I have recently purchased a Skoda Kylaq, and as I complete the initial 1000 km with it, I am sharing my buying process and my early thoughts about the car.
BHPian Raghav_K recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Before we begin, I will list my likes and dislikes of the Kylaq:
Likes:
1. Five-star adult and child safety.
2. Solid build quality. No rattles so far.
3. Very good handling. The car feels sorted and planted in curves.
4. Nice and minimalist interiors. Definitely a tad better than Kushaq.
5. Power on tap. The 1-litre engine is a better match here than with the 1.0 Kushaq. The gearbox is also tuned very well, It almost never misses a gear.
6. Comfortable seats and good thigh support.
7. Suspension is well-tuned. It does soak up the road bumps and holes a fair bit, without being too soft.
8. Aircon is a chiller. No Kushaq or Slavia like initial niggles.
9. Infotainment is good, and the OEM speakers are pretty decent.
10. 3-point seatbelt for the middle seat.
11. Ventilated seats. Must have for the hot Chennai weather.
Dislikes:
1. That horrible rear-view camera. No words. Straight from the early 2010s.
2. No 360 camera or blind spot indicators. It would have been nice to have.
3. No adaptive cruise control. It would have been nice to have.
4. It’s a 4 seater car, not a 5 seater.
5. Rear legroom could have been optimised a bit more by redesigning rear A/C vents.
6. Automatic Start Stop.
7. No Auto Hold.
8. No Subwoofer.
9. That pathetic horn it comes with.
The car that was to be replaced:
My city beater was an i20 Elite, which I had purchased in 2014. Earlier, it was exclusively used by me, and once I upgraded to a XUV500 AWD AT facelift in 2018, this was kept for city use & to be driven by drivers. The car completed 10 years by August 2024, and some niggles kept cropping in. Clutch changed once, all the Air conditioner components changed twice, and the suspension changed once. I had also upsized tyres from 195 to 205, which was causing early suspension wear. It was time to change the suspension again, and by this time, the family decided they had had enough, and said I am not allowed to repair the i20, and asked me to start looking for a new car.
My criteria for the new car were as follows:
1. Safety – The safest car available in the segment. 6 airbags, ESP, TC, the works.
2. Seat comfort – Needed good front and rear seat comfort, decent legroom, comfortable suspension, front ventilated seats (Demanded by the wife).
3. Boot space – To hold two large travel suitcases and one medium suitcase. For our travels.
4. ‘SHOWING – Needed bigger ground clearance, for the ever-worsening Indian roads, and a car taller compared to the i20, for easy entry & exit for elders.
5. Sub 4M – Preferably sub 4m, for the convenience of navigating and parking in the city.
6. Automatic– Wanted a proper automatic. Preferably TC, for the peace of mind. AMT or MT was not in consideration.
6. Reasonable delivery timeline– I was not keen on waiting 6 months for a car, as my needs were within a few months.
7. No ADAS features.– I didn’t care for them much, except for Adaptive Cruise Control.
8. Petrol– My usage will be around 10,000 kilometres a year. Decided to go for petrol, just to avoid the DPF issues and future NGT issues.
9. Tata– I hold shares of Tata Motors. But I have excluded Tata cars, just because of the inconsistencies in Quality control and Service, faced by almost all my friend and family members. (Except one @prasannadhana)
Basically, I wanted to be driven around in this car by a driver, and I thought I would use the XUV when I drive. (Bolded and underlined, as this will change later.)
I started my search around August 2024, and these are some of the cars I considered/test drove.
1. Mahindra XUV 3XO –
I hated that I loved how quirky this car looked. Full credit to M&M for giving a cosmetic surgery to a car not many cared about (XUV 300), and making it an instant hit. I skipped this car because the boot was a tad small, and for my physique (tall and wide), the front seats were uncomfortable (It was more suited for narrow Korean bodies, I guess), and both front and rear seats were poor in thigh support.
More importantly, I could never get a test drive of this car. And I tried in 3 dealerships, including the one from whom I bought XUV from in 2018.
2. Hyundai Creta
Didn’t really test drive this. My father-in-law got the facelifted Creta, and I took delivery for him as he didn’t know to drive automatics then. I liked the car’s comfort and gadgets. Loved the panoramic sunroof and 360 camera. But it was too big for my needs, and it’s a 3 star rated car at best, so I rejected it.
3. MG Astor
This was not even in my list of cars to check out, but I randomly got a call from the MG Showroom inside Chennai city, about 30km away from me. I said I was looking for a car, but did not want a big car. The SA insisted I should test drive the car, and he got the car to my clinic the next morning. The car was solidly built, the interiors felt a bit gimmicky (that robot), the panoramic sunroof fabric a bit thin, and the suspension uncomfortable and a bit too stiff?.
4. MG Comet EV
Intrigued by the previous MG experience, I took my friend’s Comet EV for a spin. Perfect city car, but it was a bit too small for me, and I didn’t like the fact that my feet were basically in the front crumple zone of the car.
5. Nissan Magnite
This car fit my space requirements, and some Bhpians asked me to test this car. I liked how the car drove, reasonably powerful, good suspension, but the doors felt tinny, interiors rudimentary, and the car felt like a segment below compared to it’s peers, and built to cost.
6. Renault Kiger
Test drove its cousin, so I test drove this too. The interiors were better than Magnite’s, but apart from that, everything I said about Magnite applies here too.
7. Let Sonet
A fun car to drive, no doubt. Also the gadgets on offer were enticing. But I don’t know what Kia does to their suspension, but it always feels uncomfortable for me, compared to their Hyundai counterpart. Also the thigh support and legroom were lacking in the rear seat.
8. Hyundai Venue
Test drove its cousin, so I test drove this too. Compared to Sonet, It was little less on the fun quotient, and little more on the comfort suspension. Also seemed more spacious vs Sonet. But I did not feel it is value for money, and so skipped it after a hard thought.
9. Citroen basalt
I was so excited when this car was announced. I thought this was the car for me. Was already dreaming about enjoying the rear seat while being chauffeured around by a driver, was imagining that lovely Citroen suspension soaking up all road imperfections. Alas, I could never get a test drive or even a callback from the showroom.
By this time, I was running out of sub-4 m car options, so I decided to test drive the Kushaq.
10. Skoda Kushaq
A test drive was instantly available at KUN Skoda Guduvanchery when I visited them in November. I test drove the 1.0 AT top end, the engine seemed competent, and the suspension was a bit stiff for me. The AC was adequate, when I thought it would be weak. Later, I came to know the AC issues were fixed from August 2024 onwards. Space in rear was aplenty (4.2m long, after all) and the car didn’t feel like a bigger car like how Creta felt. Almost perfect, and I decided to book it off. But then the Kylaq announcement was made, and I decided to wait for that, and made a token payment. I said if I don’t like Kylaq, I will get Kushaq with this booking amount. Also, there were some amazing offers available for Kushaq then.
11. Volkswagen Virtus
Wanted to test drive this, after test driving the Kushaq. I love the VW looks. But the VW Chennai showroom was not willing to send the TD car home (30km away) and asked to visit the showroom instead. Skipped.
12. Kia Syros
The car seemed intriguing in pictures, so made a pre booking for this too. After seeing the car in person, I thought this is a car, a lot of people are going to buy, just for the practical and convenient rear seats, and the loaded gizmos, and how the Interiors look like a car from two segments above. I hated how the car looked like a toy car, and the horrible placement of headlight and tail lights. Test drives were at least a month away,even after the car came to the showroom for display. Eventually I cancelled the booking without taking a test drive, because I had test driven the Kylaq by then.
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