[F150]

Woah, have forgotten this thread completely.
Anoop ,
So you have gone for projector setup, very nice upgrade and much needed indeed.

Its been 3 months, how are the projectors functioning, any issues or glitches encountered ?

Please post pictures in day time with just the corona rings switched on.

[noopster]

Thanks F150. Have been on vacation and not that regular on the forum recently. Good thing though is that the Vento is getting her share of exercise, having run down to Goa and back and currently doing duty in the sweaty metrop of Mumbai

24,000 clicks on the odo as we speak. The new eyes are doing OK (touch wood) though I needed to get one of the ballasts replaced. I have got used to the admiring glances since I use the angeleyes as DRLs a lot!

Will take some pics and post them next week, along with a more detailed report. Meanwhile here's my baby last week somewhere along NH17 near Sawantwadi...

[noopster]

Pulled up into the office yesterday to see this lovely sight!


Some updates:

• My air vents have started falling off. From the official Vento review thread, I understand that this is a common thing and VW dealers have the nerve to demand 2000 to replace the simple plastic unit. Since the worst of the summer is behind us, this is not a priority, should get it fixed next time I visit the service station.
• Windscreen washers not functioning propoerly- this is a worry since the monsoons are just starting.
• The plastic cap of my windscreen washer liquid container has fallen off. Most annoying- I suspect this happened when the accessories guy was fixing the projectors. Will check how much it costs and replace if cheap.
• Got rear ended when parked and found out about it only later. Very disappointing- a perceptible dent left on the rear bumper. Also, a biker when dragging his bike out of his parking space made quite a ding to the left of the number plate. Gave him a piece of my mind and he said Sorry so told him to leave. What else can one do?!!

The ding unfortunately can't be disguised but fixed the last of my Team-BHP stickers on the bumper to hide the dent and my beauty now looks like this:


With the recent 10% hike in petrol prices, the precious fuel now costs Rs. 79/- in Pune city (77/- outside octroi limits where my office is thankfully located). Effectively I am shelling out 8/- per km travelled. Last year I covered 20,000 km in this car- do the math!

.anshuman gleefully points out on another thread that his Laura DSG- a bigger, more expensive and technologically more advanced AT than my Vento-
costs less than Rs. 3/km to operate. In Jan 2009, when I started my buying process, petrol prices were Rs. 44/litre- an operating cost of about HALF of what it is now. I guess the writing was on the wall even back then but one can't help but feel hard done by.

The only consolation is that the slushbox is incredibly easy on my joints and provides for amazing peace of mind in my daily commute/ frequent trips to suburban Bombay. If Skoda had launched the Rapid TDI in AT avatar as was being predicted on the forums, I would have been

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by noopster

The ding unfortunately can't be disguised but fixed the last of my Team-BHP stickers on the bumper to hide the dent and my beauty now looks like this:
Attachment 938024

Hi Anoop,
Soory to hear about the incidents. Well its part & parcel of owning a car. What surprises me is where has the parking sensor disappeared on the rear bumper. I can only see 3 of them out of 4. Have you by mistake pasted your last Team-Bhp sticker onto the sensor?

Originally Posted by noopster

If Skoda had launched the Rapid TDI in AT avatar as was being predicted on the forums, I would have been

Thant's impossible considering VW/Skoda Group doesn't have a AT box which could handle that 250NM of torque in that price range. Petrol AT box is no match for that 250NM wicked torque. But lastly to enjoy that diesel torque you need a manual tranny & not a AT box, it just ruins the fun of it.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Congrats on the 25k noop! A milestone to cherish for sure.
Fräulein looks the same, as the day she was bought home. Wonderful job maintaining the white.
Dont fret too much on the running costs (Easy for me to say, when my costs are less than half of what you pay ).

[RemingtonSteele]

Noop: Congrats on the milestone!
I hope both of your badges are now back on the car. The white car looks gorgeous with those bold badges.
Felt sorry to hear about the dings and dangs.

[Guderian]

Hi Noops,
Congratulations on touching the 25K KMs mark.
To my eye Fraulein looks ravishing and don't you worry too much about the dents and dings - were she to be in Mumbai the count would have been 10 times more.

Keep those wheels spinning !

[noopster]

Thank you for the comments and good wishes.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

What surprises me is where has the parking sensor disappeared on the rear bumper. I can only see 3 of them out of 4. Have you by mistake pasted your last Team-Bhp sticker onto the sensor?

Amazing powers of observation. The mystery rear-ender knocked my third sensor out and left it on perma-shrill mode every time I engaged R. My accessories guy disabled it and the sticker now serves to hide the dent as well as the ugly gaping hole of the missing sensor. The other 3 reverse sensors work fine.

Thant's impossible considering VW/Skoda Group doesn't have a AT box which could handle that 250NM of torque in that price range. Petrol AT box is no match for that 250NM wicked torque. But lastly to enjoy that diesel torque you need a manual tranny & not a AT box, it just ruins the fun of it.

Very good point. I guess putting in a DSG box will push it into the next segment pricewise.

Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele

Noop:
I hope both of your badges are now back on the car. The white car looks gorgeous with those bold badges.

They are back on, but it's nerve-wracking thinking that any moment some pervert may strip my baby again!
Where have you disappeared by the way? I keep my eyes peeled for you or your City, no luck in quite a while!

[noopster]

The 30,000 km milestone got completed somewhere on the Pune-Mumbai expressway last Friday. The car also got serviced at VW Pune (Vidyut Motors) the same day. Almost exactly 20 months of ownership, meaning a round 1500 km/month average.

Damn I should have got the TDI

My last updates on this thread were around the 25,000 km mark. Speaking from my own experience and that of some other Vento owner friends, that is the point at which a number of problems start piling up for this car. Normally rock-steady, the wheels started wobbling a bit and I noticed a lot of tread wear on the front tyres. The AC started performing poorly- the middle vents did not have a clear air flow. One windshield washer failed. The left and right AC vents broke.

The last item was particularly galling. Nobody even touches those vents, except to occasionally adjust the air flow. What kind of cheap crap plastic is VW using anyway? And it's not a one-off case: most of the Vento owners I know have problems with broken AC vents that are not replaceable under warranty. Plus VW has been insisting that the part is out of stock for a couple of months now (I know since subodh did his 30,000 km servicing about then and had the same issue).

Anyway, I needed to get the servicing done before a weekend trip to Mumbai last weekend, so about 10 days before that, called up BU Bhandari where the Vento had gone in for her first service @15,000 clicks. Only to be told that the earliest available slot was 3rd October!

That was a bit shocking. 2 weeks wait for a regular servicing? Asked them if there was any proble- they said No, that's normal. Didn't believe them- called Vidyut Motors instead. This is the place I got the car and got one free monsoon checkup done. They have a decent enough service setup and the location is in Shvajinagar, which is good for getting an auto back home from (BUB has its service outlet on the bypass highway near Wakad, which means someone has to pick me up/drop me there- somewhat inconvenient).

Vidyut guys say immediate appointment is available. Will Monday do? I say no, let's make it Wednesday. They say OK. Dropped it off, took an auto back home and drove the Swift till I got the Vento back.

Total damage= 11,787/-

Break-up:
Labour= 2410/-; Parts&consumables= 9377/-

Main heads:
Paid service= 1405/-
Wheel Balancing= 1265/-
Brake pads replacement=2003/-
Engine oil replacement= 3760/-
Various filter replacements (oil, fuel, AC dust/pollen, air)= 2360/-
Rest was some washer nozzle replacement, miscellaneous small items.

The good:
+ Car feels springy and nice now. Wheels were balanced and rotated- the good tyres are now in front.
+ New brake pads feel solid after bedding in. Since mine is an AT, brake pad wear is a big issue and am glad I got this done.
+ No needless waiting in the lounge: VW Pune had assigned a service advisor who responded to calls/SMSes.
+ No needless expenses in the bill: estimate was 9K plus around 2K for brake pads and 1K for wheel balancing. Stayed within that.

The not-so-good:
- Vidyut Motors messed up my appointment! The lady insisted that my appointment had been for Monday instead of Wednesday. But they recovered quickly when I showed my annoyance (quietly).
- No pick-up/drop-off service, even when I offered to pay for it. BUB offers this.
- Car was in the shop 3 days (Wednesday morning - Friday afternoon) for a routine servicing! Not done. Work only actually started on Thursday late afternoon. I threatened an escalation with the service manager and even called him once, after which they took it up on priority.
- Parts not in stock. This is a fairly recent launch (<2 years) and is a decent seller for VW. There is no justification for simple AC parts having to be ordered via Aurangabad factory and taking a week to arrive. One of my AC parts needs replacement under warranty and has yet to arrive. I will need to drop it off for 2 days when it arrives
- My front logo got swiped when the car was in for service. I noticed it only after I drove out and called them immediately to complain. No commitments from them though I am insisting on them replacing it FOC. This logo-stealing mania has reached epic proportions. But one hardy expects this at an A.S.S.

Overall, a not-unpleasant experience, which is what one has come to expect of VW now.

[surd_biker]

Originally Posted by noopster

Speaking from my own experience and that of some other Vento owner friends, that is the point at which a number of problems start piling up for this car

This is making me concerned now.I am due to get my refreshed-vento next week. Apart from the ones you've mentioned, are there other problems one can expect from this car as the years go by? How would you rate the reliability of this car?

Stealing your logo at the A.S.S. is quite a mean thing to do. I mean one can understand if the car is parked on the road, but one would not surely expect this from the service center. You should definitely insist on them giving you a new one FOC.

[F150]

Originally Posted by noopster

The 30,000 km milestone got completed Almost exactly 20 months of ownership, meaning a round 1500 km/month average.
Damn I should have got the TDI

So we are waiting for your upgrade Laura 2.0 TDi DSG. Rs 4500 per month savings compared to a petrol on fuel alone.

Originally Posted by noopster

a number of problems start piling up for this car. Normally rock-steady, the wheels started wobbling a bit and I noticed a lot of tread wear on the front tyres.

Wheel balancing rectified this ? How much life is left in your tyres now ?. I think you are on OEM Acceleres right ?

Originally Posted by noopster

The AC started performing poorly- the middle vents did not have a clear air flow. One windshield washer failed. The left and right AC vents broke.

Broke ? Do you have a pic, so that we can get an idea.

Originally Posted by noopster

That was a bit shocking. 2 weeks wait for a regular servicing?

What was the issue with BU Bhandari ?

Originally Posted by noopster

Total damage= 11,787/-

Break-up:
Labour= 2410/-; Parts&consumables= 9377/-

Main heads:
Paid service= 1405/-
Wheel Balancing= 1265/-
Brake pads replacement=2003/-
Engine oil replacement= 3760/-
Various filter replacements (oil, fuel, AC dust/pollen, air)= 2360/-
Rest was some washer nozzle replacement, miscellaneous small items.

Pretty decent bill amount. Brake replacement as expected for an AT.

Originally Posted by noopster

The not-so-good:

- My front logo got swiped when the car was in for service. I noticed it only after I drove out and called them immediately to complain. No commitments from them though I am insisting on them replacing it FOC. This logo-stealing mania has reached epic proportions. But one hardy expects this at an A.S.S.

Overall, a not-unpleasant experience, which is what one has come to expect of VW now.

Hope they replace the logo FOC. Even after the logo incident you call it not an unpleasant experience. May be VW owners are used to logo theft I guess.

[mmxylorider]

Noop - that a huge amount of driving ! My Xylo is at 35K in about 3 years of ownership.

Wheel balancing at 1200+. Isn't that on higher side? even if you include alignment cost?

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by noopster

- My front logo got swiped when the car was in for service. I noticed it only after I drove out and called them immediately to complain. No commitments from them though I am insisting on them replacing it FOC. This logo-stealing mania has reached epic proportions. But one hardy expects this at an A.S.S.

Overall, a not-unpleasant experience, which is what one has come to expect of VW now.

This is just heights but not completely unheard of. Recently I came across similar incident happening in Ford A.S.S in Bangalore. You shoud get a free of cost replacement as long as the dealership did not highlight this in the inspection before taking the car for servicing. Dealerships normally mark even the smallest of scratches to get away with any responsibility later on and they would have certainly highlighted this. Hope you still got that sheet with you. The guy whose car had this issue in Ford used that sheet to argue with dealership and got it FOC.

[Parthasarathig]

Originally Posted by supertinu

Hope you still got that sheet with you. The guy whose car had this issue in Ford used that sheet to argue with dealership and got it FOC.

I did the same thing when they scratched and dented my car. Got it in writing from them to get it repaired FOC from the body shop. Haven't yet got it done though as the body shop is far away. Anyways what I meant to highlight is, that inspection slip comes in handy when you notice any discrepancies with your car.

And my biggest mistake was having left the car overnight at the A.S.S. as I had to be out of station that day. Please friends, as much as you can, try to avoid having your car at the A.S.S overnight. Somebody else comes to TD our vehicles and put all these dents and scratches on them. This is prevalent in ASCs and dealership in the same campus.

[ajay_satpute]

Congrats on the 30k milestone. I took a lethargic 38 months to complete 30k on my Vista, even after driving it everyday to office.

1200+ for wheel balancing is HUGE. Did they have to replace any weights? In any case the cost of wheel balancing should not exceed ~700. I go to the Bridgestone Select shop near Chandani Chowk for wheel balancing and alignment and it costs me around 450 for the whole job. If rotation is involved, then another 100 bucks or so.