly offered one.
Likes:

• B-I-G and High Cabin
• Real SUV #ladderonframe
• The NVH; although vibrations are felt on the gear lever, the cabin is very silent.
• Loads of space.
• Features. All necessary comfort features are covered in N10 incl armrests, touchscreen, etc.
• It is a very solid car, period!
• 3rd-row seats. On shorter journeys (<100Kms), it is very manageable for 2 people of my height 5.6ft to comfortably sit there.

Dislikes:

• There is a noticeable shake in the body especially the gear lever on firing up the engine. This feels very old-school in 2022.
• Bumpiness on small undulations due to the ladder on frame chassis.
• The car is not well suited to urban environments. This is also the reason we had to cancel the car.

We liked the car and booked it after the test drive in July itself and were to get delivery after 15 days which was delayed on our request. But we soon changed our minds after getting negative feedback from friends and relatives saying mom driving a bolero every day to her workplace doesn’t look very cool. Although I disagree with it we somehow believed it and canceled the car after 1 month.

The overall experience with Mahindra Dealership at Patiala was delightful. Right from the test drive to booking the car to canceling the car and the refund process, everything was professionally handled. The sales team was very professional and polite at all times. Kudos to Mahindra for raising their standards to this level that were honestly never expected by me.


2. XUV 300:



The car was test-driven 2 days after booking the bolero neo. The sole reason for checking it out was that the price was almost the same and both were called SUVs albeit one was real and the other was a crossover.

Likes:

• White-colored interiors look very classy
• 1.5 Diesel is a gem. The car absolutely flies on flooring the throttle and is very refined to drive.
• A great deal of space on the inside for a car with such dimensions

Dislikes:

• Overpriced, period!
• Very weird variant lineup. The only variant that makes sense is W8(O) whose pricing lands it into the league of cars above its segment.

3. Tata Nexon:



Likes:

• Looks from the outside are very pleasing to the eyes, especially from the front the car looks like RR Evoque.
• Build quality on the outside is very good.
• Comfortable seats – Very cushiony, almost like a couch
• Suspension – feels like it can take anything in its stride with ease.
• Massive ground clearance i.e., rated at 209 mm!

Dislikes:

• The Interior feels low quality. Especially the lower part of the dashboard.
• Rough edges are everywhere in the interior. Glovebox looks like it is cut out using a simple stationary blade by an unskilled worker.
• The touchscreen on the TD car was frozen and was not usable. This didn’t inspire confidence in the quality of electronics used in the car. (TD car had done 15K km)
• The diesel engine was very throaty and loud even on the inside
• The gearbox was extremely notchy and mom found it very difficult to engage gears.
• The Clutch was very bouncy, it almost bounced back like a spring.

My mom’s review after driving it was, “This car is very rough and crude”.

The dealership experience was average at best. The salesperson was not very knowledgeable about the product. They were literally shouting at each other from one end of the showroom to the other end while asking for brochures, pricelist, etc. This was very unprofessional on their part and the whole vibe was like that of a government office with a stricter senior sitting on top of them, thus inorganically forcing them to behave properly with customers.

-*After driving these 3 cars, we postponed the plan of buying a new car till 2022.

[Rambo-RS]

So in December 2021, the hunt started again.

4. MG Astor:



The variant that we were looking for was 1.5 NA Style, which was priced very attractively at @9.99 Lac's ex-showroom. We went to the dealership in Patiala but they said they couldn’t take any more bookings of the base variant as ordered by MG. They also said the pricings would change from January and probably breach the 10Lacs ex-showroom mark. Also, the waiting period at that time was 12Months for this particular variant. So, Astor was immediately dropped from the list.


5. KIA Sonet:



We took a test drive of Kia Sonet Diesel on 31 December 2021 and were overall impressed by the car. HTX Diesel variant was looking quite VFM at that time and was booked on 1 January 2022. The waiting period quoted was 4 months with the assurance that the car would be delivered earlier. But after 15 days the prices were increased by almost 40K and there was no price protection given.

The car was finally canceled (in our minds) on 15 February when elder sibling Kia Caren’s price was revealed. The initial introductory prices were mouthwatering so Kia Carens 1.5 Prestige Petrol was booked through the same sales advisor. The reason for booking petrol was that we were almost saving 1.5 Lacs upfront and were getting a bigger (and better) car with 6 Airbags and that too earlier than the Sonet as waiting time quoted was 9 weeks!

Although we didn’t cancel the Sonet as the Sales advisor suggested that instead of canceling and waiting for a refund, we should let the booking remain open and adjust the amount when getting the delivery of Carens to which we agreed.

Likes:

VFM Diesel crossover (which is no more the case now)
Very refined and frugal diesel engine
Feature-rich
Ground Clearance @205mm


Dislikes:

Very stiff suspension. Make the rear seat passengers almost bounce on bigger bumps
Ergonomic Issue: The instrumental cluster and the central infotainment system are joined through a single frame which is placed very high. This makes it very difficult for shorter drivers to find their best driving position.
DPF issues were reported by owners on some social media websites (Diesel Only)


6. KIA Carens:



This car was booked on 15th February i.e., on the day of price reveal itself and that too even before a test drive! We went to the dealership for a test drive on 21st February and drove the Diesel 1.5 manual. Have already shared views on it here. (Kia Carens Review)

This car too eventually joined the list of canceled cars. Reason for canceling it was that the prices got increased by almost Rs. 50,000 on-road and also, the dealership had no clue as to when our car was to come although the quoted waiting time was almost over.

We also realized that buying such a long and big car would be a bit too much for our usage. Mom also had apprehension about driving it daily as it would have been a drastic shift from a tiny Alto K10 to a massive Kia Carens (It is exactly 3.2Feet longer!).

Dealership Experience: I have shared the booking experience here and am happy to report that even the cancellation experience was the same. I just had to write an email provided by my sales advisor regarding my intent to cancel the car and the whole amount of Rs. 50,000 (25K each for Sonet and Carens) was refunded back to my bank account within 5 days of writing this email.


7. Skoda Kushaq:

It was first checked out by us on 20th April 2022 and that was just a random visit to the showroom with no intention to seriously consider it.
More on this is covered in the latter part of the review.


8. Force Gurkha:



What!!!! Why!!!! Lol!!!! These were the reactions of anyone whom we said that we were considering the Gurkha. My mom has always liked SUVs and the same is the case with me.

Special shoutout to Bhpian-Manuuj for making Gurkha my Attainable-Dream-Car. I absolutely love reading his Gurkha Thread and adore his tastefully modified Asterix.

On 25th April, we went to Chandigarh for a test drive with my uncle who owns a Thar Diesel Automatic. We were offered a long test drive of the Gurkha on the Highway. The Gurkha has a humongous road presence that is unmatched by any car below 50Lacs. It is a comfortable 4-seater and in my opinion, is quite usable as a family car.

The reason for not going with this car was the same as Bolero Neo:

- Mom driving a Gurkha daily was mehhh!
-The car would never be used for the purpose it is meant for i.e offroading. I am very light-hearted in that sense and can’t see myself offroading with my OWN car .


9. Hyundai Aura CNG:



After considering all the cars above, we were finally settling on a CNG car! Looking back, I can’t thank my stars enough that we didn’t get a CNG car. It makes absolutely no sense in our use case scenario to buy a CNG car.

The only reason for considering Hyundai Aura CNG was that when I called a local dealership i.e., DPG Hyundai, Nabha, the guy on the call said they will be receiving an Aura CNG in 2 days and if we booked it instantly, we could be allotted that car and can get a delivery of it in next 3 days. In the times of huge waiting periods, this seemed like a lottery.

But this turned out to be a total scam. We went to the dealership the same day with the intent to book the car. They were pushing us to give an advance of Rs. 11,000 even before sharing an indicative price with us. I was totally amazed at this behavior of the sales guy and asked him to call his senior as I want to talk to him. Within no time his senior was here and he gave us the price list.

I noticed a lot of fishy things in that list:

• RC charges were exorbitant. They were charging almost 15K over the real price. When I asked will they provide me the government receipts for the exact amount they will be charging for this, they refused to do so and openly admitted that they will be charging a commission for this. When I told them that I will get it self-registered through my trusted agent, they refused to oblige.
• The insurance charges quoted were double that of what I was getting online. When I asked them that I will get the car insured from outside, they again refused.
• Teflon Coating worth 8K was being forced and they refused to strike it off.

I was literally flabbergasted after all this and asked them, “Are you doing me a favor by giving me a car?”

Their reply was “Sir this car is in waiting and we are giving it to you in 3 days. That’s why we won’t give you an option to get anything from outside. Also, the owner of the dealership has invested a lot of money and also needs to recover the amount and earn some profit as well. Our owner has asked not to sell a single car without commission, but still, we are offering you accessories instead of straightaway asking for commission”, these were the exact words he uttered in Punjabi which I have translated here.

They were very rude when they said this and this was the first time someone behaved like this to us. We immediately left the seat and walked away. When we almost reached the main door to exit, the sales guy came running and said we can negotiate a bit to make a deal. I was about to punch that guy’s face on this but somehow left without saying anything .

After this incident, I really contemplate what would be the case if I were to book a Creta from them which is their hottest seller? What after-sales service could be expected of them? I have also seen various videos on social media regarding similar treatment being given to the customers but always thought it was exaggerated. But not anymore !


10. Maruti Suzuki Dzire CNG:



After this bitter experience at Hyundai, my dad called his friend who works at a local Maruti Dealership and said we were coming to book a Dzire CNG. Without even test-driving it, we booked it on the same day. Also, the price quoted for exchanging our K10 with them was unmatchable.

My mom couldn’t believe that we actually have booked a Dzire! It really felt that we had no other option but to get this car only. She never liked a sedan and I could see she was not happy after this.

The experience there was just how it should have been. They were delivering 2 Alto 800s at that time and it was a cheerful environment there. Maruti is the king of car sales for a reason and it was clear why. They know how to treat customers, what to offer them at what price, and how to serve them after delivering the car.



SUMMARY of the cars booked and canceled:

Bolero Neo = Booked in July 2021
Canceled in August 2021


Kia Sonet = Booked in January 2022
Canceled in February 2022 (For Kia Carens)


Kia Carens = Booked in February 2022
Canceled in April 2022


Dzire CNG = Booked in April 2022
Canceled in May 2022


Skoda Kushaq = Booked on 14 May 2022
Bought on 16 May 2022

[Rambo-RS]

BOOKING AND DELIVERY EXPERIENCE:

On April 20 2022 we were returning from a trip to some relatives and the Skoda showroom was en route. Although the car was never on our radar, the reason was that it was over budget and I personally was not fond of small Turbo-GDI engines (Context: I am a Scotty Kilmer fan!), but we thought why not at least see how the car feels from the inside and behind the wheel.

So, we went inside the showroom and were greeted by Mr. Manpreet Singh who is the sales manager here at Krishna Skoda Patiala. We were offered a test drive of Kushaq 1.5 TSI as 1.0 TSI had gone somewhere for a Test Drive.

All 3 of us (Mom, Dad & Me) drove the car for short time and were totally impressed by it. Especially the legroom and space it offered. For a car that looked this small, it was a total surprise! There was nothing that could be pointed oddly by us. As it was getting late, we just took the price list and left the showroom. While returning, my mom said why don’t we increase our budget and get this car as it is perfect. But I had apprehensions about the reliability of the Turbo-GDI Engine so no more discussion took place about the car.



13 May 2022, I was randomly scrolling my Youtube feed when I found a video of Skoda Kushaq Active Peace by Bhpian Sunderdeep. I was surprised at the pricing of that variant. I started searching more about this variant but there was very limited information available about this variant on youtube or google.

To my utter surprise, even the Skoda India website had no mention of this variant. I immediately called Skoda Customer care and got connected to a CC Executive. He told me that they have very limited stocks of the said variant and more details about it are only available with the dealerships. They gave me the contact number of the dealership in my city i.e., Krishna Auto Patiala and I immediately called them to inquire about the availability.

I got connected to Mr. Manpreet Singh again and he said that only 3 cars are available in stock 1 white and 2 Grey. He also asked me to book the car asap as these were the only cars, they had in stock which was common for the whole of Punjab as all the Skoda dealerships in Punjab are owned by Krishna Auto. He said if the car got booked in any part of Punjab before me, he could not help stop it and I would have to sacrifice my color choice for a grey car (My preferred color was White). I told him that we will be coming tomorrow to check the car out first to see if there is an issue and if it is clean, we will book it, to which he agreed.

All this was done without even consulting mom and dad. When mom came home after college I asked both my parents, about the Skoda car which we drove that day, what’s their opinion on it. I am sharing their exact words:
Dad – “Solid Car”
Mom – “Luxurious and plush”

I then told them about the deal which we were getting on that car and also told them how I have already made up my mind on it. They said ‘What Car’ will be purely my decision and they just have to spend money on whatever car I chose. So nice of them to always back me up like that, Love you, mom and dad !




On 14th May 2022 (Saturday), Me and Dad along with my cousin went to the showroom to check the car out in flesh. I downloaded the Team-bhp PDI list on my phone and also decoded the VIN number and found that the car is manufactured just a month back. The car had just 10Kms on the odometer and everything was perfect. We then booked the car and asked for delivery on 16th May (Monday) as it was an auspicious day i.e., Buddha Purnima.

Thus, we got to do the PDI even before giving the booking amount ! That too in these times of Semiconductor Shortage! Lucky me! (touchwood)

Our existing car was to be exchanged so a Used Car Dealer was called at the showroom and the deal was done at a satisfactory price. It was assured that the car would be transferred as soon as it gets sold to a customer and we would not have to worry about any paperwork, so we agreed to a lower price than we expected because of peace of mind. The dealer insisted to take the car the same day itself and offered to drop us home before taking the car away. Mr. Manpreet also offered to pick us up on the delivery day. So, we agreed and let go of the car the same day itself. I requested the dealer to let me drive the car one last time to which he obliged and I drove the car home where he dropped us and we bid a final goodbye to the car. It truly was an emotional moment for me as I learned to drive in this car and was very attached to it. Always washed it with Car Specific Shampoos and waxed it myself and always got it serviced in front of my eyes.




16th May 2022 – Finally THE DAY arrived and I called Mr. Manpreet at Dot 10 A.M. asking him to pick us up. He told me that he doesn’t want to make us sit the entire day and waste our time and would call himself when all the paperwork is ready. This is in contrast to what other people experience when they themselves tell the salesperson to not make them wait and call when everything is done.

At 3 P.M. he called me and said the car is ready along with the paperwork and asked me to WhatsApp my location so that he could send a car to pick us up. The driver first picked up my mom from her college and then came home to pick us up and then we picked up my cousin from his residence.

We reached the dealership at 4:30 P.M. and were greeted by him. He quickly came up with a whole stack of documents that needed to be signed by Dad and explained it side by side when taking the signatures, which was professional on his part. After taking the signatures we were given a choice of numbers we could choose from. Because of some delay from the RTO, we had to sit for about 45 Minutes and were offered Tea and Coffee which was yummy.

The car revealing ceremony was done at 6:00 P.M. and the whole staff there was present in the ceremony. “Congratulations and Celebrations” song was played in the background and all in all it was a joyful experience. A cake was then cut by us which we all enjoyed. We then shared a box of sweets that we had bought for the showroom staff and gave a gift to Mr. Manpreet as a small token of Thanks and Appreciation.



The car was then taken out of the showroom and all the important features were demonstrated to us by him. I would like to especially give a shout-out to Mr. Manpreet Singh, Sales Manager at Krishna Auto Patiala. He literally made us feel at home and the whole buying process was very professional as well as cordial throughout. He even went out of the way to arrange a pickup facility for us on the delivery day and is still as approachable as he was before the deal. If you are in Punjab and looking to buy a Skoda, he is the guy to call!

PS – I am in no way associated with him and have just shared my honest experience here.

We bid our final thanks and bye to the Skoda Staff and left the showroom on our beautiful new car – The Skoda Kushaq!

[Rambo-RS]

ON ROAD PRICE:

Ex-Showroom Price – Rs. 9,99,900

Insurance – Rs. 24,000

RC – Rs. 70,000 [Rs. 80,000 were actually charged with an assurance that
the excess amount approx. Rs. 10,000 will be refunded
back by the dealership]

Cow Cess – Rs. 600

6 years Extended Warranty – Rs. 26,999

4 years’ Service Maintainance Package – Rs. 24,999

Final On Road Price – Rs. 11,46,500




Aftermarket accessories installed:-

Android Headunit (2Gb, 32Gb)(w/ Canbus and DSP)- Rs.17,500

Grass/Noodles Car Mats – Rs.1500

[Rambo-RS]

Initial Ownership Review:-

On the day of writing this review, the car has done 920 Kms and in one word, the experience so far has been “stunning”.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Engine! It’s a turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine (GDI) and that too from the masters themselves – the Volkswagen group. Although just a tiny 1.0 Liter 3 Cylinder, it can easily smoke the bigger naturally aspirated engines offered by the competition.

A common joe can never tell if it is a 3 Cyl or 4 Cyl engine, it is that refined. From the inside, it is even harder to differentiate. The turbo kicks in at 1800 RPM and I have not yet tested how wide the turbo range is as I have not gone above 3000 RPM as the car is in a break-in period.



If anyone is interested, I am following the process recommended in the owner’s manual of Skoda Kushaq, which I am attaching below:

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Gearbox and the clutch – Very smooth gear shifts and incredibly light clutch.

The 6-speed gearbox unit is very slick to use. I am loving it and change gears as often as I can just to feel the shifts!

The Clutch is very light and is not springy. One can easily get used to the clutch, it’s that friendly.

There is a special mechanism or tuning of the clutch-gearbox-engine that it is very difficult to stall the car. This is a boon for bumper-to-bumper city traffic.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Suspension! The perfect balance of comfort and handling. Stiff but not bone-jarring. Glides over small potholes and speed breakers with ease. Bigger ones too are tackled without causing much thud or discomfort inside.

I find the suspension to be one of the best in the segment. Although big potholes do filter out in the cabin with a small thud, that is acceptable.

The tire pressure recommended is:



I am maintaining 34 psi on all tires and have been getting the best of all worlds i.e perfect balance of ride comfort, grip, and mileage.



The tires that I got stock with the car are Ceat Secura Drive‘s and the size offered on this variant is 205/60/R16. I find these tires to be above average and don’t intend to change them. They are very good in terms of grip and noise levels so far and I have no complaints with them.

Wheel wells get full cladding both at the front as well as back. I like that Skoda hasn’t cut costs on the basic fundamentals of the car.

One thing that I find strange is that the spare tire offered in the car is an Apollo Alnac 4g instead of a Ceat Secura Drive.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Space! For a car that looks a bit smaller than the competition, it is a big surprise on the inside. Loads of legroom are available both at the front as well as the rear. 5th passenger of an average Indian height will not be a very tight squeeze but just about enough to be comfortable.

The car has loads of space for a family of 4 with their luggage. There are large bottle holders in each door and also have 2 cup holders in the central console between the gear lever and the armrest. The glovebox is very deep to hold at least 3-4 1Litre bottles as well.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Safety Features! Even in the base variant, all the important safety features are present.

These are present as standard from the base variant:

2 airbags
ESC: Electronic stability control
ABS: Anti-Lock Braking System
EBD: Electronic Brake-Force Distribution
MKB: Multi Collision Braking
EDS: Electronic Differential Lock System
TCS: Traction Control System
MSR: Motor Slip Regulation
BDW: Brake Disc Wiping
ROP: Roll Over Protection

Apart from these, there are some quirks in this car like:
1. The reverse gear won’t engage if the tailgate is open/ not properly
latched.
2. The car won’t lock if any door is open
and I am sure there would be many more, which I am yet to find out.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Road Presence – The car does attract good attention, especially in Punjab, where a Kushaq is not a common sight.

Once when we were refueling on a Petrol Bunk, 3 attendants gathered around the car and asked if this is a new car by Skoda, its prices, etc. They also said it looks very solid and better than Creta and Brezza, no offense to the respective owners.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Snob Value – Rather than calling the car by its name Kushaq, people call it a Skoda. Feels nice!

Whenever someone notices our new car, their first reaction is “They bought a Skoda”. Even in the neighborhood, no one called it by its name but congratulated us for buying a ‘Skoda’.



I find the front looks very similar to that of elder sister Kodiaq. The grill in this variant is not matte but sort of piano/glossy black.



The headlamps in this variant are reflectors and have halogen lights inside, which offer a decent throw at a light and illuminate the area very well.
Below it there are DRLs offered which are very bright and look awesome! In upper variants, these DRLs are integrated with the headlamps themselves, and this space is occupied by fog lamps.



The side fender has this premium-looking Skoda badging which looks neat.



The side view:



I really like the straight lines that travel throughout the side, looks very solid as well.
The panel gaps are even and tight.



The rear looks very sober and pleasant to the eyes. It is not overly done or polarising like many cars in and around this segment.



The rear lights:



The ORVMs look very premium.



The interiors:



The armrest is padded and gets storage inside and is adjustable such that it is fully usable even for short drivers.



Rear ac vents are offered, no rear USB ports in this variant though.



LED lights are offered both at the front as well as the rear. They illuminate the cabin very well at night.



Pedals are placed very nicely and have a comfortable distance between them. A very usable dead pedal is also provided.



But I don’t get why a halogen is provided in the boot, but it’s ok that at least a light is provided here. Boot space is rated at 385 Litres which is less in number but practically almost the same as Creta’s 400 Litres because of its design which allows all the space to be usable.

Also, notice that all 3 headrests are adjustable!





All the controls including the steering wheel controls and the power window controls are illuminated.

[Rambo-RS]

The star of the interior is the two-spoke steering wheel. It is the same one which is offered in much more expensive Skoda’s including Octavia, Superb, Kodiaq. It has just the right thickness and is very easy to hold at 3-9 Position and other comfortable positions that one prefers. It is adjustable both for Reach as well as Rake! So getting a perfect driving position is very easy.



The reason for getting the Active Peace variant instead of Active was that by sacrificing an inbuilt and small 7-inch touchscreen unit, I have saved almost 1.5 Lacs on road. There is absolutely no difference apart from the infotainment system between Active Peace and the Active variant, but such a huge price gap.

Even 4 speakers + 2 tweeters and steering mounted controls are present in this variant !

All I had to do was get an infotainment system installed. Although my first preference was to get a Headunit from Skoda itself, there was no update as to when that would arrive in stock as previous owners of the same variant who had ordered the unit from the dealership for 1 month have not yet received the unit and there is no update from Skoda as to when they would ship the Headunit. Also, Sony/ Pioneer had no compatible frames for their units to be fitted in Kushaq.

So, I started researching where to get an android head unit fitted in the car. I found a Youtube video where a head unit was installed in a Kushaq along with a piano black frame around it which looked completely company-fitted, and the best thing was that this shop was in Punjab only! So, I contacted Mr. Deep from Deep Automotive Customs Ludhiana and talked to him about various options available for Kushaq. I found him very knowledgeable about his work and on his suggestion finalized a head unit by Autowood. I transferred Rs. 2000 to him in advance via UPI on 3rd June and he promised that the Unit along with the frame would arrive on Monday 6th June and would be fitted the same day. So I called him on Monday morning and he asked me to come at 2 P.M.

So, I reached there at the decided time and work on my car started instantly. I liked that Mr. Deep himself fitted the head unit and did all the wiring by himself.

He took good care and opened the required panels very carefully. Only two panels needed to be removed i.e Tailgate Plastic Panel and the head unit frame panel. All the wiring was neatly tucked in under the side panels.
It feels so disheartening to see your car getting stripped and the hole that was cut in the back for placing a reverse camera was a very difficult sight for me .





The specifications of the android head unit (as shown in CPU-Z) are as follows:

Ram- 2GB
Rom – 32Gb
Octa-Core Processor (T5 I think)
DSP
Canbus

Also, this unit supports both Wireless Android Auto as well as Apple Car Play!
The rear camera installed is an AHD camera by Blaupunkt. No wire cutting or splicing needed to be done as Kushaq supports canbus and with this device, the car itself sends the information to the head unit as to when the power is to be sent to the reverse cam to fire it up.

The best thing is the fitting along with the frame looks completely stock. So far, I am very happy with the performance of this aftermarket android unit!




Versus what I was getting by paying Rs. 1.5 Lacs for the Active Variant :

[Rambo-RS]

Problems faced till now and the service experience: -

On 17th May 2022, i.e the next day after the delivery, I noticed that the right side steering mounted controls which are for controlling the Multi-Instrument Display (MID) was not working and the MID was stuck on Range itself. Initially, I thought maybe this would be activated only after installing a head unit but after checking various videos of the base variant of Kushaq on youtube, I came to know that there is an issue with my car.

Coincidentally Dad and I had to travel somewhere that day and Ludhiana was en route. So, we decided to get it checked at the service center i.e., Krishna Auto Ludhiana.

We reached there at 11 A.M, my father sat inside the customer lounge and I took the car to the workshop. I explained to the service advisor what the problem was and he asked me to wait in the customer lounge.

Car standing in the service center:



But me being me, I didn’t leave the workshop area as I wanted to see whatever diagnostic they were to do on the car. After waiting for almost 10 minutes there, I heard back from no one there. So, I went to a mechanic working on some other car and requested him to call the service advisor as I was on a trip and had to leave early. He understood my situation and advised me to go to the cabin of the Service Manager and request him to intervene. I went to the cabin of Mr. D.S. Maan, Service Manager at Krishna Skoda Ludhiana and narrated the whole problem that I was facing just 1 day after the delivery and requested him to get it solved as early as possible so that I could leave for my work.

It was so nice of Mr. Maan that he left the work he was doing and asked me to accompany him. We went to the service area and immediately the Service Advisor as well as 2 mechanics came. He asked them to treat my matter as urgent and look into my issue. I was very impressed because I was just a teenager who walked into the cabin of the Service Manager and he happily obliged.

So, the mechanics first removed the negative terminal of the battery for 10 Minutes.

After this, the terminal was again connected but the issue was still there.

Now, they connected their laptop via the OBD port to check for any errors, but nothing was found.

They then started searching on their Skoda Mechanic Portal as to in what way they should proceed.

They then checked the fuse box to see if there is any issue there, but it was not the case.

Meanwhile, I and Mr. Maan were standing there and discussing Skoda and cars in general. He was constantly updating me on what was now done to the car and what would be their next course of action.

After researching on their portal, the next thing they did was to disconnect both the positive as well as the negative terminal of the battery for 15 minutes.

Mr. Maan told me that this would act as a factory reset like in the case of mobile phones and the issue should resolve now.

They also contacted Skoda Service Team for backup, if this final solution didn’t work.

But thankfully this solution worked and the steering controls were fully functional now. The reason for the controls getting stuck was that because the car was standing for quite some time in the stockyard, the system might have hanged, thus doing this solved the problem.

This whole thing took about 1 hour and Mr. Maan was with me the whole time. He had no obligation as such to stand in the heat there with me but he did which tells about him as a person and not only that, Skoda India’s sincere efforts to improve their service experience and the brand image.

Meanwhile, my dad was in the customer lounge doing his stock market and was happy with 2 cups of tea which according to him were great (He is a big tea lover). I thanked Mr. Maan and his team again and we left the service center happily and completed the rest of our trip.

Here I want to put forward my point that issues can come up in any car be it a Tata or even a Toyota, what matters is how that issue is rectified and how do they treat customers coming up with problems. Contrary to the mainstream opinion my experience with brands like Mahindra (as narrated in the Bolero Neo section) and Skoda (Both sales as well as the service at Patiala and Ludhiana dealership) was very good. Mr. Maan didn’t know if I was a Bhpian as I didn’t have my sticker on the car then, still, he treated me this well. This reiterates my confidence in the car as well as the brand even more (although I have mentioned something related to this in the cons section too).


Special Thanks:

I would like to extend my gratitude to Bhpian-Sunderdeep, whose youtube video on the Skoda Kushaq Active Peace variant ignited my curiosity about the car which ultimately transition into getting that exact variant delivered.

I would also like to thank Bhpian-Stolidus500 who himself reached out to me in the PM to make me aware how I was being overcharged by the Kia Dealer in the road tax charges when I posted about Kia Sonet in the “I booked my car” thread. He taught me the exact calculation of how road tax is calculated in Punjab which helped me a lot in further negotiations with the dealers.


Thanks for reading till here !
Posting some more pictures of the car: -

[GTO]

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

Going to our homepage today

[SRISRI_90]

Congratulations on the Acquiring the Skoda Kushaq !
The 1.0 TSI is a Stonker of an engine.

The best part of buying a base model of any car is the unlimited Potential to modify as per your taste .

Special mention to those wheel covers by Skoda, they look very classy .

[swiftvxi06]

What an excellent detailed review. Congratulations for your new Kushaq and wish you loads of happy miles ahead.

[subie_socal]

Congrats on the big upgrade. Was surprised that they provided the speakers and tweeters, despite the absence of a head unit. Also seems decently equipped for the price.

[NTO]

Hello Rambo - RS, Congratulations to you and your family on the Kushaq. The car appears to be significant value for money with the stonker of an engine. Wishing you many happy miles with the beauty.

Originally Posted by Rambo-RS

Problems faced till now and the service experience: -

On 17th May 2022, i.e the next day after the delivery, I noticed that the right side steering mounted controls which are for controlling the Multi-Instrument Display (MID) was not working and the MID was stuck on Range itself. Initially, I thought maybe this would be activated only after installing a head unit but after checking various videos of the base variant of Kushaq on Youtube, I came to know that there is an issue with my car.

From my observation, I feel it is a PDI miss. However, all is well that ends well. Enjoy the car and keep posting updates

[Durango Dude]

Congrats on your new car and a very well written and documented thread with pics and test drive and experiences, excellent choice of car. Lovely feedback posted on every car considered with their pro's and con's. This thread would help many to make their choices. 5*