[Nilesh5417]

After the Ciaz fiasco, i was looking forward to going and checking out the Vento. Need to replace my aging Getz by Diwali. But reading all the troubles that people have with dealerships i'm not sure i really want to go VW / Skoda way. And its not like the issues have been onyl to a handful of cars. There are tons of examples on our own forum!

[powertrain]

Originally Posted by anantu2001

Hi guys,

Just received an update from VW.

They have agreed for a discount of 60% on Rs. 91,000 /-. What should we do?? Im pressing for 100% discount.

Can I have email ids of top people in VW so that we can write to them?

Regards,
Anany

Hello Anant,
60% is nothing, 100% is what you should demand.
Call me suspicious,but I have this feeling that that your A.S.S is acting pricey. Just tell them to show you the mail where VAG has accepted to bear 60% of the cost.
I'm pretty sure that no mails were exchanged,they are just trying to milk you. Or else,VAG must have accepted to bear 100% but these A.S.S want to take 40% from you.

Stick to your stand & as complain on their facebook page.

P.S:- Was about to suggest a friend to check out the Vento DSG. Seeing this trouble, NOT NOW,NEVER AGAIN !
Regards,
Varun

[anantu2001]

Originally Posted by powertrain

Hello Anant,
60% is nothing, 100% is what you should demand.
Call me suspicious,but I have this feeling that that your A.S.S is acting pricey. Just tell them to show you the mail where VAG has accepted to bear 60% of the cost.
I'm pretty sure that no mails were exchanged,they are just trying to milk you. Or else,VAG must have accepted to bear 100% but these A.S.S want to take 40% from you.

Stick to your stand & as complain on their facebook page.

P.S:- Was about to suggest a friend to check out the Vento DSG. Seeing this trouble, NOT NOW,NEVER AGAIN !
Regards,
Varun

Originally Posted by venkyhere

stick with your demand - the moment you see them bargaining on how much cost they will bear, it is a sureshot case of acceptance of their own fault.
With a vehicle having service intervals of 15k kms, it is very normal that 2.5 yrs pass without the problem getting detected. The customer is not expected to be an automobile expert to guage slight variations in engine noise. If there was a service directive, why was the vehicle not recalled for inspection ? VW has a huge database of all its customers with multiple contact details and the VIN# alloted to each customer. ASK THEM WHY THERE WAS NO RECALL.
Base your argument on this : "If VW is lazy to do vehicle recall and check the affected vehicles, how on earth can the customer be expected to pay for this, even if it is a case of a 100 rupees spare part ? The service directive clearly shows it is a manufacturing defect and not a wear and tear defect." - this should shut the case. If they still refuse, ask for their argument in writing, not from the dealer but from VW directly.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Tell VW Bangalore thats its not at all acceptable. All the work has to be done under goodwill and no charges are to paid against labor; its all free of cost. In the advisory it has been mentioned that injector before 15 June 1012 are faulty and if customer complains about following, they are to replaced under warranty.
1. Engine vibration / misfiring
2. Engine jerking & knocking noise

Write about your issue on VW Facebook page. They would ask for your vehicle details and would see to that the problem is rectified. VW Pune B.U.Bhandari did it under goodwill from VW, why does VW Bangalore has a problem with it? Have attached bill in my ownership thread, wherein it has been billed to VW Mumbai Head Office..

Link.


Tell the GM that knocking & excess vibration occur just few days before. Even in my case, the injector failed all of a sudden there was no issues with engine noise for past 3 years. Also tell him that you are writing about every thing on Team-BHP which gets noticed by everyone in automotive world.

Originally Posted by pillainp

Seeing this, I am now wondering whether the recent (post 4th service) loss of mileage has something to do with the injector failure issue. The car is an early Jan 2012 model.

All this time, I've been thinking my drop of ~2 KMPL was due to the change from Michelin 195/60/R15 PLC's to Michelin P3ST's (same size).

I replaced the PLC's with the P3ST's at 60,047 KM, just after the 4th service, and the drop in mileage dates from around that time - I cannot be sure whether it started before or after tyre replacement.

I have been blaming the tyres since my brother-in-law reports a similar loss in his Volvo S60 D5 after he changed his tyres to P3ST's.

However, there is a bit more engine clatter than I am used to hearing, so I am now wondering about the injectors.

I just got the car back after 1.5 months' downtime due to AC Compressor failure, which was thankfully covered under extended warranty.

I had discussed the loss of mileage with EVM TVM at the time of the AC Compressor repair and later when I gave the car for brake fluid replacement, but the SA, Santosh, vaguely fobbed the issue off on the tyres, and I did not push it further.

If the issue is really the injectors, then I guess I am looking at some more downtime.

I think I will take up with EVM TVM and have them take a hard look at the injectors.

Thanks for the info, el lobo.

Again, can we have a thread/post with links to all service advisories relevant to the Vento? If it were in this thread (say just after the review), or a thread in the Technical Section, it could be found easily.

It could also include a decoder to help owners decide if their car is covered in the advisory.

Seems necessary due to general lackadaisical attitude of VW/SSA on this topic.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your support. As indicated by everybody, we have stuck to our demand of free replacement. We have indicated to the A.S.S not to carry out any work till we give a go ahead.

Again, as indicated, we have written on the Facebook page and also written to their customer care mail id. Both actions received no response.

We need to contact somebody very senior in VW. Only then the problem will be solved. Any E-Mail ids?

Regards,
Anant

[rejeen]

Have few doubts about the new vento comfortline. Please can you help?
1. Has it got the same HU as the Top variant?
2. Is it possible to activate autolock using VCDS? This feature seems to be enabled by default on HL.

Apart from above, the dealer quotes about 40K for zero dep insurance that seems to be too steep. I had checked outside and got no positive response - was told the systems are not updated with value for the new model. What is done to get a better insurance quote for a new model just launched, in general.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by rejeen

Have few doubts about the new vento comfortline. Please can you help?
1. Has it got the same HU as the Top variant?
2. Is it possible to activate autolock using VCDS? This feature seems to be enabled by default on HL.

Apart from above, the dealer quotes about 40K for zero dep insurance that seems to be too steep. I had checked outside and got no positive response - was told the systems are not updated with value for the new model. What is done to get a better insurance quote for a new model just launched, in general.

HU in HL is slightly different in the sense that it has Bluetooth provision. Though auto lock after attaining certain speed is possible through VAS modification, it is not available by default. But my dealer could not do the same in spite of repeated attempts!

[thoma]

Originally Posted by rejeen

2. Is it possible to activate autolock using VCDS?

Originally Posted by Gokrish

But my dealer could not do the same in spite of repeated attempts!

Same here. My dealer too tried, but not possible. I guess some hardware is missing in the ComfortLine.

[anantu2001]

Originally Posted by anantu2001

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your support. As indicated by everybody, we have stuck to our demand of free replacement. We have indicated to the A.S.S not to carry out any work till we give a go ahead.

Again, as indicated, we have written on the Facebook page and also written to their customer care mail id. Both actions received no response.

We need to contact somebody very senior in VW. Only then the problem will be solved. Any E-Mail ids?

Regards,
Anant

Hi guys,

Here is an update.

After I spoke to the GM of Bangalore motors and rejected their 60% discount offer, I wrote to the DIRECTOR OF VOLKSWAGEN GROUP AFTER SALES. He is Mr. Berndt Buchmann.

Within 24 hours I received a reply from him stating that he will take up the matter with the concerned people. And within 2 hours of his mail I received a call from Mr. Muralidhar, GM-Bangalore Motors and the call was in conference with Mr. Somanth, Area Manager- Service.

They explained that they understand our concerns and would extened the goodwill and give a discount of 70% for which I again refused. In return I told them about the sercice advisory that VW has issued. I was surprised to know that the Area Service Manager did not know anything about this advisory and said VW have not issued anything of that sort.

I asked for his Mail id so that I can send the document to him. He said that after receiving the document, he would discuss again with concerned people and get back to me within 9.30 AM today. I also told him about how people in various places have got their injectors replaced free of cost and also told him to browse T-BHP for more information.

Now hoping to get a call from somebody regarding this issue.

Regards,
Anant

[vivekkr_99]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

After the Ciaz fiasco, i was looking forward to going and checking out the Vento. Need to replace my aging Getz by Diwali. But reading all the troubles that people have with dealerships i'm not sure i really want to go VW / Skoda way. And its not like the issues have been onyl to a handful of cars. There are tons of examples on our own forum!

Fully agree with you. The new Vento and Rapid automatic versions seem to be great cars, offering good driving comfort. But I'm also too much afraid to take a look at them after going through the ordeals shared by multiple people. I can afford the maintenance costs also even though they are a bit on the higher side. But, if some thing goes wrong.. and that is a very big "IF" - the stress and the pains to get proper support from dealerships and the amount of followup we have to do to get something done by the manufacturer - is turning me away from these good products.

I agree that I will have a wide grin sort of thing due to the sheer driving pleasure as long as everything goes well.. but - call me a skeptic or a common man - even if it is one out of 10K cars that develops these kind of issues - still I'll be afraid to bet more than a million rupees on that.


-Vivek

[anantu2001]

Originally Posted by powertrain

Hello Anant,
60% is nothing, 100% is what you should demand.
Call me suspicious,but I have this feeling that that your A.S.S is acting pricey. Just tell them to show you the mail where VAG has accepted to bear 60% of the cost.
I'm pretty sure that no mails were exchanged,they are just trying to milk you. Or else,VAG must have accepted to bear 100% but these A.S.S want to take 40% from you.

Stick to your stand & as complain on their facebook page.

P.S:- Was about to suggest a friend to check out the Vento DSG. Seeing this trouble, NOT NOW,NEVER AGAIN !
Regards,
Varun

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

As your car was purchased on 10 Feb 2012, with extended warranty which is for 2+2 years; should be valid till 9 Feb 2016. How come it has expired?


No need worry. Its good VW has come up stating injectors are problematic. 1.6 TDi injectors manufactured before 15 June 2012 are prone to malfunctioning. Its advisable to replace them. But VW mostly does it when there is a problem and not on recall basis.

My Vento April 2011 purchase developed same issue during my onward return journey from Hyderabad on 25 Feb 2014. 2 injector failed which were replaced free of cost under goodwill. Later on other 2 injectors failed on 12 July 2014. They were replaced under extended warranty free of cost.

Kindly go through the two post of mine which should give you more clarity.
1. Link 1.

2. Link 2.

Kindly find attached PDF which illustrates the problem with 1.6 TDi injectors manufactured before 15 June 2012. Show my post & the PDF to VW workshop people and tell them to replace 4 injectors under warranty or goodwill which ever they are okay with. No way they can demand Rs. 91000 for a problem which VW is very much aware of but doesn't do a recall for it.

After injector replacement, they will update the ECU thorough VAS as well.

Let me know for any further queries.

Attachment 1297190

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

That's more than enough to confirm that your 1.6 TDi injectors abut to fail. Get them replaced ASAP under warranty/goodwill.

Originally Posted by srishiva

VW Palace Cross had mentioned they cost 40K when I was talking to them last time when I serviced my car. The price also seems problematic !
VW should recall the cars and do the replacement to prevent such cases.

Originally Posted by powertrain

Hello Anant,

Like el lobo said, the injectors are supposed to be replaced free of cost. Why the hell are you supposed to pay nearly 1L is above me.
As you rightly said, take a print out & throw it in their face. Also complain in VW's facebook page.

Regards,
Varun

Originally Posted by srishiva

This is really bad. Sometimes even I wonder if my Vento would need the injectors replaced hearing the sound of the engine although it normally clatters a lot.

You can tell him that even normal Vento engines clatter a lot and as a customer how would you know if they are bad or just being normal.

By the way, they did replace my seat frames last month after 3.5 years under warranty. I hope they do the same for your injectors

Originally Posted by venkyhere

stick with your demand - the moment you see them bargaining on how much cost they will bear, it is a sureshot case of acceptance of their own fault.
With a vehicle having service intervals of 15k kms, it is very normal that 2.5 yrs pass without the problem getting detected. The customer is not expected to be an automobile expert to guage slight variations in engine noise. If there was a service directive, why was the vehicle not recalled for inspection ? VW has a huge database of all its customers with multiple contact details and the VIN# alloted to each customer. ASK THEM WHY THERE WAS NO RECALL.
Base your argument on this : "If VW is lazy to do vehicle recall and check the affected vehicles, how on earth can the customer be expected to pay for this, even if it is a case of a 100 rupees spare part ? The service directive clearly shows it is a manufacturing defect and not a wear and tear defect." - this should shut the case. If they still refuse, ask for their argument in writing, not from the dealer but from VW directly.

Hi Guys,

Finally some good news from VW.

Today morning we had sent them a mail listing all the problems we had in the vehicle and also regarding the lack of facilities in their service centres.

They called up and after some discussions, their final offer was 100% discount for injectors but without warranty OR 80% discount for injectors+labour waived off+1 year warranty for the parts. We have chosen the latter.

They have asked me to come on Monday to collect the vehicle. We have in return asked them to give the warranty in writing. They have accepted the same.

I guess we got a fair deal in the end. Waiting for Monday.

Thanks to everybody for the support extended.

Regards,
Anant

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by anantu2001

Finally some good news from VW.

80% discount for injectors+labour waived off+1 year warranty for the parts.

Good to know that there has been a positive outcome, but I was still hoping for 100% discount and warranty. None the less, your car would be back to performing well and even better with new injectors.

A small advice.
1. When you would receive your car, the NVH level of engine should be same as compared to a new car. It has happened with me that, new injectors weren't properly installed by B.U.Bhandari, Pune; which led to car sounding like a tractor. SA may say that injector may need some running in, that's not the case. Later on Autobahn, Navi Mumbai re-installed injector which bought the NVH back to proper level. See to that engine NVH are at par with any new 1.6 TDi engine.

2. Do take that warranty in writing with sign and stamp of workshop GM. So that there isn't any issue further. As such there wont be any.

Lastly, it shows how important Extended Warranty are with cars especially Germans.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by anantu2001

They called up and after some discussions, their final offer was 100% discount for injectors but without warranty OR 80% discount for injectors+labour waived off+1 year warranty for the parts. We have chosen the latter.

I do not know what is this? If the company has acknowledged a quality problem with the injectors, common sense say that they should be replaced at 100% discount of part + labour plus give the customer a 1 year or even a 6 month warranty on the job. What the company actually offered you is like a deal, not a recall/ warranty/ acknowledgment of a present problem in anyway.

But good that you chose the offer with the warranty clause. Just make sure you have a written document to support this deal.

[srishiva]

I would only wish if our justice system was faster and we could sue such cases.The manufacturer acknowledges problems but still tries to push across a deal that doesn't prove their accountability.

I have never and will never encourage people to buy VW because of such things. They make cars that seem to be good in few virtues but really no guarantee on the core mechanical elements of a car.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I would only wish if our justice system was faster and we could sue such cases.The manufacturer acknowledges problems but still tries to push across a deal that doesn't prove their accountability.

I have never and will never encourage people to buy VW because of such things. They make cars that seem to be good in few virtues but really no guarantee on the core mechanical elements of a car.

That is the dilemma. If you want bullet proof reliability, the cars are no fun to drive - Toyota, Honda, Maruti. If you want state of art engineering and solid construction you get no reliability. So the choice is yours.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by Aroy

If you want bullet proof reliability, the cars are no fun to drive - Toyota, Honda, Maruti. If you want state of art engineering and solid construction you get no reliability.

Going by the recent threads, I really don't think the Japanese (may be not Toyota) any longer have bullet-proof reliability; and also that European cars (with 'solid' construction) are 'non-reliable'.

It is almost a level ground when it comes to reliability these days I feel. But the haughtiness / attitude of the European car dealers / manufacturers against service and warranty and towards the Indian consumer are what makes the scale tip in favor of the Japanese.

[anantu2001]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Good to know that there has been a positive outcome, but I was still hoping for 100% discount and warranty. None the less, your car would be back to performing well and even better with new injectors.

A small advice.
1. When you would receive your car, the NVH level of engine should be same as compared to a new car. It has happened with me that, new injectors weren't properly installed by B.U.Bhandari, Pune; which led to car sounding like a tractor. SA may say that injector may need some running in, that's not the case. Later on Autobahn, Navi Mumbai re-installed injector which bought the NVH back to proper level. See to that engine NVH are at par with any new 1.6 TDi engine.

2. Do take that warranty in writing with sign and stamp of workshop GM. So that there isn't any issue further. As such there wont be any.

Lastly, it shows how important Extended Warranty are with cars especially Germans.

Originally Posted by saket77

I do not know what is this? If the company has acknowledged a quality problem with the injectors, common sense say that they should be replaced at 100% discount of part + labour plus give the customer a 1 year or even a 6 month warranty on the job. What the company actually offered you is like a deal, not a recall/ warranty/ acknowledgment of a present problem in anyway.

But good that you chose the offer with the warranty clause. Just make sure you have a written document to support this deal.

Originally Posted by srishiva

I would only wish if our justice system was faster and we could sue such cases.The manufacturer acknowledges problems but still tries to push across a deal that doesn't prove their accountability.

I have never and will never encourage people to buy VW because of such things. They make cars that seem to be good in few virtues but really no guarantee on the core mechanical elements of a car.

I totally agree with you guys. We know that we had no reason to compromise. But it was becoming more and more like a vegetable market with respect to the bargaining from their end. Moreover, we wanted our car back immediately.

For them to check again with their management would have taken easily another two days. Im getting my car back today. So opted to close the case.

I agree that they are not reasonable. But like somebody said, if Im goin to fight it out, first is that our justice system will take its own time, second is that the costs involved would have been greater than the costs we are paying now. Hence the decision.

And yes el lobo, I will check the car thoroughly before taking delivery. Thanks for your support.

Regards,
Anant