[noopster]

Welcome Abhinav and congrats on your new baby!

BTW, how did you get it in 69 days? I know it's not a short wait but it's less than the "3-4 months" line these guys are giving me.

[Abhinav.Daos]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Hearty congratulations on getting the delivery of your Vento & becoming a member of TBHP . Welcome to the forum.

Please share more details about your Vento, your first hand experience. Hope you would be starting your ownership thread very soon.

Thanks, I haven't had the chance to spend some serious time with my car yet. It was raining when I brought the car home and my mom doesn't want me to take the car out of the gate if its not going for a "Puja" which I haven't had the time to do yet as I have been busy with work.

Originally Posted by noopster

Welcome Abhinav and congrats on your new baby!

BTW, how did you get it in 69 days? I know it's not a short wait but it's less than the "3-4 months" line these guys are giving me.

Well I had booked the car within 3 days of the official launch and the promised delivery time was 45-60 days, like others have said I ofcourse didn't get a receipt but a promise of it being couriered to me the same evening. Which never came. After 30 days I went to the showroom to get it myself I saw a dashing red modded Trendline available for Rs. 51,000 extra with immediate delivery. I was so tempted that I almost had my booking transferred to it till I got a FIRM no from my girlfriend about buying a car with no airbags with follow-up threats of breaking-up

Plan dropped and I continued my agonizing wait spending 5 hours/day on Team-BHP till then. I started calling my sales exec and at the reception almost daily since 50 days were up. First I was promised delivery within the 60 days, later told that due to VW factory being closed for 9 days there will be a 15 day delay. After 60 days were up I called daily atleast 4-5 times to get an exact date but all I got were promises of callbacks in 5 minutes which didn't come ever, when I called again I got a reply that "We'll get back to you around 10 PM" and by then all their phones were switched off :/

Sometimes I even got replies like "Sir I'm busy can't talk now" {insert horrified smiley here}

I finally snapped and went to the dealer who is 1 hour of bumper to bumper 5km/hour traffic away from me with the booking papers ready to get it cancelled and go for SX4 auto leather which was more loaded but costing the same. I was directed to the sales head who was very polite and promised to give us a positive reply next morning. I came back and next morning within 5 minutes he alloted me a car and told me to pick it up whenever I want. Made a DD that day and got the car the next. The delivery experience was fantastic the the staff was very polite and helping. +1

So anyone's who having a long wait I suggest you go and directly meet the GM/Sales Head bypassing your rep and with mild threats of cancellation and say the words "Neeraj Garg - Head of Sales and Dealership VW India" many times! Since there is no proper system at VW they give cars to whoever they like and whoever is a pain in the back. If anyones gives it a try let me know how it goes.

Tip: Never mention that you want to get Insurance done from outside or deny the essentials kit/teflon Coating, bring up issue of overcharged registration amount etc or be prepared to wait forever. Do all that only on the day of delivery! {big green grin}

I had my insurance amount reduced to the extent of 7 thousand ruppees!!

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Congrats Abhinav!!

Do post some nice pics of exterior as well as interiors soon.

Nice to see people buying T-Jets and Ventos, rather than the conventional choice of ANHC.

Wishing you a lots of happy KMs with the beauty.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Congrats Abhinav.. Welcome to the club. Waiting for your detailed report and pics. Happy driving..

Thanks, I'll try and find sometime on the weekend to take some decent picks, till then these picks taken from my mobile camera during delivery will have to do.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I finally snapped and went to the dealer who is 1 hour of bumper to bumper 5km/hour traffic away from me with the booking papers ready to get it cancelled and go for SX4 auto leather which was more loaded but costing the same. I was directed to the sales head who was very polite and promised to give us a positive reply next morning. I came back and next morning within 5 minutes he alloted me a car and told me to pick it up whenever I want.

And somebody else got told that their delivery is delayed again.

That is not against your, Abhinav, or against anyone else who negotiates successfully, it is against the dreadful organisation and attitude of VW India. Everyone has to try and do what they can to get their car delivered, and you got yours. Well done, and congratulations, and I am sure that the driving experience will be far, far better than the buying experience.

Congratulations! The car looks beautiful: I'm envious

Happy Driving!

[krish_go]

I have spotted a Ventor in Bangalore today. It was a TN registration. probably going to Chenai/hosur.
I was suprise to see the car back seat capacity very bad. 3 Adults were sitting with a great difficulty. I could clearly see their trouble and adjustment every 5 mins.
Is it so bad?? even the legroom seams to be very less in last row.
And also, is there any Old and new release for ventro?? the shap of the car from back looks really different. I will try post those pics tomorrow.

[noopster]

+1 to what Thad said. No offence to Abhinav at all- you have shown perseverance and it has paid off. But I'm wondering how many intrepid or "connected" souls have moved ahead of me in the queue while I sit and wait for my allottment to happen.

Last night the unthinkable happened- I told the missus I am having second thoughts. This was after a visit to Maruti service yesterday morning to take care of an unscheduled windshield replacement (the entire transaction including filing the claim took 20 mins and I will have the car back tomorrow). I cannot imagine VW will have anything even close, given their pre-sales track record.

The only problem is if not Vento then what? I am in the market for an AT and none of the options: SX4, Verna, AHNC excites me. The only ones that do are the Skoda Laura and Chevy Cruze, but that takes me into another price segment totally.

[msd63]

Originally Posted by krish_go

I have spotted a Ventor in Bangalore today. It was a TN registration. probably going to Chenai/hosur.
I was suprise to see the car back seat capacity very bad. 3 Adults were sitting with a great difficulty. I could clearly see their trouble and adjustment every 5 mins.
Is it so bad?? even the legroom seams to be very less in last row.
And also, is there any Old and new release for ventro?? the shap of the car from back looks really different. I will try post those pics tomorrow.

The centre hump can cause difficulty for the centre passenger in the backseat. However the leg space at the back in my opinion is adequate. Vento is a new car and there is no chance that there will be a different version so soon.

[ajay_satpute]

@Abhinav: Nice looking Vento indeed.

However, I personally think, IMHO, that the silver colour starts looking a little dull after say 5-6 months, compared to other colours. White is a stunner and easier to maintain of all.

Abhinav, do you have anything to comment on krish_go's comment?

I don't think that's real. I have taken a TD of Vento TDi with one Sales person in the front and 3 of my friends at the rear, and my friends were happy with the cabin space and legroom (One of friends is 6+). I understand its not as exciting as ANHC, but not as bad SX4 or Linea too.

Regarding the Sales experience, its extremely sad to know this. A company which holds its head so high in the world arena and known for its fantastic machines, should have appointed equally high-standard Sales team. The strangest thing is people from different cities (Delhi, Banglore, Pune, etc...) are having the exact same, BAD, experience with the VW sales team. How can they go wrong all over the country?

Pune is getting a new dealer for VW, BU Bhandari. Hoping that he proves out to be much better than the existing one. BU Bhandari's Tata+Fiat customers have been happy with his Sales+Service team. Hope the same continues.

[Thad E Ginathom]

However, I personally think, IMHO, that the silver colour starts looking a little dull after say 5-6 months

That depends on the paint quality and the care taken of it. A metalic paint finish from VW should have several years of looking good, even in our punishing climates.

Only time will tell ...

[Baburajs]

I just heard a news from the dealer ship . They told me that VW will not produce any cars in January. He told me that many of the part are being imported and this has to be bought from Germany , China etc. So there will be no production of the cars .

Do anyone know anything about this. It looks like it is another hogwash to delay the cars. This is getting annoying now.

[madhukar_n]

Originally Posted by Baburajs

I just heard a news from the dealer ship . They told me that VW will not produce any cars in January. He told me that many of the part are being imported and this has to be bought from Germany , China etc. So there will be no production of the cars .

Do anyone know anything about this. It looks like it is another hogwash to delay the cars. This is getting annoying now.

The palace cross VW dealer also told this to me when i went. I think it is not jan but in Dec they reduce the production because of year end. People prefer registering their vehicle in jan than in dec. but he also mentioned that he has lot of people lined up to register for dec 31st also.

[crackingride]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

That is indeed very sad Desidino. ... shop floor people weeping over the departing Vento are not going to be of any use if they are unable to make the product available within a reasonable waiting period. Their reel life tears in ads could very shortly turn into real life if they take the Indian customer for granted & make him wait endlessly.

Too true, VW is too busy crying about letting vehicles get out the door and onto the road! In actual terms, they seem to have got ramp-up horribly wrong. Part of the reason for the lack of 1.6 hatch versions or Vento versions on the road might be specific to the supply of the engine. They probably diverted the 1.6 engines from hatch to sedan, and now cannot supply those in the required quantities either.

[amit1234singla]

Just want to share my close experience with a Vento booking. My inlaws made a Vento Highline TDI booking at the time of prelaunch. At VW Chandigarh, they were told to wait for 3 months. And when they got to see the car in real, they did not like it that much in terms of looks, road presence and rear seat comfort. Also were a little apprehensive about the maintenance costs. Since my FIL is a businessman, his requirements were a diesel sedan which will be used for about 45k km's annually. Certainly with this kind of running, maintenance costs needed to be considered.

Instead of waiting for 3 months, he cancelled his booking and went ahead and bought an Optra Diesel LT. What he got is a car which is more powerful (certainly less fuel efficient as well), with similar space/ features and at INR 30k less than Vento. Downside is a dated product which can be discontinued soon. But since his car will do about 2 lakh km's in about 4 years after which the resale value is anyway less, it did not matter much to him.

I got to drive the Optra last week and it's a real blast in terms of engine. Interiors feel dated but are very well put togather. And it has all 4 disc brakes. Gear shift is not that friendly but for a driver driven car, it's okay.

The point I am trying to make is that with slashed down prices, Optra LT costs even lesser than Vento Highline and for those who would keep the car for long, may not be a bad choice. Just my views.

[oxyzen]

Originally Posted by amit1234singla

I got to drive the Optra last week and it's a real blast in terms of engine.

Yeah. its a powerful engine, but is really better than the Vento. I have not driven Optra but Vento seems to have a good amount of pulling power from low down the RPM range. Turbolag is also manageable.

Why not Verna. Its not dated. It too has a good Engine.
My best guess it is due to absence of Airbags right.

[krish_go]

I agree with comments from amit1234singla about the car look and rear seating comfort.
This is exactly what i was talking about and though there are different versions!!
The shape of the car from back is noticably different when on road, ground clearance is also very low and touching speed breaker(in fact it did touch at Adugudi police station hump) with full capacity.
Back seat occupants were stuggling to adjust their legs several times which i was observing from my company vehicle for almost about 5 kms.

I was promised a delivery on Jan2nd but as per comments above of stopping the production, this date sounds unrealistic.
I have just called the sales guy and he is not ready to comment on delivery date which leaves no option but to look at alternatives.
All the above details are forcing me to thing twice about my options. By the way, there is no diesel version Honda right? because i will need to travel atleast 50km (2way) from house to office every day.
I even saw a Toyota Prius today while on my way to office. It had good looks. I need to test drive it.
Any suggestion for alternative options for me?

[Abhinav.Daos]

Originally Posted by krish_go

I have spotted a Ventor in Bangalore today. It was a TN registration. probably going to Chenai/hosur.
I was suprise to see the car back seat capacity very bad. 3 Adults were sitting with a great difficulty. I could clearly see their trouble and adjustment every 5 mins.
Is it so bad?? even the legroom seams to be very less in last row.
And also, is there any Old and new release for ventro?? the shap of the car from back looks really different. I will try post those pics tomorrow.

The shape of the Vento hasn't changed, re the back legroom when the front seats are adjusted for 5'8" persons rear leg room is not an issue at all, Its much more than other cars like Verna, fiesta etc. Yes seating 5 people can be an issue because of the hump, but it hardly concerns me.

Originally Posted by noopster

+1 to what Thad said. No offence to Abhinav at all- you have shown perseverance and it has paid off. But I'm wondering how many intrepid or "connected" souls have moved ahead of me in the queue while I sit and wait for my allottment to happen.

No offense taken but I am definitely not "connected", definably much less than you guys on TBHP. Guess I was just lucky or the Sales head just liked my face.

If you are willing to wait I suggest that you take the car only in Jan when even more colors will be available (vento would look stunning in polos blue), It wasn't an option for me though. But if you can't wait I suggest you go and directly meat the Sales Head before cancelling. It'll be worth the effort. First be polite, if it doesn't work then threaten with bad PR, then fight and cancel as a last resort. Also during my wait I got in touch with other dealers in the city and most of them were willing to give me priority based on my earlier booking should I choose to transfer to them, so you could check that out too.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

@Abhinav: Nice looking Vento indeed.

However, I personally think, IMHO, that the silver colour starts looking a little dull after say 5-6 months, compared to other colours. White is a stunner and easier to maintain of all.

I don't agree, I have seen quite a few old beemers, camrys, accords look stunning in silver. Besides silver is the easiest to maintain and small scratches aren't visible. I used to drive my dads M800, which was white and TBH I was very bored of white. White wasn't even metallic. Then red looked good but gave a more sports car type of image, since this was my first own car I decided against it. The last comes black, well I saw A LOT of water drop marks on my car today morning but they were only visible on close scrutiny, can't imagine what it would be like on black.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That depends on the paint quality and the care taken of it. A metalic paint finish from VW should have several years of looking good, even in our punishing climates.

Only time will tell ...

I keep my car in a cover (lot of work!) and planning to go for a wax coating soon, can someone recommend a good place for that in delhi? Any other maintainance tips will be appreciated.


I got a chance to take my car to a empty stretch today and it just drives awesome!! Brakes are very nice but what I like most is the HORN, everyone just panics and clears the way

Though I have noticed a problem with the one touch up/down functions of the power windows which doesn't work randomly, The boot release button on the key remote doesn't seem to work either, moreover I am having a hard time understanding the central locking/plain locking mechanism, need to spend some time with the owners manual I guess. I had a friend get out and lock the car from the key remote and after some movement from me within a few seconds the interior surveillance detected it and sounded the VERY LOUD horn/alarm. Awesome.