[imp!]

Wait for the new Octavia man. It will command a higher resale value and is clearly a better spec'd car. I also feel it looks nicer than the Laura (which we own) but that is always a matter of personal preference. If the Elegance/L&K versions are not available in the Laura any more, do you really feel that Skoda won't sell them from the get go on the Octavia? That would be automobile Seppuku.

[ACM]

Wait for the Octavia or get a PreOwned Laura that is within warranty rather than a new one. There is a chance that the Laura name itself will be gone post 2013.

That would be a much better proposition especially interms of value.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by TNAWAYAJ

A big round of thanks to all who've replied! I want to go ahead with the Laura but there is now an availability problem. No Elegance-trim Lauras (CR DSG) in BLR. No L&Ks even. Not sure if this is because they have been flying off the shelves over the last few weeks or if Skoda has halted production already. Just when I was ready to take the plunge.

On another note, one of the dealers mentioned a VIN 2012 unit that was available but is not any longer. As potential owners what do we need to watch out for in previous year VINs? What are the risks if any?

Since you are willing to spend for the Laura L&K, any reason for not considering the base Superb Ambition A/T? Last I heard, there were great discounts on the car.
Plus, even for a self driven car, length aside (which is not much of an issue while driving as it is while parking), the width is quite similar to the Laura (IMO, width is more important while navigating traffic). Performance is also similar to the Laura, and with a slightly flatter ride, the Superb might even have a more settled high speed characteristic.

Heard Jetta has great deals going as well.

[TNAWAYAJ]

Thanks once again for the advice, folks!

One of the reasons for me to go after the Laura TDI AT is that I am hoping I will land a good deal - since it is going to get phased out and replaced very soon. The L&K trim is actually beyond my reach - the Elegance might just be within, and the Ambition I feel misses out on too many luxury features (climate control, leather seats, electronic seat adjustment, to name a few), although it has the same motor and transmission which originally attracted me to this car.

That said, I still feel so much hesitation to go ahead with this - every time I build the resolve to press the button, I read some horrible anecdote of exorbitantly priced spares or maintenance hassles. Someone on another thread pointed out that this is "hit-or-miss" with Skoda - some are really lucky to have machines that run beautifully without problems, and others are unlucky right from the minute they drive out of the showroom. Not that this is not the case with other manufacturers, but it's just very much "out there" for Skoda - case in point being the Skoda India Facebook page. People are going ballistic there, and seeing such angst really makes me think twice. I don't want to digress here, I am just trying to explain my predicament, and how the perception of Skoda's after-sales is affecting my judgement. Maybe there are other folks like me, too. If could get an assurance from Skoda's leadership that I am in safe hands, and that I won't be gipped in the long run, I would feel a lot better. That 5-year warranty being discussed on another thread would help for sure.

I was looking for an AT to give my left-foot a break in BLR's crazy traffic. The AT needs to be responsive, and not feel like a CVT, as I will take the car out for weekend drives and road trips. If it's not a Laura or a Cruze, I think I might just go for the T-Jet that I fell in love with a few months ago. At least it's a lot more affordable (different segment, I know, I know) than the Laura, is a driver's car, looks smashing, and rides + handles amazingly. If only it had a DSG-like transmission. Sigh.

[dkaile]

^
Don't worry TNAWAYAJ, its mostly a hit with Skoda. Misses are very rare and are with every brand even Mercedes and BMW. Just be a little proactive at the ASC's and check everything out for yourself rather than relying on the service advisors and you should be ok. The product is very good, this much I can assure you.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by TNAWAYAJ

I was looking for an AT to give my left-foot a break in BLR's crazy traffic. The AT needs to be responsive, and not feel like a CVT, as I will take the car out for weekend drives and road trips. If it's not a Laura or a Cruze, I think I might just go for the T-Jet that I fell in love with a few months ago.

Actually my experience with the Laura / AT's is that While the left foot is quite relaxed and infact a bit too idle on long drives, the right foot is over active as one needs to keep it planted on the brakes in traffic as one does not keep switching the vehicle to P or N mode and then pulling the hand brake. So while the left foot is over relaxed the right foot is truly overworked. I really don't know if the overall relaxation is more or less.

The newer high end AT vehicles come with something called an Auto Brake hold that removes the requirement to keep the brake pressed when one is standstill - The current Laura does not have it, nor the Superb. I think the Passat and Audi A4 have this.

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Since you are willing to spend for the Laura L&K, any reason for not considering the base Superb Ambition A/T?

There are not many advantages of getting a lower variant Superb to a Laura L&K.
Superb Ambition will have less equipment compared to the Laura L&K; it will miss things like ESP, cruise control, xenon lamps, touchscreen ICE etc.

Agreed, it rides very well, but so does the Laura.

Originally Posted by ACM

Actually my experience with the Laura / AT's is that While the left foot is quite relaxed and infact a bit too idle on long drives, the right foot is over active as one needs to keep it planted on the brakes in traffic as one does not keep switching the vehicle to P or N mode and then pulling the hand brake. So while the left foot is over relaxed the right foot is truly overworked. I really don't know if the overall relaxation is more or less.

Agreed. But you would have to do the same thing in a manual car. So the right foot is no more overworked than it would be in a manual.
And on long drives I keep the cruise control on, so both my feet are relaxed. A/T is the way to go!!

Originally Posted by ACM

The newer high end AT vehicles come with something called an Auto Brake hold that removes the requirement to keep the brake pressed when one is standstill - The current Laura does not have it, nor the Superb. I think the Passat and Audi A4 have this.

Yes, this is available in the Passat. I think (might be wrong) that electronic parking brakes are a requisite for this feature, as I have noticed that these features are always present together.

[pgsagar]

Tnawayaj, why don't you try out Cruze AT? MT Cruze beats MT Laura. In AT variant however, it is other way around. But you need to see by how much. If the difference in timings are one third of a second or so then you can say they are both same. And we are yet to hear about any gear-box problems in Cruze.

[TNAWAYAJ]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Tnawayaj, why don't you try out Cruze AT? MT Cruze beats MT Laura. In AT variant however, it is other way around. But you need to see by how much. If the difference in timings are one third of a second or so then you can say they are both same. And we are yet to hear about any gear-box problems in Cruze.

I did try out the Cruze AT but the test drive car proved to be a dud - it was wheezing every time I throttled it and also popped up some errors on the MID. The sales executive claimed that the car was due for maintenance, so I really haven't got a chance to see what a healthy car feels and drives like. More than just performance (which might be redundant in Bangalore peak-hour, as someone else also pointed out), I am also looking at a really well-appointed cabin with as hassle-free an ownership experience as possible.

[rxpaul]

Originally Posted by ACM

The newer high end AT vehicles come with something called an Auto Brake hold that removes the requirement to keep the brake pressed when one is standstill - The current Laura does not have it, nor the Superb. I think the Passat and Audi A4 have this.

Guys... what is this Auto Brake hold feature ? Could we have more details ?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by rxpaul

Guys... what is this Auto Brake hold feature ? Could we have more details ?

You press the clutch and then depress the brake firmly. It then activates the handbrake motors but not at the pressure of the normal handbrake. When you drive off, the calipers disengage.

However the down side of electric handbrakes are that the motors wear out in a few years due to exposure to muck, salt, moisture and one cannot do handbrake turns, wink wink!

[ACM]

Originally Posted by EagleEye

Agreed. But you would have to do the same thing in a manual car. So the right foot is no more overworked than it would be in a manual.
And on long drives I keep the cruise control on, so both my feet are relaxed. A/T is the way to go!!

Actually not the same case with a manual, there is a difference: My Right foot always got more tired in the Laura than in the Aria. (Especially in the City Traffic) In a Manual one does not need to need to keep the brake pressed on a flat surface, in an automatic (especially so in dense traffic) the automatic makes the vehicle move ahead even if one is not accelerating.

Yep on the highways one gets the benefit of cruise control but then I had that even on the Aria Manual and I really did use it as much as in the Laura. Cruise control is not limited only to an AT, even in a manual one can have both feel relaxed.

Essentially in an AT the Left leg is totally relaxed or even goes numb doing nothing, while the right leg is about in my case 50% overworked compared to in a Manual. So yes overall effort is definitely lesser in an AT but the right leg is overworked for sure. The one way this is overcome is with an Auto Park Brake which then makes the right leg effort the same or even lesser than in a Manual (which just do not come with this feature vs. cruise control). I think even the XUV has cruise control in the Manual like in the Aria. The one in the Aria works very well - can vouch for that.

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by ACM

Actually not the same case with a manual, there is a difference: My Right foot always got more tired in the Laura than in the Aria. (Especially in the City Traffic) In a Manual one does not need to need to keep the brake pressed on a flat surface, in an automatic (especially so in dense traffic) the automatic makes the vehicle move ahead even if one is not accelerating.

Essentially in an AT the Left leg is totally relaxed or even goes numb doing nothing, while the right leg is about in my case 50% overworked compared to in a Manual. So yes overall effort is definitely lesser in an AT but the right leg is overworked for sure. The one way this is overcome is with an Auto Park Brake which then makes the right leg effort the same or even lesser than in a Manual (which just do not come with this feature vs. cruise control). I think even the XUV has cruise control in the Manual like in the Aria. The one in the Aria works very well - can vouch for that.

In a manual when you stop on a flat surface you have to put the car in neutral if you don't want to keep the clutch pressed. In a similar way, you can just shift into neutral when you're driving an AT as well (One shift up from D). This is what I always do when I'm stopped.

Originally Posted by rxpaul

Guys... what is this Auto Brake hold feature ? Could we have more details ?

In an AT car with this feature, if you stop the car by braking, then you don't have to shift onto neutral or keep the brakes pressed or anything.
You just take the foot off from the brake pedal and the car is stopped in place using the electronic brakes.

[TorquePeedo]

Is there any comparo between the various automatic transmissions in the D1 segment like the DSG in VW, Skoda, H-matic in Hyundai Elantra etc?