45,600 km update on my Skoda Rapid diesel DSG

There's a lot to share with everyone right from the 3rd annual service to rodent menace to my newfound love Michelins.

BHPian sachin_cs recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Dobry den:

While writing this, I have done 45,600kms in my 2019 Rapid DSG ambition and updating this thread is very difficult for one reason- I just click way too many pictures and I shortlisted some 150 odd photos to upload (finally brought them down to 60). There's a lot to share with everyone right from the 3rd annual service to rodent menace to my newfound love Michelins. Buckle up for 2 posts (30 pictures per post x 2).

Meet Kyra:

Hello BHPians:

This is a pre-worshipped 2019 single owner, only 9k kms driven, still in warranty KWID which we picked up this October for 3.45L. The reason why this car was added to my garage- I simply love my Heisenberg way too much (every time I go to the city, these snakes riding 2 wheelers try to squeeze in gaps where even a cat would think twice, as a result, I have picked up tiny scratches here and there for no fault of mine). I had it enough and decided either I get the bull bar on all four sides with sharp swords like stuff or get PPF. When I enquired about 3M PPF prices for the entire car, the next thing I remember- Kyra was parked in my garage.

How a puncture could impress you:

I was running on the factory rock hard Goodyears and all thanks to our roads a stone managed to pierce it somehow. Since I was down with health, I asked my brother to change the tyre and we were mighty impressed with the tools supplied. Seriously, these Germans are crazy as they think of all these tiny quirks which our previous car manufacturer would never give enough attention to, can't blame them either as they are onto some advanced level engineering focused on removing structural members to attain that magical fuel efficiency numbers.

Perks of having an elder brother:

Helps in keeping the rattles away:

The jack comes with a proper handle:

I like that colour and build:

It even comes with a plastic driver to remove bolts once you've loosened it with spanner:

German engineering makes life easier:

Goes well with my car's colour:

One thing I hate about my car is the rotors, they get warped in 20k km:

After all the hard work..ahem.. a drive is a must:

Never ending battle between a petrolhead and petrolheads (they really are, trust me):

For some reason, my neighbourhood rodents love my car as much as I do, in the last three years I even caught 6 not so intelligent ones in rat trap but their family members definitely have higher IQ, as they have learned to dodge these guaranteed rat solutions- Rs.1100 3M Rodent spray, Amazon rodent spray, local Mahesh car decor rat spray, tobacco, phenolphthalein balls, changed my parking location, removed all possible point of attraction for rats and even made my dog sleep in front of the car (he is a dead log when he sleeps) but nothing worked, nothing! I was fed up with all my attempts and then my Mom brought the magic spray- Red hit. The key is to spray red hit on all 4 wheels and engine bay once every week. We usually do this on Fridays as our car is not driven on weekends and it also reduces the chance of AC picking up the smell of Hit. Trust me, it works! We ensure proper precaution when using it- like using gloves, masks, making sure not to spray when we would be using the car in the next 24 hours etc.

They leave their sacred footprints all over the engine bay:

Touchwood no wires have been feasted upon yet:

Plan 100:

Plan 101:

Plan 102:

Plan 12897th (foolproof one):

Success deserves a drive right?

I love monsoons as long as I don't have to wash my car:

This dent is a mystery- I don't recall hitting anywhere neither does my father nor my brother (or maybe someone in the family is playing games):

Trying to be a DIY guy which I'm not:

With all the cars I have owned in the past, there's one thing in common- odour from blower when we don't switch on the AC. To solve this, I researched a lot and a simple-cheap-effective solution I found was to replace the cabin filter with a charcoal one. I fired boodmo and ordered "VAG OEM filter insert with odour filtering" as claimed by the seller MTC. As per the website, it was an original VAG product, made in Slovakia that was compatible with Polo, Rapid and their derivatives. I impatiently waited for 2 weeks and meanwhile boasted to my entire family that my car uses a made in Slovakia filter shared between VW Skoda Seat Audi and when the D-day arrived, I was in for a big disappointment. Here's why:

Boasting material:

Charcoal filter:

Waiting for the day when that famous brand comes up with desi Neem Tulsi filter:

This is where the cabin filter sits in PQ25s sold in India (Damn that interior looks so clean for a 3-year-old car):

The filter is held in place by two clips. Slide them to the centre to remove it:

This is how it should look:

Mere 3,000 kms can do this to a new filter:

Filter and its bracket. Ensure the correct airflow direction while installing it, arrows are printed on the side:

Surprise, surprise! the delivered filter is actually smaller in size. See the gap between the filter and bracket:

After royally failing in my DIY attempt, I cleaned the previous filter using a blower and installed it back. Also created a return request in Boodmo and it took 2 weeks for them to refund the money. As far as that odour issue is concerned, well it's there and I tend to roll down my windows for a bit and then directly start the air conditioning.

Continue reading on BHPian sachin_cs' Skoda Rapid diesel DSG updates for BHPian comments, insights and more information.