[Vibhav-Van]

Has anyone changed to BMC or K&N replacement filter on their 1.5 TSI? If so, please share your experience.

My previous car (Ecosport Diesel) had a BMC filter and it made a marked difference. I'm curious to try it out on my Slavia 1.5 now.

[Pegasus1134]

Originally Posted by Pegasus1134

Hello all,

Booked a GT Plus 1.5MT with new features (electric seats, footwells, subwoofer+amp) in lava blue a couple of days back.

I have an update regarding my Virtus booking, wanted all your valuable inputs on it.

As per my above quoted post, I was informed of the immediate availability GT Plus 1.5 MT in lava blue with new features (2024 model) during my test drive itself. The next day, the executive informs me that someone else has booked that particular car and I might have to wait a month or so for the new car to arrive.

I was still deciding on the model and color etc. so this information didn't make much of a difference to me, as we were in no hurry to get the car.

The next day after this, he informs me that the lava blue car is now available since the customer has switched to the red color and it will be allotted if I pay the booking amount, which I paid immediately considering that the prices will be hiked in Jan (confirmed by VW), and this was the car I wanted. There was also some pressure from the sales executive's end to make the entire payment of the car within 7 days of the booking - this too I was okay with since the invoicing needed to be done in Dec anyway.

This detail is slightly vague because initially he informed me that the payment is supposed to be made within 7 days of car allotment (during the TD), but I assumed that the car is already allotted when I made the booking itself since other customer switched color and he said the car was available, and hence I have to make the payment quickly.

Another week went by in deciding the accessories and the loan and the final invoice amount etc.. and as per their request, we were entirely ready to pay the full amount of the car, and also pledged our old vehicle to them early which they themselves asked for.

Sudden twist comes when, they suddenly decide not to take our old car on the spot when they in fact arrived to take it. Reason quoted being, they cannot take the old car without the new one being allotted. So they just took a few documents of the car since the hypothecation termination of the car hadn't been done (which I had assumed to be done). They agreed to get the NOC from the bank and also get the rest of the paperwork done from the RTO which I was glad about.

Them being vague about the allotment of the new one began when they arrived to take the old car, I didn't think much of this initially, but this vagueness has been extended to today when the finance person informed me that they are in no hurry to receive the full payment of the car either. He said that the payment should be received only after the car is "allotted".

I also spoke to the sales person who was, for the past entire week following up with me regarding the payment. He too said the same thing now. The car will be allotted in the last week of Dec, and I can pay then. This sudden change in their words has made me quite convinced that they either did not have a car allotted at all, or mostly it has been sold to someone else. They may be behind VW to get this particular car here ASAP.

On hearing this new information, I mentioned that we are in no hurry to get the car, but the terms and the pricing agreed previously has to be followed. I said that I am not okay with paying the new Jan pricing if delivery gets extended till then, and the car has to be invoiced in Dec itself. He said that it will be done, and also said he'll give me a proper update on the status of the car tomorrow.

What do I do about this situation? My only dealbreaker will be the new price, and the fact that they did not keep their promise if it gets delayed. I might be able to get the same car from another dealer this month for all I know. Ultimately if they deny to give me the car at the old agreed price, it will be my loss. And as of now, they are stalling me till December end. Initially it was mentioned that the car will be received by them on Dec 15th, slowly it became Dec 20th, and now December end. Kindly provide some suggestions.

[true_sedan]

Originally Posted by Pegasus1134

What do I do about this situation? My only dealbreaker will be the new price, and the fact that they did not keep their promise if it gets delayed. I might be able to get the same car from another dealer this month for all I know. Ultimately if they deny to give me the car at the old agreed price, it will be my loss. And as of now, they are stalling me till December end. Initially it was mentioned that the car will be received by them on Dec 15th, slowly it became Dec 20th, and now December end. Kindly provide some suggestions.

Every dealer in the showroom has a certain target to meet. You're a victim of that. Most probably you'll get your car in Jan with the new pricing. The dealer has taken advantage of your situation. He found that you badly needed the car before December and that you're a gullible person. The general advise is to never make payment except booking amount until PDI. If the car was already available during TD, why didn't you request for a PDI and a VIN number? I'm sorry my friend. You just fell victim to a classic capitalist behaviour by the dealer. But you'll get your car in January albeit with the new pricing. New pricing means the dealer gets more money. Most probably you'll end up shelling more than what you paid now. I repeat again "NO PDI. NO PAYMENT."

[Pegasus1134]

Originally Posted by true_sedan

Every dealer in the showroom has a certain target to meet. You're a victim of that. Most probably you'll get your car in Jan with the new pricing. The dealer has taken advantage of your situation. He found that you badly needed the car before December and that you're a gullible person. The general advise is to never make payment except booking amount until PDI. If the car was already available during TD, why didn't you request for a PDI and a VIN number? I'm sorry my friend. You just fell victim to a classic capitalist behaviour by the dealer. But you'll get your car in January albeit with the new pricing. New pricing means the dealer gets more money. Most probably you'll end up shelling more than what you paid now. I repeat again "NO PDI. NO PAYMENT."

Hey, thanks for your response.

Just to clarify though, the only payment I have made so far is just the booking amount itself, which I have mentioned in my post. They did want the full payment once car is allotted however, which they don't want anymore since they are still awaiting the car.

Also, I didn't request for PDI or VIN of the said car because it was mentioned that it is still at the factory and the dealer has not received it yet - they were supposed to receive it around 15th Dec which will be delayed now.

As for the PDI, If the car had arrived here and they gave me the initial promised 7 days to pay after car allotment, I would go ahead with the PDI first. Or else, as far as I am aware, even if I did make the payment I can refuse a car after the PDI provided it is not registered in my name yet. Right?

Too soon to say whether the dealer is messing around. The reason I posted the entire ordeal here is to avoid reaching that situation.

[true_sedan]

Originally Posted by Pegasus1134

Also, I didn't request for PDI or VIN of the said car because it was mentioned that it is still at the factory and the dealer has not received it yet - they were supposed to receive it around 15th Dec which will be delayed now.

There's no chance the dealer knows about what's going in the factory. Dealers generally get a mail around the 1st week of every month regarding allotments. If the dealer has not got any mail regarding allotments by December 15 please question them. Ask them to share the mail copy. Threaten them that you'll cancel your booking and take a slavia if they are not transparent.

Originally Posted by Pegasus1134

As for the PDI, If the car had arrived here and they gave me the initial promised 7 days to pay after car allotment, I would go ahead with the PDI first. Or else, as far as I am aware, even if I did make the payment I can refuse a car after the PDI provided it is not registered in my name yet. Right?

Once you make payment you're at mercy of the dealer. He can make your life hell. So "No PDI. No payment." should still be your mantra.

[prashantsoni23]

Hi T-BHPians,

I am getting weird sound from the engine/transmission, as if there is a nut/bolt that's lose. The sound is similar to a metal piece put inside another metal enclosure (e.g. coin in washing machine). It often comes while accelerating the car in a speed range of 20 to 40kmph, and the sound disappears after a constant acceleration.

Note - During a recent drive from Hyderabad to Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), the car got stuck on an under construction road, because the underbody hit a hump. The car scratched through the hump, but I got it checked at a garage, and there was nothing more than scratches in the underbody horizontal metal bar, and fuel tank (fiber body). Could this have caused anything?

I tried recording but it's not audible in a recording. Did anyone else have this problem? It is difficult to show it to service centre, as the sound is intermittent!

Thanks!

[CoconutCar]

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased pair of convex blind spot mirrors for the ORVM as I was finding them a bit on the small side.

Originally Posted by audioholic

As long as you have a light foot on the throttle it quickly goes into 2-Cylinder mode irrespective of gear and speed.

Hello, In the MT, the car will not go into 2 Cylinder mode if cruising at 70 kmph in 6th gear. But when changed to 5th at 70, as RPM increases slightly, it goes into 2 Cylinder mode.

On the other hand, cruising at 90 in 3rd gear, again, does not activate the ACT but doing so in 5th activates the ACT. I usually take the car to 80-90 in 3rd, and then shift directly to 6th to activate ACT. This observation is for MT.

Regards

[tsi_niks1989]

Originally Posted by prashantsoni23

Hi T-BHPians,

I am getting weird sound from the engine/transmission, as if there is a nut/bolt that's lose. The sound is similar to a metal piece put inside another metal enclosure (e.g. coin in washing machine). It often comes while accelerating the car in a speed range of 20 to 40kmph, and the sound disappears after a constant acceleration.

Thanks!

It is normal in a DQ200 DSG, comes in all cars in that speed. Don't worry .

[anubhav3110]

Virtus GT EDGE MT: Ownership review and tryst with service

After a long persistent itch to own a TSI, I finally booked VW Virtus GT EDGE edition (MT - as I wanted that; Black - for rest of the family).
The car was booked at KUN VW, OMR, Chennai in July 2023 and after a wait of ~3 months, was delivered in Oct 2023.

A bit of background (mine and search for new car):
I love spending time with the vehicles - cars as well as motorcycles. Over last one and half decade, have worked with Auto OEs and consulting firms to learn more about the Industry. The work has taken me to almost all major cities (Pune, NCR, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai) and now for last 2 years have found my peace at Chennai.

So far we sailed through one Baleno (2017), a Thunderbird (2015 - itching for an upgrade here as well) and custody of a 2002 Bullet 350.

Given the rising dust levels (ongoing construction in Chennai) and of course - the itch to add a new car to the Garage, I started exploring the options.

Search for new car

It was simply head vs heart for us. Last time the head won, when we took Baleno over Polo GT TSI. I was not sure about prospects of having a VW as a single car in the household and thus went for bullet proof reliability (in the budget of course).
The Baleno has served us well and took us to multiple long trips across KA, KL, TN, AP, TS, GA, MH, GJ, MP clocking almost 60k kms since end of 2017.
Even now - notwithstanding the build quality, rattles - it runs flawlessly.

But the heart was yearning for its comeback, and we started looking for a new car. Virtus managed to win the close contest with New Verna (very close), Seltos, Grand Vitara.
I didn't consider Slavia, Creta and Hyryder as we have them in the family.
Taigun and Kushaq were ruled out based on boot space on offer (we travel with kid - so more the merrier).

Ownership experience for first 2k kms:
Must say the car stands out from the rest and in the Black color it looks quite differentiated. I got the ceramic coating done as wanted to preserve the looks and PPF was out of budget.


Since the day I got the car - the runs to Mahabalipuram & ECR have become more frequent and we enjoyed every bit of it.
I took the car to Bangalore and Chikaballapur with full family load, and was positively surprised with the road manners at highway speeds.

The factors which stood out are - High speed stability, Good grunt from engine from 1,500 rpm, Space, Road presence, Decent ride quality (Post breakfast backseat test - passed), good music system (subwoofer and amplifier), and ventilated seats ) noisy though.

There are rough edges which are already highlighted on this forum - Suspension makes noise over bumps, Interior plastic quality, sub-par Rear view camera and lack of a few features (front park sensors etc.)

One big miss which I feel is the lack of UV cut glasses.
The Baleno has it, but a car which is twice as expensive and premium doesn't. Despite understanding the laws of the land, have installed 70% VLT films on the glasses (Moto Hunger Brand).
Cops will catch one day, Mr. Sun will do it everyday.

An abrupt end to Honeymoon
So the honeymoon period with was going well, till the time I have to travel out for a week leaving the car in Basement. Dec 7 2023, I parked the car after returning from office in the evening. Dec 18 2023, I checked the car in morning again.

One heartless Mr. Rat got into the bonnet - leaving all other cars in the vicinity - and decided to chew and chew more.

When I got back the car started with EPS and Check engine light on
I opened the bonnet to check and found the remnants of the feast that son of a rat had. While, major wires seem intact, the cover across battery was almost gone. I tried to take car out of parking to podium (sensing a need for Tow) and reversed it. But engine died and didn't started afterwards.



That's when the ghost of infamous After Sales & Service shown its first sight. Called RSA for a tow and explained that battery and other systems are working. But who am I to judge, they sent a battery technician with jump start cables !!
Nevertheless, he tried and checked the battery and thus a check box was completed. Since then, for last 4 days (Dec 18-22) I am playing tiki taka with RSA, Service center, Service center head, and CRM while the car is standing as is with no sight of the tow truck.

There is a Catch 22 situation though --
1. The RSA (Europ Assistance) asks for 24 hours everyday and then doesn't respond. Further they also said - they don't have tow trucks and can't pick-up vehicle from basement.
2. The service center (KUN VW) is unable to send a technician to repair the vehicle so that it can be driven to the service center.
3. Clearly, I am not a Baahubali who can pull the car from Basement 2 to podium. Heck I can't even push my Enfields up the basement.

So I am following up and keeping an eye out for growing wildlife in the car.


Still waiting to hear from RSA or service center on the way forward.
But one thing amused me (negatively) that I have to coordinate between RSA, service center and VW CRM. Shouldn't VW had one to one interface with customers for all the queries?

Will keep the thread updated on how we get the Black Panther back on road. Any suggestions or leads or help on taking this forward are most welcome.

And apologies for being a silent spectator for a long time on Team bhp.

I must say - I have witnessed multiple vehicle breakdowns in past, this seems easiest but turned out to be worst.

1. A Maruti 800 (16 year old car): Ignition coil failed while driving from Nagpur to Jabalpur in rural MP. The mechanic from MASS, Chhindwara came and repaired the coil. Turn around time 6 hours.

2. Chain failure (Enfield) in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve (Wayanad to Bangalore). Mechanic rode from Mysore and fixed it (make-shift, but worked). Bike breakdown at 5:30 PM, we started riding back at 11PM in night (TAT in 6:30 hours).

3. Dzire in family - Infested by rats during COVID - as we have to leave it for a while. Climate control unit was non functional as well, seatbelts were bitten. Was fixed by MASS in rural MP, in 3 days.

I understand the reach limitations of VW vs. Maruti or RE, but we are in Chennai and there at-least VW has to match the service (adjusted for vols) as compared to other brands.

[tsi_niks1989]

I took a week off from work and planned a trip to Daman with the family. Pune to Daman is around 320KMs one way, roads are average at best till Mumbai and excellent after Vasai. Last 10 years in Gurgaon-Noida-G.Noida-Lucknow have spoiled me, love the expressways available to us in the region for cross state connectivity. Pune-Mumbai has been one of the oldest expressway India got and it has started showing its age now, lot of work going on for road widening along with the direct link to Lonavala slows down the traffic.

We started at 5:30AM from Kharadi, Pune and reached Daman at 11:30AM with couple of stops for breakfast and tea.

The GT is now 17200KMs young after 15 months and has been performing very well, that urge to take it out remains intact . Love the way it handles, the punch you get from the engine and comfortable too when you want to calm things a bit. Engine sounds sporty when you are in the mood and goes down to being extremely silent when cruising comfortably at 90 kmph.

Despite pathetic traffic and road conditions after entering Thane till Vasai, the efficiency was surprising 20.5 when we stopped for breakfast after crossing Vasai. Round trip mileage after taking a detour to Lonavala (Tiger Point) while returning came to 17.5 which is much better than what our Polo diesel used to give earlier. I don’t drive with a light foot so this mileage is above what I expected when I got the GT.

Regarding the car, I have not faced any issues in these 15 months, it drives the same as it was on day 1, people say mileage improves after first service, I don’t see any difference. It was good from first day. After Vasai, some good empty stretches helped me realize what a platform this is from VW, it remains so stable and connected to the road no matter what you throw at it. Engine never feels getting strained, brakes are superb and steering is precise.

No major updates done, just got the bonnet insulation from VW during the annual service and driver side window software update.

Adding some photos from the trip, we went to the Namo path which has been beautifully constructed .

Please note, I forgot to take a snap after completing the trip and the picture below with the mileage figure is after driving 20 more KMs within Pune after reaching back.

[anubhav3110]

Originally Posted by Bigzero

A quick update on my Virtus 1.5 MT:

This is still a developing story, will update once it finally gets resolved (hopefully soon).

Lesson learnt : Rat bites are not fun, time for some good rat repellents!

Hi Bigzero, I have fallen into the same trap. Can you please help me with an update from your situation? Was the repair covered under Insurance or Warranty?
How much time did it actually took for the repairs?

Thanks,
AB

[isotope729]

Originally Posted by CoconutCar

1.5 MT is a rare combination. Most 1.5s are DSGs.

About the clutch, the clutch is light and very comfortable for me. However, my reference point is 2009 Ford Fiesta Diesel on which I have driven many miles. It has a healthy clutch.

Still, overall, in comparison to other contemporary petrol cars I have driven, I do not think Virtus has a heavy clutch at all. Further, heaviness or lightness of clutch also depends upon maintenance of TD cars.

For me, it's about the clutch travel being too far. For reference, I had a Tata Manza before. I used to remind myself that I haven't fully depressed the clutch because the RPMs didn't drop down to idling level at traffic stops.

The clutch is smooth, but I dislike the long travel it has.

[CoconutCar]

Originally Posted by tsi_niks1989

I took a week off from work and planned a trip to Daman with the family.

That long term fuel efficiency of 17 km per litre...Must have taken lot of self control. After driving Virtus on highway, I can just feel the self restraint it takes.

My Virtus is 1200 k.m.+. It went for a 700+ k.m. business trip 2 days ago. Mine is new without 1st Swagat service. We managed 17-18 but only with restrain. When we drove like we wanted to, we got 12-13 kmpl. I hope it improves after service. Especially coming from a frugal Fiesta Diesel, I am not used to these figures.

Regards

Originally Posted by isotope729

but I dislike the long travel it has.

Yes, the clutch travel is definitely long.

[tsi_niks1989]

Originally Posted by CoconutCar

That long term fuel efficiency of 17 km per litre...Must have taken lot of self control. After driving Virtus on highway, I can just feel the self restraint it takes.

Pune to Mumbai road conditions are average at best, you won't find too many empty stretches to push within limits. I agree that it becomes difficult to stop the free flow of the 1.5 TSI, but even at speeds 110-120 the 2-cylinder mode gets activated which helps. If you are driving at a constant speed which might be between 110-120 the engine rewards you with a good efficiency .

[vividhavasthi]

Originally Posted by Vibhav-Van

Has anyone changed to BMC or K&N replacement filter on their 1.5 TSI? If so, please share your experience.

My previous car (Ecosport Diesel) had a BMC filter and it made a marked difference. I'm curious to try it out on my Slavia 1.5 now.

I changed mine, however I don't think it has made a significant difference that can be pinpointed! , I have also removed the snow grate from under the filter.