[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by souravc

Just imagining the situation I am almost tempted to ask (though I know its wrong) , why didn't you speed up and ram that idiotic Verna real hard so that he would not have been able to drive off and financially at least he would have been setback quite a bit .

Sourav I think SR71 mentioned it was an Accent and not a Verna. Given the extent of the damage on the Vento I don't think the Accent got away without any damage. Specially at speeds of 40-50 KMPH I would doubt the Accent can escape scratch-less a rear ending like that from the Vento which is pretty solidly built. The other driver was totally sloshed I guess and the only thing that struck him is if the cops get involved his own rear end would be in big trouble.

In situations like this the only thing that comes to one's mind is how to minimize the damage to your own self and take as much evasive action as possible. But as citizens we should ensure that we can find legal recourse for such reckless acts and I sincerely hope SR71 can find some way to locate and have this guy penalized in a strong sort of a way.

[khoj]

For ascending the flat bed's ramp, the vehicle's front wheels are placed in a jig and then the car is pulled up with a mechanism integral to the flat bed.

It is better to move the vehicle on a flat bed as this isolates the vehicle (with broken components et all) from the surrounding traffic / roads direct impact etc. which may cause further damage or aggravate the existing one.

Originally Posted by nileshch

I am wondering if an actual flat-bed truck would have helped in your case. Was the car in a state to be driven up the flatbed ramp? Wouldn't towing be the only option? I have not seen flatbeds in action so excuse me if I am thinking wrong fundamentally.

[SR-71]

Thank you for all the feedback guys - I really would like individually address all the posts like i regularly do but unfortunately am struck in a situation where I cant do things the regular way.

I have initiated the process of cross checking the toll booth for the car. It should be a positive outcome unless the moron took one of the by lanes into the towns. The diagram is just an rough description of an roughly "S" stunt he did darting in and out of the lanes - Only god knows what he was trying. It was all over under a span of few seconds

@souravc - LOL - looks like an interesting proposition for people behind an truck or a road roller or an Hummer H1.

BTW quoting a the engine bay picture from the first page of this post - I wasnt able to open the bonnet and dint try either in the fear of damaging things. So from whatever I could see from the gap the washer fluid system was the only one was damaged fully (marked in green) in addition to the radiator. What is the thing that is marked in red ? My guess its the oil filter. It seem slightly shifted but i could be imagining things. Other than this everything else seemed to be OK.

Anyway once I get an update, I will keep you guys posted. I can only wish that I get the car in "almost" the same condition as it was before the accident; Not just cosmetically but functionally.

[bottle]

@SR-71, really sorry to hear about your accident. Do keep us updated on the service experience. I damaged my Polo's bumper today (quite stupid way) and will be getting the body work done at Sundaram and will post updates on how that goes too. For now I'm a bit nervous since they say their body shop is booked for next 2 weeks and can't take on new customers but I guess as a friend said its good that they are not haphazardly taking on new cars and are ahering to their schedules instead.

I just read all your posts here and was wondering how come you still haven't started an ownership experience thread yet

[bala80]

Unfortunate, but glad to note the occupants were safe.

- Do you need to file a police complaint when none of the occupants/road users are injured? I have claimed insurance for accidental repairs without any complaints. Ofcouse, when someone is injured, it is mandatory and I have been through that situation too.
- Why did you even bother calling abra motors? You could have called the VW 1-800 helpline, they will ask for your VIN number, vehicle registration number and they will take care of patching your call with the appropriate technicians. Thats what they did to me, and they were quite prompt in getting a person on the line to speak with you. Its a different story that they quoted around 4 hours to attend to my car but I can attribute that to the sparse network they have.
- The HL cluster, right fender, all have taken the impact. The front bumper looks intact and that is the reason the airbag didnt deploy. If I remember right, the airbag sensors are located somewhere towards the middle of the front bumper.
- I'm not too optimistic about getting the car back to shape with 3 weeks time. I have always expressed my apprehension about how soon VW can handle accidental damages, and your case will answer it for me. When it does it will be as good as before. VW needs to ensure that, so dont worry. You may not have to pay close to 50k, the initial estimates are always a little over optimistic, and I would estimate charges around 20-25k.

Lets hope for the best.

Originally Posted by SR-71

Anyway once I get an update, I will keep you guys posted. I can only wish that I get the car in "almost" the same condition as it was before the accident; Not just cosmetically but functionally.

[magikrider]

can the vento touchscreen HU available on Breeze model be fitted on the Highline model? in exchange ofcourse.

also how is the music system currently available on the Highline variant and how does it compare it to the one which was available to the earlier pre-update highline music system. I am asking this as my friend was telling me that the vento music system is not good at all. he had tested it in 2010 highline variant. so i guess its the old unit.

and last but not the least... how does the pete'd vento work? couldn't find any user experience here so.. and does installing a pete's box or similar tuning box decrease the engine's life and does it always throw black smoke as read somewhere on some thread that diesel tuning box usually produce lot of black smoke, which is the biggest minus point and also would be quite embarrasing. but the power output of 130 bhp and 320 nm of torque, which is what supposedly what pete's box produce, is really tempting.

am sorry if these questions are asked hundreds of times before.. but I couldn't find them anywhere. am looking forward to buy a sedan in couple of months time (mostly in march) and at present in two minds between the vento and city mostly. these are the top contenders at present. the others are the fiesta and the Laura tsi, though thats a different story.

hope someone can guide me and clear my doubts mentioned above. it will be really appreciated.

[el lobo 6061]

SR-71 it is very sad to hear what has happened to your Vento. Its good to know no one was injured and only car took the full damage. Wishing this memory gets erased soon and you have your car back sooner than later like new.
Try to ask the VW workshop if by chance they could provide you a spare car till your car is repaired.

"An eye for an eye makes the world blind" - Mahatma Gandhi.

Things like this happen in fraction of second and to take evasive action is very difficult. Its better to get out with minimal damage rather than risk taking physical action and risk getting more damage to both the parties.
Our roads are filled up with morons who drive like there is no tomorrow and have no families at home. The accent guy is of this category.
When you are with family it makes no sense getting physical, abusing and end up with from where you started.
If the other party understands their fault and is apologetic and accepts their fault and pay for the damages, that the right person.

SR-71 you did the right thing by not going guns blazing for that moron and that too he was drunk, you may never know what more problem he may cause for you and the family.

People on the roads have become so aggressive these days and always ready for some road rage.

Two incident happened today with me.

• I had gone pick my younger brother from Bandra Terminus as he had return from an industrial visit. I'm sitting in my car and drunkyard is moving left right like pendulum comes and bangs into the rhs outside mirror. The mirror moves out, nothing more. For once I thought to give that drunkyard a peice of my mind, but better sense prevailed. I knew not a single word is going to in his mind as he is out of his senses. Rolled down the window and pushed the mirror back into its place. No damage and no risk of getting furthur damage from that idiot.
• Today in evening while going towards Palm Beach from SIES Nerul at the circle, a person on his scooty with his son by mistake touches the rear of a bike, no damage whatsoever. The biker starts yelling and person on the scooter goes a bit ahead and stops. Next second the biker comes from from rear and bangs into the scooty go give a tit for tat. I was like what is the sense of doing when the person on scooty didn't cause any damage and is apologetic what take such drastic action.

These days we need to drive defensively no matter what.

On a side note, bought Windscreen Fluid Concentrate from VW. Wrote about it in my ownership thread, do have a go through.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by bala80

Unfortunate, but glad to note the occupants were safe.

- Do you need to file a police complaint when none of the occupants/road users are injured? I have claimed insurance for accidental repairs without any complaints. Ofcouse, when someone is injured, it is mandatory and I have been through that situation too.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I believe it depends on the situation & "story" you give to the insurance company. In his case, chances would have been high the insurance guys would have cried foul if he hadn't filed a police report.

Originally Posted by magikrider

can the vento touchscreen HU available on Breeze model be fitted on the Highline model? in exchange ofcourse.

also how is the music system currently available on the Highline variant and how does it compare it to the one which was available to the earlier pre-update highline music system. I am asking this as my friend was telling me that the vento music system is not good at all. he had tested it in 2010 highline variant. so i guess its the old unit.

@magikrider,
Most dealers do provide you the option to switch to the touchscreen HU model, but would be reluctant to do so (initially), so you'll have to push the case while booking the car itself. Also you'll be probably paying almost the entire cost (close to 30-35k) of the touchscreen HU and would get a miserly price for the highline music system. On a parallel note, check up with outside vendors on what price they'll give for it, also you might get alternate options for the touchscreen HU.

The music system on the refreshed Vento is pretty decent; unfortunately it doesn't have pre-outs I believe. However the speakers are where you'll find the need to improvise if you are an audio buff. The current set are do-able.

Don't really have clarity on the Pete's box, however you can check up with @Monaro CV8 (Pete'd Octavia) & @scofield (Pete'd Punto) for feedback on their cars.

Btw how come you have a combination of the Petrol City & Diesel Vento in your final list?

[Abhinav.Daos]

@SR I have been in a situation like yours and my experience was very different, I called the VW roadside assistance and they sent a flatbed within 2 hours (within the city), they removed my car from above a tree trunk and dropped it off at the service station. I was initially quoted 80,000 as the repair bill with 40k being my contribution but it was later brought down to 38 k with 8k being my contribution. My car was delivered within a week, with radiator AC Condenser being the major replacements. Overall the experience was very good with VW, they even offered a cab and replacement car.

BTW you are lucky that the airbags didn't go off as then you'd have to replace both of them + Steering and dashboard and your bill would have been around 3lakh with 1.5 being your liability.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

If the other party understands their fault and is apologetic and accepts their fault and pay for the damages, that the right person.

Even that doesn't help sometimes, once on a 4 way crossing a scooter cut me out and stopped in the middle of the road (waiting for traffic on the other lane to pass) I hit him at speed of less than 5kmph since I was looking for an address and didn't expect a scooter to stop right in front of me. Even though if was his fault too I could have avoided it by being more careful so I apologized and picked up his scooter, but he started shouting and hitting my car when there wasn't a single scratch on his scooter. I was alone and was in half a mind to follow him to less crowded place and give a piece of my mind, but was getting late for an interview so decided otherwise.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by magikrider

can the vento touchscreen HU available on Breeze model be fitted on the Highline model? in exchange ofcourse.

also how is the music system currently available on the Highline variant and how does it compare it to the one which was available to the earlier pre-update highline music system. I am asking this as my friend was telling me that the vento music system is not good at all. he had tested it in 2010 highline variant. so i guess its the old unit.

Since you are from Mumbai, check out TBHP member anilkalvani's ownership thread on the Vento. I believe he too has a highline and his dealer VW West offered him a very good deal on the Blaupunkt New York 800 HU which comes integrated with MMI. You will find his feedback and some pictures on the HU in his ownership thread.

[bala80]

As far as I know, in terms of SQ, both are equally good/bad. In my books they are bad. The new one just adds a better user interface, few missing features like USB,parking display etc.

Tuning box for the vento, has it become available? The last I heard they have been testing it and there are numerous feedback on the forum about the usage of tuning boxes. There are people who are for and against it. The car may smoke more, but that would be under acceleration I beleive. If you are not going to retain and run the car for more than a lakh of km's, then may be you can get a tuning box installed after an year or so after your initial ownership. For all that you know, you may not really feel the need for it after owning it for a while!

Originally Posted by magikrider

also how is the music system currently available on the Highline variant and how does it compare it to the one which was available to the earlier pre-update highline music system.

and last but not the least... how does the pete'd vento work?

That's the grey area, I would be intrested to know what the CMVR says. My understanding is if there is no injury/legal issues, then your comprehensive insurance should cover it and you wouldn't need a police report. When my scorp was involved in a major crash 5 years back, I had to file a police complaint since all the occupants were seriously injured (car turned turtle), however for a damage to my colleague's accent when rear ended by a lorry, I didnt log any. In both situations, I had the claims covered by the insurance company without any hassles.

May be SR-71 can throw some more light since his wife is well versed with legal formalities. The whole idea of going along with VW preferred insurance provider is to provide cashless claim facility and minimise documentation and paperwork, isnt it? Trust me, the experience in the police station can be more tormenting than the accident itself. I still remember the day when they made me run from the pillar to post, when my entire family was struggling for its life in the ICU.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I believe it depends on the situation & "story" you give to the insurance company. In his case, chances would have been high the insurance guys would have cried foul if he hadn't filed a police report.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by bala80

That's the grey area, I would be intrested to know what the CMVR says. My understanding is if there is no injury/legal issues, then your comprehensive insurance should cover it and you wouldn't need a police report. When my scorp was involved in a major crash 5 years back, I had to file a police complaint since all the occupants were seriously injured (car turned turtle), however for a damage to my colleague's accent when rear ended by a lorry, I didnt log any. In both situations, I had the claims covered by the insurance company without any hassles.

May be SR-71 can throw some more light since his wife is well versed with legal formalities. The whole idea of going along with VW preferred insurance provider is to provide cashless claim facility and minimise documentation and paperwork, isnt it? Trust me, the experience in the police station can be more tormenting than the accident itself. I still remember the day when they made me run from the pillar to post, when my entire family was struggling for its life in the ICU.

If no police complaint is filed , the insurance guy takes it as a hit and run case when the occupants were not there - as Ninja said , its the story that one spins . Cashless is dependent on the arrangement of the particular workshop with the insurance company - I think most well known brands like Lombard, bajaj, Tata AIG , etc there should not be any issue with cashless facility .Anyways I guess this thread is veering OT given that this Vento official thread, I would request SR-71 to open a separate thread where he can post about developments and we can pool in our comments

[President]

While we are on the topic of discussing the VENTO and since I own a VENTO A/T Petrol, which has clocked 11K kms, I thought of sharing the fuel efficiency of the car.

The car returned a mileage of 16.4 kms/litre on a highway trip to Udvada - Gujarat and back (return 360 kms) from Tank full to Tank full. The car was driven with a light foot all the way between 80-100 kmph speeds mostly in Drive mode (except for a few short bursts im Manual and Sports to experience the Triptronic function). AC was used for 25% on the trip.

I am really happy with the figures and would request other VENTO owners to share the mileage of their VENTOs as well to re-confirm the same.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by President

While we are on the topic of discussing the VENTO and since I own a VENTO A/T Petrol, which has clocked 11K kms, I thought of sharing the fuel efficiency of the car.

The car returned a mileage of 16.4 kms/litre on a highway trip to Udvada - Gujarat and back (return 360 kms) from Tank full to Tank full. The car was driven with a light foot all the way between 80-100 kmph speeds mostly in Drive mode (except for a few short bursts im Manual and Sports to experience the Triptronic function). AC was used for 25% on the trip.

I am really happy with the figures and would request other VENTO owners to share the mileage of their VENTOs as well to re-confirm the same.

Thats a great tank full to tank full FE for an AT - I have been close during a recent trip to Goa with 100% AC but mine is a TDi manual !!! That FE with a left foot on holiday is fantastic . Noopster also achieved some fantastic FE on a highway run (18-19 I think) though I am not sure whether it was a tank full to tank full

[magikrider]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

The music system on the refreshed Vento is pretty decent; unfortunately it doesn't have pre-outs I believe. However the speakers are where you'll find the need to improvise if you are an audio buff. The current set are do-able.

Btw how come you have a combination of the Petrol City & Diesel Vento in your final list?

Please pardon my ignorance but what are the pre-outs for? Are they required for the amplifier? You mentioned about improvising on the speakers but with the same HU and no amps I think we have to install speakers matching the watts of the HU isn't it? And I doubt that its any good for higher wattage quality speakers.

I have not yet made up my mind whether to go for the diesel vento or petrol city yet. Wish to buy a AT and city is the best AT car available in this segment. But again the mind says go for the vento going by the current fuel price and the possibility of an increase in every few months. So let's see. Haven't tried a vento yet though.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Since you are from Mumbai, check out TBHP member anilkalvani's ownership thread on the Vento. I believe he too has a highline and his dealer VW West offered him a very good deal on the Blaupunkt New York 800 HU which comes integrated with MMI. You will find his feedback and some pictures on the HU in his ownership thread.

Checked out anilkalvani's thread. Also inquired with the VW guys but was told that changing the HU will result in loosing the steering mounted controls as they won't work with the new system. The sales guy even said that infact any car with steering mounted controls will loose its functionality if the HU is changed. How far is that true?