Thread Starter
#46
Update after a long break.
75,000 Kms munched
Life has kept me busy, positively, with change in job responsibilities and new things to learn. And in this period had few long road trips as well to take care of family wishes and with friends. Covid subsiding had its own back to normal transition with WFH ending and getting teams back to office and settling down into a pre-covid routine, with hardly a lull period.
During all these, Octavia stood in good stead and performed the duties with comfort and good composure. Silver Bull crossed 75k kms sometime during 1st week of Oct, about 5 years and 5 months from purchase. This also includes about 7 months of covid lockdown and WFH when hardly 100 kms were done in a month, which was just to keep the battery charged.
Servicing has been done as per schedule through Jai Skoda, Gurgaon. Had taken the 4 year service pack @13999 (special offer by Skoda in Apr-Jun quarter in 2017) during vehicle purchase and then took two more years pack @Rs 23,999/- after 4th year service. All the 5 services were a breeze without any unnecessary pressure, on doing any additional work other than mentioned in the service manual. Everytime the 41 point inspection was done and came out clean other than wiper change advise, which I did on my own with Bosch AeroTwins. These costed about Rs 1800/- purchased through amazon. They came with the 4 different adapters to fit different setups in the wiper arm. Service centre estimate was 3k including service charges. By the way, I was never able to count to 41 on the inspections done, but to about 25-28 at times. I do keep buying some extra bottles of wiper tank fluid and add them whenever the wiper water reserve tank was getting filled. Felt that they are a good additive, maybe a placebo effect as well. Other than these nothing much was spent on servicing as such and all covered under the service packs.
2.0 TDI is a gem and has been aging well and sounds more smoother and performs better with no drop in mileage. Power on tap and no strain whatsoever. Runs without any complaint for hours together. Recently, during July, did a pilgrimage circuit of Gurgaon-Varanasi-Gaya-Ayodhya-Gurgaon, a 2475 kms trip, over excellent highways and overcrowded alleys in old cities, over 5 days. Miles upon miles were munched effortlessly with glee and eagerness. First leg of Gurgaon to Varanasi of 930 kms was done in about 12 hrs of running time, with 3 adults/luggage for 5 days, and distance to empty, on the single tank filled up night before, was still showing 130 kms. That was one sweet screen to look at. Seats have aged well, with no visible break in leather though. Supple and at the same time bolstering well with lumbar support and making long journeys all the more relaxing.
*Trip statistics of the 2475kms round trip
6 speed DSG has held well with no slack or jerkiness, all along. Anyway DQ250 wetclutch 6 speed ones are better in reliability compared the DQ200’s and that’s giving a lot of comfort, with the proof in the pudding, till now. Still, touchwood. Shifts are smooth and very quick with no discernible sound or vibrations and aids in gaining speed in no time. Downshifts are still a bit slow with any quick kickdown on accelerator, actually takes about a second for the right downshift to happen. Maybe this is also due to my driving behaviour with any rarely sudden accelerations are done/intended. No complaints though. Transmission oil was changed once during the 4thyear/60k service as part of the service pack.
Brakes are great. Had run the stock brake pads till 75k kms. Worked well and going by the images still about 5-8k kms life was left in the front pads and about 10-12 k kms in the rear brake pads. As there were a couple of long distance family trips in the plan, went ahead and changed the pads. Brake discs were holding good with negligible grove formation and hence the SA/floor mechanic advised that change was not required. And they were also surprised on the longevity of the brake pads and the good condition of the brake discs. Total costed about Rs 14k, including labour charges, for both the front and rear brake pads change. Skoda service app, though showed a lower value for the rear brake pads, which when I highlighted to the SA, was told that it was the old price and it had changed and the parts are billed as per the system rate update for the parts from Skoda.
Pirelli P6s are doing a good job. Minimal noise, supple, soft and very good grip both in wet and dry conditions and drops speed very quickly when needed. No squeaks or loss of grip during hard acceleration as well. Had changed from the stock Eagle NCT5s to P6s at about 42k kms as they became hard, noisy and had frequent punctures as well, though treads were still good for about 5k kms. So about 33 k kms done on the P6s. Happy with these and going by the condition currently, will be good for atleast another 18-20k kms. Maybe will explore the Perfinzas for the next change, if the P6s are not available. Mostly maintain 35 psi in the fronts and 33 psi in the rear. Have found this setup the most suited for my regular use, as daily travel is about 50 kms and 80% on the NH8 with good speed traffic flow. Mileage has been the best with this setup. On long family trips of highway runs at speed-limits with fully packed luggage bay, generally maintain 36 psi all around. Has helped in handling and avoiding scrapping over speedbreakers as well as navigating bad road patches, like encountered between Moradabad – Ramnagar stretch in reaching Jim Corbett. Wheel balancing/alignment and rotation are done at every 7.5 kms religiously.
Handling is entertaining with sharp response and continues to keep me engaged. While the squeaks in the sunroof and door beadings are constant companions, irrespective of frequent lubrication, the pleasure of driving overcomes these inconsequential irritants. Just switch on the music to drown these bugs and then it’s a bliss.
Battery changes – done twice till now –
PPFs done in the front/rear bumpers have started yellowing, though not very dark. Have to checkout for replacement. Have been helpful in avoiding many scratches and paint chipping due to road debris.
Taken during a recent trip to Jim Corbett
Has been easy one on the pocket, just a tad below Rs 10 per km, with consistently returning about 18+ kmpl throughout these 5 years.
Overall have spent about Rs 7.4 lacs in the run upto 77k kms till now. Expecting the good run to continue.
Summary of major works done till now-
With NGT orders applicable in NCR region, can drive this bull for about next 3-3.5 years and have to either send this bull to our place down south or give up. This is going to set-off a difficult search for a replacement. While 40 months is still a long time away, to start worrying now, finding an equally engaging, safer and frugal one at this price-point of 35-45 lacs (factoring in inflation) is going to be a very hard task. Do not want to go down the preowned path. Maybe Skoda will bring back the diesels or come-up with locally assembled Octavia/Superb equivalent EVs. Fingers crossed, though.
Anyway, many more miles to run, before the day comes.
75,000 Kms munched
Life has kept me busy, positively, with change in job responsibilities and new things to learn. And in this period had few long road trips as well to take care of family wishes and with friends. Covid subsiding had its own back to normal transition with WFH ending and getting teams back to office and settling down into a pre-covid routine, with hardly a lull period.
During all these, Octavia stood in good stead and performed the duties with comfort and good composure. Silver Bull crossed 75k kms sometime during 1st week of Oct, about 5 years and 5 months from purchase. This also includes about 7 months of covid lockdown and WFH when hardly 100 kms were done in a month, which was just to keep the battery charged.
Servicing has been done as per schedule through Jai Skoda, Gurgaon. Had taken the 4 year service pack @13999 (special offer by Skoda in Apr-Jun quarter in 2017) during vehicle purchase and then took two more years pack @Rs 23,999/- after 4th year service. All the 5 services were a breeze without any unnecessary pressure, on doing any additional work other than mentioned in the service manual. Everytime the 41 point inspection was done and came out clean other than wiper change advise, which I did on my own with Bosch AeroTwins. These costed about Rs 1800/- purchased through amazon. They came with the 4 different adapters to fit different setups in the wiper arm. Service centre estimate was 3k including service charges. By the way, I was never able to count to 41 on the inspections done, but to about 25-28 at times. I do keep buying some extra bottles of wiper tank fluid and add them whenever the wiper water reserve tank was getting filled. Felt that they are a good additive, maybe a placebo effect as well. Other than these nothing much was spent on servicing as such and all covered under the service packs.
2.0 TDI is a gem and has been aging well and sounds more smoother and performs better with no drop in mileage. Power on tap and no strain whatsoever. Runs without any complaint for hours together. Recently, during July, did a pilgrimage circuit of Gurgaon-Varanasi-Gaya-Ayodhya-Gurgaon, a 2475 kms trip, over excellent highways and overcrowded alleys in old cities, over 5 days. Miles upon miles were munched effortlessly with glee and eagerness. First leg of Gurgaon to Varanasi of 930 kms was done in about 12 hrs of running time, with 3 adults/luggage for 5 days, and distance to empty, on the single tank filled up night before, was still showing 130 kms. That was one sweet screen to look at. Seats have aged well, with no visible break in leather though. Supple and at the same time bolstering well with lumbar support and making long journeys all the more relaxing.
*Trip statistics of the 2475kms round trip
6 speed DSG has held well with no slack or jerkiness, all along. Anyway DQ250 wetclutch 6 speed ones are better in reliability compared the DQ200’s and that’s giving a lot of comfort, with the proof in the pudding, till now. Still, touchwood. Shifts are smooth and very quick with no discernible sound or vibrations and aids in gaining speed in no time. Downshifts are still a bit slow with any quick kickdown on accelerator, actually takes about a second for the right downshift to happen. Maybe this is also due to my driving behaviour with any rarely sudden accelerations are done/intended. No complaints though. Transmission oil was changed once during the 4thyear/60k service as part of the service pack.
Brakes are great. Had run the stock brake pads till 75k kms. Worked well and going by the images still about 5-8k kms life was left in the front pads and about 10-12 k kms in the rear brake pads. As there were a couple of long distance family trips in the plan, went ahead and changed the pads. Brake discs were holding good with negligible grove formation and hence the SA/floor mechanic advised that change was not required. And they were also surprised on the longevity of the brake pads and the good condition of the brake discs. Total costed about Rs 14k, including labour charges, for both the front and rear brake pads change. Skoda service app, though showed a lower value for the rear brake pads, which when I highlighted to the SA, was told that it was the old price and it had changed and the parts are billed as per the system rate update for the parts from Skoda.
Pirelli P6s are doing a good job. Minimal noise, supple, soft and very good grip both in wet and dry conditions and drops speed very quickly when needed. No squeaks or loss of grip during hard acceleration as well. Had changed from the stock Eagle NCT5s to P6s at about 42k kms as they became hard, noisy and had frequent punctures as well, though treads were still good for about 5k kms. So about 33 k kms done on the P6s. Happy with these and going by the condition currently, will be good for atleast another 18-20k kms. Maybe will explore the Perfinzas for the next change, if the P6s are not available. Mostly maintain 35 psi in the fronts and 33 psi in the rear. Have found this setup the most suited for my regular use, as daily travel is about 50 kms and 80% on the NH8 with good speed traffic flow. Mileage has been the best with this setup. On long family trips of highway runs at speed-limits with fully packed luggage bay, generally maintain 36 psi all around. Has helped in handling and avoiding scrapping over speedbreakers as well as navigating bad road patches, like encountered between Moradabad – Ramnagar stretch in reaching Jim Corbett. Wheel balancing/alignment and rotation are done at every 7.5 kms religiously.
Handling is entertaining with sharp response and continues to keep me engaged. While the squeaks in the sunroof and door beadings are constant companions, irrespective of frequent lubrication, the pleasure of driving overcomes these inconsequential irritants. Just switch on the music to drown these bugs and then it’s a bliss.
Battery changes – done twice till now –
- First during the 2nd year end when the battery check came up with some low voltage and was done under goodwill warranty after a bit of pushing the ASS team, with token amount of Rs 1.5k+tax. Exide (Made in India) was offered by Skoda for the replacement.
- Second during the 5th year after the battery died down after non-usage for 20 days during Jan’22 winter break. Batter would have already started deteriorating and non-usage in such cold weather added to the process. Changed to Amaron after checking with ASS. Paid around Rs 8.4K for doorstep replacement & exchange of old battery.
Taken during a recent trip to Jim Corbett
Has been easy one on the pocket, just a tad below Rs 10 per km, with consistently returning about 18+ kmpl throughout these 5 years.
- Fuel costs about Rs 4+ per km
- Servicing of about Rs 5+ per km (including insurance (~Rs 2.8 per km) / tyre change / brake pad change / PPF / Ceramic Coating / 5th& 6th year Extended Warranty /5th & 6th year service pack / battery changes / WA&B).
Summary of major works done till now-
- Front windshield change done as a small stone flew off from a dumper going in front and crack came up. Was changed under Insurance in ASS. Contribution of 2k+tax.
- Change of Steering mounted scrollers – No breakage/cracking, but became loose and were vibrating. Were changed under warranty without any charges or major followup.
- Change of AC compressor - Cooling became erratic and started much later slowly. Refrigerant level/pressure was checked for leakage and then diagnosed as compressor failure. Was changed under warranty. No charges
Anyway, many more miles to run, before the day comes.
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