[souravc]

Originally Posted by bala80

P.S - All good things need to come to an end, my vento experience too is about to come to an end. My work requires me to travel frequently and this time around, the travel duration is going to be pretty long, say 3 to 5 years. So, you know whats going to happen..:( (I'm saddended beyond words)

Wow Bala ! First up congrats that you are going places good luck on your new assignment .
I am saddened that we (Vento owners) will have to live without your incisive comments and help on the Vento - thanks for all your inputs mate . You put in a lot of patience , blood and sweat into the Vento ownership experience , shame that it was a bit too short for it to worth it Look forward to your ownership thread of your next car , keep in touch!

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Of course I had PMP relays installed with Philips white light 100/90W bulbs. I asked the SA to at least get it checked as there may be a problem with the switch. A mechanic checked the relay on the LHS and found one of the fuse to be slightly melted. He rubbed it and installed it again.
Fired up the engine and turned the switch to right side and low beam got working. So the problem was with the fuse in the LHS relay.

Asked SA if they did have such fuse, but he refused. Got to have it replaced from a FNAG(Friendly Neighborhood Accessory Guy). Time taken 10 mins, charge nil.

But what bothers me is, VW has problem with even small modification with their cars and relay actually prevents the wiring harness from any problem due to 100/90W bulbs heat.

Now would that be a problem with the relay or the car itself? The fuse would have melted only in case if the amount of current being consumed by the 100/90W is beyond the tolerance level of the fuse. So either it could be a problem of a faulty fuse in the relay or for some reason the current being sent to the headlight assembly is abnormally higher in VW for a 100/90W setup compared to other cars. IMO it probably is the former that is a case of a faulty fuse in the relay and you should be thankful anyway because the fuse did its job and protected the wires as well as the headlight assembly from overheating.

Either way seems like there could be some electrical quirks in the Vento which might have been the cause of the fires, who knows in the absence of any communication or transparency on the part of VW .

[bala80]

Thanks for all your wishes. I like this car more for helping me make more friends over here in this thread than anything else. It's people like you all who have made my interactions here so very pleasant and memorable. With your permission, I will continue to visit and participate in this thread (currently pretty active in buying new/used car in north america thread ). I felt very happy reading through all your messages, thank you all gentlemen, you made my day!

Originally Posted by bottle

Sorry to hear that Bala! Got a lot of info from your posts till now

Originally Posted by kevintomin

I am very sure you will soon find a befitting car in US. Nevertheless, we will miss your updates on Vento. Your posts helped me a lot to know the dos and don'ts of Vento.

I repeatedly had this very same issue in my earlier swift where I had the 100/90 headlamps installed. I can very confidently tell you that this isnt something specific to the vento alone. Most often its the quality of the relay that's a suspect.

Morel's make some very good component speakers. I have Morel maximos for the front stage and I really like the way they sound. If you are going to be only in the driver seat, then invest on good set of components upfront and can settle for co-axials in the rear. If you must go for components in the rear, go for 6X9 oval speakers in an MDF board instead. The overall sound stage will be much better with this set up.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

So the problem was with the fuse in the LHS relay.

I'm actually planning to have the stock speakers changed to components both front and rear. After listening to Morel in my dads Fiesta, Vento stock speakers sound dud.

Bala what might if you did get a better car than a Vento and with no petrol or diesel divide in developed countries, you would be able to enjoy a V8 or V6 symphony. The roads too would be far better and road sense too.

Actually, its not something that I'd want to do, but I simply dont have a choice. I was postponing my transfer for quite sometime now, and this time I had to accept it, considering my long term career interests.

If I have to be honest, it was you who prompted (actually forced ) me to start my ownership thread, when I was more a dormant and passive member in the forum till then. If not for your insistence, I would have lost the opportunity of getting to know so many nice people out here. I still remember you telling, how we would look back at our ownership thread's in the future and relive the good memories, your words couldnt have been any truer. I'm always grateful to you for this, my friend.

The ownership period was really too short for me, only around 8 months or so. I'm not even selling this outside, just dont have the heart to do so, after having loved this car so much. One of my best friend who is actually on the market for a car purchase, offered to pick up mine and I simply agreed. I would atleast know he will take care of it as good as when it was in my hands, if not better.

All of you permitting, I will continue to be a very active participant in this thread.

Thank you again for all your kind words and nice gesture gentlemen.

Originally Posted by souravc

Wow Bala ! First up congrats that you are going places good luck on your new assignment .
I am saddened that we (Vento owners) will have to live without your incisive comments and help on the Vento - thanks for all your inputs mate . You put in a lot of patience , blood and sweat into the Vento ownership experience , shame that it was a bit too short for it to worth it Look forward to your ownership thread of your next car , keep in touch!

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by bala80

Thanks for all your wishes. I like this car more for helping me make more friends over here in this thread than anything else. It's people like you all who have made my interactions here so very pleasant and memorable.

Bala, you will be surely missed along with your really insightful observations on the Vento and its internal details.

Originally Posted by bala80

Actually, its not something that I'd want to do, but I simply dont have a choice. I was postponing my transfer for quite sometime now, and this time I had to accept it, considering my long term career interests.

The plus side of this is you get to drive on some of the most amazing roads and see some very nice places. Good luck with your future and car buying in the US .

Originally Posted by bala80

One of my best friend who is actually on the market for a car purchase, offered to pick up mine and I simply agreed. I would atleast know he will take care of it as good as when it was in my hands, if not better.

Nice to know that the car will be taken care of well. Unless it is not too intrusive of me would you share if you got a good deal for the Vento, you don't have to share specifics but given the going rate of Ventos and since yours is a pre-refresh one would I be too wrong in assuming that you actually made a profit ?

[bala80]

Thank you very much for your kind words.

Actually, the car is still with me and am planning to sell it only by next month when my travel dates get confirmed. Carwale states the market value will be around 9.8 lakhs and I take this as the benchmark. Since, the person who is buying this is one of my very best friends, I told him to check the market rate and give me whatever he feels appropriate.

I paid 10.57 OTR (9.34 Ex-showroom) for this car back in Aug 2010, spent close to a lakh thereafter in installing stanley leathers and music system. The car has done 8600 kms as on date has all 4 new tyres which were replaced 2k kms back, no scratches/dent's. I can definitely make more if I sell it in the market, but then for some reason I'm not too keen on that. Since, I bought this car on cash, I dont have any outstanding payments that I need to worry about either.

I will definitely let you know the final price that I get for this, which should by next month.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Nice to know that the car will be taken care of well. Unless it is not too intrusive of me would you share if you got a good deal for the Vento, you don't have to share specifics but given the going rate of Ventos and since yours is a pre-refresh one would I be too wrong in assuming that you actually made a profit ?

[blackdiesel]

The time has come for me to get my Vento serviced, as the car just completed one year, while it has clocked 12000 km so far.

As I am still contemplating where I should get it serviced out of the three service centers in Bangalore, I request help from my fellow Bangalore Vento owners in ranking the three of them based on their service.

Also, while I get the car serviced, I also want to enable some of the nice features in Vento like the auto lock. So I thought of taking help from you, the expert owners in the forum, to list out all such known/possible and also wish-list tweaks to Vento.

Here are few of my "requirements". Please add the others that I may not know:

1. Auto-lock from inside: Locking the car while driving, as the speed reaches beyond 15kmph.
Status: Possible to do.

2. Audio Feedback: As the car is locked or unlocked from outside, the car should give an audio feedback as confirmation if successful or warning if not.
Status: Possible (am I correct in saying it is possible?!)

3. Seatbelt sign: If the car starts moving without the driver's seat belt on, the dashboard should display a warning sign that the belt is not worn.
Status: Not sure if this is possible for Vento, but I would love to have this. Any idea if this is possible?

4. Auto-lock from outside: If the car is idle for more than some predefined duration (say 5 mins), AND the key is not inserted in the keyhole, the car should get locked automatically. This is very useful, if one forgets to lock while going away from the car.
Status: Not sure! Has anyone checked on this feature?

5. Glass rolling up: I know the remote has a feature which will roll up the glasses of all windows if the lock button is pressed & held continuously, but if the car is locked from outside while few of the window glasses are down, they should be rolled up automatically (may be after a little duration). Anyway, if someone wants to lock the car while people/pets are inside the car, certainly the surveillance will have to be disabled & similarly, this rolling up feature can also be disabled in such a case.
Status: Is this really possible?

6. A far fetched idea: To add an SMS based system connected to the OBD, so that, if the car starts beeping for any reason, an SMS should be sent to owner's mobile. There are few services like Connecting Mobile Assets With People who provide such service, but I am not sure if VW's OBD supports such services.
Status: If we know more about the on-board diagnostics, probably this is possible.

So this is my wish-list. Any more similar features that you know or you wish to have? Please add to the list.

Thanks.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

Also, while I get the car serviced, I also want to enable some of the nice features in Vento like the auto lock. So I thought of taking help from you, the expert owners in the forum, to list out all such known/possible and also wish-list tweaks to Vento.

Here are few of my "requirements". Please add the others that I may not know:

You may please refer to the following thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...es-quirks.html

Simply put 1, 2, 4 exists , 3 does not exist ( if the driver is so concerned about seat belt whats the requirement of a warning light on the dash ?? ). I am confused about what exactly is requirement # 5. The example quoted in requirement # 6 is a feature of the security package and not the OBD - I don't think tinkering with the OBD in any manner is advisable, especially in an European car - you would be slammed with "warranty void" pretty mercilessly.

[blackdiesel]

Originally Posted by souravc

You may please refer to the following thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...es-quirks.html

Simply put 1, 2, 4 exists , 3 does not exist ( if the driver is so concerned about seat belt whats the requirement of a warning light on the dash ?? ). I am confused about what exactly is requirement # 5. The example quoted in requirement # 6 is a feature of the security package and not the OBD - I don't think tinkering with the OBD in any manner is advisable, especially in an European car - you would be slammed with "warranty void" pretty mercilessly.

Thanks for the link; it helps a lot. About #5, what I mean is that the car should automatically roll up the glasses (if open), when it gets locked. I had couple of experiences where in, I didnt notice a window glass was down, but I locked the car & left the parking area. This might trigger off the surveillance system, but I will never come to know as am not there in the vicinity.

In context of the above case, I was wondering if it is possible to also have an SMS based system (#6) to be connected to the surveillance system's output to get an SMS whenever such breach occurs. Am not sure how to connect the surveillance output to a separate system without touching OBD. Is there any other way?

[blackdiesel]

@Sourav: I was also thinking of one more feature. If I forget to lock the car, after a timeout period of say 10 mins or so, it should lock itself automatically. There are instances (though few), when I feel like I forgot to lock the car, by which time I would be far away from the car. With this feature, I can be rest assured that it will anyway lock itself in such a case. Any thoughts?

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

About #5, what I mean is that the car should automatically roll up the glasses (if open), when it gets locked. I had couple of experiences where in, I didnt notice a window glass was down, but I locked the car & left the parking area. This might trigger off the surveillance system, but I will never come to know as am not there in the vicinity.

In context of the above case, I was wondering if it is possible to also have an SMS based system (#6) to be connected to the surveillance system's output to get an SMS whenever such breach occurs. Am not sure how to connect the surveillance output to a separate system without touching OBD. Is there any other way?

The internal surveillance system is exactly for that reason for monitoring if some intrusion happens through open windows when the car is armed and locked so rolling up the windows automatically after locking would render the internal surveillance useless. Though in the post-refreshed Ventos the internal surveillance system has been taken away. Simply put it might be a nice feature, but VW has not provided it. #6 would mean putting a mobile phone interface in the car which would mean an added cost if it is done OEM by VW. Its just my opinion/observation that Vento as a car will be lesser prone to theft because car thieves like to target more mass market vehicles which are generally people carriers but this is seriously . I suggest you enjoy your car to the fullest without worrying too much about security. Just make it a habit of remembering to roll up windows and locking the car.

BTW here is a reference of the features that can be enabled/disabled through the VAS courtesy another TBHP member whose name I cannot recollect now.

VW_Vento_2011_12_VAS_FeatureList.pdf

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

@Sourav: I was also thinking of one more feature. If I forget to lock the car, after a timeout period of say 10 mins or so, it should lock itself automatically. There are instances (though few), when I feel like I forgot to lock the car, by which time I would be far away from the car. With this feature, I can be rest assured that it will anyway lock itself in such a case. Any thoughts?

Umm. Might be a nice feature but there is a downside to it too as had happened to me a lifetime ago when I was in the US. I had rented this car probably a Dodge Neon (out of production now) which had this feature. Due to my stupidity I had forgotten the keys in the ignition and walked away without locking the car (one of those really bad days). By the time I realized and ran back, the car had locked itself up, the keys inside the car and I had no spare keys since it was a rental . I had to call up the rental agency, pay an additional charge, get the spare keys and then get access to the car again. Quite a hassle and headache I must say. There are practical situations too like when you are busy detailing the car without locking it, you don't want it to get locked up all the time after a time period. Just make it a habit to lock your car every time and you will breathe easy.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

@Sourav: I was also thinking of one more feature. If I forget to lock the car, after a timeout period of say 10 mins or so, it should lock itself automatically. There are instances (though few), when I feel like I forgot to lock the car, by which time I would be far away from the car. With this feature, I can be rest assured that it will anyway lock itself in such a case. Any thoughts?

My friend, Vento already has the feature - if the ignition key is removed from the slot and all the doors are shut the car locks itself up after 30 seconds I think - it locks itself up for sure ,the duration maybe between 30-60 secs which I am unsure about .

On your wish # 5 , just press down the "lock" button for a few seconds more when you lock your car . Once the windows start rolling up , it will continue to do so till all four windows are closed - you know that its completely rolled up when the side lights blink twice . I prefer that the rolling up of the window is not automatic since often I leave a few cms gap open when parking my car under the sun . Once the car starts behaving "intelligently" fully rolling up the window glass , that would not be possible

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by souravc

My friend, Vento already has the feature - if the ignition key is removed from the slot and all the doors are shut the car locks itself up after 30 seconds I think - it locks itself up for sure ,the duration maybe between 30-60 secs which I am unsure about .

Sourav, are you sure about this? I thought this feature was actually the unlocking of the doors automatically when the keys are taken out of the ignition. This works in conjunction with the auto-lock feature which locks the doors of the car automatically after the speed of the car crosses 15 KMPH. Both of these features need to be enabled separately though the service center only enabled the later for me :.

If the car locks up automatically after 60 seconds lets say after taking the ignition key is removed, it can get really irritating if you have to open the doors of the car from outside and take more than 60 seconds to do it. IMO I am not sure if this feature exists. Could you please point to any post in the thread for the Vento features list as I don't recall coming across this one.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Sourav, are you sure about this? I thought this feature was actually the unlocking of the doors automatically when the keys are taken out of the ignition. This works in conjunction with the auto-lock feature which locks the doors of the car automatically after the speed of the car crosses 15 KMPH. Both of these features need to be enabled separately though the service center only enabled the later for me :.

If the car locks up automatically after 60 seconds lets say after taking the ignition key is removed, it can get really irritating if you have to open the doors of the car from outside and take more than 60 seconds to do it. IMO I am not sure if this feature exists. Could you please point to any post in the thread for the Vento features list as I don't recall coming across this one.

I am absolutely certain about it . If one takes out the ignition key and close all the doors - the lock would get armed . If you have to stop the lock from getting armed , you have to keep one of the doors open. I regular do it when I go out with my kid for ice cream and he is waiting inside the car. Learnt it the hard way when the motion sensor triggered the alarm as the lock got armed due to the key being out of the slot and the doors being shut .

Frankly its easier for you to try it out in your car rather than search for a relevant post on any thread

Speed activated auto lock and unlock on taking out the keys are separate features , they need to be activated on the VAS . The autolock on inactivity does not need to be enabled ( at least it was enabled in my car)

[bala80]

This is true and is active on my car too. However, I think this works only when the auto lock/unlock are enabled (I think, not too sure though).

This happens only when there is no activity within that 30-60 seconds timeframe. If I leave the key in the ignition, this doesnt happen. I havent tried the other permutations and combinations, but usually when I unlock the car using the remote and doesnt do anything for the next few seconds, the doors automatically get locked once again.

Originally Posted by souravc

Frankly its easier for you to try it out in your car rather than search for a relevant post on any thread

Speed activated auto lock and unlock on taking out the keys are separate features , they need to be activated on the VAS . The autolock on inactivity does not need to be enabled ( at least it was enabled in my car)

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by souravc

Frankly its easier for you to try it out in your car rather than search for a relevant post on any thread

I am pretty sure it doesn't work on mine as I have done this umpteen no. of times so it must be another VAS update needed to get this working. Seriously why doesn't VW make their service advisers do all the needful at one go as standard operating procedure

Originally Posted by bala80

This is true and is active on my car too. However, I think this works only when the auto lock/unlock are enabled (I think, not too sure though).

And you may be right since auto unlock somehow is not enabled on mine though auto-lock is enabled. Will have to break my head again with the service advisers to get this enabled in my next visit to the service center