[KuvamBansal]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

This is OT to this thread as this is about the AC but my post is about designing for local market requirements in general. If Canada uses xx Octane, they need to design for the same for a mass market car (One shall exclude the Super cars which are performance oriented).

Here is what they have to say in the Kushaq manual. They can simply wash away their hands for any failures as the legal wordings are clear. Honestly I did not know about this when I purchased the car and in fact I never worried about fuel all these years for my i10 but I am very careful with fuel filling for my Kushaq due to which my wife pulls my leg stating that I may end up in a refinery one day for fuel filling.

They can wash their hands off for AC failure too as end user is not maintaining 5degC temperature differential. Simply clever, isn't it?

Can any existing Polo/Vento owner confirm if their cars manual also recommends min 95 octane fuel and they have been using 91 octane fuel without any issues?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Here is what they have to say in the Kushaq manual.

Won’t be surprised if someone just copied it from the EU manual

Can someone decode the VIN and see if that has any special mention of the Indian market?

As an example, here’s how the VIN on my 740 (CBU looks)- note the codes - S8LA, S8SD & S858 -low compression engine (to take care of lower RON)

[sanchari]

I have a vague theory on why it wasn't caught earlier. Maybe the drivers weren't setting the a/c to proper cool levels. It depends on the type of drivers they are using. If they have drivers who are like any other drivers employed by car owners, then chances are that they might not get the right kind of feedback. They are used to driving with windows down or higher temp settings, as they are conditioned to keep temp high so that power is more. If that is the case, it might explain not just the a/c issue but many other annoying niggles that those drivers might not feel is a big issue.

Of course, I am talking off the top of my hat. Ideally, one would expect to have a checklist of items for drivers and test cases to check and things to watch out for. And I am guessing they would have instrumented the car to get the right signals, and not just rely on driver. If the amount of time spent in bumper to bumper traffic was less than the amount of time spent on highways, the data will be skewed towards highway driving and they might miss out on the anomalies in regular city driving.

It boils down to how data is analyzed after collecting it from "millions of miles of testing"

[Col Mehta]

Appalling! VW needs to do better in acknowledging something which is as bad as a poor AC in our hot and humid climate. And enough of these "niggles" . They really need to own these issues and fix them once and for all!

I feel bad for the owners (guinea pigs). VW/Skoda's 2.0 is such a mess. Given our good experience with our 2015 Vento, my son was initially interested in Kushaq/Taigun twins. But the apparent poor quality was a B-I-G disappointment. Now I can't emphasize enough on how happy/relieved we are that he decided against it.

[ankitsharma]

Hello Friends!
Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSi owner here

So my AC performance has not been a problem living in NCR (Ghaziabad). But I can vouch that the compressor trips during the following events:
1. Less than ~1200 RPM
2. Clutch with First gear and at times second gear. Both depress and release cycle.
3. Reverse gear
4. Sudden braking or acceleration

This issue was not present before the first service when the ECU mandatory update was done.

Also once, I was stuck in a traffic jam in the 42+ heat last year. While the car was stationary the AC performance went down even when set to manual LO position.
Now some of this performance loss can be explained by Physics. Traffic jam & very high outside temperature. The condenser might not be able to exchange heat effectively-being
stationary and the fan on.
I am also thinking on the lines that this small engine is already overloaded (Coolant starts gurgling within 5 minutes of start) and hence might be tripping the AC off.

Looks like the newer models might have a similar issue with higher intensity.

P.S. In fact most of my issues have started after the first service
P.S.2. I have not seen such cooling loss in my Swift D.
P.S.3. The above is just my hypothesis. Please do not get angry.

[samitjain]

Everyone is talking about VW 2.0 A/c Problem. I am facing similar issue in Honda City 4th Gen. CVT Petrol.

Everytime I give car for A/c complaint they just clean the cabin filter, check/topup gas and Clean Condenser with water. Their answer is that Ac is functioning within parameters.

Last week in Bumper to bumper with 5 people on board, everyone was sweating in 44 degrees heat.

Again showed car to Service centre (5th or 6th Time) and resting RPM, the car struggles to reach grill temp. of 9.5 Degrees against running RPM temp about 7.5 Degrees.

Its not able to maintain this temperature if run for sometime and then come to standstill. The amount of RPM needed to run Ac effectively would mean running car continuously at speed of 60Km/h which in Delhi is not possible.

So some customers who are not complaining could be those who are not driving during peak afternoon temperatures or driving is not so heavy traffic areas.

Finally Honda service has accepted to change the compressor of Honda City.
Hope this issue is resolved but have little hope. As per Service guys in order to increase mileage probably ARAI values and cost cutting A/c are not as effective as 3rd Gen City which was a chiller.

I would like to know other people response about such issues on Honda City and other Cars.

[volkman10]

Volkswagen India changes their official statement after receiving flak from Taigun owners who are facing AC problems.

The flip-flop VW:

From saying that we do not have any issues with AC in our car, they are now saying that they are working on fixing the issue.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Volkswagen India changes their official statement after receiving flak from Taigun owners who are facing AC problems.

The flip-flop VW:

From saying that we do not have any issues with AC in our car, they are now saying that they are working on fixing the issue.

Attachment 2317705

So, in short, there is nothing wrong with the car, but it is because the climate is too hot. Understandable.

--Anoop

[amol4184]

"Kindly visit your nearest dealership and they will assist you in your concern"

Whenever I read these kind of responses from any company I know they are clueless about the issue and are just pushing the burden on dealer. In other words washing their hands off and you are on your own.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

So, in short, there is nothing wrong with the car, but it is because the climate is too hot. Understandable.

--Anoop

Waiting for them to say "Move to a place where climate is colder to experience better AC cooling"

[Abhikumar629]

This is when a company cuts corners to reduce development cost and still sells the product at atrocious prices. Most of these puny engines which have been receiving rave reviews are too small for acceptable performance. To extract peak performance from such puny engines, the compressor size has been reduced significantly (never did these manufacturers expected such relentless heat wave in our country this year). Also, this is not an issue only with VAG current gen cars. My Ritz also has the same problem. Till the time you are in the front seat, the heat is somewhat manageable. Move to the rear and you are facing the wrath of the nature.

Coming to 2.0 strategy. I see this strategy aimed towards milking more profit and not provide anything good and reliable. Just account for the percentage increase in localization vs the price benefit passed on to the customer (I can safetly say that there was near to 0 price benefit passed even with the increased level of localization and cheaper quality parts). Look at their cars, they might be built marginally better with respect to competition but that alone does not warrant such a huge price gap (when measured in a holistic manner). Kushaq and Taigun both are worthy fit in the Nexon, XUV300 category rather than the Creta Seltos category.

[Raghu M]

Now since Zac has acknowledged the problem, I guess the notion right now is 'at least they have acknowledged'. This is unacceptable. The point Zac has to mention is give a timeline by when it will be resolved. That instills confidence. With this tweet, they will drag the problem for a few more months and by then there will be more annoyed customers.

As tech advances, looks like the VAG cars are going backwards on simple things. How can they mess up the AC system which has been in cars for some decades now? Beyond logic. Just wondering if TATA or M&M's new cars had such an issue, what could have been the reaction.

[AROO7]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Volkswagen India changes their official statement after receiving flak from Taigun owners who are facing AC problems.

The flip-flop VW:

From saying that we do not have any issues with AC in our car, they are now saying that they are working on fixing the issue.

IMHO VW & Skoda have created a mother of all blunders by not properly simulating the hot weather testing conditions accompanied by simulation for prolonged stop-and-go traffic with ambient temperatures above 40 degrees celsius. They have for sure cut corners in the R&D cost and have no clue as to what has gone wrong with their cars.

Lastly, blaming Indian weather for the poor performance of AC shows how incompetent VAG has become in India 2.0. This is another classic case where Indian consumers have been taken for a ride courtesy of weak
or no laws protecting them against these manufacturers. Had it been the US of A, NHTSA would have already sprung into action calling a recall for every affected car and fixing them at manufacturers' expense.

P.S.- Despite Zac Hollis accepting the problem he isn't a saint. They are selling their cars at a premium and if they can't justify that extra money to hell with the German Engineering and European car feel.

[Sach_511]

Funny how after reading these horror stories I keep investing in my humble Sx4, its AC still cool cabin like it did on the first day!! You never fail with Maruti's and hence they sell like hot cake, I really can't fathom any company can fail even to provide decent AC in its car's.

[sbm]

Originally Posted by Sach_511

Funny how after reading these horror stories I keep investing in my humble Sx4, its AC still cool cabin like it did on the first day!! You never fail with Maruti's and hence they sell like hot cake, I really can't fathom any company can fail even to provide decent AC in its car's.

I second your thoughts here. I have used my Baleno to sleep overnight with the AC ON in peak summers and also been stuck in traffic for several kilometres, but the AC always worked well. The Germans are so busy perfecting the ride and handling that they have forgotten about the basics. Honestly, looking at the tantrums modern cars are throwing these days, sometimes I wonder whether it is wise to let go of a perfectly good car.