VW Vento Highline TDI in Reflex Silver (Initial report)

[msd63]

How the Decision to buy Vento was arrived

I was reasonably happy with my Getz performance but was disappointed with the FE. Moreover I was getting a bit bored with it and wanted an upgrade. Since I had anticipated an increase in my travels I decided to go for a Diesel car. The cars that were on my mind were the Verna, Polo, Dzire, Linea/punto and also the Honda City even though it was Petrol. At that time the Vento and Altis Diesel launch was not yet confirmed . I had test driven the Verna automatic, liked it but not interested in it because of no Airbags and getting a bit dated. The dzire was omitted because of its looks and cramped rear passenger space. I test drove the Linea, was appalled with the car that they had brought to be test driven. The odometer was disconnected, some of the plastics were coming off and the interiors were grubby. However I quite liked the performance and the features provided with the top end model(emotion pack).
I went to test drive the polo with some apprehension about the 3 cylinder motor and my wife instantly said that it was smaller than the Getz and was not keen to go ahead. The sales person offered a test drive of the Jetta and was completely blown away with the performance and the build and asked for another test drive. Since I had moved up a segment I decided to look around for other cars in that segment. I drove the Laura, both manual and DSG, but I was hooked by the Jetta and the brand VW. At that point the Vento was announced on 6th July with what sounded like a stunning diesel engine with 1.6L, 105PS and 250nm torque in addition to better space than the polo. I immediately contacted the VW dealer and paid the deposit of Rs 50000 as unofficial booking on 7th July. Later I test drove the Altis Diesel, but was put off by all the reports of it being underpowered and more suited as a chauffer driven car. I then patiently waited till the prices for the Vento were announced in August and felt that the Rs 6L difference compared to jetta trendline was substantial and moreover the Jetta was soon to be an outgoing model. All along till the delivery of the car on 26th September I kept reminding the dealer about the date of my booking and that I should be one of the first to get hold of the Vento.

The experience with the dealership

The dealership (VW Palace Cross) experience could have been better. They never did contact me once and all the conversations were initiated by me. They would not return calls, reply to emails and were not forthcoming regarding the state of my booking. I kept calling them to find out what was happening and sometime around the 20th of September was told to make the balance payment. A few days later was sent an invite to attend the launch party at Hotel Lalith Ashok where my car would be delivered. The launch party was attended by the bigwigs of VW and 17 cars from 3 dealers in Bangalore were delivered. The car did not come with any accessories and even now, more than a month after the launch they do not have mud flaps and floor mats which I badly want. Overall I am not at all happy with the dealership experience, but willing to wait and see if it gets better considering that they are dealing with a new product.

Performance of the Car

So far I have driven the car for about 1100km in about a month, out of which atleast 65% is in the city and about 35% on the highway. The FE in city conditions is about 14km/L and on the highway is about 20km/L with AC on. The car is defnitely happier on the highway than in the city.
The build quality is very satisfactory a notch up above my Getz but not in the league of Jetta.
The minor irritants have all been noted on team bhp before such as the centre arm rest, lack of dead pedal, and poor central locking mechanism. For me the biggest irritant is the lack of dead pedal.
The suspension is on the softer side and I would have preferred a much tauter one to be labelled an enthusiast's car. I don't think the ground clearance is that great and I have once scrapped an unscientific hump in Bangalore with 2 passengers at the back. It had never happened to me in my Getz.
The handling is good and I feel the steering is apt. I don't feel it is light at all.
The best aspect of the car is the torque and it is really a joy on the highway, overtaking is not at all a problem at all. I am yet to cross the 110km/hr speed. The gear shift is excellent and overall feels a good package. I did not notice any significant vibration on the gear pedal and the car feels smoooth on the highway. There is a bit of noise in lower gears but not at all a bother.
Coming to the city driving, it has its problems. The car has a peculiarity and I don't know if others have noticed it. The tendency to surge even when the foot is off the accelerator making it difficult to slow down without changing to a lower gear. This issue of surging has been reported with VW diesel engines in other countries and I have written to VW india about it. So far apart from acknowledging my email they have not done anything about it. A little change in driving style is required to cope with the surging.
Other minor irritants noticed are the driver side wiper can't be lifted off clean from the windscreen in the sleeping position of the wiperblades. You have just lift a little to clean, otherwise you may end up damaging the paintwork of the edge of the bonnet.
The parking light remains on even when the engines and lights are turned off if the indicator stick is not in the neutral position.

Overall the strengths of the car are build quality, responsive engine, FE, highway cruiser and simple attractive design. The weakness appears to be a quite a few ergonomic mistakes, soft suspension and slightly tricky city driving.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Vento. Please do post the pictures of the car.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the TDI Vento

[anilkalvani]

Congratulations msd63, great report. Just wanted your clarification. The max torque kicks in as low as 1500rpm and holds upto 2500rpm. So how do you say slightly tricky city driving? I thought the city driveability would be excellent. Please do emphasise more in detail. The surging, as you said, is common even in my Logan which has near zero lag. Awaiting a more comprehensive driving experience. Cheers & do drive safe.

[msd63]

I had already posted pictures on GTO's review thread. However I am posting a couple of pictures again. These were taken on day 2.

[sachinj12]

Congratulations on the car man


I think this is the 1st Diesel Vento on our forum. Will keenly follow this thread, do update regularly as you clock miles.

[Klub Class]

Congratulations on the VW Vento.

I must say you've opted a very good looking car and color too. I'm eagerly waiting for a more detailed review on the 'new torque king' of the segment!

Always wear your seatbelt and drive safe.

Amith

[adimicra]

Congrats on your new car and it is indeed a special feeling to be the first Vento diesel owner on this forum.

Originally Posted by msd63

Overall the strengths of the car are build quality, responsive engine, FE, highway cruiser and simple attractive design. The weakness appears to be a quite a few ergonomic mistakes, soft suspension and slightly tricky city driving.

I had quite a long drive in a fellow BHPian's Vento and agree with you mostly. I too felt suspension to be on the softer side which introduces a bit of body roll. VW could have made it a little harder so that it would have been a true enthusiast's car with that enormous torque. But I guess many owners of Vento will be chauffeur driven and hence would prefer a plush ride than outright handling - this might be the reason for VW making the suspension a tad on the softer side.
I found city driveability to be very good with negligible turbo lag, though there was slight vibration of the clutch.

Enjoy your car and drive safe!
Look forward to more detailed reports and pics from you.
What accessories have you planned/fitted?

[GTO]

Congrats on the best diesel C segment sedan today!

Originally Posted by msd63

The dealership (VW Palace Cross) experience could have been better.

This leaves me very concerned. I'd always maintained that VW should use the "after sales" card as a USP over Skoda, but I'm not hearing too many positive dealer experiences.

The best aspect of the car is the torque and it is really a joy on the highway, overtaking is not at all a problem at all.

Agreed. That oil-burner completely overshadows the petrol Vento.

Drive safe and do keep updating this thread as the odometer keeps clicking. It'll be of great help to other (potential) Vento owners.

[valhallen.282]

First off a big congrats on your new acquisition! Its a fine sleeper indeed. IMHO a new set of shoes should do the trick for you as it is sprightly in the handling department as it is.

On a side note: I had the same experience with palace cross when I had to show a friend the jetta for himself (old 1.9 PD) and the polo for his daughter. The brigade road showroom however I've found is worse so believe me when I tell you that you got a good response. They have guys who moved from skoda's dealer TAFE. And even at TAFE the situation is bad. I was with another friend the second time I went to the showroom and the guys didn't even show up.

I haven't TD'd the vento diesel yet and so cannot comment on the surge bit. But I will watch this thread closely for your updates! And maybe I can request you for a TD (hint, hint)

[imjimmy]

Excellent review msd63. Thanks for sharing! The car looks fabulous - just like a mini-Jetta 2011.

Your driving observations seem spot on. Also the F.E looks pretty good for a new car. In our case one of the redeeming factors for choosing the Vento as an urban diesel was it's city drive-ability; what with it's light steering, small turning radius, low end torque and ride quality. I think you will feel more comfortable in the city as you put more miles on the car.

Please do update this thread regularly. I'm sure this will be very helpful given the interest in this car..

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by msd63

Coming to the city driving, it has its problems. The car has a peculiarity and I don't know if others have noticed it. The tendency to surge even when the foot is off the accelerator making it difficult to slow down without changing to a lower gear.

Congrats on the ride.The color looks pleasing.Which is it?
And about the above mentioned problem,this is common in all diesel engines.I have the same in my i20 CRDi too.Its like the car is trying to pull away in lower gear even when you have lifted your feet off the accelerator right?This you will experience if you have transitioning from petrol to diesel.You need to get used to use a lot of clutch in B2B traffic because of this.

[msd63]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Congrats on the ride.The color looks pleasing.Which is it?
And about the above mentioned problem,this is common in all diesel engines.I have the same in my i20 CRDi too.Its like the car is trying to pull away in lower gear even when you have lifted your feet off the accelerator right?This you will experience if you have transitioning from petrol to diesel.You need to get used to use a lot of clutch in B2B traffic because of this.

The colour is Reflex silver. You are right, I am getting used to the diesel driving and the way to deaccelerate is to shift to a lower gear. I am anticipating more gear changes in traffic compared to petrol equivalent.
I also think that I should retract my quote about the tricky driving in the city. It is probably the transition from the petrol cars that I have been used to so far. I am feeling more comfortable with the car now. I don't mind the throaty noise at all, in fact like it. Torque has somebody had commented in another thread can be addictive.

[msd63]

My experience is that the car gets much smoother after it clocks 1k kms. Still no sign of the dealerships getting back to me regarding the accessories. I will be surprised if the dealership takes initiative and contacts its customers. I can't believe that they are so busy so as to keep its customers informed. So far not impressed with the after sales service. Hopefully I will not be needing them a lot and they will be upto doing the routine service when required. VW and their dealers need to organise themselves better to survive and make a fist of it.

[Utopian]

Congrats for the VW Vento. The car looks quite elegant in those snaps. FE also seems to be on the brighter side. This one is sure going to be a hit.
If I am not wrong, this is the top spec Vento, isnt it.

[Habanero City]

Originally Posted by msd63

My experience is that the car gets much smoother after it clocks 1k kms. Still no sign of the dealerships getting back to me regarding the accessories. I will be surprised if the dealership takes initiative and contacts its customers. I can't believe that they are so busy so as to keep its customers informed. So far not impressed with the after sales service. Hopefully I will not be needing them a lot and they will be upto doing the routine service when required. VW and their dealers need to organise themselves better to survive and make a fist of it.

msd63,
Congratulations for your Vento and that too being the privileged first few in Bangalore.
Just a couple of questions.
You mentioned that you did consider ANHC while buying and considering that you have logged just 1,100 Km in a month which does not really justify Diesel car, what were the specific reasons for ruling out ANHC?
Second question concerns the service center experience.
By now you would have gone for the first service and could you please describe your experience for us.
From your posts the sales experience with VW seems to be unpleasant and you are yet to get some of the basic fittings
As GTO himself is surprised about your sales experience with VW, I hope VW does not end up as another Skoda or FIAT in India.
In fact due to this uncertainty and the long waiting period, I chose the "known devil" rather than the "unknown angel".

HC