Thread Starter
#1
Hello All,
I have been following these forums for a while and decided it was time for me to post my first thread on our decision to book a VW 'Passat' Comfortline.
We (as in my Father & me) have been in the new car 'market' for a long time and finally went in for the VW Passat.
I am from Himachal and reside in Mandi - with business interests in different parts of Himachal that involve a fair amount of travel both within Himachal and also to Chandigarh, Ludhiana and New Delhi.
On an average our main 'highway' car will clock between 25 - 30K KM a year...currently, our 'highway' car is a 2006 Top end Innova that has now done 115,000 hassle free kms. We still retain the Innova and have a Maruti Ritz (Diesel) for local running.
We sold off our 4 year old 1.6 Optra last year - as it was a bad buy and we decided to get rid off it.
Now the budget was fixed at Rs 20 - 24L and the following conditions were agreed upon....
1) Must be a Car (No Fortuner SuV type as the body roll can get unbearable)
2) Must be a Diesel (But a Silent one - Diesel drone of Innova was too much)
3) German or Japanese (Bad experience with the Chevy Optra has ensured we will never touch a GM car again)
4) Must stand out a bit without being too in your face
5) Must be loaded with modern Gizmo's like ACC, Park Sensors etc
6) Must be an Auto Box (but a responsive one with minimal lagg)
After much study the following were short listed:
1) Skoda Superb
2) BMW 3 series (Corporate edition)
3) Skoda Laura L&K
4) New VW Jetta
5) New VW Passat
Now since none of these companies have any dealers in Himachal - so all reviews and Test drives of the cars were conducted on various work visits that took us to or through Chandigarh.
The Skoda's.
We visited the dealer in Chandigarh. The salesmen seemed disinterested and no TD of the 'Superb' could be arranged as it had gone somewhere.
There was no Laura L&K on display and the salesman did not seem to know exactly what the features were on this version. He just handed us a flyer and sauntered off.
All in all a terrible showroom experience which put us off Skoda...but more importantly, I found the 'Superb' to be a bit loud and crass looking both from the exterior's and interior - so we left that terrible Chandigarh Skoda dealership with no intent to return.
BMW
The BMW dealership in Chandigarh is owned by the same people who have Skoda - but the salesman and dealership in general is far more professional and pleasant (BMW obviously).
The polite Salesman quickly arranged a Test Drive of 3 series Corporate edition for us and its a brilliant car....very responsive Diesel with a superb Auto Box and great handling (a BMW after all)..but we decided against it as the 3 series CE does away with a lot of extra's and leaves you with the bare minimum...plus it is quite cramped at the rear and my father does do a lot of 'rear seat travel'...so we decided against it.
VW's
Now we walked into Genuss motor's - the VW dealer for Chandigarh.
The New 2011 Passat was on display along with the old Jetta - that i knew was being upgraded soon (This visit was in fact about 10 days prior to the new Jetta's launch).
We got busy with the Passat display car and were very impressed with the exterior looks and interiors as well. The Car felt classy, understated and elegant both from the inside and outside - far far better than the 'Superb'.
The salesman attending on us was polite and quickly arranged a long TD of the Passat. The drive was excellent...the engine started smoothly, with very little noise entering the cabin, even when revved hard. The DSG box is a gem with minimal lagg and the car accelerated superbly and confidently.
The ride was excellent - and the car felt planted and smooth even over a pretty bad, potholed stretch of road. Plus the car is fully loaded with every convenience and gizmo one could desire.
The back seat space though not as good as the 'Superb's was adequate.
So now we really liked the Passat but also wanted to know more about the all new Jetta...the salesman told us it was coming soon and he would let us know....
About 2 weeks later...we walked into the showroom again with the all new Jetta now on display....after going over the car - we were a little disappointed with the lack of features in the 18L top end Jetta and our attention again was back on the Passat....we took another long TD and decided to book the 2011 Passat !!
We have booked the 'Comfortline' trim for Rs 24 L ex-showroom in White color and will take delivery of the car on the 4th or the 5th of October, 2011.
The Comfortline trim does not have the following features:
1) No A/C Seats
2) No Self park system with rear camera
3) Quality of Leather seats is slightly inferior to those of the Highline version
4) Spare wheel is not an alloy.
Otherwise its fully loaded and the price difference is rs 1.7 L.
I'll subsequently put up an 'initial ownership' review once I have the car...thanks for reading.
I have been following these forums for a while and decided it was time for me to post my first thread on our decision to book a VW 'Passat' Comfortline.
We (as in my Father & me) have been in the new car 'market' for a long time and finally went in for the VW Passat.
I am from Himachal and reside in Mandi - with business interests in different parts of Himachal that involve a fair amount of travel both within Himachal and also to Chandigarh, Ludhiana and New Delhi.
On an average our main 'highway' car will clock between 25 - 30K KM a year...currently, our 'highway' car is a 2006 Top end Innova that has now done 115,000 hassle free kms. We still retain the Innova and have a Maruti Ritz (Diesel) for local running.
We sold off our 4 year old 1.6 Optra last year - as it was a bad buy and we decided to get rid off it.
Now the budget was fixed at Rs 20 - 24L and the following conditions were agreed upon....
1) Must be a Car (No Fortuner SuV type as the body roll can get unbearable)
2) Must be a Diesel (But a Silent one - Diesel drone of Innova was too much)
3) German or Japanese (Bad experience with the Chevy Optra has ensured we will never touch a GM car again)
4) Must stand out a bit without being too in your face
5) Must be loaded with modern Gizmo's like ACC, Park Sensors etc
6) Must be an Auto Box (but a responsive one with minimal lagg)
After much study the following were short listed:
1) Skoda Superb
2) BMW 3 series (Corporate edition)
3) Skoda Laura L&K
4) New VW Jetta
5) New VW Passat
Now since none of these companies have any dealers in Himachal - so all reviews and Test drives of the cars were conducted on various work visits that took us to or through Chandigarh.
The Skoda's.
We visited the dealer in Chandigarh. The salesmen seemed disinterested and no TD of the 'Superb' could be arranged as it had gone somewhere.
There was no Laura L&K on display and the salesman did not seem to know exactly what the features were on this version. He just handed us a flyer and sauntered off.
All in all a terrible showroom experience which put us off Skoda...but more importantly, I found the 'Superb' to be a bit loud and crass looking both from the exterior's and interior - so we left that terrible Chandigarh Skoda dealership with no intent to return.
BMW
The BMW dealership in Chandigarh is owned by the same people who have Skoda - but the salesman and dealership in general is far more professional and pleasant (BMW obviously).
The polite Salesman quickly arranged a Test Drive of 3 series Corporate edition for us and its a brilliant car....very responsive Diesel with a superb Auto Box and great handling (a BMW after all)..but we decided against it as the 3 series CE does away with a lot of extra's and leaves you with the bare minimum...plus it is quite cramped at the rear and my father does do a lot of 'rear seat travel'...so we decided against it.
VW's
Now we walked into Genuss motor's - the VW dealer for Chandigarh.
The New 2011 Passat was on display along with the old Jetta - that i knew was being upgraded soon (This visit was in fact about 10 days prior to the new Jetta's launch).
We got busy with the Passat display car and were very impressed with the exterior looks and interiors as well. The Car felt classy, understated and elegant both from the inside and outside - far far better than the 'Superb'.
The salesman attending on us was polite and quickly arranged a long TD of the Passat. The drive was excellent...the engine started smoothly, with very little noise entering the cabin, even when revved hard. The DSG box is a gem with minimal lagg and the car accelerated superbly and confidently.
The ride was excellent - and the car felt planted and smooth even over a pretty bad, potholed stretch of road. Plus the car is fully loaded with every convenience and gizmo one could desire.
The back seat space though not as good as the 'Superb's was adequate.
So now we really liked the Passat but also wanted to know more about the all new Jetta...the salesman told us it was coming soon and he would let us know....
About 2 weeks later...we walked into the showroom again with the all new Jetta now on display....after going over the car - we were a little disappointed with the lack of features in the 18L top end Jetta and our attention again was back on the Passat....we took another long TD and decided to book the 2011 Passat !!
We have booked the 'Comfortline' trim for Rs 24 L ex-showroom in White color and will take delivery of the car on the 4th or the 5th of October, 2011.
The Comfortline trim does not have the following features:
1) No A/C Seats
2) No Self park system with rear camera
3) Quality of Leather seats is slightly inferior to those of the Highline version
4) Spare wheel is not an alloy.
Otherwise its fully loaded and the price difference is rs 1.7 L.
I'll subsequently put up an 'initial ownership' review once I have the car...thanks for reading.
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