[bala80]

VW Service Experience -

So, the car was taken in for a check-up on 18th Jan by Sundaram motors, chennai to address the following issues -

- All fluid level check/top-up
- Steering off center/pulling towards right
- Balancing of wheels
- Suspension Noise
- Door beading creaking noise
- Erratic power window operation
- VAS updates/automatic speed lock/unlock

Car was taken in at around 11 AM on 18th and delivery was promised on 20th Jan by 11 AM. I was OK with that, though 2 days for the above mentioned work was a little on the higher side. Upon taking delivery, noticed WA was not rectified, balancing not performed, VAS activation not done. Was very unhappy that they kept the car for 2 full days and still couldnt get all the work done. The SA was a nice guy, but the quality of the work was not upto the mark and I made no effort to hide the disappointment and frustration to him. The VAS updates were immediately performed, but the others would take time and hence it was agreed I will come back again today morning and all pending work has to be completed by them.

I went back again this morning at 11 AM, and one of the senior technician's were assigned to me to address the complaints. He was a nice gentleman, took a TD along with me to make note of the complaints and promised he will have them addressed appropriately. Though the issue seemed simple, the solution wasnt so. The airbag's have to deactivated first and the steering column checked, and then the steering had to be set right when the wheels were tracking straight. It took close to 4 hours for them to complete this job, but then it was done well at the end of the day. Also the speed sensing locks/unlock on key removal functions were activated. Again I made no effort to hide my appreciation for them on a job very well done. They were ready to accept, apologize and rectify their mistakes and that's something I really liked about this place. I got an opportunity to interact with everyone on the workshop floor and overall the ambience was pretty neat.

Some more points -

- Oil filter and fuel filter was replaced under warranty for my car. My car comes under the VIN batch for which these component replacements were suggested by VW. Reason quoted to me was leakage.
- I was charged 1400 for the service. I paid 450 Rs for general checkup which included all fluid level check/top-up, general inspection of brakes, electrical system, VAS updates etc.
- Everytime your battery terminal is disconnected, automatic lock and unlock has to be configured all over again.
- Other charges include 450 for wheel alignment and 450 for washing. Balancing was not performed since they didnt have the sticker weights in stock. I need to get it done outside now.
- Overall I'm quite pleased with the attitude of the SA/technicians and I'm convinced about the after sales service provided. If VW works on increasing the number of dealers/service stations, it will go a long way in building further credibility.

Next up - Review of ICE...

P.S - Service center made no noise or issue about any of the changes to the car. I told them that none of the original wiring was tampered with, and they didnt raise any concerns about these additions.

[bottle]

^ Good to see the feedback. I have a service booking for checks on Feb 1st, was told that it was booked till then. Mind sharing the name of the mech ?

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by bala80

- Other charges include 450 for wheel alignment and 450 for washing. Balancing was not performed since they didnt have the sticker weights in stock. I need to get it done outside now.

Thanks Bala for sharing your service experience & good to know that majority of your problems were resolved though a bit late. Don't the charges for wheel alignment & car washing seem to be on the higher side? Normally I pay Rs 200/- for checking my hatch's wheel alignment from outside (I mean a reputed tyre dealer).

[bala80]

I did the booking on 2nd Jan for a appointment on 18th Jan!

There are only 3 SA's if I recollect right. The person whom I interacted with is Mr.Prem and there is another gentleman by name Mr. Rahim. Both are very nice to deal with. If you happen to talk to Prem, you can enquire about my case, I'm sure he will remember. He even went to the extent of thanking me for the experience as he himself was unaware of these things before. Excellent attitude I must say.

The name of the senior technician whom I worked with is Jayaprakash and he also had very good attitude. I called them again this evening and thanked both of them for spending the time and effort to get my issues resolved. Found them pretty honest as well in their comments.

Originally Posted by bottle

^ Good to see the feedback. I have a service booking for checks on Feb 1st, was told that it was booked till then. Mind sharing the name of the mech ?

Definitely on the higher side, no two ways about it. As I told you, the only reason I did this in the service station is because the steering tilt couldnt be rectified outside and its quite a complicated process.

As far as the washing goes, any half decent shop in chennai charges you around 400 for a water wash. Having said that, the cleaning of the car is nothing to write home about!

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Thanks Bala for sharing your service experience & good to know that majority of your problems were resolved though a bit late. Don't the charges for wheel alignment & car washing seem to be on the higher side? Normally I pay Rs 200/- for checking my hatch's wheel alignment from outside (I mean a reputed tyre dealer).

[bala80]

ICE Set-up Review -

So here is the promised review of my ICE set-up. It took about a week for me to get the tuning right to my taste.

Front Stage -

I'm particularly impressed with the morel components, they do a fantastic job of playing the mid's and high's with great clarity which is exactly what I wanted from a SQ oriented set-up. I was contemplating between Morel's and Infinity components upfront and finally eliminated infinity since they were claimed to a little on the brighter side. I dont know how true that is, as I never got an opportunity to audition them, but then the best thing about my setup is the morel components upfront.

Rear Fills -

The rear co-axials are only for the purpose rear fill and they do what they are supposed to do.

The HU -

As far as the HU goes, I was contemplating between JVC AVX 646 and Pioneer P3350BT, leaning partially towards the pioneer as I have used it in my previous car and their performance was excellent. The one thing that sealed the deal in favour of JVC was the price as it was cheaper than the pioneer unit by around 5k, sans the bluetooth feature but on par with pioneer on all the other specs. If I have to make a quick comparo, pio had better user interface, much quicker response time (on my 16gb USB stick), better customization options, equalizer settings etc. JVC scores over pioneer with a 6.1" screen against a 5.8" of pioneer, individual crossover settings for front and rear channel, USB placed in glove box against the front port in pioneer. Even stevens, you'd think. I still think pioneer is better overall, but thats my personal opinion.

Please note that any touchscreen HU with detachable face plate will protrude a little out from the facia adaptor to facilitate removal. If you need something that fits flush, then you need to compromise on this safety feature. JVC features a detachable faceplate and you can see the amount of protrusion in one of the photo's I had put up earlier, pioneer faceplate cannot be removed and hence the finish will look better.

Amplifier -

Initially was contemplating a focal solid 4, 4 channel amplifier since I wasnt planning on installing a mono-block to drive the sub. I have heard very good reviews about this amp. I had a limited budget of around 50k for my ICE and couldnt afford this at 16k Rs. Settled for Auditor from the same company which manufactures Focal (DLS) for around half that price and so far pretty happy with its performance. I had an issue with the new amplifier which wasnt functioning properly, and it was replaced with a new one today. All is well now. I dont intend to go for a mono-block amp as the current amp satisfies all my requirements. The amp drives the front components and the sub-woofer in bridged mode. Amplifier gain is set around 50% for both the channels.

Sub-Woofer -

12" JL audio in sealed enclosure. I like my bass to be tight and this fits the bill perfectly. Ofcourse, you can tune it the way you like it, but at the moment, you dont explicitly feel the presence of a sub-woofer, but will miss it the moment you switch it off. I like it this way.

Special mention to the build quality of the vento, no vibrations or resonance even when playing at high volume and there is no need for any damping in this car. I'm no audiophile, but appreciate good music. I listen to all sorts of music right from Jazz/rock/hip-hop/tamil film music/oldies and the current set-up is not oriented towards any specific genre of music.

Special thanks to the installer - powerzone. I got his reference from t-bhp, his work was very neat and professional. Never had a problem with VW on any warranty threats or issues. When I reported issue with the amp, he got a new replacement immediately and fixed it for me. I will definitely recommend him. Except HU all the equipment was sourced through him and everything was bought with B&W. You are free to source your own equipments and he will do the install for you, if you wish so.

I'm happy with the set-up and it meets upto my expectation in the budget that I had for ICE. I researched close to 3 months to get the equipment list right and I'm glad with the way it has turned up. If anything the system exposes the bad quality of some of my mp3's but I'm more than happy for this trade off. It doesnt sound loud at all and doesnt cause headache at the end of the day, I expect my long drives to be all the more involving now with the new set-up.

I hope I have covered everything in this review, if you have any specific questions, need any information, please let me know.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by bala80

- I was charged 1400 for the service. I paid 450 Rs for general checkup which included all fluid level check/top-up, general inspection of brakes, electrical system, VAS updates etc.

- Other charges include 450 for wheel alignment and 450 for washing. Balancing was not performed since they didnt have the sticker weights in stock. I need to get it done outside now.

I think you got it a bit mixed up. Washing comes as a part of general checkup and is within the 450Rs charge (386Rs in Pune, might have increased). However wheel balancing cost is higher at VW workshops (already experienced by Noop or other BHPians), close to 1000Rs, which comes close to the additional amount charged to you apart from the checkup charges.

On a aside note, I am taking my car for a checkup tomorrow. Can you name the filter part names, just in case the workshop guys feign complete ignorance of the replacement requirement initiated by VW?

[bala80]

No sir, I'm fairly certain of what I quoted earlier. Please see attached.

For wheel balancing VW charges 200 Rs per wheel, but then you dont need to check the balancing at regular intervals. Once balanced, a wheel will stay balanced. Only if you remove it for fixing puncture etc, you may have to recheck the balance.

For water wash, even road side shop's charge you around 400 Rs, I dont think this can be included under general check-up. I got the following done as a part of general checkup for 450 Rs

- All fluid level check/top-up
- All VAS updates
- Brake/electrical/battery check
- Clean air filter and A/C filter
- Lubrication of suspension/moving parts

For the part number, I suggested a reference to the diesel leakage document, did you refer that? VW didnt give me a copy of the bill for warranty repairs (they just showed it to me) and filed it in the claim file.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I think you got it a bit mixed up. Washing comes as a part of general checkup and is within the 450Rs charge (386Rs in Pune, might have increased). However wheel balancing cost is higher at VW workshops (already experienced by Noop or other BHPians), close to 1000Rs, which comes close to the additional amount charged to you apart from the checkup charges.

On a aside note, I am taking my car for a checkup tomorrow. Can you name the filter part names, just in case the workshop guys feign complete ignorance of the replacement requirement initiated by VW?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by bala80

No sir, I'm fairly certain of what I quoted earlier. Please see attached.

For wheel balancing VW charges 200 Rs per wheel, but then you dont need to check the balancing at regular intervals. Once balanced, a wheel will stay balanced. Only if you remove it for fixing puncture etc, you may have to recheck the balance.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I have done general checkup twice and got the car washed (and inside area too cleaned), as a part of the general checkup, all for the aforementioned amount. (don't have the bills with me) I think Noop was given a discount, with the above done for less than 200Rs! In fact I even mentioned it once somewhere on the forum that it is better & economical (for me) to go to VW workshop for a car wash than any place else!

Maybe different VW dealers do it differently? Or possible that they might have changed it recently, my last checkup was over 2 months ago.

For water wash, even road side shop's charge you around 400 Rs, I dont think this can be included under general check-up.

Good god! No sir, I just got my friend's car done for less than 200Rs just last week at a reputable shop. And this was a proper wash, all included.

I got the following done as a part of general checkup for 450 Rs

- All fluid level check/top-up
- All VAS updates
- Brake/electrical/battery check
- Clean air filter and A/C filter
- Lubrication of suspension/moving parts

I am not sure if the last part was done in the general checkup for me. That seems to be quite vital.

For the part number, I suggested a reference to the diesel leakage document, did you refer that? VW didnt give me a copy of the bill for warranty repairs (they just showed it to me) and filed it in the claim file.

Saw that, but didn't require it. The SA was aware of the filter change requirement, however he clarified that it wasn't required for my car. Will put up a post on that later.

[bala80]

Actually I would have expected VW to have given me a complimentary wash along with the general check-up for free. And their washing wasnt really upto the mark either to command a charge of around 450 Rs.

Whenever my maruti car used to go inside MSM workshop, it always used to come out clean inside out, even if the total bill is zero or for just minor running repairs. There is a reason why they are consistently number 1 as far as after sales customer satisfaction is concerned.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I have done general checkup twice and got the
car washed (and inside area too cleaned), as a part of the general checkup, all for the aforementioned amount.

I complained about the suspension noise and erratic power window operation. Hence this was included. I'm not sure if this would have been done otherwise.

I am not sure if the last part was done in the general checkup for me. That seems to be quite vital.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I think you got it a bit mixed up. Washing comes as a part of general checkup and is within the 450Rs charge (386Rs in Pune, might have increased).

Originally Posted by bala80

For water wash, even road side shop's charge you around 400 Rs, I dont think this can be included under general check-up.

I was charged zilch for washing the car and 360Rs for a general checkup of the car when I took it last to the VW workshop. 450Rs does sound high as a generic wash from a third party outlet costs me 200-250Rs in Bangalore & Mumbai.

[bala80]

Point noted. Thanks Nileshch and ninjatalli, their washing anyways was not upto the mark and I dont intend on asking them to do a wash for me, if they are going to claim charges for it.

By the way - got a feedback call from VW, asking me to rate the service experience on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being poor and 10 being excellent. They also had around 5 questions, for which we need to give them some rating.

I gave them an overall rating of 8/10. If I'm not satisfied, complaint will be opened against the service center and they will have to ensure the issues are resolved to my satisfaction. While, this is fairly a common process across everyone, to be honest I was least expecting this from VW

This was the first ever call/communication I have received from VW asking for feedback on my VW experience so far!!!

[BurningHeart]

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

Its best to stay clear of tires in which you can make a dimple/depression with your little finger when they are on display at the tire store especially for Indian conditions.

That way, all Michelins should be OUT!

[souravc]

Bala , How are the bridgestones holding in the horrendous roads that takes its toll on the alloys ?
BTW , Your profile is still in denial of the Vento that you own Ikon and Scorp are on display but not Vento

[bala80]

Hello Souravc - Happy to see you back (Too busy with work off late or something?), Bridgestones are doing just fine, and since the steering issue has also been sorted out, It feels even better. For a change I dont have any outstanding complaints with the car. Yes, the door creaking is there, but then now that the ICE has gone in, that's no big deal at all for me!

I have been travelling on business off late and my car has not actually done any reasonable running in the last couple of months. The car had hardly done 500 odd km's in the last 2 months or so, only short runs inside the city. Need to wait for summer vacation of my daughter to plan a vacation, hope my work doesnt play spoilsport then.

Yes, its been a very long time since I updated my profile and when I last attempted to do so, it asked me lots of questions/reasons and I gave up the effort. I will try again, thanks for pointing out

By the way, i have vowed not to take the car on the same route again, You'd probably have read about an cruze owner who lost his tyre on the same route and fellow vento owner whose wheels just got bent. Its an ridiculous route for sure.

Originally Posted by souravc

Bala , How are the bridgestones holding in the horrendous roads that takes its toll on the alloys ?
BTW , Your profile is still in denial of the Vento that you own Ikon and Scorp are on display but not Vento

[bottle]

Posted my experience http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2677075

I checked with Jayaprakash and he was saying that the VAS features you mentioned were not there for the Polo sadly