[KPR]

Hell no for VW or Skoda as even a first hand for the ASS horror stories pan India. As such engineering is good but maintenance is a big let down. I had this itch to own an European car. So chose an Italian. They are far better.

[lamborghini]

Would have to give a pre-owned vento / rapid a hard NO:

1) AT DSG variants come with the unreliable gearbox. I'd think twice before buying a new one - a preowned one, is a definite No-No.

2) 1.6 TDi has injector issues - most 1.6 TDi engines would have done a decent number of kms, so the risk of such a failure is higher.

3) Skoda over VW: purely for better sales support in Mumbai.

4) fears of increasing service and maintenance costs + average at best (in case of VW especially) quality of service makes many owners shift to independent garages. Unless the garage is highly reputed - Its a risk, simply because such garages may not
follow the detailed guidelines : such as auto transmission fluid change for the DSG or similar.

That being said, the newer 1.5TDi & Rapid MPi AT (TC), within extended warranty could be options to consider but given the super pricing of the Rider trim - they would have to offer substantially better value for money & be under extended warranty to even be considered.

[logicalidiot]

I haven't voted in the poll because the forum doesn't allow me yet.

Would I buy a pre-worshipped Vento? It would be a really tough decision for me. I own a VW Polo 1.2 TDI which is 9 years old now and has clocked almost 1 lakh kms. So far, all we had to change was turbo hose pipe (still don't know how this got damaged) and gearbox cable. The other parts being suspension bushes, brake pads and clutch plates which comes under normal wear. The car may not be as forgiving or as reliable as the japs but it surely puts a smile on your face. The car despite being 9 years old, it doesn't feel that way and feels like it will last as long as you want it to.

BUT, all the above is only when the car is properly maintained and owned by somebody who loves or understands cars. If you maintain them good and attend any issues early, the car will stay true to you. The car will take abuses too if you take good care. Once you get used to a Volkswagen, it is pretty hard to accept other cars. It kinda grows on you the longer you own one.

By that, coming to my opinion, getting a VW Vento which is immaculately maintained can be a task because the only reason I see people selling their Volkswagen is when problems start to arise. I would vary getting one unless I'm totally convinced that the car is in great condition with all service records and the owner has a genuine reason on why he is selling it. My view is that if somebody who loves VW sells it, then there is something wrong with the car.
So yeah, it's a YES I guess but need to be extremely careful on the ones you choose.

[Annibaddh]

Originally Posted by Annibaddh

Voted yes. My 1.6TDi has given me nightmares mostly because the service support is abysmal. But. In it's over 1L km mileage, it has never let me down. This include the following solo drives

I so should not have posted this! In almost a cruel poetic fashion, the car let me down completely on my way to Lucknow. I was a 100 kms from LKO having done 470 odd. And the car judders and loses most of its power. Glo Plug starts blinking. This is nearly midnight and I wasn't able to find any help. So drove the car slowly (30-40 kmph) and reached. This is a March 2012 Vento. So I'm assuming this is the dreaded injectors. Oh well.

Would really appreciate referrals for decent Gangs on LKO, capable of managing a nasty VW.

[VWAllstar]

Voted No. It is always better to buy a new Vento / Rapid than a pre owned. These cars age well and looking at VWs plans for India, there won't be much of a difference now and post 5 years. Probably, Rapid may see a generation change however I highly doubt anything apart from aesthetic changes would be done. A new Vento / Rapid would come with 4 years warranty which is extendable upto 7 years. This should put most of the apprehensions to rest. The service is expensive however they have good deals on the AMCs. Buy one for 4 years as part of the negotiations for the new car. The excellent pricing and mouth watering discounts cover for the cost of maintenance over a good period of time.

Pre-owned : Yes (If the car is under company warranty for a minimum of 4 years)

Heart - Yes
Head - No
Body - Yes
Wallet - Definitely No

New: Definitely Yes (Especially the 1.0 TSI available now)

[Rajeevraj]

Disappointing to see a majority no. Looks like we Vento owners will struggle to see our 7-10 year old cars which will be outside any kind of warranty. If majority of bhpians do not want it, will be a struggle I guess .

The biggest attractions would be for the small bunch looking for the diesel or the 1.2 TSI. The other attraction would be the fact that it ages really well. And final attraction would be the fact that it has tremendous mod potential. So easy to buy one cheap and really transform it.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Most Vento/ Rapid owners - YAY! BUY AS MANY!

All others - NOO! DON'T DO IT!

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Disappointing to see a majority no. Looks like we Vento owners will struggle to see our 7-10 year old cars which will be outside any kind of warranty. If majority of bhpians do not want it, will be a struggle I guess .

The most common reasons for No are:
- DSG Failures
- High cost of maintenance

Most of those citing these reasons have not personally experienced them. It's more a case of "I heard that my friends uncle's-bosses-sons-neighbours-cousin experienced a DSG failure". So all DSG's are unreliable.

Service cost for the Rapid was around 12k per year/15K kms. If you check maruti service costs, its not cheap either. Plus its every 10K and the dealers call you every 6 months.

The biggest attractions would be for the small bunch looking for the diesel or the 1.2 TSI. The other attraction would be the fact that it ages really well. And final attraction would be the fact that it has tremendous mod potential. So easy to buy one cheap and really transform it.

The main reason to vote Yes. However even unmodded they are great cars to drive.

[locusjag]

Being fun to drive means I'll gladly rent a VW or Skoda, if our rental businesses are properly run, which they are not.

And in any case the Vento/Rapid twins are unsuitable for my 6'4" frame. I tried driving it on a 1000 km roundtrip. I had to ask my friend to take the wheel after 50 km as my longish arm couldn't shift gears and my legs were bunched upwards. What did I expect out of such a diminutive car anyway?

[evilmessiah]

Voted No.

While I like the clean lines, solid build and no-nonsense interiors, I wouldn't touch a used one because:

1) The after-sales service is a gamble (Read: I don't have the required DIY skills for maintaining a German car or know any nice FNG nearby)
2) Spares are priced on the higher side (although I perceive them to be of a higher quality)
3) and lastly, the same thing as locusjag mentioned earlier:

Originally Posted by locusjag

....And in any case the Vento/Rapid twins are unsuitable for my 6'4" frame........ as my longish arm couldn't shift gears and my legs were bunched upwards. What did I expect out of such a diminutive car anyway?

I share your pain. This is one of the few cars where I truly couldn't fit (the other one is an A-Star).

The Vento/ Rapid are cool for those who have a lot of DIY experience on similar German vehicles. They have been proven to last long (as evidenced by some Polo threads on this forum) in the right hands. For someone like me, these wouldn't work.

I feel that the higher maintenance costs associated with these is over-inflated. Sure, there is a five figure bill at the end of a year, but when you think about it it would roughly work out the same or maybe less than what you are paying for two services in a year for say, for a Maruti or a Hyundai. For the above mentioned category of DIY-ers, these costs would be even lower since they can save on the labor costs by doing most of the work themselves and incur only the cost of spares. Another bonus is the availability of cool Euro parts.

[Thakurs]

Being a skoda owner for so many years i would vote Yes for reason that none of my skoda's started with Fabia 1.2 MPi then Rapid 1.6 TDi MT and Superb 2.0 CR (Mk II, used one) has not given me any trouble or i haven't had any break down in my long trips

Typically about Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDi MT clogged 1 lac kms within 8 years and still running smooth. The only thing i have done so far with this is not updated the Engine CU as part of recall campaign from Skoda India. Since i have ODIS from VW/skoda, only fuel injector calibration done myself. All my cars go for 7500 kms oil and filter change and EGR cleaning once in 4 services

All my friends having Rapid done with SW update for engine are tremendously noisy.
I truly agree maintaining any car would come at cost and same with VW/Skoda

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

Most of those citing these reasons have not personally experienced them. It's more a case of "I heard that my friends uncle's-bosses-sons-neighbours-cousin experienced a DSG failure". So all DSG's are unreliable.

Exactly my thoughts buddy, be it social media or even in my friend circle, people are apprehensive about Skodas because of the usual stories around. I agree there have been some unfortunate incidences but that doesn’t translate to the fact that all germans are expensive or every skoda dealer is a mafia. I’m one happy Skoda customer here in my city primarily due to my dealer I believe, they are competent and the service has been always top notch. I would not mind adding another skoda to my garage.

And its sad to see such lovely cars getting bashed every now and then, anyway to each his own.

I wouldn’t mind picking up a 1.5TDi MT or 1.6MPi as a beater car.

[DudeWithaFiat]

A close friend had a Vento Diesel. I have heard only good things about it from him. In fact, their family was very happy with the car that his sister too bought one. This was in 2014-2015. I haven't traveled in his car a lot though since I was mostly out-of-station. Even my friends in the same circle has praised the car. Couple of years back, he met with an accident in the same car - with a bus! He and his wife was in the car and they came out with minor scratches or scratch-less. And it wasn't a small accident. Says a lot about how safe the car is. The car was flagged total-loss. He had driven it around 85k km.

Impressed by VW, he now has a pre-owned Jetta.

However, I voted No in this poll for two reasons:

1) A pre-owned VW could mean it is time for replacing many wear and tear parts. Being a VW, it can expensive!

2) Outdated interiors.

[PradoGdr88]

Yes. With a VW Vento or Skoda Rapid you get the below:
1) Amazing Build quality & Safety.
2) Humungous mod potential.
3) Timeless design (Subjective).

And when it is a pre-worshipped Vento or Rapid you get the below:
1) Attractive depreciation.
2) Torquey diesel or sedate petrol engine.
3) After sales service which is already under scanner and is trying to do a clean its name means win-win for customers.

Points of caution:
1) Never compare with Maruti Suzuki because its apple to orange comparison.
2) Safety, Build quality and Handling are things which cannot be quantified in monetary terms.
3) If you expect a car with needs minimal care and minimal downtime then it’s definitely not your cup of tea.

[ManasN95]

Voted No

Just 4 months ago, I was in the same scenario, while I was smitten for the timeless design, I couldn't gulp down the issues cropping up for VAG. I'm an early earner, and didn't want no big bills dangling in front of me. I wanted a car which will take me to places without worry, and hence I got the Honda City 2012 instead.

But, if VAG improve their business and make their cars India friendly, I'll be the first one in line.

[JojyKerala]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

The most common reasons for No are:
- DSG Failures
- High cost of maintenance

Most of those citing these reasons have not personally experienced them. It's more a case of "I heard that my friends uncle's-bosses-sons-neighbours-cousin experienced a DSG failure". So all DSG's are unreliable.

I own an 8-year old Rapid 1.6 TDI and voted YES. Trouble-free ownership experience so far. Not sure what the future holds but I'm keeping the car for now. Yes, Skoda horror stories abound but I've had pleasant experiences with the service. And yes, I have never given my car to a local garage. All services at Skoda alone so far.