News

A year & 14000km with my Skoda Rapid diesel: Ownership summary so far

17th February 2025, 12:10 by Deepankar Sadekar

AC vents were broken on the front sides. I opened the AC vents and used super glue to fix it – hardly a 30-minute job for 2 vents.

BHPian 5252rpm recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

One Year and 14000kms with Ujala

This October marked one year with Ujala/ Skoda Rapid Diesel, and odo stands at 46k. It was a seamless experience so far with the car - touchwood. It's a pleasure to drive around and experience the ample amount of torque it has. I have also learned how to ride the torque curve without frequent gear shifts. The 3rd gear pull is still additive, even after driving it around for a year and 14k km.

Pic : A rainy drive to Chikkamagaluru, at Mullayangiri

We drove it around Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka without any hiccups, many times with a full load and boot full of luggage. Making this car look neat is a task, as it gets dirty really quickly due to its peculiar color. Fuel efficiency is also been decent, the car has been delivering 13.5kmpl for Bangalore B2B traffic (Avg speeds around 17kmph) and 20kmpl+ on highways. I have not scraped the running board of the car either – ground clearance is surprising. Sorry to repeat, but the car is a beast on highways and winding roads and keeps up with cars of 1 or 2 segments higher.

Service – Engineering Exponents:

It went on its annual periodic maintenance to Engineering Exponents in 10km intervals at 42k km. The damage to the wallet was 13k. Oil change (FUCHS instead of Motul), all filters, and brake fluid were major items. Brake fluid was not changed in its life, and I thought it was a good idea to do that. Rear RH ABS was also kaput (OBD showed a mechanical malfunction), but EE has only VW OE but without a warranty. EE went ahead and changed it in the service, but I asked them to revert, given the history of OE. As I read in the forum, Hitachi branded sensors have lower failure rates, and my friend has also used the same in his Polo for the past year without hassles at a much lower cost (INR 1500). He had procured it for me from Cochin, but I am yet to change it. Because, after the EE service, the ABS light never came back though the replacement was not done. Maybe it needed only refitting, not a replacement? Have had a few panic brakes and quick stoppings in this tenure post service, but the brakes never gave any surprises. So, I thought I’d get existing sensors run until it really dies.

Also, I didn’t find FUCHS very superior to Motul for the extra $$ spent, and will revert back to Motul next time. Also clutch has started becoming hard, but not so hard that it requires a replacement. EE suggested a replacement, but I decided to give it some time before I do the replacement. It has not become to a point where your knee aches or power loss is felt or there is a struggle to climb uphill. The estimates are around the INR 40k mark (clutch + flywheel).

Pic : Getting cleaned as part of Diwali!

Fuel Additive – IFTEX System D :

As advised by fellow BHPian gaurav.kokra, I have been using IFTEX system D for the past 2k kms. There are marginal improvements in fuel efficiency and refinement, but not so major to call out. But planning to use additives going forward as it is expected to improve injector lubrication etc, as we are forced to use BS6 diesel in a BS4 car. I have been fuelling only from COCO outlets or Jio BP/Shell.

Insurance – Acko:

I realized it's very difficult to get decent IDV and related premiums for Skoda VW cars. Tried known agents, local agents, CRED garage, Policybazar, etc but premium v/s IDV had no rationale – especially coming from experience of buying insurance for Maruti and Honda cars. Finally settled with Acko for decent premium and reasonable IDV, despite mixed reviews.

AC Vents DIY Repair:

AC vents were broken on the front sides. I opened the AC vents and used super glue to fix it – hardly a 30-minute job for 2 vents. Its actually a stop-gap arrangement, not really a robust fix. Now it's working fine so far, and we have been gently operating the same. I had enquired about the new vents, but the build quality is the same. I was told that the old Polo/Vento has a better build, and I will look to try from used sources. New ones, you will feel the flimsiness as soon as you touch them. It's built to break!

Pic: Note the broken flaps in AC vent

Future Plans:

Horn – It's not a Skoda type one but I took a resolution not to use Horn as much as I can. But living in Bangalore, I realized the need for a powerful horn. Have shortlisted Bosch ones.
Sun control films – I have a burning sensation on my hands, driving in scorching heat. I need a full control film with 70-80% visibility, so it doesn’t catch unnecessary attention from the Police. I have Garware in mind, but any suggestions?

Regrets:

While I was actively searching cars, a few cars that missed my shortlist were Nexon, XUV3OO, C3, Sonet, and Magnite. One year after my purchase, all of these cars got a facelift or upgrade and the exact same issue that I had with them was resolved to a great extent. On top of all these, Skoda themselves launched Kylaq at an aggressive price. Not to mention the impressive offer running on sticker prices. But considering the fact that the OTR Bangalore for the variants I had in mind is for these cars are easily more than double what I have paid so far for Rapid, it's not a 100% regret either.

Sharing some of the pictures for viewing pleasure.

Pic: Lost in Chikkamagaluru