Dealer got a shipment and the sensor was not present in the shipment. Now this was really shocking.

BHPian athray9 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Skoda makes amazing cars but are backed by a poor management team. I would like to share the experiences we went through with the entire ownership of our car since the booking.

Jan 2022 - Booked the car and we were told it would get delivered in about 3 months.

April 2022 - Did not get the allocation yet.

August 2022 - Got an allocation and got it delivered in the same month.

September 2022 - Passenger Airbag was always turned off, then we came to know that it comes turned off from factory and that the technicians need to turn it on during PDI and they failed to do so, now this could've been fatal had my dad not discovered it.

23rd November 2022 - The car had been amazing during the first 3 months of ownership with about 3000 kms on the odo with a trip -> Chennai-Trichy-Namakkal-Karur-Chennai. Just when we reached home, the check engine light turns on.

24th November 2022 - The car goes to the Service center in Guindy Industrial Estate.

27th November 2022 - Technicians had run the diagnosis and sent it to Skoda India. Skoda India came back with a response that the fuel pump sensor had failed which was the reason for the check engine light. But it was a sensor failure, so Skoda India had advised the technicians to re-calibrate the sensor and that would fix the problem. The technician told me that the problem would be fixed tomorrow and that I can pick the car tomorrow morning.

28th November 2022 - I reached the showroom at about 9:30AM, the technician says they test drove the car and the check engine light came up again. Now this happened at about 11AM. So this infuriated us since they made us come all the way to pick the car up and then inform us this issue. Then they told us they can give us a loaner car which is a 1.0 Kushaq M/T. But in-order to get the approval for the loaner, I had to wait for another 4 hours. After all the wait, I finally got a Kushaq as the loaner. We were informed that the sensor would arrive in another two weeks.

14th December 2022 - Sensor was supposed to arrive today. Dealer got a shipment and the sensor was not present in the shipment. Now this was really shocking. Not sure if it was really missing or if it was some made up story.

24th December 2022 - It's been one month without a car that was just 3 months old with 3000kms and no signs of the sensor being delivered. My dad escalated the issue and the response from Skoda India was this " Sir we have provided you a with a Skoda Kushaq loaner". Really disappointed with their reply and they sensed it, so they offered us extended warranty at free of cost for what we were going through. But what is the point of having extended warranty is the car is not going to be with us, since we can't even see the sensor arriving even after a month?

27th December 2022 - Got a call from the dealer that the sensors have been delivered and then they will only come and deliver the car to our house.

28th December 2022- We got the car delivered in our house with a bill of about Rs.500 for fuel. We had given the car with about 1/4th of fuel but they had to do many test runs with the car which emptied the fuel and the person delivering the car had fueled the car and gave us the receipt. After making us go through everything for a month, they give us a recipe of Rs.500? But at least we were happy that the problem was resolved.

So we learnt a lot from this:

• Skoda cars (not the PQ or MQB AO-IN platform ones, but more of MQB and MQB EVO) are amazing and are very comparable to the big 3 luxury germans.
• If your Skoda car runs without any problems, it would be such an amazing buy without any issues and you can literally shame the big 3 luxury germans interns of equipment, performance and comfort for a lot less money, I used to find it really comparable to my X3 in many ways.
• The problem is with Skoda India management and with some Skoda dealers (not all of them).

The car is now 2.5 years old with about 15000 kms and touch wood we have not faced any issues and has been a wonderful ownership experience. I really hope your issues are fixed and you also enjoy the cars like us. Kindly demand Skoda India for extended warranty since they put you through this ordeal on a brand new car.

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Power/pickup continues to be as good as when it was new. After all these years, it still packs a punch

BHPian airguitar recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A little (non-technical) ownership review of my Creta SX(O) Diesel MT 1.6. Manufacturing date of Dec 2015, delivered to me in Feb 2016. The car completed 1 lakh kilometers in Feb 2024, after exactly 8 years. While 1 lakh doesn't sound an enormous number for 8 years, we had our second child during the course of the ownership of the creta and also the 2.5 year covid period where the car rarely left the parking and finally in the last year and half, the Creta has had to share it's space in our lives with the Mahindra Thar, which has done 21000 kms itself over the 1.5 years. Given all this, I would say that it did a good 20-22000 kms each "normal" year.

No accidents, but two minor incidents where it had to visit the body shop and a third where a minor ding on the boot door ( which still remains uncorrected ).

Servicewise, Trident Hyundai Mahadevapura has been excellent. The inputs over the years have been very specific and accurate. Other than the clutch assy replacement at 90k ( also due to my own proactive effort as opposed to a problem ) and a recent brake disc replacement, no major replacements. About 30% of it's total odo is my office commute. In the notorious Whitefield-ORR traffic, never have I regretted having a manual transmission car.

FE has been consistently in the 15-17 range on highways, 12-13 on pure nasty ORR traffic and 14-15 in mixed mode. Doing a Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore on a single tank, with enough left for a week's commute to work after the trip is pretty normal.

Power/pickup continues to be as good as when it was new. After all these years, it still packs a punch, just like it did as a new car in 2016. Nobody tries to mess up cutting across etc as the car is able to close gaps in start-stop traffic without any inertia. It's the old 1582 cc (1.6), which no longer is available on a Creta. Drives on the highway are a bliss. While not sedan-like in it's fetish for corners, it still does way better than, say, my Mahindra thar (obviously!)

The gear shifts still happen with a delicious click though slotting reverse, sometimes, is not as pleasant an experience. This has been there since start and every advisor has said that it's normal for all Cretas.
The interiors are impeccable and durable. No coming off of the faux leather covers etc. After a car wash, it's not uncommon for family/friends/aquaintances that don't see the car often to ask if it's a new car/congratulating me on a great car

The good GC keeps the vehicle in good stead. I have thrown everything at it - city roads, bad rural roads, highways and it's taken everything well. I don't remember scraping the bottom even once, even when fully loaded and on the worst of roads.

The comfort levels for passengers, the fatigue-less driving experience even on really long drives ( we do a lot of blr-chennai-blr same day return trip that mixes highways and city traffic ), the no-nonsense setup ( never have I had to call an RSA ), excellent service network, good peppy performant innards, lower NVH all have made it an excellent workhorse in the last 8 years. It's time to perhaps replace it, mostly because I want to experience newer cars, the itch to buy a new car ( more on that on a different post in a few days ). But the creta itself is showing no signs of ageing, still going very strong. It's been a stellar choice and I would take a moment to thank @condor and @ampere for the sensible inputs in 2016. The sales numbers of the Creta speaks for itself over the years. For those familiar with the book "The wisdom of crowds", the Creta's sales should be no surprise. And finally, the interesting thing is that in the 2016 post, I said that I fancy a thar and that post has aged well, I have a Thar too in the garage today . Signing off with some pictures of the car from over the years:

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The only complaint I have with the service center is that they have not provided me a loaner car in the interim

BHPian jjp@chn recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Recently, I took delivery of a 2023 Skoda Kodiaq L&K 2.0 TSI AT (Graphite Grey) on 22nd Dec, 2023. Immediately the next day (23rd Dec), I took the vehicle for a 1600 KMs, 9 days long trip with my family from Chennai to Kanyakumari.

Since it has been over a month of ownership, one may be forgiven in assuming that this thread is an Ownership Review for my car or a Travelogue for my trip. Instead, I am writing to share my experience with Skoda India After Sales Support or its lack thereof.

While I have no complaints with the test drive, booking, registration and delivery experience the real horror started within 10 days of taking delivery and it is turning out to be a never-ending nightmare getting worse over the last 30 days.

Just to provide context, over the last 17 years, apart from the current vehicle, I have owned 2 other vehicles from VW/Skoda (2007 Octavia L&K and 2014 Jetta Highline AT). This is apart from multiple other cars from VW/Skoda in my extended family.

I have listed below the chronology of events to help everyone understand the lack of seriousness from Skoda India in resolving my issue and why I believe my loyalty to the brand apparently has no value. If this is how Skoda treats its customer who is loyal to the brand and has purchased its most premium product, I can only assume the situation of others.

20-Dec-2023: Test drove the vehicle and paid the booking amount of Rs.50,000/-. The sales person from Gurudev Motors, Teynampet was very prompt with all the activities, answering all my queries and I don’t have any reason to complain. Even the car loan process got completed in a day’s time. Did a quick PDI on the vehicle the next day at the yard on the 21st Dec, 2023. The VIN indicated that the vehicle was manufactured in Jun-2023. But I was not overly worried as it was an imported vehicle and there might be some delay in the shipment reaching India and getting allocated to the dealer. However, I need to point out that I got a good deal with year-end discounts.

22-Dec-2023: Registration completed and took delivery of the vehicle in the evening which was largely without any surprises. Had pleasant experience at the dealership, apart from the fact that they still haven’t corrected the spelling mistake in my name in their systems. Also, the CRM promised to call me the next day to get the registration completed on the MySkoda and MySkoda ConnectED apps.

23-Dec-2023: Started early morning for the 700 KMs long drive from Chennai to Kanyakumari. This is a regular route for us which we travel almost 3-4 times every year and all our earlier trips in this route have been in sedans (Skoda Octavia, VW Jetta) or couple of times in a hatchback (Honda Brio) and the whole family had a great time for the entire trip in the new “SUV” as it was due of my kids preference for a 3 row SUV that we bought the Kodiaq. Had a good few days travelling locally in Kanyakumari and we were all excited with the new car and in no time we clocked 980 KMs by the 30th Dec, 2023. The next day we were supposed to travel back to Chennai and we were looking forward to the drive. Meanwhile, when I followed up with the CRM on my registration on the MySkoda and MySkoda ConnectED apps, I was informed they were unable to complete it due to some system upgrade issues at Skoda India end and it would get resolved in 15 days. Since this was not a priority item for me, I was least bothered.

31-Dec-2023: Started my trip from Kanyakumari to Chennai at around 10 AM. Within few mins, realized that the cabin was not getting cooled despite having the AC switched on. While I was familiar with the VW/Skoda Climatronic controls, had a detailed discussion with the sales team for basic troubleshooting to see if I was missing anything and since they were unable to resolve the issue I was asked to bring the vehicle to the service center. That is when we came to the realization that , within 10 days of ownership and driving less than 1000 KMs, the AC had abruptly stopped working. I had to drive for 700 KMs without AC in the heat of the day to reach Chennai before I could take the car to the service center as it was a Sunday and none of the service centers along the route were open.

02-Jan-2024: Brought the car to the service center. It took the service center technicians 4 days to diagnose the issue (defective AC Control switch) and return the vehicle back to me on 05-Jan-2024 with the assurance that the defective part will be replaced on priority under warranty and the ETA for the part delivery will be informed once available.

10-Jan-2024: After multiple follow-ups to confirm parts order over the previous 4 days, I was informed by the Service Advisor that the ETA for the replacement part delivery is 17th Jan, 2024.

17-Jan-2024: On reaching out to the Service Advisor on the day the part was expected to arrive, I was informed that the part has not been delivered and there is no revised ETA. Had multiple calls with the CRM and Service Manager without any updates and despite asking for a loaner/courtesy car to use in the interim until the defective vehicle was fixed, I was not provided with one. Raised a complaint online with Skoda Customer Service regarding the issue with the car. In the meanwhile, the issue with the registration on the MySkoda and MySkoda ConnectED apps was still not resolved.

20-Jan-2024: After several follow-ups with CRM and Service Manager on 18th Jan, 2024, I was provided with a revised ETA of 23rd Jan, 2024 for part delivery. Despite the delay in part delivery, a loaner car was still not provided for the interim nor was any financial compensation offered despite my request.

23-Jan-2024: On follow-up with the CRM on the day of expected part delivery, I was informed that the part was not delivered as per ETA given and the revised ETA for the parts delivery is now 08th Feb, 2024, which is a further delay of 16 days as the part is being shipped from Germany. This update comes after I have been in possession of a defective vehicle 25 days and I am expected to wait for another 16 days without any compensation from Skoda and/or Gurudev Motors either for selling me a defective product or for the multiple delays in getting the issue fixed. This is the 3rd time a revised ETA has been given to me. While the CRM mentioned that they are trying to expedite the part delivery, I have no confidence on whether this commitment will be adhered to given the historical evidence. Also, had a heated discussion with the sales CRM regarding the registration on the MySkoda and MySkoda ConnectED apps and after more than a month they were able to get the registration done for MySkoda ConnectED app. However, the MySkoda app registration is still open.

25-Jan-2024: I was informed that the part has been invoiced in Germany on the 22nd Jan, 2024 and would either reach Pune on 4th Feb, 2024 or Bangalore on 8th Feb, 2024. Meanwhile, the Skoda India parts team was check with other dealers in India if anyone has it in stock to be delivered faster.

27-Jan-2024: Received confirmation that the part is not available with any of the dealers in India as it is supposedly a very rare part to fail and hence is not readily available in stock. Awaiting for the next update!

At this point, I don’t believe the delay in parts delivery is due to the Service center. While the service center might not have anticipated this delay when they initially committed the dates with me, at least I get a sense that they are trying to help. However, I am not getting that comfort feeling with Skoda India Customer Support – they just pass the buck back to the service center and let them face the heat from the customer. Since the part has already been invoiced on 22nd Jan, 2024 at Germany, why should it take more than 2 weeks to reach India. If Skoda really wanted to expedite, they would have shipped it through air and I believe that the delay is because Skoda is unwilling to pay additional for shipment through air and routing these parts for delivery through sea.

The only complaint I have with the service center is that they have not provided me a loaner car in the interim as all their 4 cars are not available citing reasons which include 2 cars totalled due to flood, 1 car met with accident and under repairs and 1 car is already with a customer. As a customer, why should I be worried about the reason for the service center not having a loaner car?

Overall, I don’t see any real interest on Skoda’s side to prioritize the repair of the defective vehicle and I have had to raise the issue multiple times. I see a real lack of customer empathy and I am worried about the below aspects in general with respect to my future ownership.

Product Quality: Given the lacklustre response from Skoda, I have to assume that I been sold a defective vehicle which could not perform as per design for even 10 days or 1000 KMs and replacement parts not readily available leading me to question the overall product quality, even for an imported vehicle despite it being their top of the line product.

Service Assurance: Despite purchasing the top variant of Skoda’s top model in India (presumably worldwide), it is taking Skoda more than 1 month to deliver a defective part order with ETA changing 3 times till now over the last 3 weeks. It is pathetic that Skoda is unable to accurately provide an ETA for the part delivery and is not showing any interest to expedite delivery of the parts, especially given the circumstance relating to a new vehicle which malfunctioned within 10 days and 1000 KMs. Also, given the historical evidence with respect to the changing ETAs, I have no confidence that the revised ETA will be adhered to as well. Should I factor 45 days lead time for any future repairs that requires parts replacements?

Customer Service: I have not received any support from Skoda Customer Service for the complaint that I have raised apart from informing me that the service center will get in touch with me. While I have written to Skoda customer support and included Piyush Arora, Petr Solc, Majed Ali, Petr Janeba and Klaus Zellmer (using email ids which I gathered from internet searches, not sure if they are correct), I am yet to receive any revert from either Skoda India customer support or anyone else in loop from Skoda. Only the service center folks are connected with me and at least respond back to me over phone despite having had multiple heated conversations with them from my end.

Furthermore, even after 1 month, the dealer has not even been able to help me to register in the MySkoda app citing issues with Skoda systems and software making me wonder if this is Skoda’s commitment to its customers in India that is takes more than a month to resolve system issues to even register the details in their systems. Even now, I get the below error when trying to connect.

I know, this is not the ideal start to any car ownership, and the events of the last 30 days have seriously dented my confidence to consider a Skoda/VW vehicle for myself or recommend to family/friends in future. Also, all this back and forth with Skoda India and Gurudev Motors have caused me significant anguish and mental hardship, apart from the financial loss of having to pay EMIs for a defective vehicle which I am unable to use as per design. I can only hope to put this behind me once I am able to get my issue resolved.

Thought of sharing this experience with the larger group for awareness. Also, if anyone has further suggestions on what can be done additionally, I am open to ideas.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The spare tyre subwoofer had had an added bonus of saving boot space.

BHPian TheCatalyst recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi All,

Just wanted to share my experience regarding the recent subwoofer addition in my Honda CRV. This was on my mind since a while now, however I never could really find the time nor was I ready to toy with the warranty of my car. I own a 2019 AWD Honda CRV and the car has been running flawless (braving Mumbai traffic). It does have an 8 speaker OEM system, which is pretty decent however the audiophile in me was always missing the low end for the music (<80 Hz). The international version comes with a subwoofer, but the Indian version misses on many features. Typical Honda .

Finally decided to do something about it and began researching underseat subs, powered vs active setups as well as boom boxes in the boot. A quick search on team-bhp pointed me to FM Drive in SantaCruz Mumbai (it is located near the Straight line shop which I use for my wheel balancing needs) which had good reviews. The shop has moved to a new location nearby in the last few years.

After a lenghty discussion with Pankajbhai from FM Drive, a suggestion which stuck was the spare tyre subwooofer. This had an added bonus of saving boot space, which as a family man was a valuable asset to hold.

Finally decided the JBL BassPro Hub which cost me Rs.35000 + installation charges. This is an active speaker, so an amplifier wasn't needed. I was told similar setups have been done in Seltos and Creta as well.

Speaker specs for JBL BassPro Hub -

• Amplifier Power 200W RMS (2 ohms)
• Frequency Response 30Hz – 150Hz
• Fuse 30A
• Maximum Current Draw 30A
• Quiescent Current Draw <1.2A
• Crossover Frequency 50Hz – 150Hz
• Crossover Slope 24dB/Octave
• Bass Boost 0 - 12dB Variable @ Fix 50 Hz
• Line level input sensitivity 0.2 V - 4V
• Speaker level input sensitivity 0.5V - 10V
• Dimensions (D x H) 14-3/16” x 6-1/2”

Also was surprised to see only a handful of players made such models (JBL and Cerwin Wega) although I was ready to stretch my budget for other brands. A quick internet search later and I was convinced that the reviews were good.

I will let the pictures do the talking.

Few points to note:

• OEM wires were only spliced, no cuts or joins
• Front speakers were tapped as various onlines reviewers mentioned that the front signal is fuller than the rear
• Dashboard was not touched. No risk of scratches etc.
• Boot space remains intact. The spare tyre had a foam cut out to hold some tools which have been kept in the hazard warning pouch
• Battery fuse is adequately sized at 60A
• Rear seat bolt was tapped for ground
• No need for remote accessory fuse tap, since the high level speaker wires automatically turn the active sub on / off on car shutdown (takes about 60 seconds to shutdown).
• No parked battery drain issue. Parked for a week and the car cranked without any issue (Btw the CRV is still on original 2019 battery, touchwood)
• The speaker is easily removable with a wire plug and a long screw to access the tyre.
• The whole installation took about 3 hours.

Once the installation was done, it was time to tune the sub. This involved polarity checking which Pankaj bhai expertly completed and had to swap a speaker connection. Once that is done, the setup is straightforward and as you can see in the final photo that I like my music on modest bass, but with a fuller sound. My preferred style is low - medium volume with a bass setting which 'just' completes the low frequencies. You really shouldn't be able to tell that there is a sub, if you know what I mean.

Believe me, this speaker really moves air and can go very loud to vibrate the entire car. One thing to note here that the OEM honda speaker signals had some extra boost between 100-200 Hz which I had to reduce using the equaliser (you can use the one from the car or within apps like spotify) and then use the subwoofer gain which created the linear crossover.

Anyway, on the return journey home I was a happy soul with enough vibes in the rear view mirror on medium volume.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The BYD seems to be an absolute value of money vehicle with around on road pricing as 36L approximately.

BHPian aamishdhingra recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hey Mates,

I am an absolute car guy and own three cars currently:

• 2019 Honda Civic ZX CVT
• 2022 i20 NLine DCT
• 2023 Audi Q5 Technology TFSI

We are currently two people driving in the house, Primarily me and my father with around a monthly running of 2000kms locally.

I recently sold off my 2021 Thar Diesel 4X4, which I drove for about 45k kms, and took it on an expedition to Zanskar - Leh where it broke down and instantaneously it made me decide to sell of the vehicle.

Now, we drove the BYD Atto 3, Fortuner, and the Ioniq 5.

The BYD seems to be an absolute value of money vehicle with around on road pricing as 36L approximately, the Ioniq being a luxury EV with an On road costing of around 47L, and Fortuner Petrol around 40L. These prices are on road, Delhi.

Now the dilemma is:

Although I have always loved the Fortuner for its road presence and its driving stance, I feel this might be the last opportunity to have my hands on the 2.7/2.8L engine (whether Petrol or Diesel) but is it worth spending 40L for the Petrol or 50L for the £4 variant?

Or I should just go in for the Atto 3, and cut down on my daily running costs and ease my pocket?

Looking in for some deep discussions!

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Nice garage!

Between the Fortuner & BYD Atto 3, go for the Fortuner only if you need its tough build, GC, touring capability and 4x4 (since you mentioned a Zanskar expedition). Else, for regular driving, I don't like the Fortuner at all (noisy, heavy steering, bumpy ride quality). And even if you need a 4x4 SUV, how long can you wait? The next-gen Fortuner, Endeavour, Kodiaq are all lined up for launch in the coming years. Tucson AWD might be worth a test-drive.

Take another drive in the Ioniq 5. I like it more than the Atto 3 as a personal car. Since you have the budget and are open to BYD EVs, I'd also recommend waiting for the BYD Seal whose bookings have already opened. It's going to give you sportscar-like acceleration.

Don't sell off cars just because of one breakdown! Most new cars today suffer niggles of some kind or the other. Saying this because I see a German SUV and a dual-clutch AT in your garage

Here's what BHPian One had to say on the matter:

Few views:

Engine sizes are coming down but I think across the board, power-weight ratios are actually increasing. And if we include EVs, they elevate acceleration to a different level. A Fortuner does not really feel sprightly with that engine size nor does it have a growl of a big engine.

The price differential between petrol and diesel (4x2) is probably overriden during resale. In fact you might lose money with the petrol and gain notional money with diesel resale. So monetarily, Petrol really not be a good choice. Also it misses on a lot of things - don't think it comes with features like UV cut glasses and its driveability is nowhere as fun as a diesel. A 2.7 as a car has nothing over a 2.8 and this includes the price (not cost) of the car even if in NCR for 5-7 years.

7 for those short trips with friends - yes and totally fun. Not the most comfortable choice for longer trips.

Here's what BHPian padmrajravi had to say on the matter:

The Ioniq 5 gets my vote. BYD does not have any sort of brand recall in India. EVs depreciate like mobile phones when a new version comes in and it is better to invest in an EV from a manufacturer with good brand recall in India. Fortuner petrol does not make sense anymore. The Hycross killed it. If you want a petrol Toyota, Hycross or Hyryder is the one to go for.

Here's what BHPian Vikram9193 had to say on the matter:

I would get the Ioniq 5, it has had so much acclaim globally for its design and tech. The Fortuner of course is the desi champion and can’t be discounted, but the Ioniq is in a different league.

Here's what BHPian jimmyjagga had to say on the matter:

I voted for Fortuner, if you want to keep the vehicle for its full life, i.e. 15 years, niggle free and be fully confident that it will not leave you stranded anywhere, ever then Fortuner is the right choice, plus a proper seven seater with abundance of luggage carrying capacity with RWD.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information

The family has been in love with the Meridian. My brother has a Kodiaq & we often get to drive each others' workhorses.

BHPian Machine_Mania recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My Meridian 4x4 has now done ~17,000 km over 1.5 yrs.

For anyone reading without a bias (anyone out there?), FYI:

• No rattles (no, it's not a fairy tale)
• FE ~10 (city) - ~14kmpl (highway) (moderately careful driving)
• No manufacturing faults (it's built like a tank)
• Great after-sale services (courteous, prompt)

Overall: A very pleasurable experience so far

• Pros: Comfort, Space, Safety, Infotainment, Driving Pleasure
• Cons: Diesel lag

TWO INCIDENTS TO REPORT:

AdBlue Incident : Similar to Axe77's Experience:

Within 20-25 km of getting a different AdBlue, an error message popped up. Same day, I checked with SA & drove to Jeep Service. They diagnosed the issue in the first 5 minutes itself, but kept the car another day to run detailed tests. After flushing & refilling AdBlue, issue was resolved. It confirms that some AdBlue are inferior (Hindustan Petroleum in my case). This was not a Jeep issue - on the contrary, the car did its job by throwing up an error message & SA was fantastic. AdBlue has been filled every ~5,000 kms, it's not an inconvenience for me to get it during regular service or pick-up the prescribed brand (about INR 500/ 5L).

We had a Tyre Burst Accident! Meridian was fantastic in keeping us safe

We hit a huge crater & burst at nearly 100 kmph. The crater, sadly, was unavoidable because of adjacent vehicles. We hit it very hard. The Meridian continued straight - extremely steadily. I felt a change in the way the car drove. But it was only because of the live TPMS warning that I immediately figured what had happened.

As I gently pulled the Meridian to the side, we saw a car behind us hit the same crater & come to a swerving stop. Whole family was very impressed with the Meridian. The occupants included a newborn child with their mother, you can imagine the fright. Big validation of the safety features of this well-built tank of a car.

The family has been in love with the Meridian. My brother has a Kodiaq & we often get to drive each others' workhorses. Both Kodiaq & Meridian were consciously picked over the likes of Fortuner for a long list of reasons. Family's opinion is unanimous - the Meridian & the Kodiaq are both amazing beasts, & while we enjoy the Kodiaq's elegance, the Meridian is more rugged with an edge in the feature list & the more 'adventurous' long distance traveler. In some aspects, family feels Kodiaq feels a bit boring - the new gen launch later this year is long overdue. By the way - not much difference in resale price (relative to purchase price) we've been offered on either Kodiaq/ Meridian which are similarly aged, fwiw.

Dealing with hate / "Bhai.. Faartuner kyu nahi li?"

Hearing/ reading some comments makes me smile - I certainly don't mind owning a less-than-ordinary beast of a car which delights me in every aspect of its ownership! At times my "automobile expert" friends have voiced some thoughts followed by a ride in the car completely changing their opinion! Turns out, no dearth of "experts" amongst my friends with run-off-the-mill or prejudiced comments formed without experiencing a car. Anyone with an open mind has certainly walked away with respect for what the Meridian offers - irrespective of whether they prefer the Kodiaq or Fortuner or any or any other car for their own garage.

No offence, but reading some of the strongly worded negative comments on this thread (from those who don't own a Meridian) made me smile as well! I'm accustomed to owning the 'dark horse' cars which the "market" writes off as "less successful".[/b] I loved my Chevrolet Cruze every km I drove it & my journey with the Meridian is turning out similarly. A close friend who also owns a Meridian has had an almost exact same experience.

... Until, of course, hopefully an upgrade to a higher segment German SUV after some years just like Axe77. Meridian has surely set the bar high in what I'll expect from that future luxury SUV

Cheers to all,

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Engine is super-smooth, effortless cruiser on the highway, gear shifts are not felt at all except when shifting from 2 to 1.

BHPian adv.yzr recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Greetings BHPians!

It's been a while since we got our VW Taigun GT Plus 1.5 DSG. Purchased on Dhanteras in November 2023 and replaced our close to 15-year-old Maruti Suzuki SX4. I'll be sharing buying & driving experience in this post for the larger audience.

We had purchased SX4 in early 2009 and 2024 being at the corner meant completion of 15 years and the 10-15 year old rule in Delhi-NCR also meant that we have to take a quick decision regarding it and considered the following options:

• I currently reside in Panchkula and make weekly trips to Gurugram, so thought of considering its registration extended in Panchkula, and keeping it for another 5 years. The reason being, the car was driven only 97k km and was in immaculate condition and we didn't really feel the need to sell it off immediately.
• Keep driving till the end-of-life and get it scrapped and avail incentives being offered.
• Sell it off and buy a new car.

After many deliberations and discussions, we opted for 3rd option and then began the search for a new car. The budget was approx 25 lakhs, however, we also thought that we should restrict it to 15 and with the remaining budget replace our 7 year old Baleno diesel next year. So the budget remained in the bracket of 15-25 lakhs and hence the following cars were considered:

Cars considered:

• Tata Nexon: Had booked the pre-facelift XZ+S(D) given the massive discounts. was falling well below the budget and was good enough for highway drives.
• MG Hector: Fell within the budget and was being offered huge discounts on Diesel variant.
• Toyota Innova Crysta: Trust in the brand made us consider it but dropped due to waiting period.
• Tata Harrier/ Safari: Pre-facelift models were being offered at huge discount and were falling well within the budget.
• Honda Elevate: New car but didn't feel good spending 20 lakhs on it.

We were not willing to buy Maruti, Kia or Hyundai primarily because we were looking for a strongly built car and hence the case. We didn't even consider VW/ Skoda due to past experiences of near & dear ones who suggested that we shouldn't buy it owing to high maintenance.

We went ahead with Nexon and finalised the delivery date etc. on the condition that we will do PDI first and then release the payment. However, on the day of PDI, on reaching the showroom, the sales executive informed that he is on his way and will take an hour to reach, that's when we went to VW since we had to pass that 1 hour and the rest is history.

We looked at both Taigun & Virtus and Taigun GT appealed us more. Took a test drive of GT DSG and TC and found that DSG is leaps and bound ahead of TC and finalised the same. They gave a huge discount and better resale value of our SX4. However, family members were still apprehensive of the brand and after multiple visits to the showroom, test drives, they were convinced to go for Taigun but said that we should go for 1.0 Tsi TC due to 2 lakh cheap and better reliability. But I wasn't convinced and persuaded them to go for GT+ DSG since we drive mostly on highways and it will be a much better option in comparison to TC.

Finalised on the colour, which was pre-decided that we'll be going for Lava Blue, since it was a relatively new addition to the colour palette. The sales executive informed that he has 1 car in stock and when we went to stockyard to check, we got to know that it has been sold and was there till yesterday. We decided that we should wait and look for other options or go ahead with Nexon. However, in the evening we were informed that GT+ DSG LB is in transit and is the updated model with ES+Subwoofer and it fortified our decision to get the car as early as possible.

Did the PDI, loan formalities etc. and finalised the date of delivery i.e. 10.11.23 (Dhanteras) and finally got it home.

My Perspective after Purchase and 8k km of driving:

• Engine & Gearbox: Engine is super-smooth, effortless cruiser on the highway, gear shifts are not felt at all except when shifting from 2 to 1. Power on tap given the fact that I haven't driven a car with so much power & torque. Excellent confidence on highways, I consider it as a perfect replacement for our beloved SX4.
• Ride Quality & Comfort: Superb ride quality, I don't think any suspension noise creeps in as reported by other members or maybe I am liking the car way too much. Seats are good and best for 4 people. I did a 3k trip in December to Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Khajuraho. Drove back non-stop from Lucknow to Chandigarh and I didn't feel tired or exhausted at all, such is the comfort I am experiencing.
• Fuel Efficiency: On highways I get 20-21 kmpl on cruising speeds of 90-100 which gets reduced to 18-19 kmpl on highway speeds of 110-120. In moderate city traffic, as observed in Panchkula-Chandigarh, I am getting 14-15 kmpl which gets reduced to 12-13 with instant acceleration/ heavy foot. Eco mode works efficiently and the switch from 2 cylinder mode to 4 & vice-versa is smooth and doesn't feel if it is running on 2 cyl. On my UP-MP trip, I got 18 kmpl overall.
• Niggles & Issues: Squeaking noise from driver side door. On undulating roads, the gearbox shifts to 1st gear and doesn't upshift even on manual input/ paddle shifter. Rest appears fine to me.
• Sound System: Feels good, sound quality is impressive, expecting improvements after coding.
• NVH: Smooth & Refined, can't hear the engine but get loud at higher revs. Car came with CEAT tyres, I have found them to be good.
• Service Experience: Average, I felt that VW Service center personnel are not that agile/ active as compared to MASS where they quickly attend to you and your vehicle, I am expecting a change in my perception.
• Overall Ownership Experience: Fantastic.
• Upgrades Planned: Fog Lamps, VCDS Tweaks, Bonnet Insulation (if available)

Accessories purchased from VW:

• Window shades: rear, side window
• Door visors
• Car Mats (fabric)
• Car Cover
• Trumpet Horn
• Luggage Net

Will keep you posted with new developments, experiences.

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The decline in the hatchback segment continues and has been exacerbated by high inflation

BHPian JDMBOI recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hatchback sales numbers:

Economic Times article:

The decline in the hatchback segment continues and has been exacerbated by high inflation affecting the purchasing power of those who either want to purchase their first vehicle or upgrade from a two-wheeler.

Maruti Suzuki chairman, R C Bhargava, reiterated that the focus is now shifting to what the customer wants - SUVs.

"Next year, there will be degrowth in the hatchback segment. The purchasing power of hatchback segment has been affected and hence, is not growing. The production capacity will come down from 70 per cent to what the market needs," Bhargava said.

SUV sales numbers:

Economic Times article:

Sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) now make up half of all passenger vehicle sales in India, doubling their market share in five years. This shift in buyer preference towards bigger, feature-rich vehicles has come at the expense of once-popular small cars.

As much as 52% of the 363,733 passenger vehicles sold in September were SUVs, a record for a month, increasing their market share from about 43.6% in September 2022.

SUV sales have grown to comprise 48.3% of total vehicle sales in the first six months of this fiscal year, up from 41.5% in H1FY23. The share of hatchbacks has slipped to 30% in H1FY24 from 35.1% in the same period last fiscal. Despite launches of several new models such as Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia, the share of sedans, too, declined to 9.3% in the fiscal first half from 10.3% in H1FY23.

Source.

Note - Top 10 is based on last 13 months data:

Reasons why people shift to SUV (compact):

• Crowd psychology/herd mentality.
• Increase in disposable income.
• Not many good options in hatchback segment.
• Increase in average cost of hatchback.
• Buying a secondary car.
• Safety.
• Ground clearance (least important reason IMO)

Conclusion - Looking at the graph, we can say SUV sales are increasing at good rate and might hit two hundred thousand mark, if this trend continues. While, hatchback segment has seen a decline in the sale but still doing consistent number (around one hundred thousand) so short answer is hatchback market is still alive.

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The only thing that bothers me with the spirited performance is the body roll

BHPian arunedwin recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a Jimny Alpha manual and have covered 500 kms so far.

Ordered a throttle tuner from Australia, EVC, got it for 11K with 5K as import duty. Installation was simple plug and play.

It features four modes :

• AC- Most useful for all situations.
• Ultimate stage 1 to 9; 9 being the most responsive, the Jimny behaves like my Ecosport Ecoboost
• Eco mode 1 to 4, best for off roading and gets the best mileage in highway.
• Factory mode: stock tune.

Overall Im delighted at this product and makes the drive more enjoyable.

The only thing that bothers me with the spirited performance is the body roll which is difficult to manage with the stock suspension.Guess a stiffer suspension as in Bilstein will be really helpful. If any one has done similar upgrades kindly share. Mind you, Im talking about using the Jimny as a daily driver and the comparison is with the likes of the Ecosport and not for pure off roading.

The other day I got a pdf of the Jimny owners manual forwarded by the nexa advisor which is a nice keep for easy referral.

Happy motoring

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The car appears significantly longer and wider than the previous generation GLC and is close to the previous generation GLE.

BHPian 84.monsoon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Had a look at the new GLC this weekend at the nearby Mercedes dealer. Was driving by to stretch the legs of my BMW M340i. Saw this black GLC on display at Titanium Motors on OMR went in to have a look at it. It was a Sunday morning and there was hardly anyone at the dealership. The Sales Agent who was quite friendly and knowledgeable showed me around the car. Some observations below:

• The car looks stunning in Obsidian Black, with all the chrome and silver elements sharply contrasting with the Car body.
• The paint quality is top notch and the car is finished on the exterior really well
• What you notice first is the imposing grill with the massive, three-pointed star. Overall, the car has flowing proportions that are well coordinated, with lots of rounded corners and curvy lines and hardly any straight edges.
• I was surprised to see the LED headlight of a reflector type, and not the projector type that one would expect in a car like this. It does not appear that Mercedes has tried to cut costs in any other part of the vehicle. So there must be a reason by they went for reflector LEDs in this car for India

• The car looks purposeful and sporty when viewed from the back. The broad base and the noticeably tapering/narrower upper body, convey a sense of stability and dynamism.

• The car appears significantly longer and wider than the previous generation GLC and is close to the previous generation GLE in terms of size, except in terms of height. I thought the car could be taller given the segment it competes in. It is only about as tall as the Creta/Seltos.

• The alloy wheel looks real sweet. The alloy wheel pattern is neither too much in your face, nor too regular and dull. The contrasting black and steel color bands look lovely.
• The wheels are a sensible size, with 19 inch rims and 55 profile tires. Importantly, the tires are not run flat, they are tubeless Continentals with a 235/55R 19 size. After having driven around with 35 profile run-flat tires in my M340i, I think this looks like a very welcome comfort sizing. It is a pity that the car does not have adaptive dampers, that would have been a very good addition to this car which prides itself to be equally good on bad roads and no roads.
• OT - I don’t know why BMW keeps going for ever larger rims and ever smaller tire profiles. This is a bad idea for Indian roads. I already have one case of my run flat getting torn torn after passing through a pothole at not too high a speed.

• The car looks its best from the rear three quarters, with that dynamic and flowing shape at its best and it does look imposing from this angle.

• On a 90 lakh OTR car, not having comfort access is quite a shock. This is probably related to recent incidents in Europe, where Car hackers stole cars through a method called key hacking by hacking and copying the key's signal. The pre-facelift BMW 3-series also omitted comfort access perhaps for this reason.
• Imagine having to fish out the key every single time to get in and To lock the car at the end of the trip. Especially as the Mercedes GLC key is big and heavy. There is obviously no NFC key or Software key available, without comfort access.
• It is great to see that Mercedes is now including concealed space for a spare tire in the trunk. The loading bay is flat, and the boot space is massive. They could have easily fitted a small third of seats in there - the boot is that long! Though, of course, no one would want it in this segment.
• With the second row of seats also reclined, one can easily carry a bike without disassembling in the back of the this car. There are switches to flip down the second row from the boot, which is convenient.

• The back seat is quite firm and although the there is sufficient amount of legroom, there isn’t enough thigh support and the seat back recline is not very much and is actually a touch upright. The quality of materials is top notch. One would be hard put to guess that this is not real leather.
• I do wish was a bit more cushioning built into the arm rest areas in the doors, including the driver side door. Although there is a slight bit of padding, it does feel inadequate and a bit hard for long distance use.

• The screen beneath the sunroof feels like it’s just a piece of cloth. It is so thin and lets everything in, including the light and the heat. BMW do a much better job here, with their sunroof screens that are thick and opaque so that you can use the sunroof when you really want it, and conveniently forget it exist when you don’t.
• Overall, the back seat is a good place for medium sized adults who don’t mind a firm seating surface and sitting a bit upright. Not one for the chauffer driven, they have many better choices in this price range.
• The driver seat has a massive range of adjustment. Everything is controlled by the haptic touch based switchgear on the door. I tried the bling feature to enter my height and have the seat set up automatically by Mercedes. However, this makes a seat go too far back and too low for my liking, I had to take back manual controls to find the position I liked.

• The steering wheel has a luxurious feel, although it does feel a bit thin for my larger hands. The touch base controls seem to work OK but I’m sure one would need quite some time to get used used to them as they are quite small and not easy to read.
• The dash surface with art leather surfaces and brown stitching feels really luxurious. The pinstripe pattern on the fake wood is also very unique.

• The instrumentation display is lovely. It’s really high resolution and the choice of displays felt better than BMW’s with the traditional circular two-dial speedo and tacho combination available.
• The display is highly customizable and has a very rich feature set. The SA told me that Apple maps can be displayed on the main console but not Google maps - would like to verify that.
• The central tablet-like screen feels well-positioned and is just about the right size, so that it is not too much in the face. Everything was very slick to operate with a very fast touch response time.

I made a mental note to take a test drive sometime soon. The Petrol engine plus mild hybrid seems like a pretty potent combination, doing 0-100 in 6.2 seconds. This level of acceleration rivals even the best petrol sedans in the price range (The BMW 330i is now long wheelbase and takes the same 6.2 seconds, the C-Class has just the 200 tune and takes 7.9 seconds while the Audi A4 takes 7.3 seconds)

Overall a very luxuriously appointed SUV, with a few quirks, like the lack of adaptive suspension (the biggest downer for me), absence of comfort access and an average back seat. It is quite pricey at 75 lakhs ex-showroom.

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