[swageo]

I am confused on making a choice between civic and laura ambiente. Please help me out.

I took a TD on Laura L&K couple of days back and today I took TD of Civic. Here's what I found

1) Pickup of Civic is less than that of Laura at low speed. This makes stop-and-move traffic difficult with Civic.
2) Sales guys says this low pickup is because of issues with that specific car. He said, atleast 300 people has taken test drive on that car, which damaged the car's engine. Can this ever happen ?
3) Civic stopped twice during my 1/2 hr TD. It seems it is tuned to its lowest possible rpm to get better mileage. Please note, I have been driving for past 15 yrs and it is not my driving skills caused this
4) I was bit skeptical about ground clearance of Civic, as I read lot of postings on this forum. I took two passengers on the read seat and one of on the front passenger seat. I tried jumping over some medium size humps and didn't find any issues.
5) Civic does not have a rich look as compared to Laura.
6) Civic's breaking is not that great, when compared with Laura. I tried ABS by breaking over sands, and it did skid little bit.
7) Though Civic runs on petrol, cost per km is same or less than that of Laura.
8) Got lot more features than Laura Ambiente
My overall feeling about Civic is ok, and I would give 6 out of 10 marks to it. Engine pickup really disappointed me.

On Laura
1) Concerned over Pumpe Duse tech's fate, as VW has already abandoned it.
2) Maintenance cost of Laura is much higher than that of Civic.
3) Hopeless dealers around.
4) Concerned over lack of extended warranty, as spare parts are highly costly.
My overall feeling about of Laura is above ok, and would give 6 out of 10. Cost of ownership is a major concern.

[swageo]

folks, could someone help me on this. I need to make a decision as early as possible.

[abhinav.gupta88]

See Engine Pickup In Civic is Less due to absense of turbo while Laura is A Turbo Deisel .

Laura has more torque than a Civic So better pick up.

It is Not that it is due to more than 300 people driving it.

secondly any day a civic in the long run is faster than a laura
with a laura reaching 100 in about 10.5 to 11 seconds
while a civic doing the same sub-10 second range.

The Ground Clearance in Civic is not the best but enough. Rest Depends on your driving and the way you can prevent touching the ground

Civic and a Non Rich Look - I dont think so. Its a Sexy Looking Car. Maybe You feel it due to the abundance of civic in the market.

Every Car , Breaking In Sand is bound to skid. Did you try sudden breaking on normal road. How was it?

The Laura Demands Great After Sales , and Maintenance.
The Civic is Lighter on the pocket and you get a renowned Honda Service.
Service Cost for Civic is way less than a Skoda (Anyday)

Laura Being a Deisel Demands More Maintenance at Regular Intervals!

But Then you have rated both cars a 6.
So Now I think the final decision would be upon your running and maintenance costs.

If You have a running of nearly 75-100 Kms A Day , Go For Laura

Else I would Recommend A Civic!

Cheers!

[nitroxx]

What would you prefer ... a japanese sport or European? then decide..more leather or more plastic? more room or more view? more mileage or more oomph?

[PJSPEED]

Hi,

Go in for Laura .......Very good web support (Lot of VAG forums).


I am waiting for the Laura RS

Regards,
PJ

[Beemer]

You 've covered almost all the pros and cons of both the cars . I would suggest you to take a test drive once again on the same day and then decide ...

Originally Posted by swageo

folks, could someone help me on this. I need to make a decision as early as possible.

If You have a running of nearly 75-100 Kms A Day , Go For Laura

Else I would Recommend A Civic!

Cheers!

[anandrs]

There are pros and cons for both the cars. I suggest you go with your preferences (looks/budget/...). A lot of opinions have been posted in this forum and at the end of it all, people buy the car they like, especially when it comes to choosing between the big hondas and skodas. So pick what you like.

[rohan_fonseca]

Thats a pleasant dilemma ro be in. Both are great cars though i would be inclined towards the Laura. Guess it all comes down to after sales.(service expertise and costs)

[lamborghini]

Civic:
1 - That is because the Laura is a Diesel and has more torque (pulling power) and is thus easier to drive in traffic. I remember reading somewhere that the weakpoint of the Civic is its low end pick up.
2 - That's plain and simple BS. If the car was TD'd 300 times, It means it was driven 300 times. Its just like saying that if you drive your car 300 times with a few occaasional racing sprees, it will begin performing like that.
3 - Irrespective of driving experience, the clutch setting plays a major role in this as well. Our Fiesta stalls at times when our driver drives it and he had over 40 years of experience on both old and new cars. Similarly, it rarely stalls when i drive it.
4 - The Civic has a long wheelbase and thus even though it has a GC of 170mm, it touches larger sized speed breakers more often than another car would.
5 - I feel the same way as well. Laura has more of a 'you have arrived look' about it. Civic is more sporty and youngster orientated.
6 - Have not driven either of the cars so can't comment, but i would sugest you read the following link to understand ABS better -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...on-thread.html
7 - How did you calculate that? The Laura would give a better FE and a higher resale value though the service costs might be marginally higher.
8 - I don't see anything substantially more. The Civic is more VFM but keep in mind that the Laura is bigger.

Laura -
1 - The PD motor will definitely be available here for another couple of years. Don't worry about it.
2 - The Laura will be more expensive to maintain but not greatly so. The major expense during service is the use of synthetic oil. Also if you followed the thread, most of the Skoda Owners are not complaining about the service cost and feel it is justified.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...than-rest.html
3 - That is unfortunately true.
4 - Go through link in point 2.

Here are some points I noted when we were contemplating between a Civic and a Laura/Octavia Combi (we bought a Octavia Combi) -
- The Civic has poor visibility and I found it difficult getting in and out of the front seats. I am 18, 6'1".
- I had to push the front seats completely behind to sit comfortably and a 5'8" person would have some difficulty getting in.
- No lumbar support on seats
- When our driver drove the A/T, he didn't find the engine very responsive.
- Civics with scratches look horrible, no matter how small the scratch is.

As for the Laura -
- My dad could fit comfortably behind me but wasn't very comfortable. The Civic would have been worse.
- The rear seat is best for 2 passengers
- I loved the solid feel of the interiors and the quality was amazing!
- Visibility was good. Another thing i noticed was that the front bumpers bumpers were curved inwards. I feel that this will reduce the number of scratches on the bumper in comparison to the Civic, whose bumper is of the same width as the whole car.

If we had to choose between the Laura Ambiente and the Civic 1.8 S MT, we would have undoubtedly gone for the Laura.

Hope this helps.

[swageo]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Civic:
7 - How did you calculate that? The Laura would give a better FE and a higher resale value though the service costs might be marginally higher.

I made some calculations considering depreciation, insurance cost, interest on Rs paid etc. If yearly mileage is around, 20000 KM, then Laura make sense in terms of additional cost (close to 1.5 lakhs ) and additional maintenance expense

Reason I am scared to go the Laura way is because of some threads posted on this forum on maintenance. Karthik had some terrible time with the dealer, who initially claimed 1.8 lakhs to repair whole lot of stuff, all too because some called adulterated fuel.

I read some remap using Pete's box. Users also claim better bph (140 bhp) and even better mileage. This this is true, why Skoda company itself not doing this.

I am going for one more round of TD with Laura and will post you back my thoughts

[tsk1979]

Both cars are reliable.But in case of a shunt or something, laura spares are more expensive. So it all depends on you. Civic is a free revving petrol, Laura is a torquey diesel. If you are driving 20,000kms/year minimum, you will save around 30K/year minimum in fuel. So additional cost to recover(provided maintenance is same) will be done in 5 years

[androdev]

i guess a thread with this subject is bound to start :-)

i recently bought laura l&k after looking at civic as also an alternative.

civic is a great choice if cost of ownership is your top priority. mind you, laura will be cheaper to own if there are no accidents or post warranty disasters - but you should always take into account those occasional accidents and failures. if cost of ownership is important but not paramount, go for laura.

in my very subjective opinion: civic got a sort of fashion/sports/young image (college car) where as laura is more of an executive car (dad's car). if you are not smitten by the civic, maybe it is the laura for you :-)

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by swageo

then Laura make sense in terms of additional cost (close to 1.5 lakhs )

Is that so? I think it's closer to 2L between the Civic S MT and the Ambiente, in Kolkata. But then the Laura at that price probably has a few more features.

I guess @androdev response is perfect. If the potential repair costs are not an issue, go for the Laura.

[swageo]

Originally Posted by androdev

i guess a thread with this subject is bound to start :-)

i recently bought laura l&k after looking at civic as also an alternative.

civic is a great choice if cost of ownership is your top priority. mind you, laura will be cheaper to own if there are no accidents or post warranty disasters - but you should always take into account those occasional accidents and failures. if cost of ownership is important but not paramount, go for laura.

Civic (P) Laura Ambiente (D)
Cost of Fuel/km 5.56 3.0
Price tag 1300800 1465000
Maintenance (1 yr) 4000 14000
Depreciation (10%) 130080 146500
Interest @ 11% 143088 161150
Insurance 46000 48000
1/15 of 15 year life tax 5203 5860

Take a look on following maths. Its a rough cal and it shows Laura is always expensive to own. That is, earning made in fuel exp is not enough to cover any other possible exp


Yearly mileage @ 10000 = 378768 (civic), 399650 (Laura)
@ 15000 = 406568 (civic), 414650 (Laura)
@ 18000 = 423248 (civic), 423650 (Laura)

[ac 427]

it has to be the laura ambiente.
Even though it is a version with less features, it sill offers more vfm than the civic.
No doubt the civic is a stunner in looks and performance, but i guess the laura looks like its in a different class all together.
- the pd deisel though louder than the TDI of Skoda is a solid performer.
- interior space in the laura has also been improved
- rear ac vents / turn indicators on side mirrors / abs /asr/ auto dimming mirrors / rear parking sensors /
- also no one can question the 'safety' angle of the skodas.

i guess all this puts the laura in front