[ninjatalli]

Date : April 2010
Location : Ahmedabad
On a trip to Mt Abu, the A.C. of my M800 could hardly keep up with the sweltering heat of Gujarat, and this after getting the compressor gas filled up a week back. Then, and right there was the decision taken - it was time for a new car. I had absolutely no idea on what segment of car I was looking at or what were the options available in the market. There were only three cars in my head then - the ubiquitous Maruti Swift, the lovely Honda city and monster Tata Safari.
That made an interesting debate with the lady during the rest of the trip. While my choice was the Safari, she wanted a Corolla! The only point we could finally come to an agreement was that the car should be a sedan & preferably Maruti. By the time we returned back to Ahmedabad, the discussion was forgotten, but it had ignited the spark in me. I was hooked on to cars. This was when I got introduced to TBHP.

My Faithful 800 taking a long rest


Date : May 2010
A close friend of mine purchases the Swift Dzire. This is the first time I drive a diesel car with the CRDI engine. I am completely floored by the turbo burst the car offers in the middle gears (anybody remember the recent Tata Xeta ad? That was the reaction on my face). Prior to these my memory of diesel cars were noisy, laggard & heavy buffaloes that were primarily meant for taxis, SUVs and blocking up the highways. I inquire a bit about the waiting periods for Dzire in Ahmedabad - I am gleefully informed by an over-enthusiastic jumping jack SE that the waiting periods have come down to 6-8 months, provided I go by the color they provide!!!

Date : August 2010
GTO comes out with the Vento test drive & review. I am floored by the car. IMHO, like @GTO I was blown away by the simplicity of the design and the powerful diesel engine under the hood - you could see his love for the car in the review. I start wondering if this is the car. But then people start putting up their experiences of the VW dealership and their shoddy (pre-sales) service. To add to it an impending job change & a shift to Pune keeps me away for close to a year.

Date : April 2011
Location : Kolkata
The Diesel SX4 is out with @sidindica providing a detailed review about this car. Although I could sense a level of disappointment in his review with the car, I still feel happy as now I have a diesel sedan in the Maruti stable that I can look forward to. For a few weeks I had to work out of Calcutta, and talk about co-incidence, another close friend here had the Swift Diesel. I had the luxury of doing the TD of the SX4, with the Swift in direct comparison. Boy, was I disappointed or what! The SE could see the dejection on my face - he offers me a heavy discount plus hints to me that he could give me a discount on the insurance too. I thank him and head out to try the other cars.

(For anyone who plans to have a look at this sedan - please do remember to compare it with the Swift. The SX4 is a lovely car, but IMHO the Swift is an overall better deal in terms of the power to weight ratio & VFM)

The Ford showroom is close by, so I head over there to have a look at the Classic and also to get details about the new Fiesta. Although the showroom is empty, it takes close to 10 minutes for the sales guy to speak to me. In a very un-interested manner, he informs me that he has absolutely no idea about the new fiesta, and after indicating that the Classic is right in front of me, he heads back inside. I run after him to request for a TD, he shrugs and states blatantly that there are no TD cars available.

Completely disgusted, I then head over to the VW showroom on EM Bypass road where I have a look at the Vento for the first time. But before even I have a look at the car, I am blown away by the showroom. While the Maruti & Ford showrooms looked as if they were selling groceries and not cars, the VW showroom was impeccably grand. With white being the background color all over the showroom, the cars on display looked even more gorgeous in that setup. (Let me go a little further on this - even the VW showrooms at Mumbai & Pune displayed similar setups - as a marketing professional I could only applaud VW for differentiating themselves from others!)

I finally had the Vento to drive. I made it very clear to the SE that I would be requiring multiple runs over a route that has several bumps, a good number of craters and an empty stretch where I can push her to touch 3 digit speeds. He smiles at me, and points me to start the car. Voila, we have a perfect testing ground - the Salt lake campus is just adjacent to the showroom. With a long stretch that was undergoing metro construction, I had the perfect road conditions. Man, can she run! The car just glided over the potholes, and by the time I reached back to the starting point, we all were ; me, my friend and the SE.

But I wasn't finished; asked my friend to take over while I sat in back seat. The only regret I had was the lack of a remote for the ICE. Otherwise it was all "Mai toh saab ban gaya" feeling, what with the plush seating and comfortable arm-rest, not to speak about the rear AC vents.
(Point to note here - cars like the Optra might have a better backseat (read:sofa) but maybe due to the beige color setup, the backseat of the Vento feels huge and airy! Except for the ugly hump at the center, you get this feeling of sitting in a premium car and not a C segment car!)

Inquired about the waiting periods, was informed 2 months. Had this been in Pune, I would have booked the car right away. My friend who till then had been pestering me to go for the Swift didn't speak a single word during the entire return journey. On reaching home, he sheepishly grins at me and admits that the Vento is the car.

EDIT in November 2017: View my 5 year summary at this link.

[ninjatalli]

Date : May 2011

I'm back in Pune and my car research is in full swing. Contrary to 2010, there is a bout of options for a sedan buyer - bookings are open for the Fluidic Verna, the new Fiesta is around the corner, and there are talks going around about the diesel Etios & Skoda Rapid. Add to that the heavy discounts available on the Fiat Linea, Honda City, Tata Manza and Maruti SX4, quite an exciting time for the buyer.

I start out with a trip to Vidyut Motors to have a look at the Vento - all I get is a cold response. There are no SE to attend to me, when asked, the receptionist just shrugs her shoulders, and hands over the price sheet to me. I ask her to atleast explain the features of the car and available deals at Vidyut, corporate discount, financing options - nothing! She states the SE might be available tomorrow, and I could check out with him.

The next day with mixed feelings I head over to the B U Bhandari showroom at Pashan road - I experience a completely opposite situation. The moment I enter the showroom, an executive heads towards me asking if I was interested in any of the cars. When I mention about the Vento, she guides me towards the sofa, orders coffee and water for me, and immediately assigns a SE to attend to me.
Within a matter of 5 minutes, with no questions asked, I am sitting in the TD car - the SE, Mandar Lalge starts explaining to me about the different features in the car but all his words fall on deaf ears. My 100% attention is to the lady - I immediately race her on the Sus Pashan road to reach the express highway. Having already done a TD on bad roads, I wanted to see what this baby could do on the concrete - and boy, did she blow away me again or what! In fact Mandar had to caution me to slow down; after all it was his a** on the line if anything happened to the car

Finally sense prevailed and we came back to the showroom. Queried them about waiting periods, was told an average time of 3 months, and was promised absolutely zero discounts. I thanked them and headed out, but my heart was already with the lady standing outside.

Next step - Hyundai. Checked out the nearest showroom to my office, due to some weird reason, they had kept the diesel car for display, while the petrol car was being used for TD. On being asked why, blank faces. Still took out the petrol SX, by first impressions, I was quite impressed by the sleek look, the abundant features & the noiseless engine. Even when I stood outside next to her, she hardly made any sound.

Behind the wheels, she tried her best to woo me with her blue look and faux wood finish. If I pushed her, she growled back at me showing me traces of her 1.6 liter engine. But the spark was missing. The SE implored me to come back later for a TD of the diesel. I walked out un-impressed and she knew. As I walked by, she gave one more try at me, all gleaming and shining in the evening sun, and I weakened.

So the coming week I made a visit again to the Hyundai showroom to try out the diesel. Both the sisters were waiting for me; in fact they seemed to be expecting me. All washed, gleaming in the afternoon sun, did they look hot or what! Once behind the wheels of the diesel, I could hardly tell the difference from her sister. Even the lag was barely noticeable, but beyond 2000 rpm didn't notice much of a turbo boost as in the older Verna - overall her acceleration was quite linear.

The battle was won. The choice was made. Headed over the weekend to hand over the booking cheque of 75k on a saturday night with the SE waiting for me while the entire showroom was almost closed (it was beyond 7 p.m. - the official closing time of the showroom) In terms of color preference, the lady (not the car) choose blue - I wanted black, but you know who always wins these kind of arguments So, blue it was.

A sneak peak at what's coming

[ninjatalli]

The Dealer Experience

Contrary to what I had heard about VW pre-sales experience, so far BUB had come out with flying colors. The SEs returned my calls, and were upfront on most aspects whenever I had any queries or doubts. Everytime I visited their showroom, there was always someone to greet me; and every single time I was offered coffee. Till date, after over 8 visits, the maximum time I ever had to wait was 15 minutes max, and that too because the SE was caught up with another customer.

While booking, the dealer had quoted a minimum time of 2 and maximum 4 months. Within a month of the booking, I get a call from them; my second choice of color, black is available. Gleefully I convey this to the lady - this is turned down immediately. Dejected, I inform the SE about this who probably shares my emotions.

In the coming two months, I give them a call once every 15 days to check if there was any update on the delivery. Right from mid July to September I am given 2 verbal & 2 mail commitments all which are not honored; reason stated - no blue color cars have been delivered to the showroom. Even after raising complaints with VW India & VW Germany customer care, the situation doesn't change. Finally a friend who works at VW offers to help - within an hour, I get a call from the dealer stating my car has been allocated & would be available in another 10 days.
Till date I am ever grateful to my friend, but he also informs me a very disturbing fact - the dealer has been playing with my booking as there have been blue car deliveries done to BUB in the previous month.

Still, overall the experience with BUB has been a good one. In comparison to the cold attitude shown at Vidyut motors, I would recommend everybody to go ahead with BUB.

Sales Executive : Mandar Lage
Sales Manager : Sooraj Ganiger
(if anybody needs their contact ids, please PM me)

[ninjatalli]

Finally the D-day arrives after delays at every point - delay in allocation of the car, delay in registration due to Ganesh Chaturthi holidays (yes, even VW have holidays!), and delay in insurance.

(For those who are planning to take insurance on your own, you need the insurance to be done before the car can be sent for registration : You are given two options for payment - Credit Card & Cheque payment. If you choose cheque as the payment mode, the insurance guys provide you a cover letter when they pickup the cheque - that is enough for the RTO registration process. If you pay by credit card, you get the soft copy of the insurance after minimum 48 hours - I didn't know this & had to wait)

I land up at the dealer workshop (car was to be picked up there instead of the showroom) and am given all the documents while the lady is taken for a wash.

Finally she arrives - all washed and looking lovely like a newly wed bride!


A look at the front


and the back


The genius friend of mine who remembers to bring a SLR, but forgets to charge the batteries


I am not sure what he was thinking - maybe he really liked the boot!


The new ICE


and the new surveillance-less non-monitoring system


Saab log checking out the rear seats while I am being labelled as the designated driver for all future trips(I am not complaining!)


And finally after all the formalities are done, we move out!


5 year ownership update:

So the car's coming close to the 5 year mark, another 40 days to go. However, If I go by the manufacturing date, the lady passed the 5 year mark this month.

So how has been the car ownership so far? There are several negative threads out there on the forum citing VW lemons, bad dealership experiences and bad ownership experiences due to maintenance issues, high cost of products and what not.

Well, back in 2011, when I opted for a relatively unknown European sedan model, I was taking a risk. And so far that risk has played out pretty well to me. I believe that all of that is not only due to good luck, I took care of the car, and I had really a good VW workshop - BU Bhandari to support me through these five years. I have had the service experience of three different VW showrooms, and the sales experience of two. Here's my feedback

Service Feedback:

• BU Bhandari / VW Pune North: Five stars. No complaints or issues across 5 years of service.
• Shaman Cars / VW Downtown Mumbai: Five stars. No issues faced.
• Mohite Automotive / VW Goa North: Three stars. Passable service.

Here's a list of the servicing experiences

First Servicing : Link
Dealer : BU Bhandari
Cost : 8,628 INR
Details : Basic servicing.

Second Servicing : Link
Dealer : BU Bhandari
Cost : 16,257 INR
Details : Basic servicing. (Broken) RHS Tail Lamp changed. Brake Pads changed.

Third Servicing : Link
Dealer : BU Bhandari
Cost : 9,200 INR
Details : Basic servicing. (Broken) Center AC vent changed.

Fourth Servicing : Link
Dealer : BU Bhandari
Cost : 18,000 INR
Details : Basic servicing. (Broken) left AC vent changed. (Broken) Housing for lighter changed. Engine mounts changed. Wheel alignment done. Rear suspension spring hubs/packing changed.

Fifth Servicing : Link
Dealer : BU Bhandari
Cost : 11,809 INR
Details : Basic servicing. 3M Germiclean treatment for interiors.

Sixth Servicing : Link
Dealer : Shaman Cars (VW Downtown Mumbai)
Cost : 17,955 INR
Details : Basic servicing. Both front headlight assembly changed. VW front logo replaced.

Image for the cost break-up attached below
Attachment 1539789

The car went through 60,000 kms in the first three years and less than 8000 kms in the next two. And she's been chugging along just fine. Even to date, after driving much more powerful cars, the acceleration just feels out of the world. Here's to more years of happy ownership (touchwood)

[Vid6639]

Mod's note: Thread moved to ownership section.

Thanks for sharing. The Shadow blue is really growing on me and with the new features, the Vento is now a complete package.

[prabhuferrari]

Congratulations Ninja. The car looks awesome. One more lovely Vento thread to look forward. Good luck, and wish you many happy miles with the car.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Mod's note: Thread moved to ownership section.

Thanks for sharing. The Shadow blue is really growing on me and with the new features, the Vento is now a complete package.

Thanks!

Seriously, VW should have done this 4 months back - they could have probably taken half the share of Hyundai bookings.

The blue seems to be a hidden gem - in brochure it looks ok-ok, but in reality its quite good!

[Nicky]

fantastic choice i would say. blue color stands out in the crowd of silver and white cars on the road.
New ICE looks better and refreshing than earlier one. if you have new ICE then did you get USB option also?
are there any other upgrades that VW has implemented? check with sales person if you are not sure. I heard there are some new features like parking sensors and USB.
enjoy the miles churning. do update us about driving and performance experience.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Nicky

fantastic choice i would say. blue color stands out in the crowd of silver and white cars on the road.
New ICE looks better and refreshing than earlier one. if you have new ICE then did you get USB option also?
are there any other upgrades that VW has implemented? check with sales person if you are not sure. I heard there are some new features like parking sensors and USB.
enjoy the miles churning. do update us about driving and performance experience.

Thanks Nicky. With regards to your query - there were quite a few changes -

1. New ICE with usb slot in glove box
2. Steering controls
3. Leather cover for steering wheel
4. Remote sensors on rear bumper
5. Removal of surveillance system

Will keep you posted on the driving & performance - so far it has been awesome!

[aks_karthik]

Congrats ninjatalli for the wonderful buy.
Please post some more snaps especially New ICE and Steering Wheels with ICE controls ,USB in Glove Box and Reverse Senors.
Seems your car is the first New Avatar Vento(ICE alone) in T-Bhp.

[neoonwheels]

Looks really good in this color. Congrats and enjoy her to the fullest. BTW, BUB had always been good, earlier with FIAT_TATA and now with VW.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Congrats Ninjatalli. I my opinion this is the Best Metallic Colour in this car.
I am still waiting for mine. I am also going for this colour. Looking at your car pics just cant wait for mine.

Congrats once again.

ENjoy

[C300]

Congrats Ninjatalli! What a colour. I was a fan of White colour on Vento but this one takes the cake! The new ICE looks upmarket. This car exudes quality inside and out.

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks Nicky. With regards to your query - there were quite a few changes -

1. New ICE with usb slot in glove box
2. Steering controls
3. Leather cover for steering wheel
4. Remote sensors on rear bumper
5. Removal of surveillance system

Will keep you posted on the driving & performance - so far it has been awesome!

Thanks for clarifications.
can you please elaborate " Removal of surveillance system"?
what is it?

[_raVan_]

Vento is now a complete package with the new Add ons. Congratulations on your purchase
a) How much did it cost you?
b) Whats the mileage you are getting now?
c) What are the service intervals?
d) Is bluetooth integrated? Or is it an extra add on? I see the bluetooth controls on the steering.

Please post more photos of the new dashboard and steering. Also, whats the backlight for the ICE? If its possible, please post a night shot of the dashboard with everything illuminated to get the idea.