[hemanthisgreat]

Sam, great blog.

I have been thoroughly missing your blogs, and was looking forward to reading a new blog from you.

Congratulations on the Superb. Great car. I just hope you have a great owning experience and not face any problems in the A.S.S department.

I am sure, this blog by you will encourage more buyers to go for this car. I guess, its time skoda presents you some freebies for choosing their car and also writing about it.

[sandeepmdas]

Great writeup, as always; it has the potential to turn the tide in favor of Skoda as mentioned by many.

Butttt I'm a bit disappointed; You should have waited for another 2-3 months for this car:

[navin]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

I love these things about Europe..

I think you are refering to Nothern Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Scandanavia, etc..).

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

I've never written a book. Maybe I will someday. Thanks for the encouragement.

You write the book, NC can produce the movie, I just want to be the hero, why with the life you have led I'll be happy to be the side-kick.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Let me add that what also influenced his purchase was his newly acquired european heart!

[Prithvi]

Sam,
Congrats on the Superb! Awesome car. Use the Octy for so long never had any complaints at all. Me too should upgrade soon to the Superb.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

With all the horror stories on this forum about the completely ridiculous after sales service of Skoda Auto, why did you buy such an expensive Skoda, Sam?

For quite a while, Skoda was not an option. I too had joined the lynchmob of Skoda bashers, especially after the instigation thread.

And I'm well aware of the human mind's ability to overrule foresight and accept misjudgment, telling you that bad stuff only happens to others, never to you.

I'm not foolish. It's not like I cannot see things staring at me in my face. I completely understand that the A.S.S. of Skoda is well below par at this moment.
What I have taken - is a calculated risk.

Let's consider some things

• Things go wrong with a Skoda, things fail.

Well of course they do. Machines are built to fail, it is just the time frame between failures that cause us to judge the machine's quality.

I remember long ago an argument on Team-BHP. Long ago, when every BHPian thought that the Maruti Baleno was the God of all things automotive.

My MB is better than your MB.
(MB = Maruti Baleno, MB also = Mercedes Benz)

The ABS has failed on my MB.
In my MB the ABS cannot fail, because there is no ABS.

I remember the absurdity of that statement for years. Very few of the readers were TBHPians at the time, but those who do remember the argument will remember that line.

Put more ingredients in, increase the number of components that can fail and failure rate will increase.

Clearly, the more complex the technology, the higher the rate of failure. Do you honestly believe that BMW and Mercedes and Audi have no failures? I can assure you that BMW's atleast fail - and fail quite badly. I know Mercedes stories that would make you cry. One coming from the founding member of this forum.
Why do we hear more Skoda stories, then? - Simple, because we sell more Skodas in India.

I'm OK with possible failures, though I wish they never happen.
In my personal belief this car is robust, well engineered and well-built. I'm willing to stake my experience (however not automotive, but I do come from an engineering background) on it.

• When things go wrong with a Skoda, the A.S.S. ruins everything.

I'm not OK with this. I do not want my experience to be limited to a new car. I intend to enjoy this experience for 3 years at the very least and I will make sure I do.
In this regards, I have a little help, a little influence and a little backing strength from 3 different circles of my life.

I'm going to have to be extra careful that no unscrupulous or unprofessional Skoda dealer takes me for a ride. I intend to request Skoda India's help for this and be extra careful from start to finish.

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

In closing (of this why I bought a Superb topic) I'd quickly like to add that the value and trim levels offered for this car is unheard of.
The car is well planned, a bit over-engineered and an absolute marvel to experience, as a front seat passenger, as a rear seat passenger and as a driver.

The interior space, the exterior and interior aesthetics and the safety, convenience and technology offered in this price range is unheard of and unmatched so far.
I have the pleasure of regularly experiencing a BMW 3 series (standard edition, not the new , lower priced edition) and a 5 series, both belonging to colleagues of mine and while the socio-economic status statement of owning a BMW stands high enough (And I have no DOUBT that they are beautiful cars to be proud of and enjoy immensely) - I prefer the comfort of the Skoda Superb.

Now - back to my story.

[Jimmy_u]

Dear Sam,

Can we please get back with the proceeding on what / how / when did the deal go through .


I understand your reasoning behind this decision,honest,guarded and thoughtful as always..

Regards,
Jimit

[Sam Kapasi]

I wish I had an exciting story to offer you. Some kind of romantic tale where I sat in the Superb (again) and realized that this was the car for me.

How the seat was magically already setup for me and the audio system played some inspiring music as I sat back and my hair moved with the breeze from the air conditioning in slow motion as I closed my eyes and sighed, knowing I'd found my ride.

I don't function like that.

When I disconnected the phone with S, when he told me that the umbrella was part of the car, I called him back and got the price of the Skoda Superb Petrol with maximum level of trim.

I want to buy NOTHING. I want EVERYTHING that the superb comes with. Fully like super loaded. Buss.
He laughed. No problem.

2 hours later I had a proforma invoice.

[octane1002]

Wow!

I had been keenly following this thread this yesterday and let me tell you, your decision of going in for the skoda frankly..shocked me.Especially with unpleasant experiences posted elsewhere regarding the failure of the complicated electronics found on these cars.But then again after reading through your thread, I surely can identify with your point of view.

And this comes from a person who has himself recently acquired an Octavia RS inspite of all the horror stories floating around(I know the Superb and the RS as different as chalk and cheese, BUT they're Skoda after all).

Great write up.Write on

[Fordmanchau]

Not fair, I read the thread yesterday when it was still just 6 post old, and today when I opened the thread, I had to red through all the 6 pages.
SAM : wonderful write up as always.Pics wanted of your car. Enjoyed reading it thoroughly.Amazing how you jot down all you have to say interspersed with funny little lines.
Reading your write up is indeed a experience.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Well of course they do. Machines are built to fail, it is just the time frame between failures that cause us to judge the machine's quality.

Put more ingredients in, increase the number of components that can fail and failure rate will increase.

Clearly, the more complex the technology, the higher the rate of failure.

Congratulations on the Skoda Superb, Yeti.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't appreciate your above-mentioned thoughts on machines.

IMHO, machines are not built to fail. They are supposed to be reliable.

I can understand such kind of statements coming from someone who is buying a 15-20 year old Mahindra Jeep for the price of a bike.

But when one is spending over 20 lakh rupees on a luxury car, the least one expects is that the car would be reliable and would not leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere. And even if such a thing happens, one should have enough confidence in the A.S.S. that they would be able to rectify the fault and return the car back to owner ASAP (without swapping OEM parts with duplicates).

Again I do not buy the argument that more components would make a machine more prone to failure. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to test these machines extensively (no matter how complex the machines are) and ensure reliability before launching the product in the market.

If Maruti can provide reliable products at 2 lakh rupees, what can't these European manufacturers ensure reliability of their so called luxury cars.

Airplanes have still more components as compared to a luxury car. Would it be OK for a flight to stall mid air ? Or would it be OK for service engineers to swap original parts with duplicates when the aircraft goes for servicing as long as the passengers are kept happy with the in-flight entertainment, beautiful cabin-crew and delicious meals ?

I can understand your inclination towards a feature rich car. But IMHO, these fancy features are no good if the basic product and services are not reliable.

Rohan

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Machines are built to fail, it is just the time frame between failures that cause us to judge the machine's quality.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Congratulations on the Skoda Superb, Yeti.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't appreciate your above-mentioned thoughts on machines.

IMHO, machines are not built to fail. They are supposed to be reliable.

I can understand such kind of statements coming from someone who is buying a 15-20 year old Mahindra Jeep for the price of a bike.

But when one is spending over 20 lakh rupees on a luxury car, the least one expects is that the car would be reliable and would not leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere. And even if such a thing happens, one should have enough confidence in the A.S.S. that they would be able to rectify the fault and return the car back to owner ASAP (without swapping OEM parts with duplicates).


If Maruti can provide reliable products at 2 lakh rupees, what can't these European manufacturers ensure reliability of their so called luxury cars.

Airplanes have still more components as compared to a luxury car. Would it be OK for a flight to stall mid air ? Or would it be OK for service engineers to swap original parts with duplicates when the aircraft goes for servicing as long as the passengers are kept happy with the in-flight entertainment, beautiful cabin-crew and delicious meals ?

Hello Rohan,

Thank you, but I think you have caught the bull by its private parts.
I think you have misunderstood my usage of the line.

It doesn't matter what you pay for a machine - old, new, Porsche or Singer. IT WILL FAIL. It is the time frame before and between failures that will determine if is reliable or not.

Ideally I would like the time frame to be a few years before the first component fails. And that's what I'm hoping for.
I hope you understand what I'm saying here.

When I say that machines are built to fail, it is in the same tone as saying that all human beings are built to die. Or to be sick.

Oh, they are supposed to live. And they are supposed to be healthy. Just like machines are supposed to be reliable. But they will fail. Sooner or later. A well-built human being has a greater interval between sicknesses. A weak one has shorter intervals. But they will both be sick and both will die.

I agree that if things fail, the job of the automotive company is to make sure they are able to rectify it fully and professionally. I'm with you on that completely. I will be extra careful with Skoda owing to their poor reputation on A.S.S. (as I have mentioned before)

Airplanes fail on a daily basis. There is a very good reason that they are serviced and repaired almost every single day.
Yes, the same logic applies to them - more components, more failure.

However Passenger Aircraft are built with safety in mind before all else. A stalled car is still on the ground. A stalled aircraft mid-air will surely kill everyone onboard. Every Aircraft has primary, secondary and tertiary backups for every critical process. That's why they cost that much.
That's also why there are so many Aircraft Engineers employed at all international airports by all airlines.

If you had your car cleaned, checked and serviced every single day by a trained, well-paid professional, highly-educated engineer, choosing to replace parts that are even marginally worn-out, cost no bar - you too would have minimum failure on any machine.

But this is irrelevant rambling. I hope you understand that my viewpoint on any machine (20 lacs or 20 rupees) is that it will fail, no matter what it is built to do. It is how long it runs WITHOUT failing that makes it a good machine or not.

[sidindica]

Machines do have a tendency to fail, its how humans deal with machine at the time of failure form the point here to success or failure in the long term.
There have been many cases of aircraft stalling at mid air yet its the pilot's skill that has bought them down safely on earth. Modern aircraft are built in such a way that it does not fall immediately but its aerodynamic properties keep it stable yet gradually falling.

The planes hydraulics also play a pivotal role here and even though engines may stall sometime, planes have landed safely, thanks to an inbuilt safety device called a Ram air turbine, which provides a pilot with limited hydraulics backup to steer the plane and land it at varying speeds, at least safely, think of it as a limp home facility.

Two classic cases of similar incidents:

• air canada flight 143 Boeing 767; ran out of fuel due to imperial-metric unit miscalculation
• air transat flight 236 Airbus A320; fuel leak

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

For quite a while, Skoda was not an option. I too had joined the lynchmob of Skoda bashers, especially after the instigation thread.
=============
I have the pleasure of regularly experiencing a BMW 3 series (standard edition, not the new , lower priced edition) and a 5 series, both belonging to colleagues of mine and while the socio-economic status statement of owning a BMW stands high enough (And I have no DOUBT that they are beautiful cars to be proud of and enjoy immensely) - I prefer the comfort of the Skoda Superb.

Now - back to my story.

Exactly my thought process before I bought my Superbs.

Its not cheap as such but probably the most VFM car I've ever bought.

You'll love it more each day, especially if you sit at the back!

I'm sure you don't need any accessories whatsoever from the dealer as the car is FULLY loaded with more than what you need.

Btw, the VW's have the same HU as the Superb with minor display color mods and they have a bluetooth enabled to play music from your phone too ! You might wanna check on getting that part installed, I don't think Skoda offers a Bluetooth option although I have always wanted to get it fitted.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

...I have a little help, a little influence and a little backing strength...
I intend to request Skoda India's help for this and be extra careful from start to finish.

Ah! That explains it, Sam. As I thought...

The Indian angle to the European car story.

You got the chaar silencer wali Superb, right? Akbar should be overjoyed!

[Pancham]

Man what a write up. Its like one of those Roald Dahl short stories. Great writing.
P.S: Its super funny.