Is anyone a member of team-bhp?? What car to buy?

[rikhav]

I haven't driver in mumbai/ kolkata kind of places where u get lots of rain, only in delhi ncr, but my octavia didn't have any problems. I have once driven, when it was just 3-4 months old, through a water logged stretch where my santro died earlier, but octavia sailed smooth, and there were few other cars that died due to water on that stretch. It is a petrol version.

Though I agree with atrocious service and spares cost.

regards

Petrol Octy if its not a RS of course is a naturally asparated engine. The diesel and the RS is turbo charged which larger amounts of air and so in flooded conditions it is more likely to suck in water
This i read on of the threads in TBhp where a Laura had suddenly stalled midway in flood water and the Authorized service centre gave a quote of 2 lacs as the engine was damaged due to water entering it

 

[longshanks]

This i read on of the threads in TBhp where a Laura had suddenly stalled midway in flood water and the Authorized service centre gave a quote of 2 lacs as the engine was damaged due to water entering it

Like i said, i cant believe much of the stories in Team BHP these days.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

Like i said, i cant believe much of the stories in Team BHP these days.

This doesnt seem to be UNTRUE as my cousin's SKODA also was repaired for around 2 lakhs!!

Hello,
well I don't understand anything about cars. But I am worried about this rain problem in scoda. When you say rain problem do you mean they cannot be driven in torrential rain or they just give in if there is 2.5ft water in the street. Does this kind of problem still exist in modern day cars?
Thanks.

Well maybe it also happens with other cars. But I know that Skoda people have told my cousin to not take the car out in water!!!!! Havent heard such a thing from any other company.

Yes, change to 'comfort' tubeless tyres. Continental, being German is the brand that would suit the character of the car.

Another option is the Yokohama Decibel Series. These have been designed for Luxury Saloons. I can vouch for these tyres as I have fitted 17 inch Yokohama Decibel Series tyres on my Dad's Civic. These tyres look great, are super Silent and also grip very well. They also have a very strong rim protector which is a necessity in our Indian Roads

Hmm..Thnx for the suggestion. Any idea about the prices of these tyres??

 

[SaurabhK]

Team Bhp used to be a classy car forum with a killer car audio section. But off late have turned into the snobbiest bunch of mods i have ever seen on any online forum. Do they actually have a approver sections now?? Gosh !!

 

[longshanks]

This doesnt seem to be UNTRUE as my cousin's SKODA also was repaired for around 2 lakhs!!

They charged him 2 lakhs to repair after it stalled in water?


No other Car company charge 2 lakhs ever for any kind of repair?

i guess i am just missing something here.

Well maybe it also happens with other cars. But I know that Skoda people have told my cousin to not take the car out in water!!!!! Havent heard such a thing from any other company.

Interesting, i have not got from skoda for the past 6 years like this. They have indeed called me when ever they have this free service camp.

for the year 2009 ive spent approx 6k for servicing which i did in jan and since my car is out of the warranty period i service it once every year. The higest ive spent on service is 13k when they had to change the break pads and some other stuff.I hit my car once behind a Honda city and got a dent in the bumper and the number plate broke (the city's bumper broke and fell down) , i paid 1000 bucks to a guy near my home and got it fixed like new.

may be its just for me but ive never had any major trouble with my skoda or any of the one's we have in our family unless it was involved in a major accident. Mine is 6 years old now and i still dont feel like letting it go and even if i do iam getting a skoda or a VW.

not to mention the amazing millage i am getting for a car that weights almost 1.5 tons.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

The Merc C230 is good & to a lesser degree so is the C200 KOM. IMO great styling, far better than the previous generation C, not as plane jane as made out to be. I dont know why u felt the engine was noisy? Almost no road noise filters in. None of these engines will be as silent as say a Honda engine but then this 'purring' is also addictive.

Hmm Did you check these cars recently? Coz IMO merc interiors are quite inferior when compared to bmw Specially with the idrive and AUDI. The engine felt noisy the 1st time but I test drove again yesterday and it was fine that time. But the main issue is the Price jump even lesser features.

The BMW 320i I would not consider, the 325 yes. Apart from the run flats which are a problem on our roads the car is good for sure. As a toss up on the interiors I would actually pick the Merc though i have always been a fan of the 3 series look.

The 325 shoots up the price range and I guess for me even the 320i wouldnt be that bad as our driving is mainly on city road with EXTREMELY RARE long distance travelling. So I guess we can do with a less powerful engine and we are also not fans of great speed!! And about the interiors I guess you may have seen the old model without the IDRIVE becoz with the new one the interiors beets mercedes Hands down!!

Regarding changing the tyres on the BMW, THINK AND RECHECK with the dealer. Was told this is absolutely not recommended as it will affect the syspension settings which are tuned keeping the stiff Run flat in mind. Dont want hassles on the warranty later.

Thnx for the advice. Would have to keep that in mind.

Problem with most of us is that we go with pre conceived notions. A Merc is Boring, grandfather interiors, bland blah blah and the BMW is a drivers car, great handling etc etc. Neither statement is actually a 100 % accurate. How can a car (c230 ie) with over 200 horses and huge torque all thru the power band be dull? What is dull is actually the 320i IMO

Hmm....well atleast we are not going with the pre coneived notions. Infact if there is any pre-conceived notion that is going in the favour of MERC It has the BRAND attached to it. hyeah: But I dont see the point of paying 1.5 lakh extra for less features. By the points mentioned here it looks like MERC has the most powerful engine and would RACE on highways but I guess engine is not my main issue as the driving is less and that on city roads where you reach your destination is 15-20 min!! So I guess even a BMW 320i shall do the trick. what would be the speed difference of BMW and MERC on highways?? Would it be too much?

One more important aspect with these brands is you have to check with the dealers about the availability of the cars, colours & with the equipment options.

That also looks to be + point of BMW. They have same price for any color whereas MERC charge around 60,000 for any color except white and AUDI charge 1,02,000 for any color except white or red.

The BMW 320i makes about 150BHP & 200NM of torque, The A4 1.8TFSI makes about 160bhp & 240nm/ A4 2.0 is at about 180 bhp & 320nm where as the merc is at 170 bhp with 240NM.

What is nm??




@ all

Thnx for the replies..they are surely very good suggestions. At this point it looks like BMW might win the race but you never know till 2 days back I thought it might be AUDI!!


PS: Havent test driven a AUDI YET!! The dealer doesnt have the demo car right now!!!!!

 

[goyal.sanchit]

They charged him 2 lakhs to repair after it stalled in water?


No other Car company charge 2 lakhs ever for any kind of repair?

i guess i am just missing something here.

I dnt know what exactly was the problem. Maybe the engine was replaced or something. But I am sure that it cost definitely above 1.25 lakhs. If you want to know I would ask him what exactly was the problem and would let you know. !

 

[longshanks]

I dnt know what exactly was the problem. Maybe the engine was replaced or something. But I am sure that it cost definitely above 1.25 lakhs. If you want to know I would ask him what exactly was the problem and would let you know. !

please do.

let me know the name of the dealer cause if he has over charged then i can put some strong words to certain people in skoda and make sure the dealer is warned.

believe me now in chennai they have 3 good service center and the only thing i dont like is a little waiting time, even that ive worked out with then since we have bought quite a lot of cars from them.Evey time they service i get full details and they ask me before they change even a very in-expensive part and they make sure to gimme the box with the serial number in which the part came and they even they keep the old damaged ones in my trunk.

 

[shuv]

What is nm??

Newton meters.

@ All - Rains do not damage a car. Its when you crank after the engine gets flooded. And, about Skoda charging 2 big ones for water damage, someone's Civic had the same issue and he had to shell out a big amount. Another's Fiesta diesel fared no better. If the engine gets damaged, the er damages to your wallet will be kind of damaging.

Skodas do have very bad support. And its wrong to say we can't trust TBHP. I've seen a Calcutta member's vRS and what the service center has done to it. But yes, there is an underlying bias against Skodas

 

[rikhav]

Shuv is bang on the target
The Laura guy cranked the engined 3 or 4 times after it stalled suddenly which was basically due to water entering the engine through the air inlet.
The cranking damaged several critical components and he was given an estimate of around 2 lacs. Skoda service centres are known to rip you off when the car is having a problem like this guy had (serious engine trouble), where its not easy to pin point what parts need replacement
My friend went through hell because apparently the Skoda service centre he had given his Diesel Octavia for changing of the timing belt, installed an old one and it snapped in between when he was driving from Mumbai to Ahmedabad
He vowed never to go to authorized service centre due to the series of problems he had to face just because a new timing belt was not installed

 

[deepakhon]

I am an active member of team-bhp since close to 4 years. I will go through this thread and will see what I can do for you.

Also, I will have to introduce myself to hifivision. I will do that.

 

[rikhav]

Hi Deepak
Remember me and my Siena with gear issues?
Thanks again for helping me out

 

[deepakhon]

How can I not remember you? Good to see you in another forum. Hope all is well with your car. My Palio is in great shape now.

 

[rikhav]

How can I not remember you? Good to see you in another forum. Hope all is well with your car. My Palio is in great shape now.

Not all actually Suddenly the muffler (the one with tail pipe) has given up and low beam headlights switch on when they feel like, so some wiring issues. Actually its there since long but now they dont light up at all and you cant just stupidly use the high beam all the time. So plan to take it to a good electrician (hunting one). Also left headlight has vapor accumulated so plan to get it opened and so vapor can escape and then seal the headlight with a rubber sealant as recommended by fiat forum

By the way whats your home audio setup?

 

[dinyaar]

Hmm Did you check these cars recently? Coz IMO merc interiors are quite inferior when compared to bmw Specially with the idrive and AUDI. The engine felt noisy the 1st time but I test drove again yesterday and it was fine that time. But the main issue is the Price jump even lesser features.





The 325 shoots up the price range and I guess for me even the 320i wouldnt be that bad as our driving is mainly on city road with EXTREMELY RARE long distance travelling. So I guess we can do with a less powerful engine and we are also not fans of great speed!! And about the interiors I guess you may have seen the old model without the IDRIVE becoz with the new one the interiors beets mercedes Hands down!!




Thnx for the advice. Would have to keep that in mind.





Hmm....well atleast we are not going with the pre coneived notions. Infact if there is any pre-conceived notion that is going in the favour of MERC It has the BRAND attached to it. hyeah: But I dont see the point of paying 1.5 lakh extra for less features. By the points mentioned here it looks like MERC has the most powerful engine and would RACE on highways but I guess engine is not my main issue as the driving is less and that on city roads where you reach your destination is 15-20 min!! So I guess even a BMW 320i shall do the trick. what would be the speed difference of BMW and MERC on highways?? Would it be too much?






That also looks to be + point of BMW. They have same price for any color whereas MERC charge around 60,000 for any color except white and AUDI charge 1,02,000 for any color except white or red.





What is nm??




@ all

Thnx for the replies..they are surely very good suggestions. At this point it looks like BMW might win the race but you never know till 2 days back I thought it might be AUDI!!


PS: Havent test driven a AUDI YET!! The dealer doesnt have the demo car right now!!!!!

Hi Goyal,
I personally own a few Honda vehicles and am happy but my family has been constantly buying/selling some of the brands u mention.
Naturally these are personal opinions so mine may vary greatly from yours.

Last time I checked out the car was in Diwali which is very recent when an uncle wanted to upgrade his cars. I sold my uncles Merc E230 and a BMW 530 (this car was sold just 2 days ago) and he opted for the S350 and we are awaiting the new 740i.

Pricing is different from state to state naturally and at least in the S class vs the 7 series, the Merc is much cheaper as its not a CBU plus its nearing a cosmetic face lift mid 2010.

nm is NEWTON METRE a measure of TORQUE which is basically the pulling power.

Rgds

 

[santhosh]

Like i said, i cant believe much of the stories in Team BHP these days.

i guess i am just missing something here.

Why is it so hard to believe? Why would one spend time writing up long stores, mostly about their own Skodas? Is it also difficult to believe the HFV members on this thread? You must be missing something

Interesting, i have not got from skoda for the past 6 years like this.
..................
Mine is 6 years old now and i still dont feel like letting it go and even if i do iam getting a skoda or a VW.

Good to know about Chennai dealers. BTW, TAFE Access (yes the same as in Chennai) has a very bad reputation here in Bangalore.

Skodas do have very bad support. And its wrong to say we can't trust TBHP. I've seen a Calcutta member's vRS and what the service center has done to it. But yes, there is an underlying bias against Skodas

+1, and I am better off being biased

 

[longshanks]

Why is it so hard to believe? Why would one spend time writing up long stores, mostly about their own Skodas? Is it also difficult to believe the HFV members on this thread? You must be missing something


Good to know about Chennai dealers. BTW, TAFE Access (yes the same as in Chennai) has a very bad reputation here in Bangalore.

and I am better off being biased

Its hard to believe for the same reason that i have mentioned earlier(we have 4 skoda's and never had problem with service at all and have many friends who own them and would not consider any other brand due to their satisfaction).

The first skoda we bought was in 2002 so my comments are on basis of almost 7 years of delightful ownership.

TAFE Access does not sell skoda's in chennai, The dealer here is gurudev motors.

Do you own a skoda? have you had problems with service?


I agree that skoda has a few very bad dealers but team-bhp posts are indeed biased and like u you said if you want to be biased then its good for you.

 

[thevortex]

Its hard to believe for the same reason that i have mentioned earlier(we have 4 skoda's and never had problem with service at all and have many friends who own them and would not consider any other brand due to their satisfaction).

TAFE Access does not sell skoda's in chennai, The dealer here is gurudev motors.

Do you own a skoda? have you had problems with service?


I agree that skoda has a few very bad dealers but team-bhp posts are indeed biased and like u you said if you want to be biased then its good for you.

Raja - I have talked to a few friends who have got Skodas from Bangalore and they just have a litany of horror stories about the dealers and service centers there.

But in Chennai I recently helped a friend get a Skoda Fabia and he is pleased as punch and I personally found the dealer to be extremely responsive, courteous. Except that I found that he insisted that Skoda Combi had already been launched in India and then been called back. To my knowledge that never has happened.

 

[longshanks]

Skoda Combi had already been launched in India and then been called back. To my knowledge that never has happened.

Indeed the skoda Octavia combi was available for sales in India for a few years but not anymore. I myself have driven one.

here is a pic.
Skoda Combi - Page 3 - Team-BHP

The skoda fabia combi was kind of released and recalled if that is what the rep was trying to tell you.

Skoda Fabia combi - with pix. - Team-BHP

we never owned any car in Bangalore except for a Mahinda Scorpio crdi which has a gearbox failure with the first few months, but they replaced it warranty here in the chennai service center.

 

[thevortex]

Oh and I am surprised about the negative comments about TeamBHP. I am a long time member there although I have not posted too often.

It came to be that I had just about 50 posts and they recently had implemented a system where anybody with less than 50 posts had to go through an approval cycle for their post to appear! I was not amused and I wrote to their chief moderator. Pat came the response and my post got through.

I would not accuse them of lack of communication though. I have not visited them recently - as in the last 6 months or so. So, I would not know the ground situation right now.