Skoda Slavia 1.0 TSI MT: Buying experience and initial impressions

We took a test drive of the Slavia 1.0 litre TSI engine and it surprisingly impressed us. Never did it feel underpowered, and we didn't notice any turbo lag.

BHPian Ayush_atish recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I bought a Skoda Slavia 1.0 MT Style on March 27. Have done only 360 km on the ODO. Colour is Carbon Steel and it looks damn crazy. Yes it's a dirt magnet of course I would say that, but once clean this beats almost everything out there.

It's a sexy looking car, and I feel there is nothing more beautiful than this at this price point. I am sorry Honda.

So my hunt started, my budget was around 16 to 20 lakhs and since I already own a Hector, I was not really inclined towards buying a proper SUV.

My requirement was just about a 30 to 40 km drive in the city, and it was to be driven mostly by my dad. My dad is the one who will be riding this 1.0L stallion. I don't know but he just absolutely hate automatics. I think he feels that he has more control over the car as it's a manual. Maybe he is old school but choice respected.

India has seen a segment shift and quickly people have moved out from sedan to SUV because of practicality. While there is nothing exciting that is happening in this segment , suddenly you see a sexy looking Slavia launched. The segment which is largely led by the Honda City and Hyundai Verna now has the largest, most spacious and most practical looking sedan with higher ground clearance, and of course those looks. I have taken Skoda's 4 year maintenance package because I want peace of mind as we all are aware of Skoda ASS.

Now the cars I considered.:

Kia Seltos: Since I never had many options in the sedan segment, I started my journey with looking at the Seltos. It's a good car, the reason I let it go was because of the GNCAP ratings and of course it would not have been anything new if I would have had the Seltos and Hector together. So idea dropped.

Hyundai Creta: I did see this car but then I decided against buying it because of its longer waiting period. Some how I feel that the old Creta was much better looking than the current gen and I have been informed by my sources that there will be an upgraded Creta coming soon. Hence no to Creta.

Kia Carens: Out of all, this is truly the most practical car I found. I was not impressed with the quality of the car as such. Specially after I own a Hector which feels solid and built like a tank. The Carens was not considered because my driving requirements. I was not to drive family around but just 2-3 people or 5 at most. Though its a good and practical car, I however was not impressed with the engine, both petrol and diesel. 7 on board this car on hill with full family suitcases.. spare me the horror.

Hyundai Verna: I was in love with this car. It's my personal best, I have owned the old Verna Fluidic before which I just sold because of this diesel thing in Delhi. Hence when I sat down in the new Verna, I felt that the that there is no room at the back and this car was cramped. Plus it didn't really feel like an upgrade to old Verna. It also felt outdated in comparison to the likes of the Honda City and much nicer looking SUVs.

Honda City: I took a test drive of the Honda City along with my father and he immediately liked the car. It felt like he has come home. He was in love with the compactness of the car, and at the same time the practicality as well. It felt that he needed something like this. The fit and finish on the inside specially on the dashboard was ok, not something which is talk worthy. Overall a good car and shortlisted in our minds.

Skoda Slavia: So the story started when me and my brother just wanted to check out the Skoda Kushaq. We never thought that we will end up buying a Skoda. But the moment we entered the showroom there was this sexy looking Carbon Steel coloured Slavia with imposing bonnet and good looking proportions. We liked it so much that we didn't even bother to sit in the Kushaq. The interior felt nice but not typically European fit and finish, however I will I have no reason to complain as I see that its built to last.

We took a test drive of the Slavia 1.0 litre TSI engine and it surprisingly impressed us. Never did it feel underpowered, and we didn't notice any turbo lag. This car is a breeze to drive both in city and on the highway. Definitely a head turner because people are not recognizing this car as of now. It feels like a lone horse in the cattle race . Booking amount paid, the wait started and in about 2 weeks the car was ready.

My ownership experience with the Slavia so far:

So far so good. Handover process was very good. Nice and informative salesmen all around Skoda. Willing to help at your call. Car was clean and ready when I arrived at the dealership. My father took the wraps of the car. However I would say my experience of getting the MG was far better than Skoda.

I have driven it 360 km till now and overall I am satisfied with the car. One complaint that I have is the AC of the car. It is not the best in the segment. Ventilated seats do help but in peak summer, this car does not cool as much as the others. Also absence of some common features like electric front seats, good reverse camera, tyre pressure monitoring system, absence of RPM on the odo (yes it's correct), no physical buttons to open the trunk and the tank. If the car is open, they are open by default etc.

I am getting around 10-11 kmpl on highway and around 8 and 9 kmpl in the city so far. This is when I drive mixed bag. If I drive it cautiously, then I am sure to extract 13-14 from this engine. It will improve over time surely.

Thank you for patiently reading the above post. I am sorry it's long, but it's my first one and I wanted to share my experience with the car so far.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.