[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

One cannot blame VAG for attempting to make a car with Japanese attributes - small engine, light build, maximum interior volume, fuel efficient etc - that is what the market demands.

It is not a cheap car. Top variant goes above 20L OTR.

Their initial plan was to launch it early 2021 and later changed to mid 2021. I think they were not ready at all.

Product was not ready
Dealerships were not ready
Service centers were not ready
Plant was not ready to support high volume products
Vendors were not ready

I had booked Kushaq and this is what I posted in July (reasons for cancellation)

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Final decision was based on below points:
1) Skoda do not have proper showroom in my city (they have a sales outlet) and overall pre-booking experience was below average
2) Even with limited dealership network Skoda took ~ 15 days to bring test drive/display car to the local dealer
3) Kushaq felt like 95% complete
4) Service center is still under progress
5) There are some key features missing in Kushaq Active - which affects daily driving (rear defogger, fog lamp, cheap looking touch screen, bad plastic on few components etc)

If it was second car at home I would have gone for Kushaq. This is the only car at home and I took feedback from my family before taking final decision.

[maverickNerd]

Originally Posted by androdev

Which place is this, if you don't mind sharing?

This is Bidar, Karnataka, small place, can be easily seen in a day.

[JishD]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Is this the lightest 4+M crossover? I guess so, surely that weight has to go from somewhere, this cannot be made like a Polo exterior wise.

Well the Euro Skoda Kamiq weighs the same (1180 odd) and there have been no complaints around build quality from UK and Europe customers .

[adventureseeker]

Originally Posted by RD150

Overboard bashing does deserve fact checking, you are terming it as defending. And I don't think anybody has questioned or defended EPC issues. But such posts on social media are just a way of seeking attention. Tomorrow the same guy may post, " Scratch/dent on mirrors, as biker hit my Kushaq at 10km/hr"

The problem here is that the owner is claiming the incident with the scooter is not a head-on collision but he bumped the scooter from behind at 20-30 kmph.
If what he claims is true then he might be justified in his dissatisfaction with the car as it can can be clearly seen that the fender is also damaged apart from the bumper.
Again I merely taking the claim of the owner at face-value. He did not post about replacement/return of money etc. He has just vented his complaint.

One shouldn't outrightly dismiss the owner's claims and impute conspiracy theories to him without proof of the contrary as he was the one who paid a bomb for his premium European build car.

[Goldenboy]

The bullock cart that can do 60 km/hr is one fast vehicle

I'm guessing the car must have been doing 60 km/hr when it collided with the bullock cart. All this talk about build quality is pretty meaningless anyway, what matters is the crash tests. After all, the Seltos feels quite solid so the 3 star rating was a big surprise.

[84.monsoon]

It is quite surprising to me to see so many accidents within weeks of launching a new car and each time, the owner posting photos of mangled parts of the car on social media. We have seen launches of cars that sell much more volumes, such as the Sonet and Creta in the last 18 months but never have we seen photos of so many accidents going viral. This got me very intrigued.

I cannot stop thinking of possible hypotheses on the root cause of this trend:

1. Owners of Kushaq are first time drivers and lacking driving experience, thereby causing more accidents
2. Owners of Kushaqs drive faster than other car owners and therefore cause more accidents
3. Owners of Kushaqs are much more if social media buffs and although there were similar number of accidents, Kushaq ownwrs posted more often than others
4. Number of people re-tweeting or re-sharing the news of accidents is much more because the car looks so good when new and so bad when mangled
5. Something else we do not understand yet is at play to discredit a key competitive strength of the car, i.e., the Build Quality

I examined the first three possibilities carefully in my mind and none of them made logical sense. Kushaq is not a first car someone would buy, generally. The typical buyer already owned a hatchback or sedan or a CSUV before and is upgrading. So they likely have decent driving experience. The Kushaq is a fun to drive car for sure, but not so different that owners are always driving around at unsafe breakneck speeds causing accidents, as compared to other cars. And I did not see how a Kushaq owner should be any more be a social.media buff than a Venue or Sonet owner.

Pondering more and more, I could not dismiss a fleeting thought from my head - is there something fishy going on here? I came across this recent article that got me quite alarmed.

https://m.economictimes.com/news/int...w/84748847.cms

I know our Indian Auto Industry is very disciplined and even fierce competitors play ethically. So 99.99% my worries are unwarranted, but if I were Skoda I would be very alert and cautious right now, just in case.

[maverickNerd]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

It is quite surprising to me to see so many accidents within weeks of launching a new car and each time, the owner posting photos of mangled parts of the car on social media. We have seen launches of cars that sell much more volumes, such as the Sonet and Creta in the last 18 months but never have we seen photos of so many accidents going viral. This got me very intrigued.
.

I think this is happening because of zac, everyone saw how he reply on posts, so now people are tagging zac on every post. Same thing happens on other groups as well. Just search for issues of any car in youtube or follow their Facebook page. I was following multiple seltos groups since the launch of seltos and I see multiple tire bursts, dct burning issues got reported on road. But it didn't become a headline. Right now people are tagging zac which is giving each post much more attention, and yes in lockdown period every other person with a mobile has become a journalist, who collect data from different groups, and make a video on it for views.

[Akshay6988]

What we can summarise from recent photos of "damage" to brand new Kushaqs -
Stop writing VAG impressive build quality in every damn review of the German car. Unless the car is CBU or the model which is on sale in India is crash tested by GNCAP (or any relevant authority) , don't write these words "impressive build quality" , "solid thud". There's nothing substantial results to backup that these German cars are safe and solid. We have thread on how the Passat failed in chinese car market as it's crash test video went viral. To fanboys, don't come at me attacking, for I'm just stating facts here. I feel for the owners of the Kushaq, if I were to own one, I'd sell it ASAP and save myself from the trauma that is Skoda ownership. Thanks, I'm happy taking my 'subpar' Hyundai crossover wherever I want, at least the damn car runs on the road

[JishD]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Thanks, I'm happy taking my 'subpar' Hyundai crossover wherever I want, at least the damn car runs on the road

Just be careful , it might not stop

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ll-owners.html (Hyundai Creta: Serious brake failure issue (must-read for all owners))

[JishD]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Pondering more and more, I could not dismiss a fleeting thought from my head - is there something fishy going on here?

Till date there are 6 cases recorded across the country - I don't know if these are true or not, and would like to give the benefit of doubt.

But the way these have been amplified on social media seems to suggest that even 'honest' claims have been given extreme outreach by certain 'forces'.

I would suggest actual experience of members on T bhp who've bought the Kushaq be considered before coming to conclusions. And a bit controversially, those who have at least a few posts to their credit over the years.

[Akshay6988]

Originally Posted by JishD

But the way these have been amplified on social media seems to suggest that even 'honest' claims have been given extreme outreach by certain 'forces'.

I would suggest actual experience of members on T bhp who've bought the Kushaq be considered before coming to conclusions. And a bit controversially, those who have at least a few posts to their credit over the years.

If it wasn't for the social media, probably those 6 reported cases would have gone unnoticed as well. Just like how VAG has been treating Indian customers. Are you suggesting new members are deliberately trying to defame Skoda here ? What's with these judgements? As a owner of Kushaq, you are actively contributing to this thread, which I and many others are thankful for. But that doesn't give you right to belittle members who are newbie in your opinion. Just because any T-BHP members who own the Kushaq haven't experienced any failures, doesn't mean the car is absolutely niggle free and other owners who are not part of this forum are lying. Trust me no one in right mind would spend 15-16 lakhs to malign a particular car brand.

Originally Posted by JishD

Just be careful , it might not stop

Actually mine doesn't stop, I just jump out of the door everyday and car bangs itself into my parking and stops

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by nimblemaster

Asking just you know, for science: how do you disable the speed chimes? I have seen it in the infotainment menu, but that, as far as I know, is for setting up or dsiabling a custom speed alert.

Speed chimes implemented are of different types. Some might be baked into the instrument cluster in form of a software while some are hardware based and could be an electronic module placed anywhere in the car. So with the right tools and right approach, this speed chime can be found and disarmed by coding or removing the hardware.

[adventureseeker]

Originally Posted by JishD

Till date there are 6 cases recorded across the country - I don't know if these are true or not, and would like to give the benefit of doubt.

Seems you have lost count. There are as many as 15 break downs (I omitted repeated posts concerning the same owner/car) of the Kushaq posted in this very thread. Also I did not include those which had EPC warnings but did not stall on the road.

[mayankverma]

We visited Brite Skoda, Noida last Sunday for checking out Kushaq and get a test drive. Looking to replace our old workhorse Zest. I will share few of my initial impressions about the vehicle:

1. 1L TSI engine is punchy at lower gears and lag is minimum. Power felt adequate for city with 5 on-board. Need to take a longer drive on an open road to comment on highway performance
2. MT gear shift was smooth and clutch was light and short. Brakes were responsive
3. Overall build quality is satisfactory(does not feel very premium, except the dashboard to an extent)
4. Sunroof size is ok (although we not big fan)
5. Dashboard layout feels upmarket(I feel the design & overall feel is the best out of the competition) and 2-spoke steering feels good to hold
6. Centre Infotainment touch panel is nice to use and responsive. Other touch controls also felt responsive. Auto A/C cooling felt satisfactory, although it was not a very hot day so cant judge much. There was a slight whistling sound coming from the A/C outlets at high fan speed, couldn’t find the reason from SA
7. Front & Rear Seats felt comfortable, even though I felt the front driver seat’s height adjustment range is limited(I like to ride as high as possible). Steering was tilt and reach adjustable
8. Rear legroom is good! My wife sitting at the back claimed it’s the most legroom she has experienced compared to other cars in the segment
9. Boot space, even though it is deep, felt a size smaller than direct competitors. It felt only marginally bigger than my Zest. Will have to stack those big suitcases on top of each other
10. Wife really liked the Tornado Red colour(its really bright!!), I thought it looked good in white and carbon steel as well

As per the feature list and OTR price of ~14.7 L, we felt that Ambition MT could be our variant of choice. Even though Seltos HTK plus iMT remains the most VFM. But hesitant to go for Seltos due to low safety ratings and Creta S doesn't offer many features in comparison.

Even got our existing car evaluated for exchange by Skoda(yet to hear back from them).

Overall satisfied with the vehicle but will wait for the booking till these initial niggles are sorted out and the Taigun is launched. Even though both these are identical, I would prefer Taigun in case its not priced too high from Kushaq.

Cheers!

[colin84]

Originally Posted by JishD

So after the horrendous stories all over TBhp of Kushaqs breaking down left right and center , I must say that , despite my optimism, I was worried taking it for a family trip from Gurgaon to Samode over the long weekend.

Car performed flawlessly with 4+1 onboard and a sizeable amount of luggage.

Have you tried driving it on winding roads (hilly areas) with full load? If yes have you experienced any additional lag?

Also how is the AC performance? Seen many posts where people complaining that it is not up to the mark

I did take a TD of Kushaq 1.0 AT and found it quite fun to drive. Yes initially there is some lag (less than a CVT) but post that the car pulls through nicely but not sure how it will fare in hilly areas etc especially when driving on full load.