[aniyahr]

Congratulations on your new Car Abhishek !!

Originally Posted by caabhishek

On Mumbai Roads I have noticed a Cherry Red MY14 Rapid. This is similar to what comes in Honda City and not the normal Flash Red.

That sure would be an amazing color for Rapid. No mention of it on their website though.

Originally Posted by caabhishek

I have driven both and finally I closed on the Rapid. Looks and features perspective City is better but driveablity, stability and safety Rapid scores better. I would recommend Rapid in case you are going for a diesel and City for a petrol. Rapid has a success story not sure how City Diesel would perform.

I have almost made up my mind on Rapid. Waiting for the dealer to get back to me with a better quote

Originally Posted by caabhishek

Maintenance Costs would be same for both as Honda demands for a service early as compared to a Rapid which is once a year or 15k kms. Giving the car for a service again and again seems hassle to me.

You are right. In the end the service costs would be more or less the same for both the cars.

[Pferdestarke]

Originally Posted by caabhishek

Today I took the delivery of my MY14 C Biege Rapid Elegance TDI

Hey, congrats on your new Rapid MY14 is a well updated model and a much VFM package. I hope you are relishing the upgraded ICE, it sounds far better than that in the older Rapid, isn't it?

Originally Posted by caabhishek

I have driven both and finally I closed on the Rapid. Looks and features perspective City is better but driveablity, stability and safety Rapid scores better.

Rapid/Vento twins are the best packages available now in C segment diesel sedans.

Originally Posted by caabhishek

Tried 150 kmph on my car (Not recommended) and trust me you dont feel the speed inside the cabin.

I can understand your zeal to unleash the beast out of it, but I suggest you to be gentle on your car atleast for the first 1000 miles.

[achopraa]

Originally Posted by caabhishek

Today I took the delivery of my MY14 C Biege Rapid Elegance TDI.
Tried 150 kmph on my car (Not recommended) and trust me you dont feel the speed inside the cabin.

Congratulations!!! and welcome to the Club Rapid.
Looking forward to your ownership thread.

As for the speed, the car screams "Make me run fast" and that is where we have to hold the urge and be gentle for the first 1600Kms.

Believe me, patience pays

[INNOVATOR]

Originally Posted by achopraa

Speaking in language of famous Kapil Sharma -
Dspeter - Vento, Vento = Rapid, Rapid = Vento, Rapid - Dspeter

• Please use the link below to check for yourself the estimated service cost for Rapid - Skoda Service Cost Calculator
• Vento's service cost can be seen in multiple threads all across the forum.
• The approximate service cost is in the range of 10K, give or take couple of thousands. Since both (Vento & Rapid) cars use almost identical Spares, there is not much difference in their TCO.
• I, for one do not think that Hyundai's ownership cost is less. Don't know the case for Verna, but for my i10 a trip to Service Centre puts me back by around 3-3.5K and the service interval is 10K. In Rapid/Vento, service interval is 15K.

Why would anyone want to lose sleep by spending 9-10 % of the cost of the car every year when I can buy a jap (Sunny / scala ) that costs less than half to service.

[aniyahr]

Originally Posted by INNOVATOR

Why would anyone want to lose sleep by spending 9-10 % of the cost of the car every year when I can buy a jap (Sunny / scala ) that costs less than half to service.

You meant 1% of the cost of the car I hope

[caabhishek]

Thanks for all your wishes!!! Amazing Car to drive. Would be posting the detailed pics soon.

Point taken on the speed for first 1600 kms. Even I'm of the same view, But this one was purely unintentional. This drive was Nagpur to Amravati 150 kms and was talking normally to my Dad while driving. Didn't even realise when she cruised to 150 kmph. Amazing!!! Became a complete fan on the first drive.

Now the second long drive awaits Amravati to Mumbai 680 kms. Looking forward to the same.

[caabhishek]

Originally Posted by INNOVATOR

Why would anyone want to lose sleep by spending 9-10 % of the cost of the car every year when I can buy a jap (Sunny / scala ) that costs less than half to service.

How did you calculate 10% of car cost. It will amount to 1.1 lakh per year considering 11 lakh car. Service cost is around 10k per year.

Sunny / Scala lack on power big time as compared to Rapid. Personally I didn't like them when I did a test drive. They are not driver's Cars, they are more chauffeur driven types.

[Pferdestarke]

Originally Posted by INNOVATOR

Why would anyone want to lose sleep by spending 9-10 % of the cost of the car every year

10% of the car cost is quite a huge amount of money(~100 grand). I reckon not even a Merc/BMW/Audi would cost so much on service per annum.
You are missing another point here. Service intervals for Sunny/Scala is 6months or 10K kms, where as it is 1 year/15K kms for Vento/Rapid, which justifies the higher service bills.
You shouldn't miss the superior build quality and reliability of the European twins(VW/Skoda) for which the extra bucks we pay is worth anyday.

Originally Posted by caabhishek

They are not driver's Cars, they are more chauffeur driven types.

I drove Sunny/Scala twins and didn't like them.They lack the trait of an enthusiast's car.

[caabhishek]

Originally Posted by dspeter

I tried booking a RED Skoda Rapid this week, however the dealer told me Skoda has stopped production of RED colour Rapid. Me and wifey are so in love with the Red colour, its unfortunate Skoda has stopped producing these.

How true is this info? The website still continues to showcase 5 colours on the Rapid including Red.

Cheers

Hi Dspeter I am not sure about your location. But just had a chat with my Dealer in Nagpur and he says he has only 3 Flash Red MY14 Elegance TDI Cars which can be allocated to him. These are Jan 14 manufactured cars. You can touchbase with him directly in case you are intereseted (Kunal 8956937184).

I took the car from Nagpur and would be using the same in Mumbai. I took it from there due to recent manufacturing car I got and immediate delivery and offcourse good deal.

[Valkyrie]

I am contemplating on the Rapid TDI ambition + model.
Follwoing features are the deciding factor for me:
1) Front Armrest
2) Rear AC
3) Passenger Airbags
4) Build Quality

Not sure about their legendary A$$!!

Can anyone let me know what are the offers going around lately for this car in Gurgaon?

[achopraa]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie

I am contemplating on the Rapid TDI ambition + model.
Follwoing features are the deciding factor for me:
1) Front Armrest

Just a suggestion, while this is a boon on highways, it takes a while to get used to it in day-to-day traffic. You will have to learn the "art-of-enagagement-of Handbrake".

2) Rear AC

The Rear AC is not very powerful in case the Blower is at speed 1 and with Front vents fully open. But I found it useful while using the heater with it delivering just sufficient heat to the rear benchers.

4) Build Quality

One Word. Awesome.

Can anyone let me know what are the offers going around lately for this car in Gurgaon?

Try calling various dealers and pitch them against each others.
Ongoing offer is But Now, Pay in 2015 but that's not very lucrative if you calculate the actual interest cost.
Also, you will find better deals on the MY2013 models.
JSB group has 4-5 showrooms by names of JSB/Giriraj and thus they generally have the most variety and best offers but take every commitment in writing.

[Valkyrie]

Hey Achopraa, thanks for your help.
Really appreciate it.
I ahve driven my friends Fabia 1.4 Elegance for long with the arm rest.
Found it extremely useful with my style of driving, the only tradeoff,a s yu have mentioned, is the usability of the PKB lever.

Will venture into those showrooms soon!!

[krivbel]

Way back in August 2013, I had decided to buy the Rapid, thanks primarily to Coolboy007, I still had my doubts because I wanted steering mounted controls, just for the joy of having it in a car over 11 lakhs. The Tafe Access SA asked me to wait for a couple months because Skoda was coming out with a 2014 facelift. I did, and I saw the facelifted car in December. I had to defer my booking for certain personal issues, and just then Honda Launched City. I test drove and, absolutely loved it, but I have some issues with it regarding the rear headroom, and front passenger legroom. I just cannot sit at the front without my legs touching the facia, Darn it! Any way, now I have been reading that Rapid is coming out with a major facelift in April 2014, which is not far off. I cannot buy the Rapid now that a facelift around the corner. Ok! the question, is Skoda really coming out with a major facelift in April 2014? Or, should I forget about the facelift and go with the Rapid right now!

[deehunk]

I had spoken to the GM at Vinayak Skoda about possible facelift for Rapid to which he said not at the moment. Rapid is still carrying some discounts and it is definitely a better and powerful car than the Honda City, also the build quality and fit and finish on inside and outside. I really like the vehicle response on all gears, real fun to drive a Rapid.

[caabhishek]

Originally Posted by krivbel

Any way, now I have been reading that Rapid is coming out with a major facelift in April 2014, which is not far off. I cannot buy the Rapid now that a facelift around the corner. Ok! the question, is Skoda really coming out with a major facelift in April 2014? Or, should I forget about the facelift and go with the Rapid right now!

I dont think that it will happen so soon as the Rapid has just got some additional features which were missing as compared to other cars.

The facelift having similar looks like of Octavia is already selling in the Europe for quite sometime now. That will take time to come here in India.

There is no news of Vento being modified. If a new version of Rapid comes soon it will kill Vento. Probably it will be a bigger loss to the group.