Complete Guide on Buying a Skoda Kylaq

The esteemed Czech car brand, Skoda has been selling cars in India for a long time and built an illustrious reputation for the unparalleled quality of their cars. However, when it comes to sales numbers, they haven’t been among the frontline runners. Addressing this area of concern, Skoda has recently launched their first sub-4-metre compact SUV, Skoda Kylaq. The reason they went with a compact SUV is simple: compact SUVs are the hottest-selling cars in India and their popularity is growing by leaps and bounds. Since the Kylaq is based on the Skoda Kushaq mid-size SUV, it’s constructed on the same MQB A0 IN platform and shares most of its components with it. With Kylaq in their line-up, Skoda aims to cross the 1 lakh units sales milestone and their intent is pretty clear in the overall quality of the Skoda Kylaq. Like many, if you are also looking to get your hands on a Skoda Kylaq, here is a complete guide to buying a Skoda Kylaq that educates you about its merits and limitations, and helps you bring home the best variant for you.

Skoda Kylaq Specifications

Skoda Kylaq Variants

Compared to most of its rivals, the Skoda Kylaq is available in a few variants:  Classic, Signature, Signature Plus, and Prestige. The colour options available are Olive Gold, Tornado Red, Carbon Steel, Candy White, and Brilliant Silver.

Best Skoda Kylaq Variant to Buy

The base Classic variant of the Skoda Kylaq is a good option for someone with a tight budget. It brings several important features such as all power windows, remote central locking, follow-me headlamps, LED cabin lights, power mirrors, engine idle start/stop, six airbags, and more.

The next variant, Signature, adds FM, Bluetooth & USB, 7-inch touchscreen, wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 4 speakers, steering mounted controls, cruise control, 16-inch alloy wheels, cooled glove box, and more. As Signature is the most affordable automatic variant and brings a slew of additional features over the base variant, it comes in as a decent value proposition with respect to its price.

The next variant, Signature Plus, adds rear camera, automatic headlamps, automatic climate control, 8-inch digital driver display, 10-inch touchscreen, keyless entry and push button start/stop, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, hill start assist, and more. While this variant adds many features, they aren’t completely proportionate to the price it asks over the Signature variant. If you want a feature-laden Skoda Kylaq, we recommend the top Prestige variant.

The top Prestige variant adds the most premium batch of features such as ventilated front seats, wireless phone charger, 6-power driver seat and front passenger seat, LED projector headlamps, paddle shifters, auto-dimming IRVM, and more. This is the recommended variant as  the most loaded variant of the Skoda Kylaq.

Skoda Kylaq Warranty & Service Cost

The Skoda Kylaq comes with a standard warranty of 4 years/100,000 km. This warranty period can be extended up to 6 years at some additional cost. As far as service cost is concerned, the charges will be around Rs 3,914 at 1 year/ 15,000 km, Rs 7,289 at 2 year/30,000 km, Rs 6,415 at 3 year/45,000 km, Rs 9,742 at 4 year/60,000 km, and Rs 6,415 at 5 year/75,000 km.

Why you should consider the Skoda Kylaq

As mentioned, Skoda is banking big on the Kylaq. Understandably so, the Kylaq is built to appeal to masses and offers a slew of perks which give it a great edge over its rivals. Here are some of Kylaq’s traits which can give you strong reasons to consider it as your next car.

Mini Kushaq

Well, it’s not exactly ‘mini’ if you compare the Kylaq’s size to that of the Kushaq – its parent car. Moreover, in its segment, the Kylaq is one of the larger cars. However, many characteristics make the Kylaq a mini Kushaq. Since the Kylaq is built on the MQB A0 IN which also underpins the Skoda Kushaq. They share most parts of their design and look a lot similar, although they are distinguishable. On the inside, like the Kushaq, the Kylaq exudes a premium vibe that we have come to expect of Skoda cars. While most of the interiors are of plastic, their material quality is upmarket. 

Meanwhile, the Kylaq share many of its features with the Kushaq, such as a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 8-inch digital instrument cluster, a single-pane sunroof, automatic climate control with rear AC vents, wireless phone charger, 6-way powered front seats with ventilation function, and more. Speaking of features, it’s important to know that the Kylaq is the first car in the segment to offer a powered front passenger seat. At the same time, the Kylaq offers the smaller 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine of the Kushaq’s engine offerings. All this makes the Kylaq a great alternative to the Kushaq if you plan to buy any lower or mid variant of the Kushaq.

Solid Passenger Safety

When it comes to Skoda cars, robust passenger safety is something you can be sure of. With their safety standards, Skoda cars have proven their mettle all around the world, let alone in India. Like the Kushaq and all other Skoda cars, the Kylaq is built tough and as the Kushaq has scored a full 5-star rating on the Global NCAP crashworthiness test, the Kylaq is certain to bag the same scores. In addition to a tough body, the Kylaq offers a host of safety features and many of them are offered as standard such as six airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, an electronic differential lock, and ISOFIX child seat mounts.

Driving Dynamics

Coming from a carmaker known to make exciting cars, the Kylaq stands out in its segment due to its driving dynamics. The steering feedback in combination with the power delivery works phenomenally well, making the Kylaq an enjoyable car to drive. Even though Skoda has engineered the Kylaq for the masses and not just for driving enthusiasts, this is a car which most driving enthusiasts won’t complain about, especially considering its price. In many ways, the Kylaq is a great challenger to the Hyundai Venue N-Line.

Why you should not consider the Skoda Kylaq

While the Kylaq is a great option as a premium compact SUV, like every car, it has some traits which might not suit your preferences, and here is one of them.

Lack of engine options

Variety is not among the strong suits of the Skoda Kylaq as it comes with only one engine option: a 1 litre, 3-cylinder TSI turbo-petrol engine. In comparison, most cars in its segment have more than one engine offering, while the Maruti Brezza and Tata Nexon are also available in CNG variants. So, if you are looking for a diesel or CNG-powered compact SUV, you would need to skip the Kylaq and look at other options.

Summary

Skoda has gone to great lengths to make a mass-appealing compact SUV. While only time will tell how well the Kylaq sells, it unmistakably is a fantastic offering, especially considering its price, which starts at Rs. 7.89 lakh (ex-showroom). In this article, we explain all the details about the Skoda Kylaq, including its specifications, variants, and the best variant to buy. With this, we also learn what makes the Skoda Kylaq deserving of being your next car and what can be the reason you should skip it and look for other options.

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