[stringbh]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

So the lady had her first proper accident.

It is scary and unfortunate Ninja. I hope all is well now, mostly importantly no injuries. How fast were you cruising before this occurred and what was the reaction time you had ?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by stringbh

It is scary and unfortunate Ninja. I hope all is well now, mostly importantly no injuries. How fast were you cruising before this occurred and what was the reaction time you had ?

Thanks. This was at normal cruising speeds around 50. Reaction time was less than an sec. I remember plonking hard on the brakes, but the less distance bumper-to-bumper was to blame.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

So the lady had her first proper accident.

And the results are out. The lady has been sent to the operation theater. Initial analysis suggests the following body-parts need to be replaced

• (Front) Bumper
• Carriage
• Bonnet
• Some inner metal section

Not a bad haul eh? All this for some minor bumps & dents on the outside. Ah well, the bike's gonna be my companion for the coming one week.

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

And the results are out. The lady has been sent to the operation theater. Initial analysis suggests the following body-parts need to be replaced

• (Front) Bumper
• Carriage
• Bonnet
• Some inner metal section

Not a bad haul eh? All this for some minor bumps & dents on the outside. Ah well, the bike's gonna be my companion for the coming one week.

Dude drive safe man. Lucky there was no car behind you. Seeing a lot of these type of accidents off late. Bumper to Bumper should be less than 10 kmph and not 50 kmph ninja

So are you on zero dep or comprehensive policy.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by indian21r

Dude drive safe man. Lucky there was no car behind you. Seeing a lot of these type of accidents off late. Bumper to Bumper should be less than 10 kmph and not 50 kmph ninja

So are you on zero dep or comprehensive policy.

Well the night was late and all the cars were going bumper to bumper at 50 odd. I'm more lucky that I was driving a VW and not a Maruti with its flimsy metal body - the car bore the brunt extremely well and was drive-able after that too.

Yes - zero dep policy is what I have.

[ninjatalli]

So the car's been chugging along slowly and steadily passing by 37,000 kms. And yay, the monsoon is here.

Now I don't know about the other colors, but the blue is here to rule in the rains!


The car looks fabulous in the rains! Scratches, dirt, swirls, all don't matter! They simply disappear! Ah, if I only had a water-proof SLR!

But then with the fun part, the rains also bring in a bit of minor problem(s). The driver side button for the passenger window is malfunctioning. Not sure how the rains have affected this, but this started a few days back. Thankfully the passenger side button is working fine, so this can be pushed for later.

Now all I need is a looong weekend, and a reason to go on a long drive. Maybe @mikon could provide me with that reason! *wink* *wink*

[ninjatalli]

3rd servicing's up, and about time. The 2nd servicing happened in Jan 2013 - 10 months is too long to do 15k kms

Well, the long and short of it as such :

Activities covered:

• 3rd servicing
• Software update - done
• Rear parcel tray noise - corrected
• Center armrest noise - corrected
• Left (broken) AC vent to be replaced under warranty - not honored
• Turbo hose to be replaced under warranty - honored
• Wheel alignment/balancing - Declined (by me). I told them I'll get it done from a 3rd party vendor (Lokmanya Tires)

Hit to the wallet - 9.2k
Warranty claim - 3.7k

As per the SA (Manish Singh), the vent replacement under warranty was being done only during the first year of the car. Even after my showcasing examples of this not being followed, I couldn't get clearance for the same. The turbo hose replacement was done on a pro-active basis, as they detected some damage in the part which could have become more severe going ahead. It was good on the workshop's part to be pro-active in this matter, than waiting for the issue to crop up.

[noopster]

Ninja, was this BUB or Vidyut? Mine is up for 3rd servicing next week. Nearly 14 months since the 30k!

If VW had any condideration for their customers they would recall the Vento over the AC vent issue. Nearly everyone I know with a Vento has faced the issue of Ac vents breaking for no earthly reason. They initially refused to do mine as well but when they had to change my whole HVAC unit under warranty I managed to get them to toss the vents as well.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by noopster

Ninja, was this BUB or Vidyut? Mine is up for 3rd servicing next week. Nearly 14 months since the 30k!

BUB. Have had excellent experience most of the time with them, never been to Vidyut except for the first time when I went to ask for expected waiting time for a Vento booking

If you are going to BUB, then do go early by 9-9.20. They are handling around 20-30 cars daily, and by 9.45 you'll see 15+ cars lined up, whereas I was the first one at 9.15.

If VW had any condideration for their customers they would recall the Vento over the AC vent issue. Nearly everyone I know with a Vento has faced the issue of Ac vents breaking for no earthly reason. They initially refused to do mine as well but when they had to change my whole HVAC unit under warranty I managed to get them to toss the vents as well.

Agree.

Well I had a bit of argument on the turbo hose - initially they were asking approval for changing the same but under payment, but then I pushed them to consider it under warranty (a shout-out of thanks to @polopm who gave more details on his turbo hose replacement under warranty). The SA accepted my arguments and got warranty approval for it.

Ideally I should have pushed harder for the vent too, but let it go. I plan to go later and get it done individually (either by payment or goodwill -that needs to be seen)

What is even more ironical is I don't remember me or any of my family or friends breaking the vent. The first instance of noticing it was a few days after the car came back from BUB post an insurance claim. I should have gone back to the workshop then itself claiming negligence on their part, but couldn't due to work.

[ninjatalli]

With all the hooplah around Skoda cars (including the Rapid) on the forum, I keep expecting similar "issues" popping up with Vento, and especially with my Tdi. Thankfully, none of those seem to be happening; nor with me neither with my fellow Ventonians (touchwood!)!

So here's an quarterly update - the car has been slowly chugging around 1500 kms every month, mostly due to the fortnightly Mumbai - Pune trips. Long distance trips have literally come to a halt - the last one I did on this car was to Ratnagiri last summer!!! (i.e. if you can call that long distance) And with no foreseeable trips in the coming months, I guess this state is more of a certainty than a minor gap. Plus with my plans of using the cycle for daily office trip, I guess the kms are only going to go down!

As for the car, it has been a beautiful ownership experience till date. Always wondered why (almost) every other owner went for warranty clutch claims in the past, the clutch on this car has been functioning as good as the first day. No engine issues, or A$$ issues (thank you BU Bhandari!), average yearly maintenance not going beyond ~10k, and hardly any difference in the performance. The turbo boost & acceleration still brings joy to my face today as it did during the test drive 3 years ago.

The only negative aspect(s) is the recent vandalism that had occurred last month - some kid/person with an idle mind has made long scratches on the bonnet, boot and side doors. In low lighting it is not visible, but clearly these are to stay.

And of course, the recent headlight (high-beam) issue that I am still to get rectified (Note to myself : Need to find a good shop this weekend itself and get it over with!)

[ninjatalli]

Tadaaaa! And the golden jubilee has been achieved!!!

Damn - this forum is the only place where I can rejoice such a landmark and get congratulated by others too! In all other scenarios (family, friends, office, etc) I get extremely shady looks and even "words of advice" when I tell them the car's reached the 50k mark! To-date, my parents still can't believe I have travelled half a lakh in less than three years, whereas they still haven't reached the quarter-mark in over 14+ years!!! Infact I have covered more kms in the Vento than they have done in the Alto + 800 + Activa + Chetak

So what better way to celebrate the landmark other than a good trip, long overdue!! :-P

Itinerary: Pune - Mumbai - Vadodara - Surat - Vadodara - Mumbai - Pune

Kms: 1400+

Plan of Action: Travel as much as possible during the night :-P

Concerns: None. Already done this route multiple times, even once during the night. Even got stuck for 3+ hours at the Bharuch junction during that time. But it's been quite some time since the car has been on a long trip, so it'll be still a lot of fun.

Attaching the timelines for that trip! It'll be interesting to see how the timelines and mileage match up against the Punto!

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Statistics :
Vehicle: Punto

Pune - Ahmedabad

Kms : 715
Duration : 14 hours (includes a 3 hour jam at Bharuch)
Travel Period : Night
Mileage : 17 kmph (approx)
Start Time : 7 p.m.
Arrival Time : 9 a.m.

Ahmedabad - Pune

Kms : 730
Duration : 11 hours (includes a 1 hour jam at Surat)
Travel Period : Day
Mileage : 17 kpmp (approx)
Start Time : 9 a.m.
Arrival Time : 8 p.m.

Edit:
Oh, I almost forgot. There's another trip lined up on the books. This one's being planned since ages!!! Finally the dates have been freezed for mid-March.

Itinerary: Pune - Mumbai - Goa - Pune

Kms: 1200+

Plan of Action: Eat. Drive. Sleep. Eat. Drink. (hic!) Sleep. <Repeat again & again in that order/>

Concerns: Take lots of sunscreen lotion. Akhir complexion ka sawal hai </sarcasm_ends>

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Itinerary: Pune - Mumbai - Vadodara - Surat - Vadodara - Mumbai - Pune

You meant Pune - Mumbai - Surat - Vadodara - Surat - Mumbai - Pune?

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Even got stuck for 3+ hours at the Bharuch junction during that time.

No worries this time! The Sardar Bridge (Ankleshwar-Bharuch bypass) was repaired sometime back and reopened so traffic congestion is a thing of the past. You need not take the Golden Bridge.

Sent you a PM!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

You meant Pune - Mumbai - Surat - Vadodara - Surat - Mumbai - Pune?

No, the above itinerary is correct. I'll pass Surat in the night for the first time. There is an additional to&fro trip to Surat during the day.

No worries this time! The Sardar Bridge (Ankleshwar-Bharuch bypass) was repaired sometime back and reopened so traffic congestion is a thing of the past. You need not take the Golden Bridge.

Sent you a PM!

Really? Wow, that is news indeed! Thanks!

[ninjatalli]

So the Goa trip was finally put to existance, with the plan being leaving Pune Friday night and reaching Goa the next day morning. Basically the idea was to sleep off during the day (and escape the heat) and not waste a weekend-day in travel.

Itinerary: Pune - Belgam - Chorla Ghat - Panjim - Candolim - Pune

Kms: 1000 (Approx)

Plan of Action: Eat. Drive. Sleep. Eat. Drink. (hic!) Sleep. <Repeat again & again in that order/>

Actual Plan: Worry. Tension. Worry more.

Initially the plan went perfect; the NH4 was devoid of traffic except for the overnight volvos and a few trucks. We entered a sleeping Belgaum town at around 2, and head towards the Khanapur - Chorla ghat exit. The Chorla ghat route was impeccable; newly laid tar roads with gleaming reflectors and line markings clearly marked out. There was absolutely no traffic on that road. We max saw one or two trucks, forget other vehicles during that stretch. The route was a breeze, and we would have probably reached our destination by 4 probably; a good 2 hours before what I had planned.

And then it happened.

It happened so fast that I didn't understand the gravity of the situation. I went over a few rock(s) - it knocked around a bit under-body; I immediately stopped a little ahead and inspected the underbody. Couldn't see anything leaking; however the front cladding seemed to have come loose.





Waited for a while to see if anything was leaking (coolant/oil), nothing of the sort happened. Decided to move on, and about 30 mins later the temperature check light came up. Stopped the car, and opend the bonnet and waited for a while. The coolant bottle was completely empty. With no network, and not a soul around (complete forest cover all around us), we decided to call it a day and slept off - dawn was still a few hours away.


The broken underbody with leaked coolant all over it

Next day morning, I unloaded 2 bottles of water and drove on towards Panjim with stops every 15 mins. Once I reached city areas, tried calling VW. Finally after numerous futile calls I finally understood the issue - it was election day and everything - note, everything was closed. Couldn't even find a road-side mechanic to see if the problem could be analyzed. Finally managed to reach a hotel and crashed.

Reached out to friends and got a few local mechanic contacts. Called a few, all refused to come citing the election. Local friends had already advised that the next day being a Sunday following a dry-day, there was very less chance of any mechanic or auto shop service being available.

By then thankfully I could reach out to the VW goa's service head and he drops the bomb - their workshop was undergoing shifting to a new location and they wouldn't be able to offer services till Tuesday. To top it, they had two major holidays (Good Friday and another festival) during the week, so basically the car wasn't going to be ready till next weekend, irrespective of the level of damage.

As a saving grace he assures me that he'll send a few engineers first thing on Monday morning. As per my original plan, I was supposed to drive back to Mumbai/Pune on Monday morning. As it is, my vacation had gone for a toss completely!

Somehow out of the entire circus situation, we have the weekend free. Plus a few friends who came down by flight (lucky buggers!). So with an rented Activa, we still salvaged the trip to some extent. Thankfully, the weather was quite nice - not so hot during the day, and extremely nice during the morning and evenings.



Monday morning, the engineers arrive and identify the problem as the radiator being cracked. A tow vehicle is called for and the car vehicle is towed to the workshop, with me in tow. I raise an insurance claim with the delivery date being the next weekend. We fly back to Pune/Mumbai; atleast with me, completely tired from the holiday trip and requiring another holiday trip to get over this holiday!

Thankfully no other problems arrive and I head towards Goa the next Saturday and pick up the vehicle. The dealer experience is another matter - no where close to the professionalism levels experienced in BU Bhandari over the last 3 years. I'll put up a thread on that same.

But I had the car running finally. Ironically I was tired of Goa, and wanted to get out of the state at the earliest. I skip breakfast and lunch (thanks to the workshop and their last minute delays) and move out back ontowards Pune. I finally have the first proper meal at Belgaum and reach Pune finally late in the night.

Route Condition : Flawless. Best route to get in and out of Goa as of now.

Trip Experience : Decent. Inspite of the car issues, we still had the weekend free. And amazing friends who helped up forget the car.

Dealer Experience (VW Goa - Mohite Automobiles) : Average. Overall, they have miles to go and the workshop lacks professionalism. Work quality is not good, doesn't give confidence. Currently have pending problem(s) in the car, which I need to get checked at BU Bhandari at the earliest. (Detailed thread to be put up soon)

[Reinhard]

Hey, first of all, glad to know that there was no harm to the occupants including yourself. Second - sorry to read about the damage to your Vento. What happened exactly? were there rocks on the road / broken road? Or you got off road due to narrowing lanes?

Good that you still managed to salvage some good time out of the trip. And kudos for that. I'd probably have spent the days in some chapel mourning what had happened and destroying the time of those with me! I wish you'll get a perfectly restored car with all the damages erased. Take care!