[Hayek]

I find it amazing that some folks make assumptions on what rights others may or may not have based on their own experience with some other manufacturer. Unlike what someone quoted about Skoda, my VW warranty card does not exclude the battery. So I continued to push, with a post on Facebook, and an Email to the VW India CEO.

VW got back to me, and agreed to bear 50% of the cost of a new battery. They also agreed to provide a further 2 year warranty on the same. While this is not optimal, I decided it was better than nothing, and have got the battery replaced. To be clear, if the battery had failed 2 days earlier, they would have borne the full cost - I would not have had to go to the battery manufacturer.

[kartavya]

The Vento looks beautiful in that blue shade. I myself drive a 2010-11 Black Vento but whenever me or my dad see a blue one we regret not going for the color.

On a side note our cars only run 13K in 3 years but there is a lot of sound from the engine (Manual, Diesel), specially during startup. Going to get it serviced in a few days so hopefully that can be solved.

[Hayek]

Posting on this thread after more than a year. Completed one more year with the Vento. The past year was relatively uneventful except that the battery (which was replaced during the last service) conked out once again. Given that VW had given me a further 2 year warranty, they replaced the battery without much ado. But I really wonder if VW asks for the rejects from battery manufacturers QC process to be given to it - have never seen such failure rates in batteries used by other OEMs or in after market purchases.

The car is largely driven by my wife's driver, and has now crossed the 26000 km mark. Got an interior cleaning done as part of the last service about a month ago. Damages for the service, AC disinfection and interior cleaning came to about RS. 15000. Invoice attached

[Hayek]

Just realised that I had last posted on this thread almost 30 months ago, when the Vento had completed 26,000 km. Well the car has been driven quite a bit since then, and we are now at over 50,000 km.

The service at the end of 2016 was somewhat troublesome - as they found that water had somehow gotten into the coolant system (not sure if our then driver had topped up water instead of coolant - he denied it vehemently), but this had caused rusting and led to a rather large service bill. A battery change also proved necessary. 2017 was completely uneventful - it saw us transfer the car from my employer to my wife’s name (which was a mistake as I lost my no claim bonus on insurance in the process). However, recently, we found that the engine was making a somewhat agricultural sound at cold start up, and the wind shield washer fluid was leaking out. Sent it to VW downtown, who indicated there were problems with the engine and gearbox mountings, and the radiator fan. Got these changed for damages of about ₹25 k. Car is running smoothly now - hope it keeps going for another year or two.

I have not driven this car much in this period - only the odd drive in the neighbourhood or at best down to Sobo. But what I like about the car is that it has aged pretty well - at 5.5 years and 50.7 k, it still looks and feels pretty good.

[Hayek]

Posting after another 10 months since my last post on this thread. The lack of posts is driven by the lack of major events - which I guess is a good thing. The routine service for 2018 saw the need for some minor part replacements - which was not too expensive. However, early this year, the battery gave way again - this one lasted 2 years + which is better than average for batteries on my car. The car has now completed 60000 km in 6 years and a bit - usage has been higher in the last year as my son now has several more trips a week for various classes. Still running well (touch wood), could well keep this car for 12 months or more

[razrman]

Thank you for such a detailed buying experience and constant updates. I am looking at buying a used Vento and your regular updates really helped me decide. Having owned only Japanese cars I was skeptical of Vento in the first place but the price difference between a used Honda city and used Vento cannot be ignored. Same year, similar mileage and better condition Vento is costing me at least 40k cheaper than the used city. Based on your ownership experience, would you recommend a 2011 80k run high line Vento (petrol manual). Dealer is offering at 2.2 I think he should close it at 2.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by razrman

Based on your ownership experience, would you recommend a 2011 80k run high line Vento (petrol manual). Dealer is offering at 2.2 I think he should close it at 2.

Sorry, missed this while I was on my vacation and hence the delayed response.

In my view, 80K is a lot for any car. The key factor you should consider while buying such an old car is maintenance costs. Based on my experience, ₹20 k per year on maintenance is par for the course without any major problems. If you have problems, bills could escalate quickly. As long as you can afford that, go ahead.

Since my last post, we identified a coolant leak. A couple of visits to VW Downtown failed to spot the cause. But finally they changed the Coolant Water Pump, and the car is running fine again.

[Hayek]

Drove my Vento after a really long time last night. The car has completed its fastest ever 10k, reaching 70k. Just realised that as kids grow up, they become substantially larger car users.

So the Vento has now covered more KM than any new car my wife and I have owned, and is quickly approaching the 76,000 KM that our Zen did with us (albeit starting at 19,000 KM, for a total of 95,000 km)

There have been odd niggles since my last post - but nothing material after the coolant pump change. How long will I keep this car? Barring unforeseen circumstances, we seem inclined to keep the car for one more year - which would make it our longest serving car ever. Let’s see how that goes.

[lionell]

Originally Posted by Hayek

There have been odd niggles since my last post - but nothing material after the coolant pump change. How long will I keep this car? Barring unforeseen circumstances, we seem inclined to keep the car for one more year - which would make it our longest serving car ever. Let’s see how that goes.

Moving to Bombay soon. Will be based in Andheri West. Which VW Service Centre would you recommend? Will be in Bombay for at least 2 years starting February, so looking for some suggestions with VW Service.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by lionell

Moving to Bombay soon. Will be based in Andheri West. Which VW Service Centre would you recommend?

I use VW Downtown, whose Service Centre is in Sewri. Have not used any of the other dealers - so can’t comment on how they are on a relative basis, but am reasonably happy with my experience so far.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by lionell

Moving to Bombay soon. Will be based in Andheri West. Which VW Service Centre would you recommend? Will be in Bombay for at least 2 years starting February, so looking for some suggestions with VW Service.

VW Mumbai West Service is somewhere in Andheri East. They are not too bad. A bit money-hungry but that’s to be expected! I used them a couple of times when I was in Mumbai for a long term project in 2015-16.

[Hayek]

Quick update. Had to carry out a 5th battery change for the Vento in less than 8 years. The first battery failed at 2 year 2 days in 2014 (was replaced at a discount by VW); the second some time in 2015 (replaced under warranty); a third at the end of 2016 (Paid replacement); the fourth at the beginning of 2019 (paid again); and now a fifth one (which actually conked out nearly two months ago). This one could perhaps be blamed on the lock down - but I had been driving the car at least once a week for 5 odd km during the lock down - but yet the battery got discharged in mid May. A jump start followed by a 10 km drive helped for a week, but then the battery was discharged again. A further jump start and 15 km drive was not enough to get the car starting on it’s own. So have now gone for an Amaron battery - let’s see how this works.

[click]

I am on my 4th battery on my 2013 petrol AT. Got the last one from VW sewri in Oct 2018 but of higher capacity- 60w. Hopefully this will last.

[joslicx]

5th battery in 8 years is really extreme bad luck (or is there any electrical problem in the car?)

I have the 2012 Vento AT and I am on my third one. The original battery lasted some 2.5 years. I got that replaced with an Exide 43mAH from local Exide dealer. It lasted me some 4.5 years (got it replaced with an Amaron last year).

[Hayek]

Not sure if there is some kind of electrical fault in the car. Have finally gone in for an outside battery (Amaron), let’s see how long it lasts.

Had a minor niggle in the car. Was taking it for one of the routine battery charging spins about 2 weeks ago, and the ABS warning light suddenly came on. Sent the car to VW and found that the front right ABS sensor had failed. With our car cleaner not being around, the car had also become dull on the outside and dirty on the inside - so also asked them to polish the car and deep clean the interiors. Damages including the ABS sensor came to a bit over ₹10000.

Drove the car to my in laws place in the suburbs today - the run was great and the car is running smoothly, have an MID indicated mileage of about 12.5 kmpl.

A couple of pics