[phenomonstar]

Hey ninja...

Congrats on the good buy. Looks great.
Id taken a couple of TDs on the Vento Highline .The new version with improved ICE , integrated reverse parking sensors and steering mounted controls was cool.
I wasnt sure if the steering controls applied only to the Audio or can u make and receive phone calls via bluetooth as well?
All the best with your new blue machine!

P.S: I got my Optra Magnum LT on the 28th of September. The Vento was a very close 2nd in my choice ;-)

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by phenomonstar

Hey ninja...

Congrats on the good buy. Looks great.
Id taken a couple of TDs on the Vento Highline .The new version with improved ICE , integrated reverse parking sensors and steering mounted controls was cool.
I wasnt sure if the steering controls applied only to the Audio or can u make and receive phone calls via bluetooth as well?
All the best with your new blue machine!

P.S: I got my Optra Magnum LT on the 28th of September. The Vento was a very close 2nd in my choice ;-)

Thanks!

The current ICE doesn't support bluetooth, so no option for receiving phone calls - but if someone has the moolah to upgrade the ICE for the stock accessory ICE that comes with bluetooth, it should work fine.

Although a lot of comparisions have been done based on individual TDs, there seems to be no concrete data on a one-on-one comparision between the Vento & Optra (in terms of power) - someday we should do it at one of the team bhp meets!

The results might be quite interesting

[subodh]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks!

The current ICE doesn't support bluetooth, so no option for receiving phone calls - but if someone has the moolah to upgrade the ICE for the stock accessory ICE that comes with bluetooth, it should work fine.

We can trade the following:

1. HU
2. The steering wheel

In return You will get bluetooth supported ICE with touch screen and works. Tell me when and where do we meet for the swap.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by subodh

We can trade the following:

1. HU
2. The steering wheel

In return You will get bluetooth supported ICE with touch screen and works. Tell me when and where do we meet for the swap.

Not on your life
But you can have as many spins on my car as you like

Planning to drop in tmrw for the meet, are you? Will bring over the car if enough interested junta turn up.

[phenomonstar]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks!

The current ICE doesn't support bluetooth, so no option for receiving phone calls - but if someone has the moolah to upgrade the ICE for the stock accessory ICE that comes with bluetooth, it should work fine.

Although a lot of comparisions have been done based on individual TDs, there seems to be no concrete data on a one-on-one comparision between the Vento & Optra (in terms of power) - someday we should do it at one of the team bhp meets!

The results might be quite interesting

Absolutely ninja.....
Look forward to it.... cheers.

[vcx]

This is the quote I have for VW Vento Highline TDi .

Ex showroom Price 994,878.00
Life tax @ 14% + Temp. Registration 139,490.00
Incidental charges 14,950.00
insurance 45,839.00
extended warranty 11,199.00
accessories 20,514.00
On road price 1,226,870.00
less: Special Corporate Discount 16,000.00
Total: 1,210,870.00

[vcx]

Originally Posted by vcx

This is the quote I have for VW Vento Highline TDi .

Ex showroom Price 994,878.00
Life tax @ 14% + Temp. Registration 139,490.00
Incidental charges 14,950.00
insurance 45,839.00
extended warranty 11,199.00
accessories 20,514.00
On road price 1,226,870.00
less: Special Corporate Discount 16,000.00
Total: 1,210,870.00

In Hyderabad from Orion motors, Volkswagen -jubilee hills.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by vcx

This is the quote I have for VW Vento Highline TDi .

Ex showroom Price 994,878.00
Life tax @ 14% + Temp. Registration 139,490.00
Incidental charges 14,950.00
insurance 45,839.00
extended warranty 11,199.00
accessories 20,514.00
On road price 1,226,870.00
less: Special Corporate Discount 16,000.00
Total: 1,210,870.00

@vcx, I guess you and bala.V got the quotes from same showroom.

If you haven't had a look at the replies to @bala.V's post, posting them again. The net OTR should easily go below 12 lakhs.

Originally Posted by noopster

^^ Not to belabour the point, Bala.V but it seems the dealer is trying to extract more from you than he is entitled to.

Corporate discount is 16K. It is your right- they will ask for some paperwork etc. but in the end they will give it to you. It is refunded by cheque after you pay the entire OTR amount- I got the cheque 2 weeks after delivery which seemed acceptable.

Insurance at 46K is a complete ripoff. You know how much I was quoted? 36K. You know how much ICICI Lombard quoted me online? 26K. You know how much I ACTUALLY paid in the end? 20K! Check with some agents- they give excellent rates. Mine is a Royal Sundaram comprehensive policy but I highly recommend you get the zero dep at some 6-7K more.

Accessories Pack: In my opinion this is nonsense. I CHOSE what accessories I wanted and in fact omitted those that I felt I was being ripped off on (like front windscreen film for example, which I got done outside). Why should you pay 25K for a bunch of stuff you may never use? Ask your dealer for the VW original accessories pricelist and choose only what you think you need!

Incidental Expenses. What is he charging you 15k for? If this is bribes etc. you shoudn't have to pay for it. It's utter nonsense. Nobody in Pune (for example) paid incidental expenses!

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

@Bala/@VCX,
As rightly pointed out by @ethanhunt123, do check up if the 25k standard accessories is worth the money. Plus what about the corporate discount of 16k?

Even the ex-showroom price seems to be jacked up by 10-12k - the same here is 9.78k, and if you check the latest posts on the Vento thread, the price is almost similar in the north. Wonder why the additional amount for Hyderabad.

Can't do anything about the road tax, the difference is huge (pune road tax is around 7% only, and it gets even lower up north!).

But get quotes on the insurance from outside the dealer. I was quoted 47k by the dealer for zero dep insurance (Tata-Aig & Bajaj Allianz). I got the same at 30k from Tata-Aig. As the IDV value (95% of ex-showroom price) would be more or less same, you can definitely save another 10-15k out there.

Also what is "Incidental Charge"? No such charges are applicable at the VW dealers out here in Pune and at Mumbai. I am pretty sure it would be the case in other cities too.


If it helps the net break-up of my Vento price : 9.78 (Ex-sh) + 0.30 (Insurance) + 0.75 (Road Tax@7.5%) + 0.11 (Extended Warr.) - 0.16 (Corporate Discount) - 0.20 (Discount of first price increase in showroom price - not applicable to me) = 10.6 lakhs

Originally Posted by nileshch

Being generous on the costs:

1. 500
2. Not required in the new Vento!
3. 500
4. 2000
5. 1500
6. 6000
7. 1500
8. 200(?)

Total: 11,900. And the dealer is charging you 25K?? He is taking you for a royal (read, premium) ride!!

[bigron]

Congratulations. The color looks nice. Talk about contrasting dealers ! Rise Safe .

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by bigron

Congratulations. The color looks nice. Talk about contrasting dealers ! Rise Safe .

Thanks @bigron!



Into the second week of ownership and the lady's already moving on towards the last few kms of her run-in period. Already I'm having a tough time convincing people that the odometer has crossed the 1100 kms mark - looks like I will have to put up snaps of the MID to convince people!

The run-in period is one of the many multiple-opinionated aspects of team bhp; while you'll find opinions suggesting that the engines come run-in, you'll also find different opinions suggesting a variety of run-in periods ranging from 1500 kms to 5000kms; while others would caution you on the RPMs & suggest exposure to varying speeds.

Hence my approach - do it in stages. Try to maintain lower speeds/RPM for the first 1000kms, raise both limits for the next 1000kms and so on. With respect to Indian roads, whether you drive on highways or city roads, you will face traffic and that'll be more than enough to clear all run-in "conditions".

Enough of the rambling - maybe the next post will make sense.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks @bigron!
Into the second week of ownership and the lady's already moving on towards the last few kms of her run-in period. Already I'm having a tough time convincing people that the odometer has crossed the 1100 kms mark - looks like I will have to put up snaps of the MID to convince people!

Mate , the crude import bill of India has shot through the roof since last week

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

The run-in period is one of the many multiple-opinionated aspects of team bhp; while you'll find opinions suggesting that the engines come run-in, you'll also find different opinions suggesting a variety of run-in periods ranging from 1500 kms to 5000kms; while others would caution you on the RPMs & suggest exposure to varying speeds.

Hence my approach - do it in stages. Try to maintain lower speeds/RPM for the first 1000kms, raise both limits for the next 1000kms and so on. With respect to Indian roads, whether you drive on highways or city roads, you will face traffic and that'll be more than enough to clear all run-in "conditions".

Enough of the rambling - maybe the next post will make sense.

No way you could keep yourself to the low speeds low rpms , a guy who drives his new car 1100 km in a week cannot possibly do so Varying revs is fine till 1500 km , thats what I followed

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by souravc

Mate , the crude import bill of India has shot through the roof since last week

Thanks to the indian government & its petty policies, thankfully it still hasn't affected us dieselheads

Originally Posted by souravc

No way you could keep yourself to the low speeds low rpms , a guy who drives his new car 1100 km in a week cannot possibly do so Varying revs is fine till 1500 km , thats what I followed

Hard to believe, but I have. My first 500 kms were on the Mumbai - Pune expressway, a total of 4 trips (to&fro included). Trust me, that pain was even more excruciating than any other pain experienced while waiting for the car.

Lately only have I started crossing the 100km limit and that too I don't beyond 105.


Vento owners, need this clarity from you guys - there is an extremely bad patch of 4-5 kms on the route from my home to office (Hinjewadi) - everytime I go through this patch, I hear minute squeaks coming from the dashboard - this comes up only when I go through such a bad patch - it stops the minute I get back to normal roads. Checked with @mikon, even he has experienced such squeaks from his car. Kindly note this is not from the suspension, it is inside the car only.

Neither of us have checked this up with the service center (yet). Is this a common occurance for all?

[ninjatalli]

Finally got a chance to take the lady for a trip up the hills. Although she had done the Mumbai - Pune expressway quite a few times, I hadn't tested her out on a proper hilly stretch. With the rain gods playing hide and seek (more of hide than seek), I opted for a short drive to Lavasa.

But I seem to be running ahead - let me rewind. Unfortunately unlike most of you buggers, I do not have a guy to clean my car on a daily basis - one of the few cons of not living in a proper society. So weekends turn into car-wash days. And boy did she want one.

So, armed with a bucket of mildly hot water mixed with a bit of Johnson's baby shampoo , I spent the next two hours washing her in and out.
Discovered a new (for me atleast) tool for removing swirls - newspapers. Although I have seen it being used for cleaning windows, found it an able means to remove swirls on the body too!

So there was she, all ready and gleaming in the sun. The original plan of leaving by 6 had long expired, so we started out around 10, with the sun all up and and the AC full on!

The pro side? Empty roads. People visit Lavasa either in the morning or evenings. No-one lands up there in the afternoon. Except us. Oh, but we did have company.

Being the sole driver & camera man at the same time meant less number of pics. Still got to capture the lady in a few shots. Infact I took more pics of the car then my mom who had come all the way from Chennai to visit me

Till date, I hardly had any negatives about this car. Found quite a few today:

• This car is not made for the hills. Leave that for SUVs. Yes, she doesn't need to grunt her way up. But take her on a steep curve, and the lag kicks in. Big time.
• Today I discovered the first gear. Till date, I hardly ever used the first gear. Even in peak traffic, the 2nd gear did the job. But not today, especially when taking 180degree steep curves.
• Using the handbrake while keeping the hand rest might be uncomfortable, but trying to buckle the seat belt is a pain. Everytime I need to lift the hand rest in order to put on the seat belt.
• Absence of seat belt indicator. Either this has been disabled or it doesn't exist. I consider this as important as having airbags/ABS.

The best pic of the lot. I kept ogling at this pic for so long my mom had to literally take away the camera from me


As I said, hardly a soul around




The best of the lot. Head over here for breakfast/dinner; enjoy the wonderful view of Lavasa. The food ain't that bad either.


If you are the type who clicks a lot of pics of bees & lizards & all kinds of flowers, this is the time to roam around the hills. These wild flowers are everywhere!

[rock22]

Hey Ninja ! Cool pics man... and I must say, you got an eye for beauty... the blue lady simply accentuates that

OT: Which camera are you using... and where exactly is Lavasa?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by rock22

Hey Ninja ! Cool pics man... and I must say, you got an eye for beauty... the blue lady simply accentuates that

OT: Which camera are you using... and where exactly is Lavasa?

Thanks. The Lavasa pics were from my Sony DSC H7 camera - a simple shoot & focus cam. The earlier night pics were taken by Canon SLR.

Lavasa is a planned hill town about 50 kms away from Pune. Although nothing great about the place, but the drive through the hills is worth doing it multiple times. You can find more info here.