[2wheelerhoot]

Saw the Slavia at the SC today. I have seen a lot of folks here talking about the quality of interior being better than Kushaq but as a Kushaq owner, I felt the dash plastic quality just to be at par with it. I believe the different color palette chosen for Slavia(beige) seems to create the illusion of quality being better but both the material and texture felt absolutely the same to me.

The roof liner seems to be of better quality compared to woven cloth-like material on the Kushaq but apart from that, there's hardly any difference.

[klassics45]

Originally Posted by Aravind_M92

I just have a small doubt. The overall height of Slavia is 1487 with ground clearance of 179mm. That leaves a cabin height of about 1209 (considering about 100 mm for roof and flooring ).
While Honda City has height of 1489 mm with GC of 165 mm leaving a cabin height of approval 1224 mm. Can someone clarify the cabin height discrepancy?

Yeah. You have to also measure the seat height from the floor to get the correct space. Even the floor mat and roof liners must be considered.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Visited the Skoda showroom to check out the Slavia. I can totally relate to the comments here. The car looks beautiful on the outside. The GC really shows and will be a boon in the pot-holed and speed-breaker filled cities. The dashboard is also good. There is some public interest as well, saw a couple of families checking it out.

But after seeing the new Honda City, this car feels very ordinary. The 1.5 TSI engine might be a great one but that is offset by the DSG problems.

There is no way Skoda can price this above the City variant for variant and make any decent volumes. It would be a hard sell even if they price it on par with the City. The City screams luxury and this doesn't. Some Skoda fans will buy it initially and then the sales will taper off.

If Skoda can price it at Rapid levels, this product can give a tough competition for the City and Verna. Both these cars have a section of population who swear by the brand and City has been a preferred choice of car several Indian car buyers. Honda has started its City ads which shows that they perceive a threat even before pricing. The DSG problems have been resolved by VAG largely and the extent of cars coming with a failure has reduced dramatically. The auto box of HC is a stone age product when compared to DSG and its akin to saying in Tamil what's is the use of living for 100 years if there is no enjoyment in life. I can never buy a Honda car coming from VW family how much ever its VFM. Hyundai CRDI is a different animal on Tucson which i really liked outside of VAG cars

[sanathsh]

In my opinion, the Slavia looks slightly odd, just slightly maybe its the high GC I am not sure, but that is enough to tilt the customer to either the City or Verna. I was expecting it to be much better looking when I saw the official renders from Skoda.

With the Kushaq and Slavia, while the products may be decent they should have looked at matching or beating the market leaders in atleast some of the individual categories (looks, price, safety, features..etc).

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

If Skoda can price it at Rapid levels, this product can give a tough competition for the City and Verna. Both these cars have a section of population who swear by the brand and City has been a preferred choice of car several Indian car buyers. Honda has started its City ads which shows that they perceive a threat even before pricing. The DSG problems have been resolved by VAG largely and the extent of cars coming with a failure has reduced dramatically. The auto box of HC is a stone age product when compared to DSG and its akin to saying in Tamil what's is the use of living for 100 years if there is no enjoyment in life. I can never buy a Honda car coming from VW family how much ever its VFM. Hyundai CRDI is a different animal on Tucson which i really liked outside of VAG cars

There is no way Slavia will be priced at Rapid levels.

The very fact that we are discussing the gear box reliability is an issue. We dont give a second thought to the gearbox in Honda, Toyota or even a Hyundai. Whats the point in having a technologically advanced one if its not reliable? Maybe Skoda can offer an unconditional 10 year/10000 Kms warranty on it to prove things have changed.

[Tubeless_tired]

With the dip in build quality standards in Skoda's new market approach, it can no longer (justifiably)demand the premium in price it once could. I hope all prospective buyers read in-depth reviews like the ones on this forum before shelling out money after listening to the salesperson's script of how the Germans have always been "built like tanks" and how the competition is all tin-cans.

Also, I know it will never happen, but a base 1.5 with bare minimum features priced just above the base 1.0 would be really irresistible.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

The auto box of HC is a stone age product when compared to DSG and its akin to saying in Tamil what's is the use of living for 100 years if there is no enjoyment in life. I can never buy a Honda car coming from VW family how much ever its VFM. Hyundai CRDI is a different animal on Tucson which i really liked outside of VAG cars

Oh wait! Reliability takes precedence to performance. How many times you heard a CVT from Honda failing similar to the DSG failure from VAG stable. No one here wants to be stranded some where and wait for a flat bed. The CVT in general are lethargic with respect to the pick up, but can maintain speeds all day long.

As you said, there is no use living for 100 years, but equally its no use living knowing that you may die now or the next minute. This is more crazy and all that enthusiasm for the performance is gone.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by m8002?

There is no way Slavia will be priced at Rapid levels.

The very fact that we are discussing the gear box reliability is an issue. We dont give a second thought to the gearbox in Honda, Toyota or even a Hyundai. Whats the point in having a technologically advanced one if its not reliable? Maybe Skoda can offer an unconditional 10 year/10000 Kms warranty on it to prove things have changed.

Mate- I have been using the Vento for last 6.5 years and 80k on the odo and I have not faced any problem. I have skin in the game and hence i have been following up the service guys every year and have understood how the problem has been addressed. World wide and in India both Toyota and Honda have recalled cars and Toyota Etios has had suspension issues when they released the car and they were not able to fully fix it. Does not mean that you dont trust a Honda or Toyota. You own them and its worked for you and so u trust it. On Skoda to offer 10 year warranty, please raise it up with Zach on twitter and he will respond to u.

[Knightrider]

Checked out the Slavia yesterday. Higher ground clearance stands out, specially at the rear. The rear end seems lifted up. Overall build quality looks good.

As someone has pointed out, the cabin height is less. I went with an assumption that with higher ground clearance, the seats would also be at a decent height. But seats are placed lower. The height adjustment option for both the front seats helps. The rear seat is a little inclined and due to which, even though we sit with the knees a little up, we get good under-thigh support.

For my height (6 feet), I find the Slavia very short and it was not very comfortable getting in the driver's seat even with all steering height adjustments.

Headed next to Kia showroom to check out the Carens. While Skoda showroom had no other customer, Kia showroom had a lot of rush. I understand that both the cars are in different categories and body-types, but will lie in the same price range. So some cross shopping is bound to happen here as well.

[svmvale]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

Mate- I have been using the Vento for last 6.5 years and 80k on the odo and I have not faced any problem. I have skin in the game and hence i have been following up the service guys every year and have understood how the problem has been addressed.

You own them and its worked for you and so u trust it. On Skoda to offer 10 year warranty, please raise it up with Zach on twitter and he will respond to u.

I agree. My Vento TDi AT is 5 years old and i have clocked 1,04,000 kms. God's grace faced no problems with the DSG. Its such a pleasure to drive. Even it develops a snag, would be worth it to spend 1L to get it fixed and enjoy the sheer driving pleasure.

Within my close circle, we have
Vento TDi AT : 5 yrs @ 1,15,000 kms
Rapid TDi AT : 6 yrs @ 1,03,000 kms
Rapid TDi AT : 4 yrs @ 60,000 kms
Rapid TDi AT : 4 yrs @ 70,000 kms

All serviced in south TN. Ramani Volkswagen & Aura Motors & Maverick Motors (skoda) are a pleasure to deal with.

To protect the DSG, recommended to change the DSG oil @ 90,000 kms. VAG recommended to do at 120000kms, we do it earlier to protect the gearbox.

Had a opportunity to drive the City Zx CVT - albeit only in city conditions. It felt really solid and very smooth. Only misses the ventilated the seats. But with the superb aircon of Honda - not a bad miss. City also felt super roomy as well.

VAG C-SUV twins clock 4500 units a month, when market size is 25000 units a month. Should have had a more aggressive pricing.

C segment sedan market size is only 6000 units a month.

With this said, Slavia looks gorgeous, maybe a 50k premium for the Slavia Style 1.5 DSG over the City 1.5 Zx CVT maybe justifiable. Anything beyond that it'll not do the numbers.

I will be in the market for either Slavia or City in a year's time. Shall wait and watch this segment.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by saisree

Oh wait! Reliability takes precedence to performance. How many times you heard a CVT from Honda failing similar to the DSG failure from VAG stable. No one here wants to be stranded some where and wait for a flat bed. The CVT in general are lethargic with respect to the pick up, but can maintain speeds all day long.

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

Mate- I have been using the Vento for last 6.5 years and 80k on the odo and I have not faced any problem.

Agree, again a happy VAG customer.

The situation 6 years back was more different where almost every one warned me against going for a Skoda, and funny most of them were the people who never owned a Skoda. They were pushing me to go for safer options like Altis, Elantra or even Cruze. When I bought Octavia, I never thought the car would be this reliable - I was mentally prepared for couple of breakdowns, additional repairs, stranded on highways, flat bed etc. I found it to be a good compromise for the performance on offer. And hence the only cars in consideration was a Jetta/Octavia.

How wrong would I have been if I had gone for another option, every time seeing any Jetta / Octavia.

So for me performance takes precedence over reliability. Dont get me wrong reliability is important and I would have loved to have a car which is great in performance and reliability both. But unfortunately we are not living in a ideal world - or people like me turn out to be lucky to have both performance and reliability

So let people decide based on their priorities, risk apatite etc. End of it as long as you are happy with your purchase its a decision well taken - whether its Slavia, City or Verna.

[TheCarLover]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

Mate- I have been using the Vento for last 6.5 years and 80k on the odo and I have not faced any problem.

Touch wood. All I can say is "Lucky you".

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

World wide and in India both Toyota and Honda have recalled cars and Toyota Etios has had suspension issues when they released the car and they were not able to fully fix it.

I would just say that the Japanese have been open enough and forthcoming to recall and try resolving the issue.

Being an owner of Octavia, I know the quality issues that Skoda has which they do not even acknowledge in spite of the cars being under warranty.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

Mate- I have been using the Vento for last 6.5 years and 80k on the odo and I have not faced any problem. I have skin in the game and hence i have been following up the service guys every year and have understood how the problem has been addressed. World wide and in India both Toyota and Honda have recalled cars and Toyota Etios has had suspension issues when they released the car and they were not able to fully fix it. Does not mean that you dont trust a Honda or Toyota. You own them and its worked for you and so u trust it. On Skoda to offer 10 year warranty, please raise it up with Zach on twitter and he will respond to u.

Every car can have defects. Honda, Toyota and Maruti did recall the cars to fix the issues. I dont remember Skoda recalling the cars with DSG to fix them. As we speak, there are 2 active threads running where VAG customers have been asked to pay for the DSG failures.

On the warranty, as a manufacturer and seller, its is their responsibility to show the customers confidence in the product. I am sure you dont release an unreliable product and ask your customers to reach out to top management on Twitter for solutions.

Originally Posted by svmvale

I agree. My Vento TDi AT is 5 years old and i have clocked 1,04,000 kms. God's grace faced no problems with the DSG. Its such a pleasure to drive.

If one is spending 15-20 lakhs, we expect the car to work day in and day out without demanding grace from God. God's grace is needed to avoid accidents, not manufacturing defects.

Originally Posted by sunikkat

Agree, again a happy VAG customer.

The situation 6 years back was more different where almost every one warned me against going for a Skoda, and funny most of them were the people who never owned a Skoda. They were pushing me to go for safer options like Altis, Elantra or even Cruze. When I bought Octavia, I never thought the car would be this reliable - I was mentally prepared for couple of breakdowns, additional repairs, stranded on highways, flat bed etc. I found it to be a good compromise for the performance on offer. And hence the only cars in consideration was a Jetta/Octavia.

So let people decide based on their priorities, risk apatite etc. End of it as long as you are happy with your purchase its a decision well taken - whether its Slavia, City or Verna.

More power to you,. You know the issues and are well prepared to face them. It makes a great car for you. But that may not applicable to all the buyers. For many, reliability factor will be way above outright performance.

[Venkatesh]

Skoda Slavia has been spotted out on the public roads.

https://youtu.be/eA8Gt8LmZJU

[stringbh]

While the updated Baleno was unveiled, price details revealed and deliveries done on the same day, Skoda fans are still waiting for the next level of the unveil game