[ninjatalli]

^^ Thanks! If you got the moolah, then nothing like it.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

^^ Thanks! If you got the moolah, then nothing like it.

LOL ninjatalli I was just imagining which one would look better. I sure's hell did not mean to buy one, or as you thought both !!

[ninjatalli]

Wow! A week filled with loads of office work, and no internet at home; and this thread goes completely quiet!

As the lady passed the 1500 mark last Monday, decided to give her a break. Lately the only "trips" the car was making was on the Hinjewadi strip, with an average speed of probably less than 20 kmph. So I let her loose on the old old Pune highway; I did have the easier (& closer) option of doing the same on the expressway, but relativity was important. The reasoning goes so - drive your car at 180 kmph on an empty expressway; and you hardly feel the thrill & speed (unless you are traveling in an open top convertible ); but do 120 on a slightly busy highway with other cars going at 60, and you feel like god. And I still got a mileage of 18! Man, I love this car!

Later on during the weekend a friend called up - he wanted help on deciding a car to purchase and he couldn't decide - inquired with me if I was interested in TDing cars? Which tbhpian would say no to that! Headed over to Bombay for a day, and tried the following few hatchbacks & (entry level) petrol sedans

Listing only the pros & cons (Most of the comparisions points might be with respect to the Vento - can't help that!)

Hyundai I20 (Petrol) -

• Excellent gear & clutch system.
• Contrary to most reviews, the A.C. could easily manage the city humidity & heat.
• But the car lacks power. In comparision the i10 is so much fun to drive!
• Excellent car for bumper to bumper traffic (read: Mumbai roads)

Etios (Petrol) -

• Space, loads of space. Even if you keep the front seats at the maximum position, you can seat three hippos at the back easily!
• Took the car over some really bad roads, and the suspension was spotless.
• If you compare the interiors with a Hyundai or a VW, it'll look bad; but then put up some bright seat covers, get a better ICE a some decent sun film - the car wouldn't look so bad!
• The center console is a sore issue; can't do anything about it.
• Kept the air circulation open, and the a.c. could hardly chill up the interiors.
• NVH levels were quite good, even with the windows up.
• The car easily reaches the three digit mark even with the a.c. on & 4 members in the car; but beyond that the engine starts panting.

Etios Liva (Petrol)

• Not much of a difference in all aspects from the sedan sibling, except on the handling part - the sedan was more well placed.
• The hatchback seems a notch better in interior looks - maybe the bright blue color had something to do with it.

Fiesta (Diesel) (The petrol car was out for a customer TD)

• Honestly if we had driven the car before the Toyota siblings, we wouldn't have been so disappointed/negative.
• Suspension not so good - the car had to be slowed down for the same bumps which the T siblings glided over.
• Seats (width) are tiny! I am 5'11 - my friend (the car purchaser) was 6 feet (both of us are well fed ) - we both found it quite amusing than anything else!
• (Compared to the Vento) The car does have lag, but the driveability of the car makes up for it. If the diesel runs so good, wonder how good the petrol would be to ride around! Pity they didn't have the petrol car to TD.
• Awesome A.C! Even at blower speeds 1&2 - the car was chilled within minutes! And this was in the same heat where the Toyota siblings found it hard to even barely chill up the car.
• Sad legroom space at the back. Tried sitting at the back while my friend sat in the front - the knees were hitting the back of the seats.

Swift Dzire (Petrol)

• For some time we felt we had entered Big Bazaar during one of the mega sales - people were shouting, running here & there, no one to attend to us; everything was in a mess!
• Even after telling the reception the car we had come for, we had wait for 15 mins - after which one of the SE takes pity on us and updates us that there is no TD (Dzire) car - infact there is not even a display car. Booking for the petrol have a minmum 5 month waiting period, and even that is not confirmed (thanks to the strike). And of course zero discounts/offers (even though Maruti keeps on putting ads all over the newspapers!) Needless to say, we walked out.

Hyundai Accent

• Beautiful car. Plain simple interiors. If this car wasn't over 10 years old, my friend would have done the booking there itself - the car was an excellent deal at the price (5.5 OTR Mumbai).
• No TD car - the SE apologetically told us that it didn't make sense to keep a TD car - hardly a few (out of the thousands that land up every day) were interested in the Accent. She promised to send us a TD car later to our residence (which I doubt it'll happen)

End of the day, my friend's mine was already made up - the Etios. Even if the Fiesta/Swift Dzire/Accent car(s) land up for the test drive, he wasn't going to budge.

And me? (Not for the last time) I was glad I got the Vento - I hadn't TDed the Fiesta (classic) or the Etios before I had got the Vento - the nagging thoughts were for once cleared! Yet to find a car that could have ticked all my boxes at a cheaper price tag!

VW, you have one heck of a satisfied customer! Now please keep up on the service aspect!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by souravc

Ninja , waiting eagerly for the breakup . How many KMs is done at your end that you did the checkup ?
Folks can we expect a winter check up camp lik the summer and the monsoon ones love the free stuff

Picking up from Noop's thread, here's an update on my car.

When you have been driving Maruti cars for over 10 years (in & out), you tend to form habits that are hard to ignore. For e.g. the urge to take a brand new car for a check-up once she passes the 1000km mark. And I resisted, for another 1200 kms! (read: 1.5 weeks ). And with a 4000km trip looming up in the coming week, the head said - no; the heart said - why not.

And when Noops puts up the post that the general checkup costed him a puny 165 Rs, the head had nothing to argue. So I dialed up the BuB workshop (@noops - their website registration is not working! So much for online booking! ) - got a booking for this Saturday at 10.00 a.m.

Now thanks to Noops, I was already aware that the checkup includes a full car wash. But hey, my Jopasu magic wipe had landed up only the previous day - add to it the car shampoo I purchased a few days back; and there I was washing the car an hour before I was going to give it for the checkup!

And boy, does the micro fibre cloth work or what! After so many washes over the past few weeks, this was the first time I could use the car as a mirror! However this did help me later during the day; more on this later.


I land up at the showroom - the service guy does a survey of the car - electricals/tires/music system; basically the full works. I give him a few pointers on the dashboard squeaks, and ask him to check on the fluids considering the upcoming trip I had. In addition to this I ask him about what can be done about the small scratch I had on the rear bumper - he notes this on the service form & gives me a headsup on the paint touch option (which is chargeable).

I am quoted a price of 350 INR - I ask him why the increase. He says that's the general checkup charge. I decide to clarify this later when I pickup the car.

Few hours later I land up at the workshop to get the car - she's all cleaned up & parked outside. The car is impeccably clean - from the inside & outside. And then I see them - a new set of scratches, and quite a few of them

On the rear bump


On the front hood right in the center


Paint chipped off on the doors


Now one of the (dis)advantages of washing your car daily on your own is you get to see each and every scratch every day. And I knew these weren't there when I left the car. In addition to the above 4, there were a few more.

I call the SG - he vehemently denies that these were done in the workshop and keeps making the same statement again and again "Sir, this is my fault - I did not note these scratches on the service form when I took the car for checkup"; clearly implying that I was fibbing.

Now this pisses me off. For a car with this color, scratches are going to be there. Heck, I am taking it across the country in the coming week - I am probably going to get 10 times the number of scratches in the coming days!

And here this guy is not ready to accept his cleaning guys did a shoddy job.
I raise hell - his superior (& others) come out & try to pacify me. His superior sees the point in my argument and accepts that these are the faults of the workshop & agrees to give a paint touch-up immediately. But the damage is done. I ask him to do whatever he can & leave it at that. In all this I even forget to ask him about the difference in service charge & pay up and leave the workshop.

Overall, the experience leaves a bad taste with respect to BuB services. To their credit, they did an excellent job except for these scratches which is unpardonable. Not sure how to consider it w.r.t future servicing(s).

Data points :

• Kms done : 2350+
• Average mileage : 16 kmph (40% highway/60% city)
• Checkup Charges : 386 (With taxes - no breakup info)
• Oil/fluids top-up : None required

[noopster]

Sorry to hear about the scratches. Actually you'd better get used to it with that beautiful shade (I have a similar problem with my Swift which is dark blue). Scratches appear seemingly out of nowhere.

For the general checkup they quoted me 350 plus tax but eventually billed me 150 only. I have no idea why, it isn't as if I am going to look a gift horse in the mouth

What I liked about my experience was that they treated me as an annuity customer rather than a one-off visitor which is the feeling I got when I did my monsoon check at Vidyut. None of that making me have to call THEM for an update, car unwashed when I reached there, bill taking time to prepare stuff.

Hope your baby is all set for the Delhi drive. All the best!

[nileshch]

Ninja, you going to Delhi? Awesome!! I too have been thinking of a very long drive since I got the car. Going to do this soon (next year or so!) You have a thread up for the trip? If yes or are planning, let us know! All the best for your trans-India drive!

Sad to hear about the scratches. Yes, our car's colour is such, every touch on the car is visible . I have been through dust storms, swarms of mosquitoes/flies/dragonflies splattered on the front of the car, pebbles from trucks, etc. And I already see the various scratches & paint chips around the car, from all these trips. I am working on something to hide these paint chips. Will post about it when I am successful.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by noopster

Sorry to hear about the scratches. Actually you'd better get used to it with that beautiful shade (I have a similar problem with my Swift which is dark blue). Scratches appear seemingly out of nowhere.

For the general checkup they quoted me 350 plus tax but eventually billed me 150 only. I have no idea why, it isn't as if I am going to look a gift horse in the mouth

What I liked about my experience was that they treated me as an annuity customer rather than a one-off visitor which is the feeling I got when I did my monsoon check at Vidyut. None of that making me have to call THEM for an update, car unwashed when I reached there, bill taking time to prepare stuff.

Nice to see the discount - I guess they are trying hard to woo Vidhyut's customers, after all after-sales is their bread & butter!

Yes, the customer treatment is top-notch at BuB, be it the dealer showroom or at the workshop. Hope the scratch case was a one-off incident & doesn't get repeated.

Originally Posted by nileshch

Sad to hear about the scratches. Yes, our car's colour is such, every touch on the car is visible . I have been through dust storms, swarms of mosquitoes/flies/dragonflies splattered on the front of the car, pebbles from trucks, etc. And I already see the various scratches & paint chips around the car, from all these trips. I am working on something to hide these paint chips. Will post about it when I am successful.

Yup, that's true. I'm expecting a lot more in the delhi trip, but hoping the shine stands up. Do update if your experiment is successful!

Btw the Jopasu duster is a blessing for this car, and especially this color! Now I know why @prabhu was so envious of it before your meet!

Originally Posted by noopster

Hope your baby is all set for the Delhi drive. All the best!

Oh yes, she's all geared up and raring to go! And I got another Vento to give me company till Ahmedabad. So it's going to be a lot of fun.
Btw got any company for the Bangy trip? A lot of people should be traveling south for the Metallica concert - I know atleast one (enfield) biker who is doing the same from Bombay.

Originally Posted by nileshch

Ninja, you going to Delhi? Awesome!! I too have been thinking of a very long drive since I got the car. Going to do this soon (next year or so!) You have a thread up for the trip? If yes or are planning, let us know! All the best for your trans-India drive!

The thread's up here.

I was earlier planning to do a live travelogue kind of thing, but that required two things - I should be carrying a laptop and I need a datacard which I don't have. Btw anyone ready to lend a datacard for a week? Promise to put up pics & updates by the hour!

Pretty excited about the trip - I love traveling on the road. Only way I could make it better is do the return journey on a different route (I'm using the GQ, other option is to come via MP). But don't have the time for that route.

[ritzy]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Nice to see the discount - I guess they are trying hard to woo Vidhyut's customers, after all after-sales is their bread & butter!

Yes, the customer treatment is top-notch at BuB, be it the dealer showroom or at the workshop. Hope the scratch case was a one-off incident & doesn't get repeated.

Congratulations Ninja, albeit late, on owning this car. ( I get that you like being called either Ninja or talli. I must say your handle along with the avatar lighten-up the mood ).

I happened to have talk with a senior manager at BUB some time back when I complemented him for treating customer better than Vidyut motors. Without denigrating Vidyut, he put that reason for their (vidyut's) attitude towards customer go back to the days when they had FIAT dealership. Customer would come begging for cars and there wasn't any real competition in the market.
BUB on other hand is professional and have several other dealership of reputed companies.
BTW I got a query. Is the insurance cost for these darker shades comes out to be more compared to shades like white or silver?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ritzy

Congratulations Ninja, albeit late, on owning this car. ( I get that you like being called either Ninja or talli. I must say your handle along with the avatar lighten-up the mood ).

I happened to have talk with a senior manager at BUB some time back when I complemented him for treating customer better than Vidyut motors. Without denigrating Vidyut, he put that reason for their (vidyut's) attitude towards customer go back to the days when they had FIAT dealership. Customer would come begging for cars and there wasn't any real competition in the market.
BUB on other hand is professional and have several other dealership of reputed companies.
BTW I got a query. Is the insurance cost for these darker shades comes out to be more compared to shades like white or silver?

Thanks! That's a nice insight on the Vidhyut's operations - makes sense too.

Insurance is same for all colors - the prices differ simply because of different negotiations done by different Vento owners. For instance, a friend of mine has a black Vento who has paid a higher insurance quote (he took the dealer's quote) than me and yet doesn't have zero depreciation policy, while I do.

[ninjatalli]

The D-day has arrived. Hardly can sit in office.

Can't even find the enthusiam to finish this post


p.s. will be updating this thread.

The final route

[noopster]

Good luck Ninja! Have fun at the race!

Am headed out to Mumbai later today and then to Bangalore on Friday. Happy Diwali and see you all later!

Will be great comparing notes afterwards.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Have fun guys. Make a lovely report once you are back.
Ninja... keep a log of everything. Car's behavior, fuel consumed.. etc.
Have fun. Drive safe.

[ajay_satpute]

Wish you a safe journey!

Please take loads of pics and as Swanand says, keep a strict log, if you can.

Cheers!

[prabhuferrari]

Good luck Ninja. Keep us posted. I crossed 500 kms and with a few Chennai road trip on the pipeline expected to touch 2K in few weeks time. By then you would have have reached 10K I suppose. Have loads of fun.

[ninjatalli]

Thanks guys!
A short update.

The part :
A lovely short meetup with @souravc, @nileshch, @el lobo 61 at Barista, opposite K Star mall.

Discussions range from past car purchases, to the (inevitable) traffic problems of Mumbai/Pune/Bangalore - funny part, opposite to the "my city is better" trend seen on the forum, here every guy was giving issues on his own city!

A short photoshoot, in which @nileshch is far more successful in snaring up pics of the four ventos (than me, and hence you won't see me uploading any pics of the meet for now!) And after which I scoot off.

Guys, thanks for coming down at such a short notice!