[GTO]

Originally Posted by AirWind

At this price point, highline competes with Optra Magnum LT, not sure how it stacks up otherwise (drive, comfort, others)?

The Magnum top-end diesel costs 1.25 lakhs more than the Vento highline diesel. Though the Chevy is still a competent car, it feels very old & outdated now. Ideally, Chevy should have completely replaced the Optra with the Cruze.

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

Does POLO has the Gear change recommendations?

I believe the Polo Highline does too.

Originally Posted by ASTRIKX

Purely & blindly based on your review, I've booked a Highline Diesel Vento (White).

I value the trust, yet will insist that no one books cars based on my reviews. Only you can decide on your comfort level / personal preferences / turnoffs with any particular car. Please test-drive the car yourself before plonking that deposit on the table.

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

In a review I read in Overdrive, I saw a usb/aux extension being terminated inside the Glove-box.

Our test cars didn't sport any provision for USB / AUX audio inputs. Neither does the VW official website / brochure make any mention of the same.

Originally Posted by SPARKled

@GTO: You said in your review that the AC had to be on full blast to cool the rear. Was this in spite of the rear cooling vents working at full blast?

The blower was on position 3. As I mentioned in my review, the generous greenhouse at the back, and the fact that it was a hot afternoon, were contributors too. Recommendation = Get sunfilm.

Also how bad is the hump on the floor at the rear with respect to a third person sitting in the middle.

Please refer to my review.

[diptimanraje]

customer care from vw as well as area manager from western region called today & confirmed that the first lot of cars will be dispatched on the 5 th. of September & my car is in that lot.

they informed me that I should get the car by 9/9/2010.

excellent customer care. I hope a.s.s. is as good.

thank you once again G.T.O for an excellent review.

[kiran_v]

Wonderful review, GTO.
Am sure this will help a lot of people while thinking about getting a Sedan.

I was wondering, whether we can get the EORVM from vento fitted in polo...Would have been very useful while running in heavy traffic in bangalore. You would not have to reach the passenger side ORVM, which is very annoying...

[sidindica]

I hope that you are all aware that the vento trendline is also available in black and silver, but at 12,000 extra approx to red and white. Highline comes in all six colours at same prices.

[Veels n Rhodes]

Originally Posted by sidindica

I hope that you are all aware that the vento trendline is also available in black and silver, but at 12,000 extra approx to red and white. Highline comes in all six colours at same prices.

Sid - Is this option available for POLO too ? Then we would have lot of choices for Polo Trendline

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by diptimanraje

customer care from vw as well as area manager from western region called today & confirmed that the first lot of cars will be dispatched on the 5 th. of September & my car is in that lot.

they informed me that I should get the car by 9/9/2010.

excellent customer care. I hope a.s.s. is as good.

thank you once again G.T.O for an excellent review.

Great you got a response, in my case all 3 dealerships in Mumbai / Navi Mumbai have my number and promises of call, nothing materialised as yet. Guess these guys are too busy.

[automaticfan]

OTR price for Highline Automatic Vento is 11.16L in Bangalore. Car will be delivered only in November 1st or 2nd week. Booking amt is 75k.

[v.anand]

Very nice review GTO, I am sure the diesel Vento would pick sales from Jetta and Laura diesel sales. The features on highline match and betters in some areas of basic versions of the next segment German twins which offers acres of space inside and borrows some of the switches and plastics from them. Was reading Car India August issue where they have mentioned the platform is a combination of current Polo and previous Golf and the body panels like front fenders, doors, etc., which though look the same as Polo are entirely different, sizes are bigger to make the car more proportionate in dimensions. That was a surprise to me, wonder why they made it look similar to Polo in that case rather than taking the Honda and Fiat route with different looking City & Jazz and Linea & Punto. Diesel Polo is all set to be the segment leader and the car to beat for other manufacturers.

[naveen.raju]

Me too. No calls till now. I even booked the car by last week of july still no luck. Hope to receive the car by mid sept. (fingers crossed)

[C300]

diptiman, what is the on road cost of Vento Diesel in pune?

[diptimanraje]

highline 1.6 diesel = 10.07 lacs. on road price outside octroi limits.

[acidkill]

Volkswagen plans Russian tyres for its vento?

Nizhnekamskshina Tyres OE on New Volkswagen India Model

Nizhnekamskshina, whatzizname?!

I for one, protest VW's string of pettyness for a 9-10 Lakh rupee car,

I see that volkswagen is indeed undercutting its premium image in several areas like the audio system, the power window switches, the locking mechanism and now the tyres...

[naveen.raju]

An unofficial news. Vento will start deliveries only in Nov.! Is this true? Well, I dont think so but I have been hearing this.

[crackingride]

Originally Posted by acidkill

Volkswagen plans Russian tyres for its vento?

Nizhnekamskshina Tyres OE on New Volkswagen India Model

Nizhnekamskshina, whatzizname?!

I for one, protest VW's string of pettyness for a 9-10 Lakh rupee car,

I see that volkswagen is indeed undercutting its premium image in several areas like the audio system, the power window switches, the locking mechanism and now the tyres...

Get used to it.
There are two kinds of VW.

One is for Europe (and those countries managing with direct imports~ Singapore, Malaysia, et al)
The rest is for the world.

Actually, make that three kinds. One more for the USA and China.
The rest for India, Brazil, Russia.

Take for example, the new Jetta which is primarily targetted at the USA. The Euro spec will differ and hasnt broken cover. WE might get an even cheaper USA spec. (rear drum brakes, fewer airbags, manual AC controls and generally less compared to the current generation, especially the latest version here in India with the touchscreen audio and steering controls etc.)

After harping on the Vento being designed 'exclusively' for India, even though they released the same thing ( with steering mounted audio controls!) in Russia before the India launch, its nice to hear that we are being offered a new "indian" tyre now! Makes my heart burst with patriotic pride.

We know what happened to the Polo. Made in India and downgraded in India.

I think we are seeing the last of the well specced likes of the Jetta and Laura TSI. Going forward, we will be getting cheap stuff that we can "brag" about when compared to the Hondas and Toyotas, without half the features! A look at the superlatives being dished out by newbie car (read Polo) owners in other threads will give you an idea of how that works really well here.

If the new Jetta in the US is going to come with a 1.4 TSI, and our Laura is already with a 1.8 TSI, when the Jetta comes here, I'm sure the Laura will get a smaller engine.

So, again, who cares? Russian, Indian, Chinese, American?? Anything but truly German.

I'm disgusted with VW's attitude, but that's how they plan to become number 1. It seems to me to be more a Nokia than an Apple strategy. High volumes, but poor margins. We know who is the more profitable company now, even with sales 1/13th (!!) of the other!!

At this rate, we are getting cut rate VW's and the Skoda's are being forced to de-content even more!!! There soon wont be a case for Skoda being a thinking man's VW anymore! The VW itself is a poor man's VW now.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by crackingride

Get used to it.
There are two kinds of VW.
...............

I'm disgusted with VW's attitude, but that's how they plan to become number 1. It seems to me to be more a Nokia than an Apple strategy. High volumes, but poor margins. We know who is the more profitable company now, even with sales 1/13th (!!) of the other!!

At this rate, we are getting cut rate VW's and the Skoda's are being forced to de-content even more!!! There soon wont be a case for Skoda being a thinking man's VW anymore! The VW itself is a poor man's VW now.

I quite enjoyed reading your post. There are things I don't agree with, but overall it made for a good read. Let's see if we can discuss along these lines and make this constructive. Let me start with the things or points that may be contrary to your opinion:

a. I believe that the market dictates the car. Look at the Honda City(OHC), it was the car that everyone aspired for , because they wanted a Honda (many generations of Accords and Civic imports made Honda a prestigious brand). It didn't matter that the City was actually a car sold in Thailand and among the cheapest that Honda made. The rest is history.
Now VW is no Honda - in terms of brand perception - but some clever marketing in the form of the German brand value has made it more aspirational. Indians do think that VW is a very premium brand - it's hilarious when one thinks about the meaning of the name itself - and that will play in it's favour. So, what they decided to do was to launch the Polo and the Vento, at entry prices low enough to attract any buyer looking at the competition, and once they were in the showroom, it was obvious that most went for a higher specced version. In order to be able to keep the entry prices low, they skimped on stuff to maintain margins.

Conclusion: Market dictates car. We want VW badge at a reasonable price, we get it, albeit reasonable in price only with low specced versions, because VW won't compromise on margins.

b. India is a relatively new on the automotive scene. The suppliers are still not consistently upto the standards that are demanded by firms like VW. Hence, localization happens at a slightly lazy rate. That means the more parts to import, the more the duty, the lesser the margins. Hence, skimp on features. Those who want them, pay through their noses and get them in Highline trim.

c. I would say, that engineering matters more than features. We after all do have the Polo and Vento built unto international standards as far as engineering is concerned. That I think is something to be appreciated.

Now the points where I agree with you:

a. VW's marketing is feeding on this superficial "snob" value. I find the colour restriction based on trim to be an extremely distasteful strategy. But as we all know, it'll work.

b. They are Skoda's parent company. In India, a Skoda can no longer be a "thinking man's" VW, anyone who thinks will have a hard time reconciling with the fact that Skoda's A.S.S. is the singularly worst in India. The Skoda's are such good cars, but .........
I think VW India should shoulder the blame squarely and try to make amends.