[nileshch]

Today morning, me and Prabhu had a tiny meet. Evilshantanu could not come for some reason. We went to Hebbal lake for for a short walk and took some photos around.

When we came back to the cars, we discussed the differences between the old and the new Vento. I really liked the new music system. It suffices a non-audiophile completely with the features. The speakers too sound better with the new music system. The reversing sensor is integrated into the HU and is quite decent.

Here are some photos:

Hebbal Lake


A pair of pelicans lazing around in the lake.


Fishermen in a coracle boat earning their livelihood


A Brahminy kite earning its livelihood!






The brothers waiting:

[ninjatalli]

Awe-inspiring pics. And I'm talking of those in which the cars aren't there

SLR I believe. Which camera boss? And which lens(es)?

Coming back to the cars, did you guys get the cars cleaned just for this meet?

[srinath34]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Awe-inspiring pics. And I'm talking of those in which the cars aren't there

SLR I believe. Which camera boss? And which lens(es)?

Coming back to the cars, did you guys get the cars cleaned just for this meet?

Whoa ninja...you just stole my words. I wanted to say the same.

Two brilliant looking metallic painted cars in all their glory. Nice shots!!

[prabhuferrari]

Superb photos. Had a good time meeting you Nilesh. Next time will take you to Byalkere peacock reserve where we can get to spot more birds and if lucky peacock as well.

Nilesh just dusted his car with a magic brush before the photos. I had washed it yesterday. Nilesh, where did you get the brush?

[srinath34]

Just went through a few older posts. Really nice ownership review you have here nilesh. Have suggested my uncle to consider the Vento TDi for his future purchase as well. Do you work in Bagmane Tech park? If yes, we might bump into each other one day (I work in BTP )

[bala80]

Great photos. I liked the kite more than anything else, Of course, knowing you, no one can picture the car better than you.

Thank you very much Nileshch. Please drop me a note next time you are here somewhere around chennai

[cityvic]

The last three pictures look Brilliant.Somehow I prefer a black more than the blue.
Nilesh which camera do you use?Any editing also done to the last three?

[el lobo 6061]

The pictures look great. Frames have been made quite good. If the eagle's feathers haven't got blurred due to movement, the picture would have been epic.
I would take the black, so what if even I too have black Vento TDi HL.
Maintaining black is a heck of a job. The car cleaner at my building has really marred my car's paint.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Awe-inspiring pics. And I'm talking of those in which the cars aren't there

SLR I believe. Which camera boss? And which lens(es)?

Originally Posted by cityvic

The last three pictures look Brilliant.Somehow I prefer a black more than the blue.
Nilesh which camera do you use?Any editing also done to the last three?

Thanks, guys! These are from my trusty grandpa DSLR Canon 20D. The lenses I have used for these photos are 17-85mm IS USM and 70-300mm IS USM (all Canons). @cityvic, yes some post processing to remove the haze and improve contrast in the photos.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Coming back to the cars, did you guys get the cars cleaned just for this meet?

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Nilesh just dusted his car with a magic brush before the photos. I had washed it yesterday. Nilesh, where did you get the brush?

Ninja, I wanted to, but had no time to do a proper cleaning. Had bird **** in a couple of places and that is hidden in the photos I did some last minute cleaning with my Jopasu duster. Prabhu, got this from eBay and is revered in TBHP.

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Superb photos. Had a good time meeting you Nilesh. Next time will take you to Byalkere peacock reserve where we can get to spot more birds and if lucky peacock as well.

Ah, yes. Any time! I hear it is pretty close too.

Originally Posted by srinath34

Whoa ninja...you just stole my words. I wanted to say the same.

Two brilliant looking metallic painted cars in all their glory. Nice shots!!

Originally Posted by srinath34

Just went through a few older posts. Really nice ownership review you have here nilesh. Have suggested my uncle to consider the Vento TDi for his future purchase as well. Do you work in Bagmane Tech park? If yes, we might bump into each other one day (I work in BTP )

Thanks Srinath! My company has an office there. I come pretty often (I primarily work out of another office). We can surely meetup one of these days!

Originally Posted by bala80

Great photos. I liked the kite more than anything else, Of course, knowing you, no one can picture the car better than you.

Thank you very much Nileshch. Please drop me a note next time you are here somewhere around chennai

Sure Bala. I have it wired since long back. Will keep you posted when I am coming to Chennai.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

The pictures look great. Frames have been made quite good. If the eagle's feathers haven't got blurred due to movement, the picture would have been epic.
I would take the black, so what if even I too have black Vento TDi HL.
Maintaining black is a heck of a job. The car cleaner at my building has really marred my car's paint.

Oh, yes. The kite was really fast. Just got a split second to take the shot and a couple more.

Maintaining the blue is also quite tough. I have monitor how my cleaner washes the car. Have to tell him to avoid scrubbing on the paint! Invariably there are some swirls already. Plan to get a polish job done on the car once 6 months are up.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by nileshch

Sure Bala. I have it wired since long back. Will keep you posted when I am coming to Chennai.

How are you enjoying Mumbai ? A little birdie told me that you are busy doing your photoshoot in our city

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by souravc

How are you enjoying Mumbai ?

Very much! Drove the full family around in Mumbai for the first time in my new car. Visited Worli seaface and took the dream ride on the Worli Sea Link. And then, a few of us Vdub owners -- me, @souravc, the @el lobo 6061 brothers and @ninjatalli -- met at the Chembur Barista at night. That's 2 blue, 1 black and 1 silver vento! The meet was short and sweet as Ninja had to leave early morning for Delhi. Chatted and then did a quick photo session. Since it was night and I had left my tripod back in Bangalore, could not take better pictures!

[nileshch]

Had a great time in Mumbai. This time, I got to drive a lot around the city. I felt that I got better mileage in Mumbai. @souravc and me had a little debate when we met. He said try getting mileages above 9kmpl in the 8am traffic. He has a point. But if I were to compare the experiences, my stress levels were pretty much lower than what I experience in Bangalore. Namma two-wheelers give you the shock of your life at every turn!

Here is the Bandra-Worli sea link photo I missed in the last post:




Back to Bangalore now. On the way back, the Blue hit a special milestone at Panvel:



The return journey was the best I have had on the Mumbai Bangalore route so far. It being a Diwali weekend, the roads were almost completely deserted. No trouble at the usual spots -- Mumbai-Pune expressway Lonavla section, Pune city, Khambatki ghat, all MH toll plazas or even Yeshwantpur in Bangalore. I could not believe myself when I was at home at 4:30pm in the evening!

At Sai Resorts, Kolhapur


The Blue had not had a bath for ten days. So got a nice foam wash & interior cleaning done at the 3M Car care centre in HSR Layout yesterday.



This was the first time I went there. Was impressed with their overall service, though not perfect. Had to get the dashboard dressing done uniformly as they had missed out patches on the HU and AC face panels. Also the boys had left out a few dirt spots on the car seats.

Now, back to the daily grind!

[nileshch]

So the day to go to the workshop finally came. The AC blower had stopped working, though I could hear the compressor switching on and off. So I thought I'll drive down to the workshop to get it checked. Have to say the experience was not bad.

Fixed an appointment and reached the Hesarghatta VW Palace Cross workshop at 10am this Saturday. The workshop was choc-a-bloc with Polos and Ventos. The body shop was buzzing with activity too -- lots of accident-hit vdubs! Inspite of the rush, the service advisor attended to me immediately and checked the issue. He said it might take time to do the full diagnosis. However, after more than an hour, they were nowhere close to finding the fault. So the SA requested me to have the car fixed by evening. I agreed since staying there would have wasted most of my day over a minor problem.

Got the car in the evening, all washed and shining. They had cleaned the interiors as well. The issue was a loose electrical connection to the fan which pumps air into the dashboard vents. Total cost: zilch. Additionally, I had asked to do a general checkup of all fluids. They charged Rs. 386 for this (no oil top-up required). The workshop guys even fixed the slightly peeled off chrome strip on the boot.

All in all, I was much relieved that nothing went as wrong as the showroom experience. The workshop staff was courteous and responsive throughout. The SA arranged to drop me close to home and also had the car delivered to my place.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the electrical connection to the dashboard fan must have come loose during the power wash at the 3M shop I had last Sunday. I remember a discussion on the Vento features thread warning against washing the underbody or engine bay of the Vento. So this could be true! I am going to be really watchful next time.

[noopster]

Lovely pics! Don't know how I missed 'em before. I really regret not catching up with you and evilS on the Bangalore trip: that would have been a cool photoshoot to add to this!

[evilshantanu]

Originally Posted by nileshch

So the day to go to the workshop finally came. The AC blower had stopped working, though I could hear the compressor switching on and off. So I thought I'll drive down to the workshop to get it checked. Have to say the experience was not bad.

Fixed an appointment and reached the Hesarghatta VW Palace Cross workshop at 10am this Saturday. The workshop was choc-a-bloc with Polos and Ventos. The body shop was buzzing with activity too -- lots of accident-hit vdubs! Inspite of the rush, the service advisor attended to me immediately and checked the issue. He said it might take time to do the full diagnosis. However, after more than an hour, they were nowhere close to finding the fault. So the SA requested me to have the car fixed by evening. I agreed since staying there would have wasted most of my day over a minor problem.

Got the car in the evening, all washed and shining. They had cleaned the interiors as well. The issue was a loose electrical connection to the fan which pumps air into the dashboard vents. Total cost: zilch. Additionally, I had asked to do a general checkup of all fluids. They charged Rs. 386 for this (no oil top-up required). The workshop guys even fixed the slightly peeled off chrome strip on the boot.

All in all, I was much relieved that nothing went as wrong as the showroom experience. The workshop staff was courteous and responsive throughout. The SA arranged to drop me close to home and also had the car delivered to my place.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the electrical connection to the dashboard fan must have come loose during the power wash at the 3M shop I had last Sunday. I remember a discussion on the Vento features thread warning against washing the underbody or engine bay of the Vento. So this could be true! I am going to be really watchful next time.

The Bangalore motors service center is much better than downtown VW. I have to agree they do a good job

Originally Posted by noopster

Lovely pics! Don't know how I missed 'em before. I really regret not catching up with you and evilS on the Bangalore trip: that would have been a cool photoshoot to add to this!

Next trip to pune Planned in April. will definitely catchup then :-)