The whole buying experience from booking to delivery is detailed for anyone interested. Feel free to skip if it is boring.
The Booking:
My wife and I were coming back after a drive from Ernakulam (Cochin) on Feb 27th this year. It was a Holiday in Kerala. When I saw the VW showroom, my head was taken over by the heart who manipulated it to make a quick stop there and to take a test drive of the TSI.
10 minutes later I was driving a Polo TSI with Mr. John (more about him later) on my left and my wife at the rear. That was a short test drive and I was in love, in particular with the "S" mode.
30 minutes and we were out of the showroom with a booking for Pepper Grey/Shadow Blue Vento TSI to be delivered in 4-6 months.
The wait:
Not really bothered with the long wait as we had other priorities. Towards September (Onam), I was again thinking about the car and started following up. In between I had got calls from the showroom asking whether I'm interested in a Black (on the day of booking itself), Terra beige or White colors which were available. Wasn't interested in those colors and declined politely. Coming back - in September when I followed up, got a shock as I was told that both pepper Grey and Shadow Blue are no longer produced/available for the Vento TSI.
The Cancellation (that never happened):
I couldn't be sure if they were playing games with me, so days passed while I was gathering information about the availability of colors and almost confirmed what they told is the fact. So I called up the dealer and told I'm going ahead with the cancellation and sent them email. Also dropped a note to VW through the portal. At this point we were thinking about the XUV500 among potential choices, though my heart was reluctant to let go the DSG.
The Turn:
Out of the "blue", got a call from the dealer and was told that the diesel Vento is launching in a week and I could get one of the first and that could be in blue shade. No information about the variant was available. I was excited and put the cancellation on hold.
The Process:
Indeed the launch happened, dealer got a couple of cars and I got to see both of them in their yard. Too early for a test drive as some papers were not ready for their approvals on the new model with RTO. It was the CL variant and by then I had done my study and didn't feel I miss a lot compared to HL (considering my plans to buy alloys when available, Stanley leather pack in few months hopefully and ICE upgrade to something better than in HL - Philly 835??). Most importantly, there is no compromise on safety features .
The Delivery:
Fixed Friday the 17th after discounting a couple of days that were marked as not so good days by the calendar & elders. Initially the delivery was supposed to be at 11:30, but the time period between 10:30am to 12:00pm was associated with the evil "Rahu" (google Rahu Kalam), therefore had to reschedule to 12:45pm.
Reached around 12:45 and was met with "the guy" who had been assisting throughout. After giving a guided tour of the documents list that also includes some to be submitted at my local RTO, we were handed over to the "other guy" who explained in detail about the features of the car, showed how to remove engine cover, how not to pull up the driver side wiper during water service and why not to wash the inside of engine compartment and under body of the car.
Also to assist was "the lady" who helped in taking few snaps during delivery with my phone while the "other guy" took few shots of the same using a camera. A print-out of the picture framed nicely was given to us as a souvenir.

Gifts:
From VW:
- a pack of chocolates
- a pen & Key Chain set
From the Dealer:
- the photo with frame mentioned earlier
- a towel made with soft cloth
- a nice Coffee Mug
- a Key Chain
- a leather travel pouch
- couple of "neck pillows" (hope you got what I meant"
The Dealership: EVM VolksWagen, Maradu, Cochin
They're good, but as they say nothing less than "excellent" is acceptable. Could improve overall customer experience if they pay a little more attention and treat every visitor as a potential customer. Premium products that has premium pricing should have customers who too are premium and need to be treated so (from a VW "premium" point of view).
Mr John (the guy), the "other guy" and "the lady":
All my communication with the dealer was through the super friendly Mr. John Paul (yes, he has a famous name). He's the Sales adviser who won't get tired of my call even if he had just completed another call with the same "me", a minute back. Appreciate him for all the help.
Mr. Sharath is the "other guy" who explained all the features of the car nicely, in no hurry at all and gave a short tour of the service station along with a few cards with important contacts. He is a fan of DSG and wants to drive cars, but couldn't do so as he is a law abiding citizen yet to get a drivers license.
"the lady" Ms. Rincy gave company to my family while I was away with Mr. Sharath and also helped with the pictures.
They are all nice people and did well to instill a good overall feeling!
The Loan:
ICICI offer: approval in a day @10.45%, 0.1% processing fee with half waived off. Documents: just the salary slip. No prepayments allowed. Pre-closure anytime after 6 months with penaly of 4.2% on outstanding.
SBI offer: approval in a week @10.4%. Huge list of documents required. 0.1% fee (waived till end of the year). any number of prepayments allowed and no charges.
What would you go for

?
The Insurance:
Had to go with dealer (Tie-up with Bajaj Allianz) as outside offers were not different by a big margin. Couldn't check online as websites were not updated with new model info.
The cost:
12.49L on Road. No discounts.
This would be a family car mostly to be used on Holidays and weekends when I'm home in Kerala. Have the Getz for office commute and use in Bangalore as it is KA registered.
"One more thing" - Actually a few:
- T-BHP Stickers were flying (or so it seems) to reach me so quickly.
- Came with only 1 key (Other key should come in a month's time)
- Extended warranty not available yet. No info about when it would be available.
- Had only about 5 Ltrs of diesel, on delivery.

Something Personal:
DSG has got enough reviews, positive for its efficiency and negative for its reliability. I would say it's really good. Just because something might fail after 4 years (after warranty expires and that too a probability), why should I miss the fun and compromise for something lower.
That's the "End of the beginning" of this Initial review, from a Happy Driver. Thanks for reading. Any queries would be answered and appreciate any advise.
Very Basic!
