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Old 25th September 2012, 14:15   #136
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Originally Posted by LandCruiser View Post
Any vento owners ever faced the "clutch getting stuck" problem? Especially this seems to happen when trying to release the reverse gear and after pressing the clutch for sometime. Couple of times the car jerked and stalled. I had to then using my hand release the clutch pulling it back. This is sad as it has happened from as early as the car had run 300 kms. Have fixed an appointment with service. Will do a detailed write up shortly.
I am not facing any issue such as that . I have posted your query on the main Vento thread so that other owners can also share their feedback/thoughts , link given alongside http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2914552

The problem should be resolved easily at the workshop, IMO its an issue with the cylinder.
Look forward to your own thread , it helps you and all of us when experiences are shared. We have a very active knowledgeable and participative Vento owners group out here - it adds to the joy of owning a Vento in many ways
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Old 6th February 2013, 16:53   #137
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Originally Posted by souravc View Post
I also clicked a couple of pictures of the Ride On slurry at work. There is a nail which has gone through and through the tyre and there was no drop in tyre pressure over a period lasting a few months . It would be a major coincidence if the nail got lodged in the tyre while driving on the way to the dealership, even though it cannot be possibly ruled out . The slurry had completed covered the nail and sealed the puncture thus preventing escape of nitrogen.I removed a bit of the slurry with my finger to mark out the area to take the picture, one can make out the sharp end of the nail. I am impressed with the slurry and getting it in my new CPC2 too . If I have to spend 1300-1400 per tyre to stop worrying about punctures for the life of a tyre , it seems worthwhile .
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Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
Interesting that you would pick CPC2, considering the other day we (@mikon & I) were discussing the options for his tire(s) change. !
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Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
That was a surprise choice!?

Saurav, The slurry sounds like a fantastic option. Did you pick it up after market and can you share a little more on how you get it in - is this a do it yourself thing and if yes, what is the procedure?

Also, you, Ninja and Bala80 were one of the main reasons I went with the Vento.. your reviews and constant feedback on your experience was awesome and made me feel like I already owned the car just by reading your threads!

Thanks for making the decision to buy the Vento that much easier

Last edited by joey645 : 6th February 2013 at 17:06.
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Old 7th February 2013, 07:15   #138
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

Wow, congratulations and thank you very much for your kind words. I feel the reason the vento thread and discussions are still active is due to the honest, unbiased reviews provided by the owners there. It makes me feel very happy to note that we contributed in whatever little way we could towards your decision making process. I wish you have a wonderful ownership experience with your car.

Mr.Souravc - What else do you need to wake up from your slumber? I for a moment thought you are back when I saw an update on this thread. Ninja has been complaining about you on the official TD thread - where art thou?

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Originally Posted by joey645 View Post

Also, you, Ninja and Bala80 were one of the main reasons I went with the Vento.. your reviews and constant feedback on your experience was awesome and made me feel like I already owned the car just by reading your threads!
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Old 9th February 2013, 10:46   #139
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Originally Posted by joey645 View Post
Saurav, The slurry sounds like a fantastic option. Did you pick it up after market and can you share a little more on how you get it in - is this a do it yourself thing and if yes, what is the procedure?

Also, you, Ninja and Bala80 were one of the main reasons I went with the Vento.. your reviews and constant feedback on your experience was awesome and made me feel like I already owned the car just by reading your threads!

Thanks for making the decision to buy the Vento that much easier
Joey , congrats on your car . Mine is already done 41k and I loved every minute of it . Maintain it and it will serve you well . Thank you for your kind words, hope we helped you make a decision that you would be proud of.

On the slurry bit - I am on my second set of tyres and both had the slurry and I love it ( pretty obvious thats why I got it on my second set too )
All slurry solutions are after market , when I did it for the first time my main concern was the slurry reacting with the alloy and weakening it so I read up a lo of reviews on the net and then went for it. Even when I went for it , I was ready to chuck out the slurry within a month's time if it showed any corrosion on the alloy thus what I did was put the slurry with one dealer and had the alloy checked with tyre shop. The slurry that I have used is Ride-On so if you are using the same , I can vouch for the fact that its good and does not affect the alloys . My car has been using it for more than a year and possibly around 25000 km . Ideally you should go to their website and call up the contact person listed in your city . He will guide you to a tyre shop who keeps Ride-On , thats how I have done it in Mumbai .

When I changed my C drives ( due to sidewall issues ) I actually got to see how useful the slurry is . There were 2 nails embedded in the tyre but because of the slurry there was no pressure drop at all . Thats hugely soothing for the mind when you are driving ! It also allows me to play around with the tyre pressure , I keep it a couple of psi low which makes the ride quality plush - i can keep it low because I do not have to worry about punctures else I would not have dared to. Just a caveat , the slurry does not help in case of side wall rupture - been there, seen it . My 2 bits

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Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
Mr.Souravc - What else do you need to wake up from your slumber? I for a moment thought you are back when I saw an update on this thread. Ninja has been complaining about you on the official TD thread - where art thou?
Good morning Bala , I just woke up Are you back in India ? Rest will inbox you . Ninja is flying around after shodding his with CPCs , a growing CPC family now ( Ninja, Mikon and myself )
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Old 30th June 2013, 14:54   #140
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Re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 45K km second service completed

A short update on my silver streak , got my 3rd service done since my car has completed 45,000 km ( in about 27 months) . Nothing exceptional to report , it was a routine service . The bill came to Rs 9100 - the only things that I had opted out of are brake pads change ( since I changed it approx 5000 kms earlier at 40K km mark) , no wheel alignment and balancing( as I get it done outside at a specialised Shop , Premji at Thane) and no car wash ( it saved me a day as otherwise I would have got the car the next day)

Ever since the service , I have completed 1000 km and the car is smooth as ever. The conti tyres are also holding out fine , I have done around 15000-20000 km on them. My daily commute now involves travelling on the Eastern Freeway twice a day, the car / tyre combo works great on this highway and the true finesse comes to the fore during my drives in heavy showers. Once the monsoon gets over will give the car a 3M treatment.

Btw, I spent a week driving across Germany with around 70% on Autobahns - my ride was a 6 speed MT Ford Mondeo . The Mondeo is good car with higher top speed BUT its lacks the punch/excitement of the Vento for sure. So its been struck off my list of being a future buy .
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Old 30th June 2013, 15:32   #141
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Re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 45K km second service completed

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Originally Posted by souravc View Post
A short update on my silver streak , got my 3rd service done since my car has completed 45,000 km ( in about 27 months) .
Going slow, aren't you! With only my normal home-office-home + weekend trips I have slowly trudged only to 38k, and we seem to be going at the same rate

Mr @mikon on the other hand hasn't let up on the kms - he's just finished his 4th servicing (as we speak).

Quote:
Btw, I spent a week driving across Germany with around 70% on Autobahns - my ride was a 6 speed MT Ford Mondeo
Travelogue alert! Knowing you, at least post some please!
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Old 20th November 2013, 12:31   #142
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

I have been planning to order a Vento HL TDI and am about to book the car. Thanks to everyone in this thread for the detailed and honest opinions. I have a couple of questions before I purchase the car

a) Should I go for extended warranty (2+2) - setting me back 11634 for the two years.

b) Should I go for the bumper to bumper insurance? (Additional 8362 per year)

c) Stock tyres or Yoko Cs/Michelins i.e. do I clock 20-25K km on stock and then upgrade or upgrade as I roll out of the showroom.

d) Am planning to buy the car in Chennai. Any good place to go for accessories - planning for a SatNav and Rear Camera (to augment my wife's reversing skills!).

Thank you
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Old 20th November 2013, 13:48   #143
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Originally Posted by kpraveenkr View Post
I have been planning to order a Vento HL TDI and am about to book the car. Thanks to everyone in this thread for the detailed and honest opinions. I have a couple of questions before I purchase the car

a) Should I go for extended warranty (2+2) - setting me back 11634 for the two years.

b) Should I go for the bumper to bumper insurance? (Additional 8362 per year)

c) Stock tyres or Yoko Cs/Michelins i.e. do I clock 20-25K km on stock and then upgrade or upgrade as I roll out of the showroom.

d) Am planning to buy the car in Chennai. Any good place to go for accessories - planning for a SatNav and Rear Camera (to augment my wife's reversing skills!).

Thank you
a)You can buy extended warranty anytime during the first 23 months
b) I recently bought a Vento and I took the insurance from ICICI Lombard. It costed me 35K including bumper to bumper
c) The day i bought the car I changed to Michelin Primacy 3 ST. Tyre is something which you need to choose based on your driving style, routes you take etc. Do some research on the same. the best price you get for old tyres is if you change straight away
d) I changed the HU to Philadelphia 835. Costed me 50K inclusive of reverse camera and maps from MMI, bluetooth integration etc. Also the reverse sensors in Vento are quite good. Audio beep gets louder and louder. So camera is not an absolute must actually.
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Old 22nd November 2013, 08:22   #144
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Originally Posted by prabhuferrari View Post
a)You can buy extended warranty anytime during the first 23 months
b) I recently bought a Vento and I took the insurance from ICICI Lombard. It costed me 35K including bumper to bumper
c) The day i bought the car I changed to Michelin Primacy 3 ST. Tyre is something which you need to choose based on your driving style, routes you take etc. Do some research on the same. the best price you get for old tyres is if you change straight away
d) I changed the HU to Philadelphia 835. Costed me 50K inclusive of reverse camera and maps from MMI, bluetooth integration etc. Also the reverse sensors in Vento are quite good. Audio beep gets louder and louder. So camera is not an absolute must actually.
Thanks for the information. Where did you get the HU changed? Was the installation done in the VW showroom/garage? Any effect on your warranty? When I asked the SA regarding warranty with the HU changed, he was not sure about the same. Could you share some photographs with the Philadelphia HU?

Thank you once again.
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Old 17th May 2016, 16:16   #145
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re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

My Silver Streak completed 5 years in March 2016 having clocked up around 78,000 km in the process . The velocity of zipping the miles have reduced quite a bit since I have got a second car ( A6, from the VWAG stable itself ) as well as due to the fact that I have shifted from Mumbai to Kolkata and here the distances are not as much as Mumbai (though time taken maybe comparable as traffic is much slower) .
I will pen down a few learnings and a few notings which I hope would help other long term Vento owners as well as potential buyers :-

1. When I set out to buy a new car in 2010 , I wanted a car whose body would not creak and rattle after a few years of use . After 5 years of using my Vento , I can vouch for the fact that the build quality is great and there is hardly any deteoriation in the overall physical condition . I love my cars and don't abuse them , maybe thats also a contributing factor however there is no escaping the punishment that our cracked up roads mete out to the car - my Vento has soaked up all of it well over the years. No rusting , no puffed up paints , doors still close with surety , exhaust pipe still remains tightly held , windows roll up and down without a stutter , anti pinch functions without any glitch ..overall I am mighty impressed. (I must add, that the diesel clatter is still the same, the thud when going over humps is as good/bad as the first day .. there is a level of consistency in this car ! )

2. I searched and figured out a very good mechanic who knows Skoda cars very well - this has allowed me to ensure that my car is well taken care of, in fact much better than the ill trained ASS ever did . My car had EW of 2 years however ever since I figured out the mechanic , I am glad that the warranty is over . My car is now pampered with full synthetic Mobil1 , gets proper servicing , have repaired my right front suspension instead of replacing ( 5 grand vs 35 grand) as advised by ASS - in more ways than one my car feels more liberated given that the fear of voiding warranty does not exist any more . My car enjoys a full service once a year however I change the fuel filter, air filter and ac filter every 6 months which is a measure I have taken, given the high level of pollution and impurities in fuel as well as air. Add to it engine oil top up, coolant top-up and battery check every 6 months and you have one pampered drive. As a result of me skipping the ASS, I have to drive with the pump glow light always blinking on the dash, given that the VW VAS can be updated only at the service centre, however thats a small price to pay for much better car care.

3. The engine remains as punchy as ever with the killer 3rd gear never failing to make me smile - if I compare it to my Swift , which had a perceptible dip in performance in 5 years time, then the Vento has shown little by way of giving away its age in terms of engine performance. Fuel efficiency has dipped noticeably however its more due to the stop go nature of traffic within Kolkata where one would be lucky to drive a km without stopping due to traffic lights or a crossing . On the Durgapur expressway, my Vento still returns an average of 15-16 km/ltr

4 . There are AC vents and then there are Vento's AC vents, the ones made of toothpicks. My workaround solution has been to use slender decorative paper clips which are clipped to the vertical columns and use these to move the slits side ways - trust me that this improves the life of the brittle vents though it doesn't reduce the shame on VW for giving us this material.

5. My car is on its fourth set of shoes and my experience with each are as follows :-
a) Apollo - OEM , noise and hard - changed it very early
b) C Drive - Pretty good dry and wet grip , brilliant tread wear - sidewall strength a chink in the armour
c) Goodyear - So forgettable , that I dont even remember the one that I bought ..had to change within 5000 km with tread completely worn out. It was a shocker.
d) Bridgestone B250 - Very good all rounder , done about 5000 km and pretty happy with the braking , noise, grip and most importantly sidewall strength which i can't ignore since I have had to endure 3 incidences of sidewall bulge . Had upsized the tyres however have reverted back to stock specs since availability of tyres in sizes not OEM recommended was becoming an issue.

6. Had upgraded the headlights from the stock long back - through cutouts it has been ensured that there is no damage to the alternator . I would advise people to stay within a 10-15% zone in order to avoid overheating of the headlight casing due to the power output of more powerful bulbs

7. Expected battery life is 3 years .. 4 years tops . I prefer the semi maintenance ones (i.e. which needs checkup and water/acid top-up every 6 months) to the maintenance free ones. Diesel car batteries are high amperage ones and its give me greater comfort if the battery is periodically checked up - I feel that it gives an early warning before battery die out . Given the maintenance schedule of my car and the price differential, maintenance free batteries makes little sense.

8. Interiors and Exteriors are holding up quite well . I had a fear that the carpet would be wasted away however its held up well though its a dust and dirt magnet. I had put a plastic carpet cover which has helped immensely . I get my car exterior polished once in 6 months timing one polish after the monsoons - only 3M products are used.

Hope that helps - in case of any queries, I would be most happy to answer !
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Old 17th May 2016, 19:07   #146
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Re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Originally Posted by souravc View Post
5. My car is on its fourth set of shoes and my experience with each are as follows :-
a) Apollo - OEM , noise and hard - changed it very early
b) C Drive - Pretty good dry and wet grip , brilliant tread wear - sidewall strength a chink in the armour
c) Goodyear - So forgettable , that I dont even remember the one that I bought ..had to change within 5000 km with tread completely worn out. It was a shocker.
d) Bridgestone B250 - Very good all rounder , done about 5000 km and pretty happy with the braking , noise, grip and most importantly sidewall strength which i can't ignore since I have had to endure 3 incidences of sidewall bulge . Had upsized the tyres however have reverted back to stock specs since availability of tyres in sizes not OEM recommended was becoming an issue.
Curious to know how do you check on the sidewall strength apart from bulges symptom?
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Old 18th May 2016, 10:34   #147
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Re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

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Curious to know how do you check on the sidewall strength apart from bulges symptom?
I spoke to a few tyre dealers as well as tyre repair shops alongwith reading up about the specific brand/sub brand . Once I am able to zero in on 3-4 sub brands that I like, I physically inspect the new tyre - then it boils down to visuals, touch and feel . A strengthened side wall will mean a comparatively thicker sidewall for most cases though its not a must . For me, the more conclusive test is to take a new tyre and try to flex it longitudinally - the tougher it it to flex , the stronger the sidewall .
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Old 27th June 2016, 10:16   #148
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Re: VW Vento Highline TDi, My Silver Streak - 5 years, 78000 kms and still raring for many more

Hi SouravC, Your May 17th post sums up the ownership very well! Glad to see your Vento doing so well.
My 2013 vento seems to be going in exactly the same direction.
OEM Tyres : 30K kms
OEM Battery : 3 years,

How about brake pads and clutch? My brakes seems to be lasing only 15K kms! How long did the clutch last? (did you have to change in 78K kms?)
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