Skoda Laura [2005-2009] User Reviews

Exterior The exterior of the car is well built, being skoda know for it. The shape and upgradations are good. You get some good features like Head lamp washer but it also lacks some required features like Electronic foldable Mirriors.  Overall good package on the Extrior front.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) You get ample space with this car, any long journey with 6 to Baggages you neeed not worry at all. One great thing about this car (L&K) is you get almost all the required features at a reasonable price. Seat Heaters are really wonderful. The car has got good comfort in front and back seat. Some features like Cruise Control give problem (it does not work). I got it repaired couple of times but not that great. The wrost part of this car is its Air Conditioning, it does not cool properly and its compressor needs to be changes every 2 years ( Rs.40,000 cost of a compressor) . I think skoda needs to learn some thing from Maruti - a low maintenance and mind blowing AC.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The Engine of Laura i found it a bit under powered, it should have been atleast 140  BHP ( Offered in New  Laura Automatic) becaue of the heavy weight the same requires the more power. The drive is smooth, gear Changing is again swift but again Skoda has a big problem of Clutch Plate. I had to change clutch Plate twice again every change costed me approx Rs.40 K. We have other Hyundai and Mitsubhishi cars that have been driven for approx 1.5 lacs kms but not a single cluth plate problem was encountered.This is not all, if your car crosses 1 Lac Km the you need to change your Turbo this would cost you around Rs.1 Lac. Then comes the turn of Timming Belt which would cost You Rs. 30k.

The Mileage that I usually got inside city was 12.5km/ L and on highways aprox 14.5 Km/L.

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality and Hndling of a car is really good.

Final Words If you are ready to spend approx Rs.4 to Rs.5 per Km as a maintenance cost then its a really nice car to buy. You get the premium feeling while driving but you just get fed up with the recurring bills.

Areas of improvement Skoda if wants to retain there market share they need to work upon the maintenance related issues, offer better spare parts with the car (Compressor, Clutch Plate, Turbo). They should may be increase the car cost by Rs.50 K but should atleast cover the maintenance for 5 years. Otherwise your pocket starts bleeding.

I have noticed that for a car of this price range, the air conditioner is not at all good. Maybe the A/C has not been tropicalised for Indian conditions.

Again though the pick-up and pulling is fair enough on the road, the engine may have been a tad under-powered. I have encountered problems when trying to climb even a mildly steep incline, when the car has lost momentum(ie during a stop-and-climb situation)

I wanted to buy this car since long, had drooled over the looks & the onroad presence. So went in for a test drive.....

The road presence is amazing , great looks , great build . The test car had clocked 45000 Kms & still not a squeek from any corner. As long as we were within city limits -ie driving @ 40-50 kmph it was good.

On highway at high speeds : The acceleration was terrific & pushed us back in the seats. Applied breaks @ 150 for a clean halt with a straightline stop . So far so good.

Trouble started when I moved to the back seat. Suspension is too stiff & with our kind of roads it sure hurts the bottom.The incline of the back seat would surely  give a soreback within 200 kms. Space was less than mid size hatches . AC was also not that great

There seems to be a design problem in the car- Try to open only 1 window & a boom is created within the car passenger space which hurts the ears.- It has to be tried to believe as even I was taken aback by this phenomenon.

Over all I realised - I wanted a car for myfamily would optimally drive @ 40-100 kmph. possibly have one window down. I would not sleep in the boot though the space allows me to.I would be driving it in India - with broken roads & sweltering heat. would love the driving but my family at the back would suffer due to the suspension. Will possibly save money on the great economy & diesel advantage but at the price of comfort for my family.

Verdict : Dropped the idea for this car . now on to honda Civic - the next review.