Volkswagen Vento : Test Drive & Review

[nirmaljusdoit]

I took a good look at the Vento last week at the Auto mall in Bangalore & i seriously cannot understand why all the Ooh's & aah's about it ?

It feels definetly one step lower than the ANHC & the interiors dont feel as good or as durable, hard feeling plastics, seat fabric, headlining material, carpet, etc feels much lower than the ANHC. The dash design & ergonomics is way superior in Honda.

There is no feel good factor at all if you compare the ANHC to the Vento, neither inside nor outside, VW has cut corners & it shows. Why anyone would pay less & go for the Vento petrol makes no sense to me

VW dealer response sucks, dealer network a major concern, no free services ?? No extended warranty or on road service which comes inclusive when u buy an ANHC.

Hope people keep this in mind when considering the Vento ??
Will the service cost be as cheap as Honda ?
For eg : Oil change in ANHC is around 2K for the synthetic engine oil, the VW dealer says it will be around 5K !! How about the spare parts pricing ?

[avishar]

There seems to be so many differing views on the Vento by all who have test driven it.
Everything from steering feedback,handling,space,fit and finish,gearbox engine responsiveness all have been both praised and criticised!

[diffsoft]

Originally Posted by avishar

There seems to be so many differing views on the Vento by all who have test driven it.
Everything from steering feedback,handling,space,fit and finish,gearbox engine responsiveness all have been both praised and criticised!

That could be because folks compare Vento with what cars have or what they have seen / driven. Let me confuse you further

I too saw Vento in Auotmall (not sure Trendline or Comfortline) in Bangalore and the best I could do was compare just the interiors with Verna high-end that I have. I found rear space and rear seating to be extremely comfortable vs Verna. However the middle seat is nearly useless. Surprisingly I found the quality of the dashboard plastics to be clearly of lower quality compared to Verna by just the look and feel. Further IIRC the dashboard did not seam well with the plastics on the driver door. That surprised me.

However the external fit and finish was impeccable and the lines were smooth and continuous. So was the white color - it was gorgeous!

Cheers,

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by noopster

The white Vento looks SO gorgeous...I am almost tempted to break my rule of no blacks and whites in my cars!
Still impateitnly awaiting the first of the ownership reviews. diptimaraje, naveen_raju, hurry up, guys!

Yep. Eagerly waiting for the delivery. Expecting 1st week of Oct. Got the news from VW. Will certainly keep the post updated from my end.

[msd63]

The dealership at Palace cross Bangalore is Pathetic. Despite having booked the car on 7th July the sales executive is unable to give me a date of delivery or my priority number, he keeps telling me to give him more time, never returns calls and the email keeps bouncing back because their mail box is full. Having serious thoughts about cancelling my booking and look elsewhere. Even VW customer services have not replied to my email.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

From what I understand, VW has not been able to source most of the components in India as per their QC. Obviously this takes time to get everybody satisfied. I think apart from tyres, glass & forgings, everything is unfortunately still imported. Hence the wait.

No free services or anything free, not even mud flaps. These are early days of course. But doesn't make a difference so long as it applies equally to old and new customers.

I knew from day one that the Vento is not a car where others would look and say: "Yeh kya hai?". It is a sedate car, no doubt. We own a Polo 1.6, but I wish I had my own two hands on a Vento 1.6 diesel.

The reason why I actually answered this post is because I toyed with buying a City earlier this year and the Jazz also briefly, thanks to adimicra. I believe you cannot compare VW with Honda just like that. I would suggest you check both these vehicles out. For some, the sum may be less than the sum of the parts. Whereas for others, the sum may be MORE THAN the sum of the parts.

End of the day, the Indian market is a brutal one. Price a model wrong to begin with and this market just doesn't buy AND you do not have car rental companies to buy the car to cover your mistake unlike the US. Case in point, the Ford Fusion, a car I absolutely loved (but never owned). The Jazz is now with discounts and I understand the City is too. You won't believe but I called the Honda dealer earlier this year and he was not bothered to respond but the same dealer is very eager now. Discounts were also out of the question a few months ago, but he looks pretty open right now.

PS: SPARKled, my apologies if you feel like I am ranting at you. I just happened to pick your post.

No apologies needed. I am just wondering why VW could not get all their QC in place before they launched their cars. Whereas Toyota or Honda for that matter, have managed to get their QC correct right from the start and have avoided all the delays and wating times that seems a regular thing with VW. I dont believe that VWs QC is any higer than the other Japs. Considering the regular problems VW owners have encountered compared to Toyota and Honda in the USA, where I was stayed for a brief time, I really doubt if their QC is really that good.

Also I dont remember any Honda or a Toyota customer waiting 3 months to get a newly launched car or I may be wrong here.

The Vento atleast to me, does not look like a car that costs a million Rupees and this is strictly personal. The interiors that are so talked aboutat best would be at home in a Polo, but surely they dont look so premium for a 10L car. The Honda frankly is no better especially in the plastic bits, but space, seating comfort and cabin room are quite a bit better than the Vento.

The diesel Vento will sell no doubt about that but purely due to its torquey diesel engine. The petrol I am not too sure why anyone will pick the Vento over the City.

About freebies I agree its too early to give those out with a new Vento but surely a free service or two atleast at the start would have helped. Also VW diesels are known to sip a lot of engine oil during their initial months.

[narayanang76]

Originally Posted by msd63

The dealership at Palace cross Bangalore is Pathetic. Despite having booked the car on 7th July the sales executive is unable to give me a date of delivery or my priority number, he keeps telling me to give him more time, never returns calls and the email keeps bouncing back because their mail box is full. Having serious thoughts about cancelling my booking and look elsewhere. Even VW customer services have not replied to my email.

That is too much in my opinion and you really have that patience! If this is the case during sales and delivery imagine what after sales?

VW are you listening and will ya care for customers?

I am concerned

[ventoman]

Originally Posted by motorhead5

...Then saw a Black diesel HL display car. Looks very good in black compared to Silver and White. But I am waiting to see her in Red. Hope red is a stunner!!. Not sure if they have one in Blore now!

They do have a RED Vento TDI highline for display at Palace cross, Bangalore today. Please check it out. It is indeed a stunner!

Originally Posted by msd63

The dealership at Palace cross Bangalore is Pathetic. Despite having booked the car on 7th July the sales executive is unable to give me a date of delivery or my priority number, he keeps telling me to give him more time, never returns calls and the email keeps bouncing back because their mail box is full.

+1 to that.
Even I made a priority booking around mid July and I am pestering them since then for a date. They are clueless at the moment.
Since I am travelling to London on a month's business trip this weekend, I dropped in this morning and asked them for an update. They are tentatively looking at receiving the first lot around end of Sept or Oct 1st week. But all these dates are mere speculations and there is no clear picture yet!

[motorhead5]

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit

VW dealer response sucks, dealer network a major concern, no free services ?? No extended warranty or on road service which comes inclusive when u buy an ANHC.

Surprisingly, I had good experiences on dealer responsiveness so far. Got mails from them when asked for price specs. For instance, I told them yesterday evening that I want to see a Red vento. Got a call today noon confirming the availability. Earlier they brought a Jetta for TD to my office, which is quite far and it was a nice experience. May be its all 'pre-sales-support' and what you and msd63 got are post-sales-support . BTW, they do offer 2 year warranty with on road support. Looks like extended warranty terms are not yet out.

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit

Will the service cost be as cheap as Honda ?
For eg : Oil change in ANHC is around 2K for the synthetic engine oil, the VW dealer says it will be around 5K !! How about the spare parts pricing ?

Vento will have 1 service/year compared to Honda's 2/year. So I would assume that it will be better. I asked them about Polo's service cost - Its around 4.5 to 5.5K/ service. Dont know about Vento. But yes, VW's after sales support is a known grey area. I am ready to take that risk if I am happy after a longer TD.

Originally Posted by ventoman

They do have a RED Vento TDI highline for display at Palace cross, Bangalore today. Please check it out. It is indeed a stunner!

. Thanks dude. In fact they called me today. Planning to checkout tomorrow. Want to see both Red and Black side by side. Guess she will be waiting for you when you reach back India.

[ASTRIKX]

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[Abhi_Automobile]

It feels definetly one step lower than the ANHC & the interiors dont feel as good or as durable, hard feeling plastics, seat fabric, headlining material, carpet, etc feels much lower than the ANHC. The dash design & ergonomics is way superior in Honda

Just for the record's sake, I own neither HONDA nor VW. So, I have no biased opinions. Are you trying to suggest that ANHC interiors are better than Vento's in terms of 'Quality' (keep in mind that I am not talking of design). On the Vento, the plastics used on the dash, although hard, are not 'low rent'. Everything feels 'chunky' giving it a solid feel. Let's not even talk about the central console, the ANHC's central console with silver accents is downright 'cheap'. The buttons on the Vento feel really high quality. At the cost of sounding repetitive, I will say the HONDA JAZZ interiors have a better quality feel than ANHC, let alone Vento.

I have e feeling (please do not take it personally, I am not pointing fingers at you), that most of the things that HONDA does poorly, tends to get neglected (take for e.g. the interiors of ANHC pre 'beigination' were terrible), while any small thing that most other brands do (people never stop at finding faults with FIATS,mostly even without driving them!), tends to get highlighted.

Surprisingly I found the quality of the dashboard plastics to be clearly of lower quality compared to Verna by just the look and feel. Further IIRC the dashboard did not seam well with the plastics on the driver door. That surprised me.

Verna's interiors are even a step lower than ANHC

Let us keep the objectivity of tbhp

[RemingtonSteele]

This friend of mine was about to buy ANHC in July2010, considering that he was not in hurry (already had Swift and Old Gen Corolla) I suggested him to wait for as Vento was about to launch.

After the Vento Launch he was quite excited about the pricing and reviews of VW offers from the TBHP reviews. He was really thankful to me on my suggestion to wait for vento.

Finally some days ago he saw Vento in flesh & blood along with the TD.
Immediately after leaving the showroom he was in no confusion to say No to Vento.I was surprised how he changed the polarity so fast inspite being pumped up for Vento couple of days ago.Now I was really curious to know what prompted this decision after reading so many posts about Vento.

Summary is as below (Does this sound similar to the mass Indians thought process?? & not from the Guru's at TBHP):

1) Its as POLO with boot!!! Doesn't give a feel of 10 lac car. Front view is 100% Polo. Honda does offer the 10L pay image value.

2) Dash and plastics as too bland for his taste. He prefers and likes Black+Beige as in ANHC VMT.

3) Not as roomy & plushy as ANHC.

4) Backseat ride was not as comfortable as ANHC (his parents complained).

5) Not too crazy about diesel, instead would prefer proven reliability & after sales and service, plus 4 year Honda warranty pack was big plus.

6) Not interested in saving 50K on Vento when fishing 10L from his pocket. (Plus he got free insurance + 25K Corporate disc. on ANHC).

7) Running cost as compared to diesel doesn't matter as its a slow drip to pocket.

8) VW service ?? Plus spare parts rates are expensive.

9) Good resale value for Honda Cars.

Are the above introspective to prospective Vento buyers??

Now please don't flame me because I own ANHC, don't think I am biased. Please remember I was the one who asked him to hold on before buying ANHC outright.

Bottom line is, we pay for the product and then it better be worth it, its CONSUMERISM.

[Xehaust]

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

Bottom line is, we pay for the product and then it better be worth it, its CONSUMERISM.

I would say:
Bottom line is, we pay for the product and then it better be worth it in the buyers views & perception & personal opinion regardless of what someone else says or proves, thats CONSUMERISM.

I say that as to someone, one car may be more preferable, but to someone else, it might be the other. Something similar to "To each, his own"

[oxyzen]

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

1) Its as POLO with boot!!! Doesn't give a feel of 10 lac car. Front view is 100% Polo. Honda does offer the 10L pay image value.
2) Dash and plastics as too bland for his taste. He prefers and likes Black+Beige as in ANHC VMT.

Very true. you can get a base polo at 4.5L. Where as diesel highline vento is over 9L. Practically both are same cars. (leave the engine aside). Honda definately looks like a more expensive car (from design point) both inside and out.

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

3) Not as roomy & plushy as ANHC.
4) Backseat ride was not as comfortable as ANHC (his parents complained).

I was under the impression VW has taken care of the rear seat comfort very well. May be its still not good enough. Honda still wins!!

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

5) Not too crazy about diesel, instead would prefer proven reliability & after sales and service, plus 4 year Honda warranty pack was big plus.
8) VW service ?? Plus spare parts rates are expensive.

VW reliability and service is still a blind spot.
But one thing missed out in the entire review that the diesel engine will have almost equal outright performance and much much better drivability than the honda's. It might not be as refined as the honda petrol but sure will go easy on the pocket.
Handling wise city is pretty miserable. Even cheaper cars like baleno, esteem, ikon, linea, sx4, even aveo handle better than city.
Personally I would like to have the vento under the city's skin. But thats just me.
However is space, ride quality, peace of mind and image is all that matters CITY is the way to do. No doubt.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I wish people would stop grumbling about the Vento being a Polo with a Boot.

It's supposed to be a Polo with a boot. Of course it looks like a Polo from the front

Sorry for shouting, but, as a criticism, or "negative point," this is just so silly.

Would anybody list no hatchback version as being a positive aspect of, just for instance, a Honda?


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