Skoda Rapid Elegance Plus AT Ownership Review


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I am aware of wear indicators only on brake pads. I do not know about wear indicators on rotors. It would be great if you could share some photos or links. It would be very informative.
 
Thread Starter #108
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Few updates, now car has run 64kkm.running fine on the Continental tyres.

60 kkm servicing done. I had to replace both brake pads & discs at the time of servicing.Last time pads were replaced at 37 kkm. I have retained the old discs & would try the procedure told by Nikhil soon so as to reuse them.

Also, few months ago, had a very bad dent at the junction of right rear door & the rear quarter panel,yet to give for repair.

My tinted black headlights are not throwing lights properly. I had replaced the OE bulbs, at the time of replacement, the mechanic left the rear opening meant for fitting of the bulb open which allowed dust to enter inside the headlight leading to decrease in capacity of the reflectors.The mechanic later on tried some jugad type cleaning/vacuuming the headlight interiors, but proved to be of little help. Now car is again running on OE bulbs.

Today my rapid's maintainance free battery went caput, zero current, not even enough to display the DIS.
Surprisingly, car started in the morning without any glitches, it was switched off twice after 1 to 2 km of running, & started without complaints.Third time the display went off totally, it was not even showing the low battery sign! and car did not started. I had to call Exide roadside support, then car started with jump current. I ran the car for thirty km during day time, but battery is not charging. Now at home parking it's not starting. I will have to ask for jump current again morrow morning.

My car is 2 & half year old, first battery had gone caput similarly, & was replaced by SASS under warranty 1 year back.
 
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Rapids disc also have same type of indicator.
Just changed the rotors and brake pads on my Rapid. I did not find any indicators on the rotor that signified the max thickness of the rotor.
I asked the SA about the indicator, he said there are no such indicators on Rapid rotors.

With regard to the batteries,
I too find the stock batteries on Rapid is not up to the mark. My car is nearly two years and I can sense the battery is getting weak (longer cranking). Is it possible that cranking takes longer in cold weather?
 
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Thread Starter #110
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Few updates, now car has run 64kkm.running fine on the Continental tyres.

60 kkm servicing done. I had to replace both brake pads & discs at the time of servicing.Last time pads were replaced at 37 kkm. I have retained the old discs & would try the procedure told by Nikhil soon so as to reuse them.

Also, few months ago, had a very bad dent at the junction of right rear door & the rear quarter panel,yet to give for repair.

My tinted black headlights are not throwing lights properly. I had replaced the OE bulbs, at the time of replacement, the mechanic left the rear opening meant for fitting of the bulb open which allowed dust to enter inside the headlight leading to decrease in capacity of the reflectors.The mechanic later on tried some jugad type cleaning/vacuuming the headlight interiors, but proved to be of little help. Now car is again running on OE bulbs.

Today my rapid's maintainance free battery went caput, zero current, not even enough to display the DIS.
Surprisingly, car started in the morning without any glitches, it was switched off twice after 1 to 2 km of running, & started without complaints.Third time the display went off totally, it was not even showing the low battery sign! and car did not started. I had to call Exide roadside support, then car started with jump current. I ran the car for thirty km during day time, but battery is not charging. Now at home parking it's not starting. I will have to ask for jump current again morrow morning.

My car is 2 & half year old, first battery had gone caput similarly, & was replaced by SASS under warranty 1 year back.
I got the battery replaced at local Exide dealer @₹6k.

I forgot to mention, I had to replace the lower arms too when I replaced the drums & disks.
 
Thread Starter #111
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Re: 75000 km :Skoda Rapid Elegance Plus AT

Few updates :
1) Changed tyres to Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (185/60 R15). Earlier tyres Conti CC5 lasted for 40 k km.I feel Turanza ER300 better than CC5 on comfort front. CC5 were marginally better on handling front (precision while hard cornering) as compared to ER300. Overall satisfied with Turanza.
2) When car had done 74,000km, there was little bit jerking during second gear & later on all of sudden AC went kaput. As otherwise the car was due for service,I went to Shivajinagar SASS, & found that earlier Viraj SASS is replaced by another dealer named Ethix Skoda.

They took the car, opened the AC after dismantling the dash board, AC coil found to be gone Kaput. They replaced it under warranty FOC. Also the multi clutch was needing replacement & it was the cause of the jerking. They replaced it too under warranty FOC. This whole warranty replacement thing took 1 month for completion of the work.

75 kkm servicing bill = approx ₹15000.The servicing included brake oil replacement, coolent top up, UV protection for paint.

After running the car for 100 km after the repair & servicing, I am happy. I was annoyed due to 1 month time they required for all this,however, since its a new dealership, and administrative delays about dealer code etc lead to delay. Also they couldn't arrange me a loan or replacement car during that one month.

Anyways, happy with the SA Kashif & Manager, Ethix Skoda for their efforts to get the things done under warranty.

Few days back my car has suffered from severe dents on RHS doors & front bumper at a signal, Ethix Skoda still not tied up with insurance Cos hence not able to do the insurance claim cashless hence despite spending one month[frustration] at Ethix car needs to be given to the Viraj SKODA ASS, Baner. Pune.
 
Thread Starter #112
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Updates :
90 kkm servicing done at Ethix skoda. There was a sound coming from the underbody needed to change one part (don't remember the name) which connects steering with the wheel It was making lot of Lub Dhub noise on acceleration. . It was not readily available with them at that time , they ordered it and it arrived after 15 days, I took the car to them & got it replaced, damages @Rs 40 k. as the part was wear & tear type and was not covered under warranty [frustration].

Soon the car completed 1L km. Warranty expired[gun]. Then I needed to replace the some belt, pump etc , and some other parts like engine foundation rubber . Coolent was also leaking & leading to increse in engine temperature up to 110 degrees. Took the car to a local garage instead of SASS. They replaced the required pipes,also coolent leakage stopped. Total damages worth Rs 20k( in SASS it would have costed 40 k atleast . But After few days, the engine temperature started increasing again, up to 115 on Ghat sections. Also due to my laziness or business, needed to replace two tyres due to faulty wheel alignment issue.

I decided to change the garage,as the engine temperature problem was not solved yet. 1.05 L km servicing was done with some other local garage. He cleaned the switch which manages the temperature readings, according to him display was getting false readings despite engine temperature being optimum. This solved the problem. 1.05 L km servicing cost was approx Rs. 8 k. After this came the COVID followed by lockdown.
 
Thread Starter #114
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Prior to lockdown many automakers declared started declaring hefty discounts on BS4 cars, I was strongly feeling like exchanging this car for a new one but refrained from doing so as I had invested all my savings for the expansion of my home & expansion of my work place.

After lockdown declared, car was running hardly 2 km a month.
 
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Thread Starter #115
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Is it the ball joint or steering linkage?
I found out the bill posting it here, in fact the part, DRIVE SHAFT itself costed ME 40K, other sub parts & labour was 14 k, so total damage was Rs 54 k. [frustration].The last pic is the bill for the same

,Also posting pics of the Rs 20 k parts /belt replaced later on at local garage .
rps20201213_095437.jpg
 

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Thread Starter #116
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One issue I forgot to mention, after the Rs 20 k parts replacement, I noticed that oil was leaking drop by drop & oil level had gone down to the lowest limit. I called up the garage, they adviced to tow the car to the garage. Finally took a decision to top up the oil & check /top up level every now and then while travelling to the garage (30 km) . Car reached safely there. They found that the lid which covers oil filter was not tightened properly [frustration]. They tightened it and also replaced the filter & some packing material there. Issue resolved.
 
Thread Starter #117
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During lockdown, the home construction contractor was continously pressing for money,I had almost finished my savings during this construction. So I needed to visit my parents staying 150 odd Kms from my place to arrange the money & also see my mother who was facing some health issue. But I was not getting the required permission from the district collector to travel interdstrict , finally after a month or so I got it. The lockdown rules were very strict then, Police were checking the vehicles at the all the entry, exit points. I alone left towards Bengluru from Pune in the afternoon. There was hardly any vehicle on highway except ambulance, government officers. Car was moving well without any issue. After travelling 2 hrs, I was on a fly over on the right most lane. and started descending. There was a stray cattle grazing on the 6 to 8 ft wide & a half foot tall divider, it suddenly came in front of the car & started running towards left lanes, so in an attempt to avoid collision I tried to move the car slightly to the right,but the divider was containing a stump of huge old baniyan tree which was protruding little bit outside the divider at wheel height level and was not visible easily. IMG_20201213_144734.jpg The car's front right alloy must have got collided with leading to breakoff a piece of it . And then suddenly the road, divider & the cattle got disappeared from my eye sight and for a quarter of a second I could just see clear blue sky, within next quarter of that second, I could see a crack in the front windshield and next quarter of second my whole vision went white. Thereafter, I felt like I am awaking from deep sleep due to some chaos around. Couple of men came near the car and were trying to know the situation inside the car. when they came to know that I am alive, they asked if I was alright. I affirmed & got out from the car without any help. I also adviced them not to touch me or anything due to Corona risk . I confirmed myself that there was no injury to me or someone else outside the car or collision with some other vehicle . And then looked at the car which was now facing towards Pune and was standing in the left most lane on the opposite side of the 6 lane highway.( almost 40 to 50 ft from my earlier lane) as if a U turn was taken & scene was like bellow.  rps20201213_142628.jpg left side. rps20201213_142731.jpg left rear wheel. rps20201213_142352.jpg right front. rps20201213_142532.jpg left front. rps20201213_141735.jpg inside the car.
 
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During lockdown, the home construction contractor was continously pressing for money,I had almost finished my savings during this construction. So I needed to visit my parents staying 150 odd Kms from my place to arrange the money & also see my mother who was facing some health issue. But I was not getting the required permission from the district collector to travel interdstrict , finally after a month or so I got it. The lockdown rules were very strict then, Police were checking the vehicles at the all the entry, exit points. I alone left towards Bengluru from Pune in the afternoon. There was hardly any vehicle on highway except ambulance, government officers. Car was moving well without any issue. After travelling 2 hrs, I was on a fly over on the right most lane. and started descending. There was a stray cattle grazing on the 6 to 8 ft wide & a half foot tall divider, it suddenly came in front of the car & started running towards left lanes, so in an attempt to avoid collision I tried to move the car slightly to the right,but the divider was containing a stump of huge old baniyan tree which was protruding little bit outside the divider at wheel height level and was not visible easily. View attachment 283923 The car's front right alloy must have got collided with leading to breakoff a piece of it . And then suddenly the road, divider & the cattle got disappeared from my eye sight and for a quarter of a second I could just see clear blue sky, within next quarter of that second, I could see a crack in the front windshield and next quarter of second my whole vision went white. Thereafter, I felt like I am awaking from deep sleep due to some chaos around. Couple of men came near the car and were trying to know the situation inside the car. when they came to know that I am alive, they asked if I was alright. I affirmed & got out from the car without any help. I also adviced them not to touch me or anything due to Corona risk . I confirmed myself that there was no injury to me or someone else outside the car or collision with some other vehicle . And then looked at the car which was now facing towards Pune and was standing in the left most lane on the opposite side of the 6 lane highway.( almost 40 to 50 ft from my earlier lane) as if a U turn was taken & scene was like bellow.  View attachment 283911 left side. View attachment 283912 left rear wheel. View attachment 283914 right front. View attachment 283915 left front. View attachment 283924 inside the car.
Oh my god that looks some serious damage, nice to know that you came out unhurt, whatever they say about cost of ownership and service of german/european cars, one thing is true that their build quality saves lives! Afterall life is precious than money. Has your ride been declared a total loss?
 
Thread Starter #119
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Oh my god that looks some serious damage, nice to know that you came out unhurt, whatever they say about cost of ownership and service of german/european cars, one thing is true that their build quality saves lives! Afterall life is precious than money. Has your ride been declared a total loss?
Yes, you are right regarding the built quality, there was a serious jolt to the driver's foot well as you can imagine from the story narrated, my feet too escaped unhurt. Also once car jumped in the air it landed on the ground like a parachute. This accident used all the safety features of skoda Rapid, the built quality, Airbags, ESP, TCS & what not!
Yes, it is declared total loss.
 
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During lockdown, the home construction contractor was continously pressing for money,I had almost finished my savings during this construction. So I needed to visit my parents staying 150 odd Kms from my place to arrange the money & also see my mother who was facing some health issue. But I was not getting the required permission from the district collector to travel interdstrict , finally after a month or so I got it. The lockdown rules were very strict then, Police were checking the vehicles at the all the entry, exit points. I alone left towards Bengluru from Pune in the afternoon. There was hardly any vehicle on highway except ambulance, government officers. Car was moving well without any issue. After travelling 2 hrs, I was on a fly over on the right most lane. and started descending. There was a stray cattle grazing on the 6 to 8 ft wide & a half foot tall divider, it suddenly came in front of the car & started running towards left lanes, so in an attempt to avoid collision I tried to move the car slightly to the right,but the divider was containing a stump of huge old baniyan tree which was protruding little bit outside the divider at wheel height level and was not visible easily. View attachment 283923 The car's front right alloy must have got collided with leading to breakoff a piece of it . And then suddenly the road, divider & the cattle got disappeared from my eye sight and for a quarter of a second I could just see clear blue sky, within next quarter of that second, I could see a crack in the front windshield and next quarter of second my whole vision went white. Thereafter, I felt like I am awaking from deep sleep due to some chaos around. Couple of men came near the car and were trying to know the situation inside the car. when they came to know that I am alive, they asked if I was alright. I affirmed & got out from the car without any help. I also adviced them not to touch me or anything due to Corona risk . I confirmed myself that there was no injury to me or someone else outside the car or collision with some other vehicle . And then looked at the car which was now facing towards Pune and was standing in the left most lane on the opposite side of the 6 lane highway.( almost 40 to 50 ft from my earlier lane) as if a U turn was taken & scene was like bellow.  View attachment 283911 left side. View attachment 283912 left rear wheel. View attachment 283914 right front. View attachment 283915 left front. View attachment 283924 inside the car.
Sad to read about the accident, it's a very serious accident.
Very happy to know that you are Safe and Healthy.
 

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