[akash_v12]

So, I know, the older the post becomes, the lesser the viewers

But for those wondering, no-no, Lokkhi has not been sold. She would never be (or would she?).

She’s been out of commission for the frequent expressway runs since the start of March, reason, of course being COVID. However, the odometer has risen close to 80K KMs and although there have been no problems as such, the battery might have lost a bit of charge. I think so because a few days back, I had to go to my dentist and hence, the car was started up and a bunch of christmas lights came up and the car vibrated on driving it. Nothing else to report. No photos too, since I am trying to stay home as much as possible.
Please feel free to ask any questions.

Till then, hope everyone is staying home and y’all are safe.

[akash_v12]

Hello everyone! Hope y'all are keeping safe during these times. As mentioned in the previous post, Lokkhi has been pretty much standing still in her parking for the last 2 months. Nothing much to report, except for a few pictures.

Here's the odometer reading. Just shy of 80K.

Here's a parting shot.

Meanwhile, Pokkhi & Lokkhi have got a new stablemate in the form of Kalia. A thread is in the works, but it might take some time!

[akash_v12]

June Update. Odometer: 80364KM

So, another update this month. Dad has started travelling back to work due to which the odometer has risen a slight bit now. She remains as strong as ever with no problems. Except one.

Puncture, 01/07/2021: So, since the car has only been doing the expressway runs, we tend to keep the car parked for the rest of the days. However, it seemed the car picked up a puncture sometime on the last run since it was losing air. Not much of a bugger though, went to fill up the tank (&
almost had tears in the eyes while doing so. ₹104 for petrol ) and got it repaired at the Puncture-man outlet there itself.

Nothing much to update otherwise. Might be taken out for pampering and then a proper photoshoot post-19th by yours truly.

At the petrol pump

Mileage Logs

[akash_v12]

Update: August 2021
Odometer: 82xxx KM

Parked next to an old buddy in the society.

Seeing that this update is rather late, procrastination got the better of you, you'd ask? Well yes, but NO fellow BHPians. It's just that I was waiting to go down and get a shot of Lokkhi in all her glory. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side at all. Timings for the school changed (for a combined, grand total of 6 hours), and with exams coming up, days when I could go down were far and few in between.

Lokkhi racked up more miles with the odo now crossing 82000 KMs. Fuel Prices are as ever expensive and that still means filling up at close to ₹107/L. It's ridiculous, but we can't do anything can't we? Dad loves driving and to make a man like him even think about taking the train is testament to what this increase in fuel prices has led to for a majority of us.

Lokkhi is going strong though. Absolutely no problems at all and has a servicing coming up soon. Dad is not willing to take up any modifications as of now so plans like a remap, infotainment et. al can take a backseat now. Current priorities would only include getting the small things sorted out and making her fit to run as much as she possibly can.

Flanked by my cousin's(my ex-) bicycle.

Ready to Pounce!

Mileage Logs

[akash_v12]

Update: January 2022
Odometer Reading: 86000KM

It's been a while since I've updated this thread. Don't blame me, blame the ever-present bug of procrastination in me. A few things have happened over time and allow me to list them down.

31st August 2021

Related Thread. (Bulging on Tyre : Can I repair it?)

As we were about to leave for Mumbai, I happened to notice a bulge on the Front Passenger side tyre during my normal check around the car. Not very major it seemed until a quick search revealed the possible repercussions of this issue. I immediately posted a thread asking for solutions to this and thanks to BHPian Indian2003 for his super-quick response.

My dad's preferred tyre shop and from where we got these tyres, Lonkar Tyres had shut down which came as a rather rude shock since we needed the tyres to be changed. A small-time tyre dealer had set up shop there and quoted exorbitant prices for 2 BluEarth AE51s that were pretty old stock. Didn't bother asking him about Michelins and dad told his mechanic to put on the spare and leave it at that.

The following week, after some research, I figured out that although Michelins would've been the best option for the Vento, they were really, really hard to source (especially in my part of Pune). Shreyas Tyres had 195/65 sized XM2s but we didn't want to upsize at all since we were only planning to get 2 tyres changed.

We went to Tyre Master, a newer store dealing with Goodyears & Yokohamas. Incidentally, the staff from Lonkar Tyres including their very helpful alignment expert had also been absorbed by them. Got 2 Yokohama Earth1's and will get the rear tyres changed around the 94-95K KMs mark. Paid a decent amount to get the July tyres from them, but they were super helpful.

Removing the tyres


Getting her alignment perfect

3rd December 2021 - 90000KM Service

Booked in Lokkhi for her 90000KM/6year service. It has been two continuous years that we've reached the 1 year period over the 15000KMs. Dad wanted to take it over to the new B.U Bhandari dealership (ex-Vidyut) at Shivajinagar, but there's some miscommunication between the two locations which meant we preferred getting her picked up from our residence itself to be taken to the Wakad centre.

Odo reading at time of being taken away for service

As usual, the executive came and took the car away. I made sure that I took a complete video of the car to avoid being gifted any additional scratches like we were last year. Dad told the SA that nothing except the basic 85000KM service was to be done and that was that. Since we had SVP for this year as well, only paid the charges for the weights and we were done and dusted.

On the night when the car returned, I took a close look around with a flashlight for any scratches or dents. Sure enough, I found 3 of them (albeit I'm not sure if they were scratches/dents or paint, BHPians to advise). In the name of 'rotation' (which we had never asked for), these guys also changed positions of the tyres which meant that we were having 2 new tyres diagonally opposite and the other two diagonally opposite to each other.

30th December 2021 - ABS Sensor/ESP lights

While Dad was driving back to Pune last week, he got the ABS & ESP lights and Cruise Control wouldn't work at all (I'm not sure if this is all for the same reason since we haven't had the chance to take her out after she returned yesterday).

This time gave a direct call to one of the managers at the Service Dept. who had come to our residence earlier to get a Check Engine Light diagnosed. His response was prompt and he came well prepared to take the car with an additional driver to get the car taken away. As expected and VW is notorious for, it was an ABS sensor failure. If the other 3 go kaput on me soon, I'll prefer going for either the more robust sensor or the other sensor which BHPians recommended (I think it was Hitachi or Toshiba, can't seem to remember the name).

For now, that's all I have for you BHPians. Lokkhi will soon turn 6 and I hope she continues serving as like she has been over all this time.