[saurabhkum]

Originally Posted by mav2000

Guys, does anyone know whats the warranty on the battery on the Jetta.

Most of the car makers offer 2 year warranty on battery. This should be mentioned in the owners manual or service booklet where they must have mentioned the serial no and other details of the battery. Otherwise you can check on the battery manufactures website to find out. But no matter what it's very unlikely for a battery to go out in 2 years that too the OEM or 1st one. Check out for other reasons also which might be draining the battery.

[RajaTaurus]

Most of the times the service people disconnect the battery while servicing and do not tighten the earthing lug. I made it a practice to check and tightening it myself. Please check the lugs.

[urban legend]

I test drove the c r v today. Although it's quite overpriced and the fuel efficiency is quite low , I found it quite impressive and comparable to the D segment sedans in my list. The refinement , dynamics , features and space -both in cabin and boot are excellent. Honda should have priced it 3-4 lakhs lesser and it would have been perfect.

[Dead Head]

Update : The German Baby came home about two weeks ago. While I had to sacrifice going in for the 2.0TDI DSG due to budget constraints, the 1.4 TSI Comfortline is bringing me lots of joy. Silky smooth and with just about adequate power, this is my first ownership experience of a D segment car so am enjoying the honey moon!

The only issue I am having is with the GoodYear Tyres which are giving a pretty bumpy ride. I read in this forum else where that the GY tyres are not up to the mark but I had to experience that they can be this pathetic....and I work for the tyre industry myself and I have experience with all major brands. Yesterday on the Expressway, in the concrete sections, the car was virtually hammering up and down!

The tyres are truely a shame and if I had the extra cash, I should have traded the OE tyres for some decent Pirelli tyres which I could have got at a fairly reduced rate.

It will be interesting to know the experience of others with respect to this problem. As of now, I am reducing the inflation pressure a couple of psi below recommended to see if it make the ride smoother.

And by the way, the VW after sales service is pretty good. I had a problem with the bluetooth and they came within hours of my phone call and showed me how to fix it.

[RajaTaurus]

Congrats and welcome to the J club.! Which color? Regarding tyres please check the pressure is 32 psi and if required bring it down to 31 and try.

[Dead Head]

Thanks RajaTaurus. I will reduce the pressure to 30psi and try, at least the front on 30psi should make a difference. Will try and let you know.

It would be nice to know your experience in this regard. I have sounded the VW guys and they are yet to respond.

BTW my Jetta is Blue in colour, what is yours?

[sups]

Picking up the dead thread. I am almost spending sleepless nights on the same issues that many might have already faced.

Booked Octavia diesel style plus AT as a part of company lease. Many thanks to the help rendered by .anshuman, Epic, S2 and others through PM. The usage would be 1400 km per month and hence a diesel. I wanted a robust sedan with very good ride and handling and hence Octavia. Had Jetta been available, I would have gone for it eyes closed. Since back seat ride is a big criteria for me, I am not sure if I should go for Octavia diesel without a multi-link suspension. In fact all my sleepless has been caused by "multi-link" suspension, or rather the lack of it. Unfortunately, there is no test drive vehicle available for Octavia diesel and I am not in a position to gauge if I would like the back seat ride. Note that I am a sedate driver and most of the time the car will be driven within city and roads are not perfect. Understand that I would miss the multi-link suspension, but do I have any better alternative today other than Octavia? I did not like the ride in Elantra for reference. Some last minute inputs would be great from the owners.

[zombiedriver]

Unfortunately there are no alternatives to the Jetta especially in terms of the ride+handling combination that the multilink offers. If you are concerned about that then your best bet is the Octavia 1.8 tsi. 1400 kms a month is on the border usage. So you can consider it

[jetsetgo08]

Pardon me for reviving an old thread. Is there an equivalent of this thread that compares all the used D-segment cars?

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by jetsetgo08

Pardon me for reviving an old thread. Is there an equivalent of this thread that compares all the used D-segment cars?

Not particularly, but you can post your query on this thread for some good recommendations.

[jetsetgo08]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Not particularly, but you can post your query on this thread for some good recommendations.

Was just curious to know if well maintained D-segment cars are well built to last for >1 Lakh kms on the odo.

I see that there are too many Skoda's,VW's for sale but most of them being >5 year old with more than 1.5Lakh km's. Those are the only ones available under 5-6 lakhs, whereas the one's that are sparingly used, 3-4 years old are commanding nothing short of 9-10 lakhs, esp. the oil burners.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by jetsetgo08

Was just curious to know if well maintained D-segment cars are well built to last for >1 Lakh kms on the odo.

I see that there are too many Skoda's,VW's for sale but most of them being >5 year old with more than 1.5Lakh km's. Those are the only ones available under 5-6 lakhs, whereas the one's that are sparingly used, 3-4 years old are commanding nothing short of 9-10 lakhs, esp. the oil burners.

I can't speak for the German cars as I have very little experience myself with them, however most of my friend's who have owned them report that after 1 lakh kms they are usually a pain to maintain. Not sure if they are saying that as non-enthusiasts who just see things like belts, suspension overhaul, brake overhaul to be major maintenance issues or whether they are talking specifically about other reliability concerns, so I shall refrain from adding my opinion on that. That said I have seen a couple of my friend's German cars throw up way too many warnings and electrical failures once they get old. From what little experience I have with German cars, I can say that the face-lifted 2.0 CR motor Laura is far more reliable than the old 1.9 PD one. That's the only comment I can confidently make. Lamborghini or other members could add to the list of notorious cars and their safer more reliable versions.

As for Japanese cars, they are good to go even post 1.5 lakh kms in my experience. Ofcourse, that is given that they have been maintained properly. Considering D-segment sedans are mostly fully imported or imported in parts and assembled here, things like clutch overhaul, suspension overhaul, and other things that any car of this vintage would need to go through, cost a bomb, so beware of folks who may not have carried out the necessary replacement of parts. Especially with second owner cars as a lot of people buy them due to their poor resale value, and then decide to sell them after using it for a year or two, running it to the ground and realizing they cannot afford their maintenance. Basically, do your homework with these things as you wouldn't want to be stuck with a huge bill when you give it to the service center, or at-least factor these things in when negotiating a deal since a lot of folk skimp out on doing such stuff and just clean the car up properly and sell it claiming that it is well maintained. That said, Japanese engines are extremely old school and very simple compared to European ones thus inherently enjoy more reliability.

[jetsetgo08]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Especially with second owner cars as a lot of people buy them due to their poor resale value, and then decide to sell them after using it for a year or two, running it to the ground and realizing they cannot afford their maintenance.

Thanks Ishaan for the detailed post. As you probably know Hyderabad used car market is probably the most unruly. As many ads quote, many just buy the car and fill it with fuel and use it until an issue that mandates a service pops up. People don't even bother getting the car transferred to their name, thus most cars (esp. the european ones) bought from a dealer would most likely have changed 3-4 hands at minimum. My only doubt was if they are reliable enough for 70-80kms daily use even after a high mileage(read >1.5Lakh kms).

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

That said, Japanese engines are extremely old school and very simple compared to European ones thus inherently enjoy more reliability.

Barring the Mitsubishi Pajero, Toyota Corolla the rest do not have a diesel engine, which is probably the reason these still enjoy a decent resale value in Hyderabad.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by jetsetgo08

Thanks Ishaan for the detailed post. As you probably know Hyderabad used car market is probably the most unruly. As many ads quote, many just buy the car and fill it with fuel and use it until an issue that mandates a service pops up. People don't even bother getting the car transferred to their name, thus most cars (esp. the european ones) bought from a dealer would most likely have changed 3-4 hands at minimum. My only doubt was if they are reliable enough for 70-80kms daily use even after a high mileage(read >1.5Lakh kms).


Barring the Mitsubishi Pajero, Toyota Corolla the rest do not have a diesel engine, which is probably the reason these still enjoy a decent resale value in Hyderabad.

In my limited experience, I'd say European cars aren't reliable post 1 lakh kms but that is mostly due to the way we Indians treat our cars and the way the company supports its consumers. Your best bet would be to make friends with the owners of renowned independent garages and ask them what to look out for in particular models and what failures they are prone to. Someone like Prabhu who owns and runs New Mars would be the ideal person to talk to. He's usually busy this time of the year so some patience might be required. You can tell him I sent you though. He will easily be able to tell you what to look out for in any car since he has years of invaluable experience servicing, restoring and modifying everything from old peugeots, to buicks to modern day bentleys and mercs at his expansive setup. He caters to the average D-Segment sedan owners on a daily basis.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

In my limited experience, I'd say European cars aren't reliable post 1 lakh kms but that is mostly due to the way we Indians treat our cars and the way the company supports its consumers.

Originally Posted by jetsetgo08

My only doubt was if they are reliable enough for 70-80kms daily use even after a high mileage(read >1.5Lakh kms).

Ishaan has hit the nail bang on the head: The way the vehicle is maintained is a big big problem in Indian cities.

Personally, I wouldn't buy any car with high odo usage unless I am sure of how it was maintained, and driven.

Problem isn't with Germans so to speak - several brands such as Skoda, BMW, etc. are fairly reliable if you do your research well.
For instance, our E270 had many problems, most of which are common to the 5 cylinder engine under the hood, however, the E220 CDi was significantly more reliable.
Same for the Laura/Octavia/Superbs with the 7 speed DSG v/s the 6 speed DSGs.

The second issue is the cost of replacing some of these parts - often, with age & our conditions, many parts start failing after a while. It isn't to do with the car being unreliable, but small issues such as sensors/rubber parts/ etc. which give away.
However, the problem is that the parts are not easy to get and often have a wait time (as these Germans are typically more expensive to buy, and due to low numbers - parts for a discontinued vehicle aren't easily available). When the car is in the garage for small small jobs; and each job takes 15-20 days due to part unavailability - it becomes an annoying affair for the owner.
For example, our E60 525d spent 2 + weeks at the shop waiting for an oil cap as the rubber had deteriorated (IIRC) and the part had to be shipped from Germany.
Therefore, as the car clocks more kms, and more parts are due for a change - it isn't uncommon to see the price being significantly lower as the repair costs will be higher.

Lastly, Japanese cars are built to withstand our climate conditions, and as most of the Jap companies see more business than the Germans in terms of volume - the cars are more localised too unlike Germans.

Though to be fair, our BMW & Skoda are quite reliable and their parts have lasted longer than that of our Toyota & Maruti (regular consumables + suspension & brake pads).
Example again is the Laura Diesel Automatic who's brake pads have lasted 35Kkm v/s 20-25K for a Corolla Altis AT (as heard from a couple of BHPians); and at 72Kkm is still running on original suspension even after seeing some horrible roads.
But this aside, the real question is - Would I risk it? NO! Because even though the problems are more niggles, the costs and times are atrocious. Before we sold the E Class & the 5 series (10 years & 9 years old respectively), our annual spend was Rs. 1Lakh a year each, with a down time of over a month each year.

Only if the car was a classic, would it make sense.

I would just like to add that with a run of 70-80kms daily, a new German / sparingly used German would be a great bet, as half the problems arise from inconsistent use. Maintenance would be higher in terms of costs, but then again you would consider taking an even longer but less traffic-ky route home - every day!