News

Brought home a Skoda Kushaq DSG: Skoda brand director hands me the keys

28th May 2023, 16:07 by Ananth Iyer

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a fault with it. My fiancé was over the moon as the Kushaq became something that we both loved just 10 minutes into the TD.

BHPian fastandcurious recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I've been a longtime reader of Team-BHP and recently joined the forum while starting the hunt for my first car. Here's to both my first post as well as my first car!

Intro

I have loved cars and driving for as long as I can remember, and my family's passion for cars and road trips only contributed to the craze. Ours has always been a 2 car garage since the beginning, including a Premiere Padmini, Ambassador, Omni, WagonR, Ikon, Innova, Etios, Nano and finally a Nexon.

I was always fascinated every time we replaced an old car with another even though I wasn't of driving age till we acquired the Innova (which was also the car I learnt to drive in). I started receiving driving lessons from my dad as soon as soon as I turned 18 and it was the only thing that could get me to wake up at 5 AM on Saturdays and Sundays. It was around the same time when a very close friend of mine also started learning and we would have practice runs together in his Indica Vista. I also remember multiple instances where I *sneaked* out the Innova and got caught as well (duh) as I couldn't get enough of this new hobby I was liking more and more.

Before I knew it, I was in college and was separated from my passion for 4 long years where the only time I could drive, was on holidays and vacations. It was during this time my parents moved into a smaller town which was close to the mountains and had amazingly fun roads to drive on.

Fast forwarding through my college years, I moved to Hyderabad and started working as a software engineer. This was a turning point in my life where I was introduced to 2 wheelers (mostly scooters) and I was hooked again, this time due to the accessibility and ease of obtaining a scooter (through rentals). I ended up buying an Aprilia SR150 within a year and have clocked a happy 25k KM since then. I was briefly converted into a 2 wheeler enthusiast mostly due to the fact that a car was way beyond what I could afford and I kept my passion for cars alive whenever I visited my hometown or had a rare road trip (featuring Zoomcar).

The pandemic gave me a very unexpected opportunity to reconnect with driving and the Nexon as I was visiting my hometown when the lockdown began and I was there for an entire year. Working at home all day was only made bearable due to the almost daily long drives that I took along with my brother on the twisty hilly roads.

Come 2022 and I had finally decided that it was now time to upgrade to a car and I began my hunt. This was when my most visited forum changed from XDA to Team-BHP and I was blown away with the content available here. I spent months reading through reviews, ownership reports and everything under the sun relating to cars.

The Hunt

Having driven multiple cars before(Innova, Etios, Nano, Nexon to name a few), my criteria was very clear:

Most importantly, it had to be a drivers car. This meant that the powertrain should excite me and driving dynamics have to be top notch.

Due to the poor variant spread in most Indian cars, with features being omitted from variants pretty randomly, it had to be the top variant available.

Since the only people in the car would be me and my fiancé, I cared only about the front seats and spaciousness.

The car would mostly be used for trips (highway use) with some city use during peak summer and monsoon as my SR150 is still going strong and helps beat the traffic on a daily basis.

I didn't like the pain of maneuvering big cars in traffic and though small roads so most sedans were never even considered.

Dual Clutch or Torque Converter auto, having had a very good experience with the Creta Diesel automatic, I was sold on good automatic cars and was dead against a manual.

With such clear objectives I set an initial budget of 15L shortlisted the following:

Tiago: Was out of the list as soon as I had an opportunity to drive one in the hills courtesy Zoomcar. Pathetic powertrain and driving dynamics.

Nexon: Liked this one a lot but mostly avoided due to the lack of a proper automatic and not very sorted driving dynamics.

i20 N Line: This was the car that opened my eyes to what driving dynamics and a proper automatic could do.

Polo: I was a few years late. The Polo, while being the ultimate drivers car, was going off the shelves was very hard to come across.

Sonet: Having never driven a Kia, the Sonet GTX Plus variant caught my eye and had a quite good package.

Venue N Line: Past experience with the i20 N Line convinced me to give this a try.

We started the process of talking to dealers and the first TD I had was of the i20 N Line N8 version and I remember thinking on the way back, that I don't need to look further and this is it.

I loved the looks, the features, the way it handles and the way it throws you back even with moderate throttle input. My fiancé liked the car enough, but wasn't very happy as she wanted a bigger car. She didn't pressure me though as I would be the one driving.

It was an elimination game from here on. I bid adieu to Nexon and Tiago as I now understood what power and good handling meant.

The next TD was with the Sonet GTX Plus. My fiancé liked this one much better than the i20 and was seriously hoping I would have a good experience with the driving dynamics. I liked the powertrain but the dynamics were closer to the Nexon than to the i20. Budget would also be an issue as the GTX+ would be breaching the 16L mark. It was around this time that the Venue N Line was being teased and the launch was imminent. I talked to my SA at Hyundai and requested a TD of the DCT version as soon as they had one.

We slowed down our hunt as we started contemplating the financials of a 15+L purchase and for a few months, the car was pushed out of our mind as we started saving like mad and got busy in work.

A few months later, when we thought we finally were in an *OK* position to go ahead with the purchase, I requested my SA to allow me one more TD with the i20 N Line and he happily obliged. The 2nd drive went as good as the first one and this time, the SA along with his team lead were giving me a hard sales push and were asking me to put down a booking amount given the relatively high waiting period of approximately 7-8 months.

I stuck to my guns and made it clear that I wanted a TD of the Venue N Line as well, to which they again said they would get it as soon as they got one.

The Wildcard

A week or two after my 2nd TD with the i20, a driving enthusiast friend of mine visited and was staying with us. We had multiple long discussions on what car I should buy and he recommended I at least give the Kushaq one try. I had developed a disinclination towards Crossovers and was very hesitant due to the experience I had with the Nexon and the Sonet. When just before leaving our place, for the 100th time he suggested that I should get a TD of the Kushaq, I finally considered it seriously. The next day, I contacted PPS Skoda and asked for a TD of the Kushaq Style 1.0 AT.

The experience with PPS Skoda and their SA was unexpectedly good and he got the TD vehicle to my house. I was feeling sorry for him as I, for some reason had gone into the TD expecting to be thoroughly disappointed by the Kushaq.

It was the exact opposite. I loved the driving dynamics. I loved the explosive acceleration and the seamless shifts of the TC auto. The interiors were beautiful, it was spacious and I loved that it had ventilated seats

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a fault with it. My fiancé was over the moon as the Kushaq became something that we both loved just 10 minutes into the TD. At the end of the TD, the SA gave a very gentle sales push and, because of the good experience we had, we started discussing colors, MY discounts and onroad prices. We were both very happy while going back home and our search had officially ended. Poor Hyundai SA didn't have a chance as they couldn't arrange a TD of the Venue N Line even after so many months.

The Prey

As I started comparing quotes from different Skoda dealers around Hyderabad (PPS Skoda won here), the idea of looking around in my home state cropped up in my mind. One random evening, I called up Global Motocorp Kolkata and since it was just beyond closing time, I was greeted by a security guard who assured me I would get a call by one of their SA's in a short while.

Not expecting anything, I just went on with my day as normal. I got a random call from an unknown number (the SA) and we were suddenly discussing prices and variants again. They had a few year end discounts on some Monte Carlo variants which I had not considered as it was on the higher side of my budget. I tried negotiating as well as I could (I suck at it) and was denied. With a heavy heart I disconnected the call but in 5 minutes the SA called me back, and this time, he was open to negotiating.

The outcome of the second call was that we were being offered a 22 MY Kushaq Monte Carlo (Tornado Red) 1.5 AT effectively for the on road price of a 1.5 Style AT in Hyderabad. This had us interested and we spent the next 2 days stalking the Monte Carlo, be it on YouTube or on Team-BHP. Once I had the VIN and confirmed the details of the car, we made no delay in confirming the car and made the payment for the booking toward the end of February.

At this point, I was slightly guilty and called up the SA from PPS Skoda and informed him about my decision. His response was totally unexpected and after asking a few details about the offer I was getting, he congratulated me and expressed his happiness about me getting what I wanted. He deserves a special mention and I would totally recommend him to anyone buying a Skoda in Hyderabad.

Now began the actual planning stage as there were many variables involved here, namely:

Us living in Hyderabad.

The car being in Kolkata.

Acute anxiety for the PDI process.

Loan approval and disbursal.

Here comes the role of my SA from Global Motocorp Kolkata. Since I was paranoid on doing the PDI, I requested my family in Kolkata to go on my behalf and the SA helped me wholeheartedly, accompanying my uncle and aunt to the stockyard and answering all queries that they had. I had prepared a long checklist which was mostly inspired from knowledge gained from Team-BHP and the car blasted through them all, except for being covered in dust, which the SA promised would be taken care of before delivery.

The green signal was given and it was now time to start the loan process. What I expected to be the longest part was actually the shortest. Well, long story short, the SA took care of the whole loan process and got it approved and disbursed within a week. I opted to get insurance myself (from Acko, for 35k including Zero dep, Return To Invoice and Engine Protect) and they were more than OK with it. I also asked him to remove the accessories package and sent him a list of the ones I wanted and he happily obliged. I decided to purchase extended warranty at a later date and my on road price came to a total of 20.12L without insurance. Once everything was done, a delivery date of 22nd March was finalized and I couldn't believe that my dream of owning a car was materializing right in front of me. I was overjoyed.

I booked the tickets for 22nd and was calling my SA everyday to enquire about the registration process. The way we had planned it, we would take delivery on the 22nd and would be driving it back to Hyderabad on the 25th. I was anxious that the number plate wouldn't arrive in time and I would have to delay our plans, but again, the SA went above and beyond and got the number plate fitted in 1.5 weeks time. Kudos to the WB RTO as well for providing a permanent number plate in such a short timeframe. I was giddy with excitement and had a lot of sleepless nights before the day of delivery.

The Moment of Truth

On 21st, I got a call from my SA, he said someone from Skoda India management would be visiting the dealership and due to that, I couldn't get the car before that evening. I was slightly disappointed as I had planned on going to the dealership directly from the airport but this was just me being overexcited and impatient. I got another call from him on the day of delivery just after landing in Kolkata and I was informed that they plan to have this gentleman from Skoda India hand over the car to me personally. Sounded good to me and I didn't give it another thought.

The moment I entered the dealership, I was transported to a different world, I couldn't see anything or anyone except my Red beast which had taken center stage, I couldn't even see, that the gentleman from Skoda India was none other than Petr Solc (Brand Director, Skoda India). I met with my SA for the first time and profusely thanked him for basically arranging my car while I was sitting in Hyderabad

My family and a few friends joined me in the showroom shortly and the key was handed over to us, along with a cake cutting and a short discussion with Petr himself. I found him very nice to interact with and we talked about my reasons for choosing the Kushaq.

Receiving the Key from Petr Solc

Me and my fiancé posing for the mandatory picture.

The beast just fresh out of the showroom.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful and we spent the next few days resting and catching up with family.

Special thanks:

My family, for inculcating the love of cars.

My fiancé, for making the dream possible.

Global Motocorp, for giving me a killer deal on a killer car.

The SA from Global Motocorp, for doing everything he could, and much more to realize my dream while I was sitting 1500km away in Hyderabad.

The Journey

Fast forward to the Journey, which will also serve as the initial impressions/report.

The odd 200kms or so on the ODO before were done primarily in city traffic barring a short Highway drive in which I couldn't even unleash the beast.

The start of the journey presented us with a hiccup that was the left ORVM which was not folding electrically and had to be manually folded/unfolded. I let it slide as it was a small one and could easily be rectified in a trip to the service center who I have already planned. (Update: It suddenly started working one fine day)

Our plan was to cover roughly 1500km in a span of 2 days with there being an overnight halt somewhere in Orissa. The car was in its element throughout the Journey and I thoroughly enjoyed the drive. It was 90% relatively good highways and I had plenty of opportunities to unleash the beast. It never felt stressed while being fully loaded (4 adults + their luggage) Sports mode made it even fiercer while revving till the limiter and providing tremendous punch throughout. Turbo lag is almost unnoticeable and the engine never feels underpowered. The paddle shifters are enjoyable to use and help a lot with quick shifts. I've already gotten used to having both hands on the steering at all times and the gear lever is used only for P/R/N/D/S.

The car gives proper meaning to the term "Kickdown" and it just throws you back while downshifting 3-4 gears even. Low end torque is also fantastic and it can clear many speed breakers in 2nd-3rd gear. Automatic shifts are more like automagic shifts and you can hardly feel them unless you specifically look. Small potholes and rumble strips are hardly felt and the big ones don't require you to slow down a lot thanks to the adequate ground clearance. High speed stability is like I've never seen before and none of the cars I've driven before feel even remotely close. Cornering is highly addictive and though I didn't experience many twisty roads, I look forward to driving the Kushaq on hilly roads very eagerly.

The driving position is highly customizable and I found it very comfortable. Controls are high quality and the Virtual Cockpit does the job, while leaving me wanting a lot more out of it. I wish cars were as easily modifiable as phones and we could just flash some custom ROM and tweak it to our liking. I found the AC to be very effective, although it does feel like it states a lower temperature on the display. One small gripe, the way to completely turn off the AC isn't very intuitive and it took some time to figure it out. Sound quality is very good and the subwoofer is punchy too. It doesn't distort at high volumes and gets pretty loud as well. Shoutout to the sound balancing feature as I prefer having less sound in the front to keep me focused. Noise insulation helps as well but doesn't completely drown out tyre noise and sadly drowns out the engine a lot. The infotainment unit was a pleasure to use and Wireless Android Auto worked flawlessly for navigating and playing music. Being a customization freak, I wish we had more settings to play with.

Fuel efficiency I achieved throughout the drive was around 14km/l according to the MID and I hadn't even tried to drive it in a relaxed manner. I only figured out how cruise control controls worked towards the end of the journey and it gave me many opportunities to relax my legs. I expect to be able to manage 16-18km/l with liberal use of CC.

Skoda Connected was a hit and miss. GPS related functionality is generally good but that's about it. No range display, no remote ignition no remote lock/unlock and no remote AC! Biggest miss of all which could've been easily avoided from Skoda given that they already do it for their higher end cars. I do really hope they see the missed opportunity and grab it as soon as they can to keep up with the Koreans.

All in all a very well packaged car that is very fun to drive and has most features you would expect and more! I haven't mentioned safety yet but its pretty pathbreaking with the 5 Star GNCAP rating, multi collision braking, rollover protection, ESC and EBD. I am yet to install the TPMS and dashcam and plan on getting them from Skoda themselves.

This marks the end of the initial ownership report and the car has now clocked 2500kms. Looking forward to many more and wishing you all the same!

Stay tuned for regular updates!

Likes and Dislikes

Likes

Great driving dynamics - stiff steering but compliant ride. (Steering can be made stiffer by enabling Dynamic mode, considering it in the next month)

Very well built and with strong sheet metal - Very thick and heavy panels.

Amazing engine grunt on tap. - It just churns at any gear

Comfortable seats - Height adjustable and ventilated too. Helped keep my bottom cool throughout the drive.

Gorgeous to look at - Especially the blacked out chrome elements and the red interior with red ambient lighting.

Lightning quick gearbox - Despite the historical problems, nothing shifts as fast in this price range. Taking care of it and not overstressing it would go a long way.

Dislikes

Halogen fog lamps - while these are rarely used, they also double as cornering lamps and detract from the visual appearance.

Virtual cockpit - very basic, should have had more customizations or at least a 2 dial view.

Engine start stop - way too aggressive and shuts the engine on many speed breakers. First thing I do after starting the car is turn it off.

Lack of connected car features - I'm generally happy with the way Skoda has increased the feature list by a lot but It doesn't justify the poor connected car experience which is very basic and doesn't even allow remote ignition, lock unlock or AC control. Compare this to the app for the EU cars they make and you just realize all the functionality can be implemented, but just hasn't been. No excuse for not providing these.
Lack of one touch up/down for all windows except driver - Just why?