[Ricky_63]

How it all started :

Had been using a Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi since 2005. Was a great car, never troubled me during its 6 years & 55000 kms with me. The car ran a stock clutch & brakes till when I sold it.

Enjoyed the drive, comfort, solid feel, phenomenal mileage & abundant power (both pre & post remap) So the replacement HAD to be at par if not better. I was clear about that, having the German cars for a while & having gotten spoilt with the build & ride quality.

Always liked the clean lines of the VW Polo & then the Vento came, not with a stitched on boot but one that blended seamlessly with the rest of the car.

During the booking period I was told of the updated version. I was not too keen or impressed with the "update" or more so the "updated price", but did not really have a choice, because of the delay on my part to pay the booking amount.

So here I have it - the "updated" version of the Vento Highline TDI

I need not go into details of "how good the car is", as most of us do know that !! The only thing that was nagging me was "why not put in some more & get the Jetta" Greedy me. But then I put that devilish thought away & here I am with the Plain Jane Silver Vento !!

The Dealership Experience :

I would say it was OK not great & not bad. There was precious little they had to do other than give me the car. The finance was in place with a pre-approved loan from my Bank. I opted to use my older insurance company, HDFC ERGO, also used the NCB letter sitting with me. The dealer is quoting 46,670/- for 0% depreciation insurance, which I got for around 29k, so the saving was considerable, almost 17k.

The dealership gave me the car even before the cheque I gave them was cleared, which I seriously did not expect, that was a nice gesture. They bank with the same bank with whom I do, so I guess the Relationship Manager must have told them something in the ear !! LOL

They gave me an interesting little gift. An indoor plant, I was reasonably impressed. (In case you were wondering what a picture of a plant was doing on an automotive forum !!)

Got mud flaps & foot mats complimentary (read I did not beg for them)

So all in all good going VW Gurgaon

The overall experience was good at the VW Gurgaon.

From the Frying Pan & into the Fire :


Old habits die hard !! This is a habit I have had since I got my second car.

From the Showroom (Frying Pan) straight to the Tyre Shop (Fire) !! So it was no different this time around. Got my Apollo Accelere 185/xx/15 changed with Yoko S-Drives 205/55/15, nearly 0% OD error, and a way better tyre contact patch. Having used the same tyre of the same size I know what they felt like - N I R V A N A...




The inside of the car :


Tried out the USB thingy - it works well. The sound is quite acceptable, though not "audiophile wali quality", does the job well enough.

Personally I am NOT a fan of beige interiors. Other than the fact that they are bound to get & look dirty, to my mind a Vento with an all BLACK interior should come as an option.

Another thing the I noted almost the first time I sat in the car was a smaller than normal Rear View Mirror. The rear seat head rests further reduce visibility, this ought to have been looked into, the ORVM's are fortunately good at what they do

The car I have is primarily, Silver & Black on the outside, the interiors to me look way out of place. It may not be long before I get the dark coloured seat covers to match the darker shade of (brown?) on the inside

One thing that I really miss is the TEMPERATURE GAUGE :-(, huge disappointment, what could they have saved by not putting that in. It somehow makes one jittery, though I am sure there are checks & balances in place to check the same, but a gauge right there in front of you is way more re-assuring. If they wanted they could have done away with the fuel gauge too, as you do get distance to empty read out & a low fuel light !! Hope they correct this deficiency, even if they want to call it a "recall"


The ride :


The steering is nice & light at parking speeds but does not feel vague even at 100 kmph. I will not be doing 3 digit speeds anytime soon. Don't want the engine complaining later, now do I ? I can tell you it tempts you to go faster & the way the car lunges forward is another story.

I feel I will need to take a call on tyre pressure though, currently at 33 psi I think it feels a little stiff, or maybe after the Pajero anything will feel very different. The recommended pressure is not for me, no because my car has never had more than 2 adults & 2 little kids or 4 adults at best. So I will see what I feel right with. Any suggestions on this front are welcome.

The gear shift on my Octavia was very slick & slotted very very well. This one is nice but not as slick, maybe it is too new & needs to bed in, and then let us see.


The light-ing :

"Inadequate" in one word. There is a visible gap in the HL assembly the reflector seems kind of small with relation to the housing - wierd, but true. I hope they have a recall of this "defect" & present us poor sufferers with projector lamps as a good will gesture !! LOL !!

I wish they had given projectors, even as an option. So what I am doing is changing to 90/100 for now with wiring harness & relay from Hella & see if that cuts it for me. Else might consider projector "implants" into the OE Light shell. Costs 20k - hope the 90/100's take care of that part.

Another weird thing I find is having a reversing light on one side, why can they not make "normal" tail lights ?? No rocket science there, worst part is the reverse light is on the LHS - obviously a carry over from a Left Hand Drive ?! The saving grace is the Rear Parking Sensors.

The brakes are adequate & bite well. (the tyre upsize is definitely a contributory factor). The suspension is great as with most of the German cars I have owned or driven. No complaints there.


All things said the car is still very well put together, the drive just makes you forget every little glitch & oversight

So long, as of now (in just one day of driving) there is not much more that I can talk about - will post some night time pictures of the interior & exterior..




Cheers

[AdrenalinJunkie]

Lemme be the first to congratulate you Ricky sahaab!!!
Do post some photos of the modified steering wheel for us as well.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by AdrenalinJunkie

Lemme be the first to congratulate you Ricky sahaab!!!
Do post some photos of the modified steering wheel for us as well.

Thanks - I think due to the thread still being stuck in the assembly line, you may not be able to view this for sometime - but thanks any ways



Cheers

[Ricky_63]

As promised some night shots !! Nothing great, but posting some anyways !!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownerships section. Thanks for sharing!

[souravc]

Congrats on your drive Ricky , wish you many many happy miles ! As Oxyzen mentioned , it would be very interesting if you can do a Octavia and Vento comparo sometime in the future when you have clocked a few thousand miles in your Vento .
Please do feel free to contribute in the user discovered features thread on the Vento too in case you find something worth noting
Cheers

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by souravc

Congrats on your drive Ricky , wish you many many happy miles ! As Oxyzen mentioned , it would be very interesting if you can do a Octavia and Vento comparo sometime in the future when you have clocked a few thousand miles in your Vento .
Please do feel free to contribute in the user discovered features thread on the Vento too in case you find something worth noting
Cheers

Thanks souravc

Yes I would do a comparison once I have clocked atleast 1000 kms or more. The Vento is still way too fresh as you'd agree !!



Cheers

[gaurav_chopra04]

Congrats Ricky, I am sure the vento's design is quite to your liking, considering all the cars you have owned have/had similar straight lines be it the merc, the skoda or the bishis..

The temperature gauge is surely a miss and I agree that the lighting is not adequate, but the latter can be sorted I guess..but consider warranty before touching the wiring .

I cant agree more on the fact that interiors of vento/polo will look much more meaner in black. Lastly, the S-Drives as always look wicked.. just be a bit careful on bumps in good gaon.. In between, mind sharing how much you paid for the yokos..I recently got a quote of 6100. Damn, got them for 4700 per tire last year in feb..

Wish you miles of happiness, take car and drive safe..

Gaurav

[vb-saan]

Congrats Ricky on the classy Silver number! And thanks for photos

Are you planning to go for leather seats?

[Y@SH]

Congratulations on the vento (& the plant)! Surely a great choice and looks good in silver. May i know why did you change the stock tires? I mean did it really make a difference? Do you recommend this to everyone? And what was the cost? Thanks

[prabhuferrari]

Congratulations Ricky on your new ride. Wish you many happy miles with the car. It looks splendid.

[mkpiyengar]

Congratulations, Ricky sirjee on your new possession.

OT; Had loved your Pajero experience thread thoroughly.

Speaking of the temperature gauge, I presume they have a temp. light on the display which will turn RED in case it is very hot.

ANHC has a similar light which is blue at start and as you drive along it goes off.

Cheers.
MKP

[ashis89]

Congrats Ricky63ji on your new 'updated' Vento. The update was much needed indeed,the HU and the steering controls look great at night.
I liked the indoor plant more than your car(just kidding).
Any plans to remap the Vento,may be after running in is over?

Wishing you many happy miles in your new Vento.

PS: Do post pics if you install leather seats or upgrade your HLs with projectors.

[bala80]

Congratulations Ricky. Vento owners are quite passionate about their rides (another reason why they choose vento over the other competitors) and it shows in your write up.

Have a pleasant ownership experience.

[noopster]

Nice thread, Ricky and don't worry- the pics are excellent. The refreshed HU and ACC look much better in daytime than the old version, but I must confess have developed a soft spot for that awesome blue backlighting at night!

Keep posting!