BHPian Torque123 recently shared this with other enthusiasts: I have not been able to regularly update on the ownership experience but have covered snippets of it in my travelogues. It’s time for me to provide some updates as it has now been 22 months of owning the Crystal Blue Slavia 1.5 TSI DSG & I have clocked 18K KMS till date. Got the 1st service done in the last week of Dec’23 & the car has to go in for its 2nd annual service by the end of 2024 or early Jan’25. I have kept the car bone stock – no mechanical/electrical/cosmetic upgrades or tuning/coding of any sort & always fill it with XP95. This review will not focus on the engine performance, safety & handling capability of Slavia as everyone knows that this car excels & is a benchmark in both these departments (along with its sibling the VW Virtus) & it’s been covered in the opening post of this thread as well as in multiple other threads on this forum. Ownership & Driving Experience Till DateAll criticisms be damned. I am just enjoying & in love with the DSG automatic transmission (DQ200) in this car. That’s how good, fast, precise, butter smooth, addictive it is & compliments the 1.5 TSI mill so well. I wonder what magic the next iteration of DSG from VW (DQ381A or whatever it is) can do if mated with this engine. Along with the owner, it would also be a tuner’s delight. It’s pure bliss to drive a car with DSG. No overheating issues or warning errors as reported in some cars from other brands even after driving it in all sorts of conditions I have come across. I ensure to slot it in N with the hand brake activated while the car is stationary & engine is running (even if it is for a couple of seconds). No sudden acceleration for the first 1-2 km after a cold start (it helps in the turbo’s longevity as well). Auto Start-stop is deactivated as soon as I fire up the engine at the start of my every drive (has become a muscle memory now).Be it good or bad roads, the ride comfort is supreme. The suspension is perfectly designed/tuned & the ride comfort that this car provides is just amazing. I always maintain a tyre pressure of 35 PSI (normal air, no nitrogen) & have found this to help. My kid just cannot stop harping about the comfort this car provides (mainly during long drives) compared to our other cars (past & present).NVH is just outstanding. The outside world/noises are so well masked that sometimes while on a call, people do not believe that I am driving. We usually focus on parts/things that are visible & ignore the less or invisible ones which enhance the actual driving experience. The NVH of this car is something which makes us realize the excellent quality of parts used to mask the external sounds & noises. Build quality matters not just from a safety standpoint, It contributes to better NVH & driving experience too.60% of the 18K KMS that I have clocked till date are on long drives/highways. The seats are perfect (neither hard nor soft) & I don’t feel any fatigue. The comfort these seats provide (especially during long drives) is any day better than what a Honda City provides. I am not at all biased because I own a City CVT as well.I have always tanked up the Slavia with XP95 as prescribed in the owner’s manual. Only once did I use normal 91 Octane fuel (10 liters or so) during one of my long drives as the IOC bunk did not have XP95 & I had to refuel. Yes, I feel there is a slight dip in the engine performance while using 91 octane & the way even the engine sounds. Skoda/VW would have a strong reason to explicitly state in the owner’s manual that 91 Octane fuel can be used only in case of emergencies & not to rev the engine hard while doing so. I see a lot of owners claiming to use 91 Octane fuel on a regular basis. I do not understand the need to do that & then blame Skoda/VW if something goes wrong in the long run.The brakes of this car have very good stopping power & have not let me down in some emergency situations. I don’t feel the need for rear disc brakes. Better rubber is only going to enhance the braking ability. Few owners have complained about the brake pads wearing out sooner which causes some sounds while braking etc. As of now, there are no signs in my car requiring brake pad replacement but I will get it checked during the 2nd service for sure.The 8-inch infotainment screen works flawlessly. I have not faced any disconnection issues while using wired AA or Car Play (note that the 8-inch screen does not come with wireless AA or Carplay). The Bluetooth also works seamlessly too.City is my daily drive (not because it is reliable). My daily office commute is ~70 kms (to & fro) & I take the Metro which covers 60% of my journey (saves a lot of time & is very convenient to cover the stretch of my office commute which is prone to traffic jams). The metro station does not have a car parking area & I need to park the car in an open public paid parking area. As the City is an older car, it has become my daily drive. The AC in the city (manual AC) is a chiller for sure. The difference between the City & the Slavia’s AC performance is that the City cools the cabin much sooner than the Slavia. City’s manual cooling gauge is kept at max cooling with fan speed at 2. Slavia’s AC temp is kept at 21 degrees with a fan speed of 3. Note that the fan speed levels are more in Slavia as compared to the City. So, the fan speed level of 2 in Slavia is not the same as in City. Once the cabin is cooled the AC performance in both the cars are same. I am sure the time taken to cool the cabin will be faster in the City if you compare the Auto AC of both cars at the same temp & fan speed levels.As long as a car gives me an average FE of 10-11 kms in city traffic & 13-14 kms on long drives, I am more than happy with it. Have got used to those numbers since my Ford Fiesta 1.6 SXI days. Slavia gives me anywhere between 10-12 kmpl in city traffic & between 16-18 kmpl on long drives (mix of expressways & single road highways). If not for the ACT tech in Slavia, the FE numbers would have been much lesser due to its powerful 1.5 TSI engine. ACT is real & effective. Honda City CVT gives me almost the numbers in city traffic. Not sure about the FE it gives on highways as I have not taken it on long drives at all as me & my family prefer the Slavia for long drives.High beam headlight performance could have been better. Low beam is fine. The DRLs are always on whenever the car is driven. No yellowing or fading of DRLs etc till now.Coming to poor quality parts reported online like AC vent plastic, the thing you press in the Gear knob selector falling off etc – I have not faced any of these issues. They are very much intact & doing the job they are supposed to do without any fuss.There was a squeaking & rattling noise coming from the dashboard when the vehicle was being driven on bad road patches which was fixed during the first service. Are there lots of rattles or squeaking noises like how it is projected online? The answer is No. Is the service center able to fix it permanently when reported? The answer is Yes. Do I regret buying this car because of 1 squeak & 2 rattles experienced till now? The answer is Definitely No as this happens in every car & it’s just that owners are not vocal about it.I am in love with the 17″ Vega alloys on the Kushaq Monte Carlo. That’s the only upgrade I want for my car for now. If someone from Skoda is reading this, kindly provide this as an official accessory for the Slavia. You will get to make some extra moolah out of this as a lot of owners will surely go for it.The interiors of Slavia have some piano black finished parts/panels. Even very little dust on these piano black finish panels (inevitable in our Indian conditions) looks prominent. Maintaining these piano black finished parts is a task. There have been a few minor scratches on these in my car in spite of me being extra careful while getting the interiors cleaned during the monthly car wash (especially the one surrounding the gear lever console).1st Annual Service ExperienceGot the first annual service done in the last week of Dec’23. Called & fixed the appointment with PPS Skoda Hennur. Reached at around 9.30 AM on the day of the service appointment. Within minutes was attended by the service advisor. All formalities were completed & the car was taken in for the required service. He explained what all will be performed during the 1st service & was aware that I have the 4-year service package. The service advisor asked if there were any particular issues I wanted to be looked into. I told him about an occasional squeaking sound & a rattle that came from the dashboard area which came while traversing bad roads which he said would be fixed. I also asked him to change the engine oil (I was willing to pay for the engine oil change as it was not a part of the 1st service as per the owner’s manual). I was reassured that he would get the engine oil topped up (it had dipped a bit but never went so low as to give a warning message which few owners have experienced) but there was no requirement to change the oil & it would be done during the 2nd service. I was promised to take the delivery by 3 PM. Was asked but not pushed about getting the wheel alignment & balancing done for which I declined as I wanted to get it done outside. No marketing push for AC disinfection etc. Called at 2.15 PM & was told the car is ready. Reached at around 3.15 PM. The car was ready. Checked the engine oil level & it was topped up as promised. Went for a short test drive & found the squeaking & rattling sound issues were resolved. However, was not sure if it would reappear after a few days or weeks. Was handed over the invoice for the 1st service & the total payable amount was ZERO. It feels so nice to see & experience that. I know that it’s been paid upfront during the car purchase for the initial 4-year term. However, got to know recently that the same service package now costs 32 or 33K Vs the 24k at the time of my car purchase. That means either the parts or labor charges have been increased which has resulted in a saving for me. Overall, the service experience was fuss-free & very professional. It was straight getting down to business attitude with the required courteousness & professionalism with no unnecessary pampering by the service advisor which I highly appreciate. Will try to keep this thread updated more frequently. Cheers! Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
