[noopster]

Comfortline variant is long overdue on the Vento. It's astounding that VW don't launch one and instead launch all sorts of weird IPL and Breeze editions- basically trendlines with a lot of makeup!

There is only ONE trendline reviewed on T-BHP: that should give an idea of the trend.

[bala80]

While the missing chrome inserts were attributed to supply constraints, leather wrapping was simply omitted from list of features and was attributed to localization (Noopster clarified this twice on this thread through his source with VW). It's such a lame excuse to provide, isnt it? How come now the leather grip is back inspite of localization?

Truth is, VW decided to skimp on these features to reduce the costs (in the hindsight, plan to add it again in the post refresh vento to make it look like new added feature), they may get away quoting some clause or the other, but then to me that's not fair business practice.

Originally Posted by souravc

The leather wrapping and the missing chrome were an issue of supply constraint from local suppliers rather than skimping on import costs

I'm one of those poor soul's and as you rightly said I would have become a unofficial VW spokesperson, if they had gone that extra mile to retrofit these for me. Though these may not value much, but still I feel shortchanged for the money that I spent to buy the car.

P.S - Its very difficult to get the OEM hand stitched leather grip finish aftermarket. One the horn-pad becomes very hard to operate, even stanley found it very difficult and I had to settle for whatever fit and finish possible by them.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Some poor souls didn't get the chrome insert in the steering too right? And the steering wheel looks hideous in my opinion without the chrome insert. Plus those slight hints of chrome gel really well with the layout of the central dash I feel.

[technocratroy]

Originally Posted by souravc

My advice would be that please practice pumping of brakes rather than "standing" on brake , it would mimic ( to a large extent) what ABS does . Get that ingrained into your system, then you would not need to worry about the absence of ABS

Floor the pedal (Vento's torquey engine begs so often that its hard not to give in to the temptation) only when you have clear line of sight of at least 100 m .

Be aware of the surface and change your speed accordingly - slow down on roads whose surface is strewn with gravel, dry sand , pebbles , water , oil and also after a light shower.

You would do fine if you follow the above few simple steps - last but not the least concentrate on your driving, enjoy your machine and stop worrying about the absence of ABS.

On tyres , Yoko-C would be a step-up for sure from the OEM but since folks have mentioned the limitation that you face regarding the 14 inchers I would say give tyres like Michelin , Bridgestone or even the Apollos ( the silent ones only !) a shot too when you upgrade.

Alloys upgrade would be obscenely costly if you go for original alloys - VW charges 17K for each ! IMO its not worth it as you can achieve a compromise through a tyre upgrade . Either ways it would void certain warranties, why should you spend more than 50 grand more on one option to achieve similar results !
cheers

@souravc:I agree. I will have to be a little more cautious. Pumping the brakes is a good option when there is nothing that suddenly appears in front of the moving car,like in the case of high speed cornering when you expect it, but IMHO in an emergency braking situation, the involuntary reflexes would take over where one cannot pump the brakes. All we can do is hit the brakes hard to make the car stop! That invariably causes brakes to lock and the tyres start leaving their mark on the road causing an increase in the braking distance. I experienced the exact same thing just yesterday when I would have almost hit the rear bumper of a Swift . I guess VW and all other manufacturers who do not give ABS as a standard feature in C segment cars need to learn a thing or two from Honda.

I will look out for Michelins. Thanks. And regarding the alloys, I guess there is a talk on this thread that the price has reduced to 25k for a set of 4.

[nawabnabeel]

Guys, i booked a vento tdi tl breeze i.e. the limited edition version. It has a touchscreen headunit. Does anyone know how good it is? I opted for this offer instead of free insurance. Is it worth it? Also i want to go for 15inch alloys. Should i go for the oem ones or aftermarket?

[bala80]

There is feedback available on this forum on this HU, depends on what your expectations are. If you are not an audiophile i think this will suffice the need.

Do us a favour - There are talks of price cut on OEM alloys, if possible find it out for us and post it here. You wouldnt want to spend 80k on a set of 4 alloys when you can get it done 1/4th of the price after market, do you?

Originally Posted by nawabnabeel

Guys, i booked a vento tdi tl breeze i.e. the limited edition version. It has a touchscreen headunit. Does anyone know how good it is? I opted for this offer instead of free insurance. Is it worth it? Also i want to go for 15inch alloys. Should i go for the oem ones or aftermarket?

[technocratroy]

Originally Posted by nawabnabeel

Guys, i booked a vento tdi tl breeze i.e. the limited edition version. It has a touchscreen headunit. Does anyone know how good it is? I opted for this offer instead of free insurance. Is it worth it? Also i want to go for 15inch alloys. Should i go for the oem ones or aftermarket?

Hi nawabnabeel. Congrats on the booking.

Regarding the breeze edition, I did get an audition of this HU along with the stock speakers when I wanted to decide between the free insurance and the HU. It is a feature loaded HU with average speakers (I think the speakers are made by Kenwood though not very sure on this). As you might be aware, it has GPS, BT and the source can be Ipod, USB or memory card. Don't remember seeing a CD receiver though
IMO the sound quality on the stock speakers was average and would most probably need an upgrade if you are looking for quality sound. It also played some videos from my mobile phone memory card through the touch screen and it seemed pretty fine.
I am not too sure about the pre-outs in the HU, but I am assuming it should be there and come in handy if you are looking to connect an amp sub combo.Besides they are a perfect fit and complement the dash well, something you will find hard to match on an after-market 2-din HU without a very professional installation.

They quoted the price of the HU as 35k and my insurance came to 33k. I opted for the free insurance since I felt that with the same 33k I could go for better sounding speaker,amp and sub configuration but without an AV receiver. Also, I am a little bored these days at office, so gives me an opportunity to learn something about ICE before I decide on my own set-up . Trust me, the world of ICE can be addictive! The time of this post is a proof.

I have narrowed down to JVC816BT which is a 2-DIN CD receiver for the HU which costs around 12k with B&W. I am planning to go for front comps and rear co-axials with a 4 channel amp and 12" sub all of which would either be from Rockford Fosgate or Cerwin Vega starting range. Total would come close to 40k but. Personally, I did not want a touch screen HU and wasnt looking out for an AV receiver. I use my mobile phone GPS which is lifetime free and very user friendly with A-GPS. So the GPS to me wasn't a USP in that HU.

So, if you feel the DVD+GPS+BT+Touch screen combo is a must-have, then I would suggest going for the breeze edition.It is well worth the money. You can always upgrade to better speakers later on if you feel the need.

Slightly OT: If you go for the Breeze edition, you have an option to stay away from the Breeze stickering which IMHO steals a lot from the car's character in a negative way!

[souravc]

Originally Posted by nawabnabeel

Guys, i booked a vento tdi tl breeze i.e. the limited edition version. It has a touchscreen headunit. Does anyone know how good it is? I opted for this offer instead of free insurance. Is it worth it? Also i want to go for 15inch alloys. Should i go for the oem ones or aftermarket?

Originally Posted by technocratroy

They quoted the price of the HU as 35k and my insurance came to 33k. I opted for the free insurance since I felt that with the same 33k I could go for better sounding speaker,amp and sub configuration but without an AV receiver.

Its a Catch 22 situation . 33K for the insurance is daylight robbery since you can get the same ( zero dep, etc) for 10K less. On the other hand taking the free insurance and leaving out the HU allows you the flexibility to get a HU of your choice .
If you can negotiate for a cash discount , there's nothing like it.

[technocratroy]

Originally Posted by souravc

Its a Catch 22 situation . 33K for the insurance is daylight robbery since you can get the same ( zero dep, etc) for 10K less.

I heard the same thing mentioned by a lot of people. Are there any downsides of taking the insurance from outside? There were some posts from fellow bhpians that slightly indicated that the claims process is much simpler when the cashless insurance is taken from the dealer's guy since we would anyway be taking the car to the dealer in case of a damage. Insurance at the dealer = less questions asked/very few formalities in the unfortunate event of an accident. How true is this?

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by technocratroy

I heard the same thing mentioned by a lot of people. Are there any downsides of taking the insurance from outside? There were some posts from fellow bhpians that slightly indicated that the claims process is much simpler when the cashless insurance is taken from the dealer's guy since we would anyway be taking the car to the dealer in case of a damage. Insurance at the dealer = less questions asked/very few formalities in the unfortunate event of an accident. How true is this?

Only downside - no haggling with the dealer initially

All this hogwash of simpler process while claims is a story by dealers to pocket the ~10k margin on insurance. Most biggies like Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Lombard, HDFC Ergo would anyway have a cashless tieup with the same dealer's workshop, if you have a doubt call up the insurance company directly and ask them for cashless tie up with VW in your city. Formalities would be the same in case of any claim - call up the insurance helpline and tell them to send the surveyor to the workshop, drop the car at workshop, land up at the garage after the work is done and pay up the applicable charges which the insurance hasnt paid.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by technocratroy

I heard the same thing mentioned by a lot of people. Are there any downsides of taking the insurance from outside? There were some posts from fellow bhpians that slightly indicated that the claims process is much simpler when the cashless insurance is taken from the dealer's guy since we would anyway be taking the car to the dealer in case of a damage. Insurance at the dealer = less questions asked/very few formalities in the unfortunate event of an accident. How true is this?

There is no downside of taking insurance from outside . In fact the same insurance company will be quoting much lower if you take from outside as compared to the showroom . Whether cashless facility is there or not depends on the insurance company and the service centre that you are using for repairs, etc - it does not depend from which agent ( in this case the showroom) you are taking from .
Please understand that the guys who are selling you the car ( and the insurance) would care two hoots about you when you are getting your car repaired ( if you need to ) since these would be 2 diff guys with their own targets so buy your insurance from outside and save your money ! Grit your teeth and negotiate with them for a cash discount - threaten them with cancellation otherwise . Diwali is over so they better listen to you , always try to stretch your negotiation to 3rd or 4th week of the month and remember not to make full payment till you are finished with your negotiations.

[nawabnabeel]

Originally Posted by technocratroy

Hi nawabnabeel. Congrats on the booking.

Regarding the breeze edition, I did get an audition of this HU along with the stock speakers when I wanted to decide between the free insurance and the HU. It is a feature loaded HU with average speakers (I think the speakers are made by Kenwood though not very sure on this). As you might be aware, it has GPS, BT and the source can be Ipod, USB or memory card. Don't remember seeing a CD receiver though
IMO the sound quality on the stock speakers was average and would most probably need an upgrade if you are looking for quality sound. It also played some videos from my mobile phone memory card through the touch screen and it seemed pretty fine.
I am not too sure about the pre-outs in the HU, but I am assuming it should be there and come in handy if you are looking to connect an amp sub combo.Besides they are a perfect fit and complement the dash well, something you will find hard to match on an after-market 2-din HU without a very professional installation.

They quoted the price of the HU as 35k and my insurance came to 33k. I opted for the free insurance since I felt that with the same 33k I could go for better sounding speaker,amp and sub configuration but without an AV receiver. Also, I am a little bored these days at office, so gives me an opportunity to learn something about ICE before I decide on my own set-up . Trust me, the world of ICE can be addictive! The time of this post is a proof.

I have narrowed down to JVC816BT which is a 2-DIN CD receiver for the HU which costs around 12k with B&W. I am planning to go for front comps and rear co-axials with a 4 channel amp and 12" sub all of which would either be from Rockford Fosgate or Cerwin Vega starting range. Total would come close to 40k but. Personally, I did not want a touch screen HU and wasnt looking out for an AV receiver. I use my mobile phone GPS which is lifetime free and very user friendly with A-GPS. So the GPS to me wasn't a USP in that HU.

So, if you feel the DVD+GPS+BT+Touch screen combo is a must-have, then I would suggest going for the breeze edition.It is well worth the money. You can always upgrade to better speakers later on if you feel the need.

Slightly OT: If you go for the Breeze edition, you have an option to stay away from the Breeze stickering which IMHO steals a lot from the car's character in a negative way!

I have already booked the breeze version and i think i'll stick with it. i'll make sure to get the stickers removed. Any suggestions regarding alloys?

[technocratroy]

Originally Posted by nawabnabeel

I have already booked the breeze version and i think i'll stick with it. i'll make sure to get the stickers removed. Any suggestions regarding alloys?

The breeze edition is just an add-on at the dealer. The Vento TL Petrol and TDIs get transported to the dealer from Pune and the HU, Speakers and stickers are done at the dealer. You can tell before hand to the dealer not to paste the breeze stickers which is always better than removing them after they've done the job.

For the alloys, I leave it to the gurus here to answer as I do not have much idea. Yesterday I was at the dealer but somehow missed asking the stock alloy price. You can ring up your dealer and enquire about the stock alloys and pricing. 25k for a set of 4 factory fitted alloys is a steal IMO, especially if you factor in the fact that those were retailing 4 times the currently debated price just before a month

Also, the breeze ed. esp the petrol versions were introduced in order to clear the stock as the TL version did not sell as well as the HL. So before they do a registration of your vehicle, kindly make sure you do a PDI yourself and specifically look out for the VIN in the windshield to know the month and year of manufacturing. How to decode it is given here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying...cture-vin.html Yesterday I happened to see an unsold petrol TL variant with Breeze stickers that had a date of October 2010

[sumeshmani]

marvelous review, thanks GTO.
would you recommend vento as a 5 seater?

[bala80]

@nawabnabeel - Please do us another favour, when you are getting the music system done, please check if it has pre-out's (how many) for expansion. Is this the same unit as in the IPL edition? Who is the OEM manufacturer and model number of this unit please.

Thanks.

[nawabnabeel]

Originally Posted by bala80

@nawabnabeel - Please do us another favour, when you are getting the music system done, please check if it has pre-out's (how many) for expansion. Is this the same unit as in the IPL edition? Who is the OEM manufacturer and model number of this unit please.

Thanks.

Sure. I will let you know all the details of the head unit. I cant comment on it right now as i have not seen in person.
This is the hu