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Skoda Octavia replaces my Maruti Baleno: Pros & cons post 800 km drive

Fuel efficiency is currently in the 14 - 15 km/l range, with the usage of 91 octane fuel.

BHPian raj.rokr recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Finally got the delivery of my Octavia on 15th April from ring road Skoda, Gurgaon. The overall experience was super smooth, thanks to Abhishek.

How it started?

I switched my job and it was time to say bye-bye to Namma Bengaluru after 14 long years and move to Gurgaon. Did not want to take a KA registered car to a different state and hence decided to sell my Baleno. I sold the car for Rs 6.18 lakh to Spinny after using the car for 5 years in Bangalore and the odo reading was around 36,000. Being a Spinny employee, got some favours as well in terms of the price quotation.

Cars considered:

  1. Jeep Compass: My father owns the diesel manual back in my hometown so this was always a safe buy for me but later on after test driving the automatic, I was left disappointed. Rejected after two to three test drives. Moreover, I dislike its hard seats and jumpy suspension, especially on bad roads.
  2. Skoda Octavia: I have been following this thread day in and day out to track ownership reviews of Octavia. I ended up reading reviews by Omkar, GTO and Aditya hundreds of time. Guess what, I ended up buying this car even without test driving it and boy this car is a freak. The 30L approx I paid doesn’t bother me anymore, such is the greatness of this car.

Below are the pros and cons per me. These may be helpful for people planning a purchase.

Pros:

  • The 2.0 TSI is something else. An extremely powerful engine which begs to be revved and revved hard. Guns and guts galore, nothing better and sweeter than the grunt of this marvellous engine.
  • Interiors are luxurious and of top-notch quality. Wish the car had soft-touch plastics at the back door as well.
  • The seats are extremely comfortable and finding the right driving setup is easy.
  • AC is extremely powerful and is serving me very well even in Gurgaon heat.
  • If D or drive mode is so tempting, just switch to the sports mode and what happens next is unimaginable at least for me given I am coming from a car that is multiple segments below this car. I still remember that drive when by mistake I switched to the sports mode and I am still smiling thinking about it as I type
  • Boot space is at 600-litres and can accommodate N number of luggage.
  • Mileage - Surprisingly, the mileage has been good so far. I am getting around 10-11 km/l in city driving when driving sedately and around 7-8 when pushed hard. My limited short highway runs have shown mileage in the 14-15 range and I am pretty sure it would go as high as 17-18 in longer highway runs. The fuel used was 91 octane fuel. The above results are based on the 800 km I have driven so far.
  • No issues with the ground clearance. I have taken it to the worst of the roads and it got through them with ease. Need to test it with four people and a boot full of luggage.

Cons:

  • Two spoke steering wheel - I somehow dislike this and can vary from person to person.
  • Light coloured interiors and seats need regular maintenance.
  • The style version has not so good sound system IMHO, it lacks depth. I am trying to figure out ways by which I can upgrade without putting the warranty at risk. I have raised it to Skoda and waiting for them to get back.
  • The infotainment system is very responsive but not that easy to use. There is certainly a learning curve. Skoda, please get back the physical knobs!!!
  • The floor mats given by Skoda are dust magnets. An upgrade is highly recommended. There are not many accessory options in the market for Octavia 4th gen at the moment.
  • A sunroof would have surely added to the luxury quotient of the car.

I am planning a long trip soon and will write more on that later. Kindly excuse me if I was not able to articulate my thoughts properly.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

 
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