[Red's]

Originally Posted by VW2010

@999 You answered your own predicament. If diesel is not your choice then VW is not your choice as well. These german cars are best when it is a diesel engine. Skoda as a car are no different or they are going to be like least reliable. They are equally as good as any VW or any german car is. Its their service and support that has put some of the customers in great pain. And we usually don't hear about happy owners anyway on a regular basis.Example look at my VW thread. Its three years and hardly any updates. I may be active if i had a lemon. So skoda stories are definitely about how the dealers and service centers are handling the customers. Its not the car as such for some of the problems are present in most of the cars. VFM - There is nothing as good a VFM as the Superb is.

Well said. There is nothing to beat the Superb in terms of value and comfort. But the question is how big of a car it is ? And how painful is it to park in the city ?.

[BackInTheFold]

Originally Posted by VW2010

@999

You answered your own predicament. If diesel is not your choice then VW is not your choice as well. These german cars are best when it is a diesel engine.

Skoda as a car are no different or they are going to be like least reliable. They are equally as good as any VW or any german car is.

Its their service and support that has put some of the customers in great pain. And we usually don't hear about happy owners anyway on a regular basis.Example look at my VW thread. Its three years and hardly any updates. I may be active if i had a lemon. So skoda stories are definitely about how the dealers and service centers are handling the customers. Its not the car as such for some of the problems are present in most of the cars.

VFM - There is nothing as good a VFM as the Superb is.

I agree with nearly all your thoughts above.

The two exceptions to the point you make about German cars being best when they are diesel powered would be the variants that are powered by the VAG 1.8 TSI power train and the sweet BMW inline 6 cylinder engines

[nikesh]

Hi Friends,

I have been a proud owner of VW vento TDI highline for more than three years now(ODO: 65K) and its time to move on even though Vento has been an excellent companion. Need your advice to decide on buying the updated VW Jetta highline(Manual Transmission) as my next car. On road price will be around 22(without negotiation). Is this upgrade worth or, I should look at the below two options:

1- Audi A4 Premium 2 litre, 174 BHP, 380 nm torque - 35 on road(after negotiation)
2- BMW 320d(new one)

Ofcourse I will be stretched with the above options hence considering VW jetta highline as it will have most luxury features, xenon headlamps etc and no sunroof and best mileage in class. Please advice on whether VW jetta is more VFM than the suggested options and why so?

Thanks for the help.

[VW2010]

@Nikesh

A rough analysis is that you drive around 20K a year. Thats less than 3K a month. Otherwise less than 100 kms a day.

Now give us a little more information on your need for the upgrade meaning do you drive very often outside the city or is it just a car for daily commute to work.

Do you want a drivers car or a car that you will drive sometime.

If you dont need a drivers car, but more of an utility get the Skoda Superb and use the rest of the money as a safety net for owning a skoda.

[raichoudhury]

@Nikesh
The cars you are comparing are from different segments;

It appears that you are on the lookout for an Automatic Transmission and there are quite a few offers on the new VW Jetta AT Tdi. If you go for VW finance there are some discounts as well. You may get additional discounts if the car is of 2013 make.

You may also consider the Passat which is on its last legs and in the entry level you would also get a MT variant. Since there may be old models you may also get heavy discounts.

The new Superb as suggested by VW 2010 would also be a good choice.

However I must add that VAG DSG (Auto) gearboxes have issues of their own and the Jetta / Passat at the moment only offer 2 years warranty.Here you may be better of with the Superb.

FYI the MT variant of Jetta comes with all the bells and whistles and may prove to be more reliable in the longer run.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by nikesh

1- Audi A4 Premium 2 litre, 174 BHP, 380 nm torque - 35 on road(after negotiation)
2- BMW 320d(new one)

Ofcourse I will be stretched with the above options hence considering VW jetta highline as it will have most luxury features, xenon headlamps etc and no sunroof and best mileage in class. Please advice on whether VW jetta is more VFM than the suggested options and why so?

I would suggest to go with the Jetta Highline DSG. For a cool 10+ lakhs less than the Audi A4, you’re getting a better engine + gearbox combination. But if you’re really keen on the premium badge, I would recommend the 320d.

[nikesh]

Originally Posted by VW2010

@Nikesh A rough analysis is that you drive around 20K a year. Thats less than 3K a month. Otherwise less than 100 kms a day. Now give us a little more information on your need for the upgrade meaning do you drive very often outside the city or is it just a car for daily commute to work. Do you want a drivers car or a car that you will drive sometime. If you dont need a drivers car, but more of an utility get the Skoda Superb and use the rest of the money as a safety net for owning a skoda.

I am using car extensively for highway drives to all parts of country whenever i am able to manage leaves :-) so i need a good highway cruiser with good FE and solidity and most importantly safety at high speeds. I know the cars i am quoting are of different segment but i like them thats why asked for. I want a perfect car that matches most criteria starting more seat comfort, fe, solidity,maintenance cost, legroom, torquey, xenon headlamps and build to last. I cant risk my money with the skoda service :-)

Originally Posted by raichoudhury

@Nikesh The cars you are comparing are from different segments; It appears that you are on the lookout for an Automatic Transmission and there are quite a few offers on the new VW Jetta AT Tdi. If you go for VW finance there are some discounts as well. You may get additional discounts if the car is of 2013 make. You may also consider the Passat which is on its last legs and in the entry level you would also get a MT variant. Since there may be old models you may also get heavy discounts. The new Superb as suggested by VW 2010 would also be a good choice. However I must add that VAG DSG (Auto) gearboxes have issues of their own and the Jetta / Passat at the moment only offer 2 years warranty.Here you may be better of with the Superb. FYI the MT variant of Jetta comes with all the bells and whistles and may prove to be more reliable in the longer run.

I will test drive both manual and automatic top end variants this weekend. I will also look at Passat as you have suggested. I have just test driven the auto transmission for new Audi a4 and q3 and really liked the punch in the normal as well as the S mode. Hope jetta dsg is also fun to drive. I am used to manual so automatic is not a major criteria. I may want to resale this jetta again and upgrade to audi or bmw later if mot now. So in two years timeframe, i also want this to return me good resale.

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by nikesh

I am using car extensively for highway drives to all parts of country whenever i am able to manage leaves :-) so i need a good highway cruiser with good FE and solidity and most importantly safety at high speeds. I know the cars i am coating are of different segment but i like them thats why asked for. I want a perfect car that matches most criteria starting more seat comfort, fe, solidity,maintenance cost, legroom, torquey, xenon headlamps and build to last. I cant risk my money with the skoda service :-)

Let me address your criteria one by one. Do keep in mind, my response may be a bit biased since it will be from a Jetta owner's perspective.

fe - I go on occasional long drives with fellow Bhpians. Never has the Jetta returned figures lower than the 320d. Expect gains upwards of 2 kmpl vis a vis the 320d,

solidity - If you want the "thud", the Jetta has it.

maintenance cost - Annual Service cost of around Rs. 12,000. VFM.

legroom - Jetta wins here hands down. A4 and 320d don't even come anywhere close.

torquey - the 2L TDi at 140 Bhp is a great balance of torque and FE. The turbo kick is very much present and exhilarating ,

xenon headlamps - The new updated Highline model has fixed this shortcoming.

build to last - My car is 2 years old (probably the same amount of time you are planning to use yours) and is going strong.

Jetta DSG has the great combo of frugal but torquey engine and a superior (than A4 CVT) DSG gearbox. Plus you save a bag full of money
What it loses out is on Brand/ Snob value in a big way.

[raichoudhury]

Originally Posted by nikesh

I want a perfect car that matches most criteria starting more seat comfort, fe, solidity,maintenance cost, legroom, torquey, xenon headlamps and build to last. I cant risk my money with the skoda service

IMHO there is no such thing as a perfect car

If you go for the Germans (especially DSG) long term reliability cannot be comparable to the Japanese (Toyota / Honda)

Since it appears that you do not intend to keep the car for long, resale would always be at a huge loss. IMO your choices can the from the following(in order of preference):

(i) Audi Q 3 MT

(ii) Fortuner (Toyota reliability + Resale) (May be low on the fun quotient)

(iii) VW Jetta Highline MT

(iv) Superb
(You must remember that VW and Skoda have same "genes"; Being a Skoda owner myself I must tell that some service issues are over exaggerated and a lot depends on the local dealer)

(v) Octavia TDI MT

(vi) Passat Trendline MT (Would have placed higher - but the car is "almost" discontinued)

[nikesh]

Originally Posted by raichoudhury

IMHO there is no such thing as a perfect car If you go for the Germans (especially DSG) long term reliability cannot be comparable to the Japanese (Toyota / Honda) Since it appears that you do not intend to keep the car for long, resale would always be at a huge loss. IMO your choices can the from the following(in order of preference): (i) Audi Q 3 MT (ii) Fortuner (Toyota reliability + Resale) (May be low on the fun quotient) (iii) VW Jetta Highline MT (iv) Superb (You must remember that VW and Skoda have same "genes"; Being a Skoda owner myself I must tell that some service issues are over exaggerated and a lot depends on the local dealer) (v) Octavia TDI MT (vi) Passat Trendline MT (Would have placed higher - but the car is "almost" discontinued)

Thanks bro.. I have test driven audi Q3 S edition as well as the quattro premium edition but it is very cramped at back and almost a tight 4 seater so we decided not for it as its around 35k after discount for quattro and 30 for S edition but 2 months waiting. We also drove fortuner onroad as well as offroad on same day as Q3 and the drive experience was very dead and looking at 27 onroad cost its not at all any fun driving. External looks are the best but we dont buy cars just to showcase. I will try jetta MT and Auto as suggested this weekend as the vw dealership in pune is good and i am quite satisfied by their service. Passat is no longer available and i have heard that both passat and jetta will be relaunched on the mqb platform same as octavia this year, when i dont know as its under testing. Having said that i dont want to wait for it, so will test drive jetta highline and skoda superb if possible.

[StarScream]

Sales agent at VW dealer in Noida tells me today that the Jetta TSI has been discontinued and the company is not producing the car. Perhaps, he was trying to push the diesel.

[nikesh]

Originally Posted by StarScream

Sales agent at VW dealer in Noida tells me today that the Jetta TSI has been discontinued and the company is not producing the car. Perhaps, he was trying to push the diesel.

Thats not true as i checked this with the pune dealers and they are still taking bookings for TFSI

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by StarScream

Sales agent at VW dealer in Noida tells me today that the Jetta TSI has been discontinued and the company is not producing the car.

I don't believe that's true at all. I dropped at a VW showroom today and a TSI was being prepped for delivery today itself. The dealer might not be getting many TSI's, but it's most definitely not discontinued.

[H_Dogg72]

It would've been a news on the front page, if it were discontinued.
Try some other dealers, the aforementioned one might just be trying to sell the stock (diesel).


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[nikesh]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

Let me address your criteria one by one. Do keep in mind, my response may be a bit biased since it will be from a Jetta owner's perspective.



fe - I go on occasional long drives with fellow Bhpians. Never has the Jetta returned figures lower than the 320d. Expect gains upwards of 2 kmpl vis a vis the 320d,



solidity - If you want the "thud", the Jetta has it.



maintenance cost - Annual Service cost of around Rs. 12,000. VFM.



legroom - Jetta wins here hands down. A4 and 320d don't even come anywhere close.



torquey - the 2L TDi at 140 Bhp is a great balance of torque and FE. The turbo kick is very much present and exhilarating ,



xenon headlamps - The new updated Highline model has fixed this shortcoming.



build to last - My car is 2 years old (probably the same amount of time you are planning to use yours) and is going strong.



Jetta DSG has the great combo of frugal but torquey engine and a superior (than A4 CVT) DSG gearbox. Plus you save a bag full of money

What it loses out is on Brand/ Snob value in a big way.

Test drove Jetta highline DSG today onroad as well as bit offroad and it has been selected. We enjoyed the peppiness and comfort inside the cabin and I enjoyed the comfort of automatic drive. I drove at D and S modes at high speeds to test the feeling and punch. I then finally used the paddle shifts to have controls like Manual transmission and really liked the proposition. Onroad price is lucrative. Only doubt remains when is the Jetta upgrade planned for the MQB platform. I am checking through various sources if I can. In not happening in near future then i shall book in feb after auto expo. Below link has the benefits MQB will bring to the entire VW family cars: http://www.volkswagen.co.in/en/innovation/mqb.html