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Buying a Skoda Kushaq 1.0L TSI AT: Ownership experience

13th September 2021, 15:26 by Chirag Moro

Since this was made as a suggestion to my friend, I was extra cautious about what would be the final product.

BHPian vasi_raju recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Here is a short purchase, delivery, and initial ownership experience (I am writing my experience during the purchase of my close friend, we know each other for more than 20 years and are like family staying in the same apartment complex) in which I was an integral part of Budgeting, Analysis, TD, Pre Delivery Inspection, and delivery of Skoda Kushaq 1.0 TSI Ambition AT.

It always feels so good to keep reading and looking into articles about a potential candidate you want to zero down on. Since this was made as a suggestion to my friend, I was extra cautious about what would be the final product.

So it all begins with a Requirement Specification Document, and here is the list which we had.

Usage

The vehicle is mostly going to be a highway-driven one which should accommodate a family of 4+ 1.
Inter-City usage is restricted to weekend usage.

Category of vehicle

This is the tricky one which I was trying hard to convince my friend. I will come to the reasons in a little while. As the initial process, we kept the list open which consisted of CSUV, Crossovers, Hatchbacks, Sedans.

Transmission type

This was decided to be an Automatic one well ahead. In a city like Bangalore, it makes more sense to keep life simple.

Budget

The initial thought was to keep it below 12L.

Part-1

The list of candidates we started looking into are the ones below. I will detail the reasons for not choosing which we thought is applicable as per our requirements. I am also classifying this into 2 parts.

Tata Nexon

Nexon was the first car we tried.
The showroom was filled with people and we were happy for TATA.

Likes

Good exterior build quality
Better safety rating

Dislikes

Poor interior quality
Head Nods due to AMT

Honda Jazz

Likes

Well trusted and highly proven engine
Wonderful real estate inside the car

Dislikes

Interior looks
Buggy/Not so friendly touch buttons for AC, infotainment
A decade-old design
Possibility of the model moving away from India to make way for the City Hatchback

Hyundai i20 IVT

Likes

Feature-rich car
The turbo engine

Dislikes

Interior space
Not a VFM vehicle
No car with IVT was available for a TD

Kia Sonet

Likes

Feature-rich car
The turbo engine

Dislikes

Interior space
Not a VFM vehicle

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross

Likes

Was better than any MSIL product
Had a rich experience in the NEXA showroom

Dislikes

4 speed AT (Old, outdated)
An old facelifted design which will get a new version soon

Nissan Magnite

Then came the News and ADs about Nissan Magnite. With the killer pricing, we went with it and checked the vehicle. It was a true VFM vehicle. The TDs went smooth and my friend (who is a first-time buyer) was happy with it as it was fitting his bill and had all the bells and whistles for a car at this price. We went ahead and booked the Vehicle on Jan 2, 2021, with XV Premium Turbo CVT Dual Tone in Flare Garnet Red & Onyx Black color.

Then started the waiting game.

The delivery as per the time when we booked was the end of April. By March the 2nd, the dealer did not communicate any delay to us. By end of April, the delivery was pushed to the end of June. We waited till June, and then came another delay info due to global chip shortage which pushed the delivery to end July. When we checked in July, the dealer said the delivery can happen only by October due to employee strike, high demand, etc. We lost our patience and started the process from scratch again.*

By this time, my friend had a Job change and was ok to increase the budget by a few lakhs.

Part-2

This time we kept the budget to 16-18 Lakhs On-Road Bangalore.

Within those 7 months (Jan to July), I sold my car (Swift Dzire, VDI) and got an All New Honda City V (CVT) which came to 15.3 Lakhs On-Road Bangalore.

With prior research already done by me for cars between 13 to 17 Lakhs range, I recommended him to go with the All-New Honda City V (CVT). I am 5' 8" and the Low Body, seating worked well for me. My friend who is 6' 2" tried it and was hitting his head on the roof and the knees on the dashboard which made us rule out the sedan.

The only options we had were:

KIA Seltos
Hyundai Creta
Skoda Kushaq

Unfortunately, we do not have too many options between 15 to 20 Lakhs budget.

Kia Seltos was ruled out simply because of the build quality. We had a first-hand experience shared by one of my close friends who had to spent 50k to fix an AC issue due to a dog hitting the fog lamp on a highway.

Even though Hyundai was a little better than KIA, we did not want to spend that much money for a car that is soon going to have a facelift version released.

Mahindra XUV 700 was not in the picture when we were deciding, so we had no problems.

The only contender was Skoda Kushaq.

Test Drive and Booking Experience

On understanding our requirements well now and after doing enough background research, we went to the showroom and checked the car. It was TAFE Access in ORR, HSR Layout and we checked out the car in detail.

We also had another guy whom we met in the showroom who was interested in booking the Kushaq after seeing the social media post about Seltos. He had booked a Manual one and was planning to cancel the Seltos booking due to the same “safety and quality” reason.

We struck a deal in the showroom with TD so that we can understand the ride quality better. We were in the back seat for his TD and he was in the back seat for our TD. The idea was to get each other’s opinions on the ride, comfort, and build quality.

The vehicle had a good build quality, features, comfort. I have driven my friend KIA Seltos for close to 2 months and I felt the drive quality, seat back support is better in Kushaq. I fell in love with the steering, the volume controls, and the display quality of the infotainment system.

We decided that the Mid variant will suit the requirements as the ventilated seat, Sunroof, etc. are not something we wanted. The thing which I missed from the top variant is the Black Alloys. Since the showroom did not contain an Orange vehicle (Ambition) in place, I was worried how the alloys of Ambition will look like in the color we opted for. We went ahead and discussed the booking formalities, offers, etc. We were told that the delivery for the color we opted will take a month and no offers are applicable due to demand.

After heading home, we checked with other dealers. PPS Skoda had a vehicle available and was also offering discounts on insurance, basic accessory kits. We asked if a TD can be arranged at home and we got one to show to the family. Did a TD again with family and they liked it. This time I wanted to check if there were any rubber band effect and took it for a spin in ORR stretch. Was able to feel the turbo kicking in on sudden acceleration and that was something which anyway was not a deal-breaker for us. We decided to go with the booking and paid a token. The vehicle was allocated for us and we started the loan formalities. In a week's time, we got a call that the vehicle is available for pre-delivery inspection post which they can go ahead with the registration process.

Pre Delivery Inspection

Thanks to our team of enthusiasts for sharing all the required things to check for. With the list in place, we went and checked the vehicle. Skoda has done a neat job of keeping the Engine & Chassis Number easily readable from the front. I am not sure how much of it will be useful as I have hardly used the engine number for any events but still appreciate the job. The ODO was 50 km. We were informed that the dealer does a test, inspect the car before the registration process.

Below are few clicks of the beauty on the day of PDI. We went to a yard that had VW, Skoda, and Mahindra cars, and I was feeling like a kid taken to a Toy Store that day:

Delivery Day

Post-registration, the dealer took 5 working days to get the secure number plate fitted (which is way too long, as I could get my car delivered the next day after registration with number plates). We went to the showroom by 3 PM, took an hour to get all the details about the car to make sure we don't miss anything.

Below are few clicks of the beauty on the day of delivery:

Ready for delivery

Myself, my friends dad and my friend getting the delivery.

Initial Ownership Experience

Since I own a Honda City, and had been driving the KIA Seltos for 3+ months when I did not have a car, I will keep this section more of a comparison between the 3 cars (wherever applicable) as I feel it might help any potential buyer.

Right from the showroom, I got to drive it 30+ km straight with a mix of highway/city experience. The car is very peppy, loved the soft pedals which zip when we press it a little hard. The turbo kicks in well and asks us to revv more. From a point of view of fun to drive, I will rank Kushaq first, followed by City, and then will be the Seltos.

I loved the design of the steering in Kushaq. Compared to Rapid, while driving it feels very light. The turning radius is pretty awesome. The floating design makes it an inch closer to the premium offerings.

Once you get inside the car, mainly as a driver, you feel the space inside the Kushaq. The positioning of them is a little irritating and requires some time to get used to. For eg., the indicators, wipers are the opposite. The central lock-in is in the middle below the infotainment system. You will need some intelligence to know how to unlock the car as there is no unlock all door's button. For this price, I would have expected a wireless charger in place. Since all the ports are type-c, make sure you are prepared to get a set to use in the car.

The infotainment system is top-notch, the quality of the display is excellent when compared to a Honda City (or) KIA Seltos. On the audio front, I will rate it wonderful but Seltos scores here.

I really like the LED units, the throw is excellent. Definitely better than the Seltos and City.

The stock tires look good to hold for the next 35k+ km. The wheels are also rightly sized. The color of the alloy for the mid variant could have also been black.

Ingress and exit in Kushaq felt better for me compared to Seltos. Not comparing the City here as it is a different class/structure. The seating back support for a driver in Kushaq is wonderful compared to the Seltos and City.

In Kushaq the rear is for strictly 2 Adults + 1 Kid. The Seltos scored better here outperforming the City. In terms of rear legroom, City leads followed by both Kushaq and Seltos.

The boot is manageable for weekend travel. With the option to remove the tray, you can pile a couple of extra luggage in Kushaq.

Minor things like child lock of rear doors require us to have the keys handy without which you cannot set or reset the door from the child lock. In City, it is a physical button which had been very useful for me till now. If I am doubtful on the move while taking my son alone with me, I can stop the car without turning the engine off, check if the child lock is set and then start driving back.

The Tyre Pressure Sticker is stuck on the passenger side door in the front (Meehh, Why Zac?) We also get a holder to place a parking timer card (common in Europe) which I don't know why we have in India.

The rear cameras are good, the rear looks are also good. They have given a nice notch for the boot button. The rear of the Skoda definitely looks a segment up mainly because of the metal prints of SKODA (gives some feel as if it's a Volvo).

For the price paid, there is no Push to START/STOP button. Call it cost-cutting? It makes one feel as if the car is not so premium whenever they start it. Also, there is no Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). Not so happy with this decision Zac.

Overall, the car is definitely a good buy among the current lot with very few to pick from for someone looking for an SUV in a 15-20 lakh budget.