Team-BHP - Volkswagen Virtus Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayank4823 (Post 5898831)

Any reason for that ? I am in the same boat. Dent at the rear bumper and its bothering me. Since I own a Lava Blue, I think the paint quality wont be as good as the factory painted one. Is that true ?

Hi there. I have a Virtus GT Plus 1.5 DSG in Lava Blue. On the first check-up, service center staff dented the front right fender. They owned it up and painted it. Looks original. So, don't worry about that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supernova105 (Post 5904125)

Hey guys, has anyone taken delivery of their Virtus recently?
I wanted to know which tyres has the car come equipped with, since I had read on the forum that they should have been CEAT Tyres.

I wasn't present for the PDI for my Topline AT since it was in Thane, but as per my cousin and the PDI Engineer, the car comes shod with 4 Apollo Alnac tyres, and MRF Street for the spare tyre. The tyre health was around 85-87% and the PDI Engineer said that is the general figure for OEM tyres.

Has anyone's car come with these tyres, and are they comparable to the CEAT tyres that usually come with Virtus?

My Aug 24 GT Plus came with CEAT SercuraDrive and MRF as spare. My previous car (2016 Baleno) came with Apollo Alnac which I changed to Continental UC6 after 40k kms. Since then, I am a big fan of Continental UC6. They made my Baleno's ride better and were much quieter. This is due to the rubber compound hardness.

On my Virtus, I exchanged the stock CEAT SecuraDrives to Continental UC6 on the day of purchase and got about 3k discount against stock tyre, per tyre. If you can, then, do the same as ride is much better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgt.v8 (Post 5908932)

In my opinion Virtus sells more than Slavia due to one or more of following reasons
- Virtus has minimal timeless look as compared to Slavia.
- Infotainment unit is nicely integrated within dashboard as compared to floating infotainment in Slavia.
- Dealership and test drive experiences have been better. This is based on my experience in past 1 year after taking multiple test drives of both VW Virtus and Skoda Slavia from different dealerships. All VW salesperson were more knowledgeable and knew variant and features available as compared to Skoda SA.
- VW has better brand value in India as compared to Skoda even though Skoda has been in India for 2 decades now.
- After owning Polo for a decade I have seen more VW service centers as compared to Skoda.

Slightly disagree with you

Looks are subjective. Before finalizing my Slavia, I took a total of six test drives:

Two for the Virtus 1.0

One for the Virtus 1.5

One for the Slavia 1.5

Two for the Slavia 1.0

My experience at the Prabhadevi Volkswagen showroom in Mumbai was disappointing. The showroom was small, understaffed, and the sales representative lacked experience. He seemed casual in his approach, as if his sole purpose was to merely attend to customers.

In contrast, the Skoda showroom in Worli, Mumbai, offered a much better experience. The showroom was spacious, well-designed, and staffed by professionals in blazers. The representative assigned to me was highly experienced and came across as a skilled marketer.

Skoda has a broader product portfolio, with many models being made in India or sourced through CKD/CBU, compared to Volkswagen.

In India, the company operates under the name Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. This makes it clear that Skoda, the smaller brand within the VAG group, is leading the operations in the Indian market.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carhead (Post 5908913)

What is the reason for consistently higher sales of Virtus v/s Slavia?

TBHP Dec'24 sales thread shows:
Skoda has 1894 from 200 plus dealers
VW has 2257 from 180 dealers

It is all about how you launch a product, VW from beginning had the GT variants for the Virtus separating the 1L and 1.5 TSI engines. They looked similar but different with the blacked out elements. Also it definitely has helped VW, that a somewhat similar looking product like Polo existed for them earlier. They were able to market Virtus as a sporty yet elegant sedan which unlike their SUV (Taigun) was not short of dimensions compared to anything around.

Skoda on the other hand were late to launch a Monte Carlo Edition for the Slavia, on top of that both 1L and 1.5L had no differentiation at all. The 1.5L badge came at a later date which did not help as the Virtus had already taken the lead. Recently launched Sportline variants have helped Skoda regain some numbers on the Slavia.

Good thing, both the sedans together are having more than 50% market share in this segment despite having competition from Hyundai and Honda.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vw_greyghost (Post 5718314)

Horn Issue I'll attach a video showing how hard I need to press the horn for it to work on the right side, while the center and left sides works perfectly fine. While driving, I was not able to horn from right hand side for a couple of times and had a bit of scare due to it.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IJNbBh5W-00

I seem to have the same issue as mentioned by you :Frustrati
I can easily press the bottom or left side part of the horn and the horn sounds, but unfortunately when I press the right side with normal force and pressure, it doesn't sound, until I don't apply pressure higher than normal or press it 3-4 times.
How was it fixed for you?
I plan to get it shown during my 1st month/1000 km service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carhead (Post 5908913)

What is the reason for consistently higher sales of Virtus v/s Slavia?

TBHP Dec'24 sales thread shows:
Skoda has 1894 from 200 plus dealers
VW has 2257 from 180 dealers

Even dealer wise throughput is higher.

It's good that Virtus is leading the pack, but surprised why Verna is not topping the list. With more features (important in our Indian market) and slightly more power, along with much wider Hyundai service network, one would have thought Verna would be the segment leader.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supernova105 (Post 5909743)

Service center people fixed it. Although I had to visit 2 times for the same issue. :Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by geminivirtus (Post 5909778)

I think Verna loses out because of 2 factors:
1. Polarising front end : Quirky and probably wont age well imo. Given Hyundai’s record, this design would be probably undergo an overhaul in next facelift akin to Creta gen1 vs gen 2 vs gen 3.
2. Presence of a certain ‘Creta’ in the same showroom : Any potential Hyundai customer is bound to be attracted by Creta with higher stance and better GC, bigger road presence, equivalent features even if it comes with minor price increase, plus the option of diesel with Creta.

I am being told by the Service Center regarding my Virtus 1.0 AT that the discs and brake pads are worn out. Car has been driven for 21.5k kms so far and I recently noticed vibration in the steering wheel while braking at high speeds. My question to everyone is - Is it normal for discs to be worn out at 21.5k kms ? I know brake pads needs a change now but unsure if SC is taking me for a spin or they are correct ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayank4823 (Post 5911181)

update : They are saying both can work for another 3-4k kms but after that you need to change both.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayank4823 (Post 5911291)

update : They are saying both can work for another 3-4k kms but after that you need to change both.

I am not sure if discs are needed to be changed so early. On the brake pads, many on the forum have got it changed at 15k KMs as well so it depends on the way one drives and the driving conditions.

My GT is reaching 30k KMs and I am still on stock brake pads. Driving is 40-60 city-highway but the city drives are very hectic here in Pune so they could be nearing a change soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supernova105 (Post 5910911)

Was the steering assembly removed for this?
That will involve the airbag assembly as well I guess
Seems to be a time-taking fix, hope the service centre looks into it with care.

No, it was not that complicated. They fixed some spring which was inside the steering. Although I asked them to replace it, they did not. It took me just half a day to get it fixed.

I have been driving Virtus GTLine for quite some time now and have been struggling to pick up/cut calls while driving. :Frustrati

How do we pick up calls using the steering buttons? I feel VW has missed out on a basic/crucial button: a button to receive and cut calls. If I pick up a call using the "OK" button, I can't cut it. I need to use the infotainment screen to cut it, which causes me to lose my focus on the road. Am I missing out on something here? any suggestions on how to solve this problem?

I recently purchased Virtus 1.5 GT Sport model and have following observations:

1. Infotainment UI has changed and looks better.
2. Steering angle and few more data are now unlocked which are good
3. ECO signal which POP-UP when ACTIVE CYLINDER TECHNOLOGY (ACT)
is enabled, no more visible.
I checked with VW Noida technician and as per him all new 2025 VW cars won't show this. Hope same feedback given to other VW buyers.