[thoma]

A gem of a 1.6 gets replaced with another 1.6. The G16B by the CAYC (?); simply put, a Volkswagen Vento TDi Comfortline replaces the Maruti Suzuki Baleno VXi.


The decision

Dad wanted to fulfill one of his lifetime dreams – owning a European sedan; even if it meant sacrificing some ancestral assets. He loved the Skoda Octavia for long, but it was discontinued later. He has fallen for the word German reliability. I know it is not the German that is more reliable but the Japanese; but since it is sure to fall on deaf ears, I kept mum. He fell flat for the recent Volkswagen offer of getting a sedan at the price of a hatch and paying the rest a year later. So, there had been no contenders whatsoever for the Vento. Long back, he had checked out the Vento and other sedans and since then, the Vento so much grew up on him. I never knew! He surprised me by booking a Vento(P) when I was not in town. He was sure that I would mostly oppose instantaneous buys. The only decision that was seemed left to be made was between a Petrol and a Diesel. So he took me along for a comparison test drive and I gave the verdict for a Petrol to suit his requirements; though it was no-where fun to drive and the Diesel with comparatively bad NVH (okay, not Noise but the others are bad). A gist of the test-drive is put up here.

Finally, the booking was changed to a diesel, giving preference for the FTD factor. Though I did ask dad to have a look at other competitors including the Duster, I had to accept his claim that none of them came with this half-price offer. As an afterthought, clocking 1500 kms on the Vento TDi, I had to admit that I don't feel so(oooo) special / different in a Vento. And maybe if our family could afford a loan or the full amount, I would definitely have coaxed dad into buying a Duster or any other SUV. I am one who loves to be one with the engine. Though the Vento offers much vibration and harshness, do not mistake me; the engine feels disconnected from the driver – maybe the ECU takes over. The Micra satisfies that. A Jeep is still my dream drive, but alas, I am not the buyer.




The dealership / delivery experience

Nothing to write home about here. The same guys, EVM Automotive, deal with Nissan at my place and I had a wonderful experience with them while buying the Micra. I had been to the Volkswagen dealership earlier to check out the Polo and I don't have much change in opinion. Though most of the Vento test drive and booking was been done by dad himself, I got involved with the dealership towards the delivery. The Volkswagen sales guys are mostly haughtier and less knowledgeable. Not all. They do not like to treat a customer; they expect the customer to treat them. Again, may be, not all. Our sales executive had said that the doors auto-lock after some speed. After taking delivery, we did find that it was not working and took back to the same executive who said that once we open from inside after stopping the car, the auto-unlock works and that is why we cannot check the auto-lock! Next day, while driving carefully, I lowered the window and tried pulling at the door handle from outside. It was unlocked. Took to the service center and after a good 2 hours of waiting, they informed me that the auto-lock and unlock does not work for the Comfortline variant. Is that so, Comfortline owners? Another issue was that I couldn't operate the head unit at night as it was not illuminated. After making me wait for these 2 hours, they had told that they can replace it under warranty only to find out later that one fuse had been loose! So much for their PDI and logistics charge of 6000/-

And all they was really concerned was about an "excellent" rating from us when Volkswagen calls for the customer feedback. The sales executive and the CRM were requesting not to give a "good" but "excellent" rating as Volkswagen would question them why not "excellent".


The cost split-up

Invoice amount – 912344
Accessories (mat and flap) – 3254
Extended warranty – 11858
Insurance – 36353
Registration charges – 450
PDI / handling charges – 6000
Road tax ~ 73000
Total amount (including VW finance’s pay half after a year offer) ~ 10.43 lacs
What we had to pay upfront ~ 5.85 lacs
What we have to pay after a year ~ 4.58 lacs (either pay a lump sum then or opt for VW finance)


The customary gifts


The print on the paper cover gets a Shadow Blue color

[thoma]

The ownership experience

I have not driven much of the Vento's competition except for the old Verna, an MJD Linea and the petrol Sunny. So this will be more of an ownership experience than a comparative review. Moreover, we already have tons of excellent comparative ownership reviews with awesome snaps on the forum for the Vento. I have to admit that the Comfortline variant is definitely a compromise on the important safety features of ABS and airbags. As of now, the car has run 1460 kms.

Likes:

- Handling. Since I had not tasted much cars with such handling ability, this takes first position in my view. Winding roads are a bliss on the Vento. Maybe, I'm not too sure; the spoil sport is the JK Vectras. In the same breath, let me add that I do not do high speed cornering maneuvers too often; so this wonderful handling won’t come much useful in my daily usage pattern.

- The horn. Yes, I am absolutely in love with the 'paanmp'. And it can be used to communicate; there is a lot of difference in conveying the idea when you press shorter vs. longer. Moreover, without the airbag, the horn pad extends to where your thumb is.

- The low end grunt is good and the turbo spools almost linearly. Turbo starts from around 1300 and picks up faster near 1500 RPM. The Vento is beastlier with the turbo. For the mild driver, the turbo can be termed almost lag-less. During the running-in period, I was about to ask fellow BHPians if at all my turbo was working or not, but then searched from T-BHP for an exact answer. Overtaking is fun once the turbo kicks in.

- The car does not jerk when we take the foot off the A-pedal unlike in many other cars. That means the engine braking comes in slowly. Maybe it is a feature accomplished by the ECU. I’m not sure if I like less engine braking, but I sure like less jerking.

- The interiors are simple and well laid-out and moreover spacious. Seems that the build quality is excellent but why are the door rubbers squeaking and leaking! - more on this in the 'dislikes' section. The panel gaps are consistent and the panels with thicker gauge than the competition.

- Sound insulation on the inside is above average. Even the engine noise is much muted. On the flip side, as I've mentioned, I personally love cars where the driver is one with the engine. Not that I want the clatter, but the diesel thrum of a Jeep are music to my ears.

- Gear shifter is a joy to use. Just that you got to get acclimatized with the reverse gear slotting.

- Driver's arm rest allows us to feel like sitting at home. And some storage space is also provided. But this does interfere with use of the hand brake.

- I’m surprised to get Climatronic A/C on the Comfrotline. The executive was saying that even he was unaware of that as it was a recent addition. Also, the HU plays USB. An RCD 220.

- Humongous boot space. Though the height of the opening is not that great when compared to the Baleno. I used to transport ladders and computer tables and even a bicycle in the Baleno's boot.

- Loved the braking. Had one emergency braking and no issues at all; a clean stop.

- Love the headrests. I hate flat high headrests.

- Liked the gear change recommendation on the MID. I’m sure dad is going to love it more. He is a confused diesel driver.

- All the windows have single touch up and down individually and at the driver door. Moreover, the windows can be opened / closed using the key fob.

- It is only now that I realized the use of rear fog lamps. Good to have those in bad climate conditions.

- I’m okay with the light steering. It gets weighed up at speeds more than the Nissan's.

- Huge glove box is always welcome. Cubby spaces too.

- If you want some small items to remain chilled, just put it at the space ahead of the ash collector and put on the A/C. I guess the A/C ducts run alongside which does the trick. But if it is night, the light below the cigarette lighter warms up; that is why I suggested the space ahead and not the cup holder.

Dislikes:

- Headlamps. Pathetic from Volkswagen. Didn't expect this from a company who speak a lot about build quality and safety. The headlamp aiming is too bad that it is focused to a point making it difficult while negotiating turns. What are my options in upgrading the headlamp bulbs without any additional relay? And how about re-aiming for a wider throw?

- Squeaking door rubber. This is real bad on a brand new car. The door rubber squeaks rubbing with the metal panel (I guess; could not investigate further) when going over bad road or even when we take a bump at an angle. Is this the norm, Ventonians? Any solutions?

- Leak!!! I won't make a huge hue and cry over this, as just a single drop of water fell on my hand seeping in through the door rubber (I guess) under heavy rainfall. Another drop and Volkswagen, you are going to have a piece of my mind. Either way, a leak is a leak and this is highly unexpected from a million rupee German engineered car.

- Volkswagen dealer attitude is average. Haughty and less-knowledgeable compared to the competition. At the time of delivery, I asked a service adviser, who assisted us, about the RPM at which the turbo spools. 4000 was his answer and I smiled. Auto-lock and unlock was promised by our sales executive, but not so by the service team. Bad PDI with a loose fuse leading to no illumination of the head unit at night.

- The engine when combined with the gearbox felt like an untamed beast. I more like tamable beasts like the K9K. Why mostly because the car jerks while up shifting especially from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd, unless you release the clutch really really slow. So I need not mention about downshifting; unless you are downshifting at a very low RPM. Hence, anticipated engine braking by downshifting is not a pleasure, unlike with the K9K.

- The ECU takes over the engine control many times. For example, the RPM does take some time to settle to a perfect idle even when the clutch is fully depressed. I was idling while applying the brakes. While lifting the foot from the pedal and rolling the car in neutral, the RPM increased on its’ own. I like less intrusion from the ECU on the engine. Since the ECU adjusts for lower RPM usage, we get a tendency to drive at lower RPMs.

- There is subtle to moderate hammering effect transferred to the foot from the clutch pedal. Yes, bad vibrations on the clutch pedal while we depress it.

- Feels like a heavy vehicle is being lugged. The nimbleness is missing.

- The straight lift of the Polo's front grill slats. Should have given some difference for the Vento. On the road, one has to strain his eyes to recognize a Polo from a Vento; the subtlest of difference is for the fog lamps, and of course the boot once the car has passed by. Love the Rapid for the overall looks. Aren't the overall straight design lines on the Volkswagen cars fast aging?

- The brake pedal is higher than the A-pedal. I have read people complaining of the clutch pedal higher than the other pedals but the brake pedal and the A-pedal are being used by the same right foot and I felt it awkward to lift it more for braking.

- Visibility is not great. At the back, it is pathetic. The sides are average. The front is average to above average depending on the seat height adjustment. But I’m surprised I got parking sensors at the rear for a Comfortline.

- Controls are on the wrong side. Isn’t it high time we had a unified pattern for cars sold in our country?

- No auto-lock and auto-unlock on the Comfortline. Even the fuel lid can be opened from outside if not manually central locked!

- Clutch is a tad bit stiffer. In heavy traffic, I got some knee pain.

- The chrome lining around the air dam and the fog lamps are sorely missed in the lower models. Can the chrome lining alone be installed?

- I didn't like the sound output from the speakers/HU much. I’ve decided to live with it at present. I’m not a hardcore modifier.

- Though the boot is large, we have to lift the luggage much for loading and unloading. The boot lip is high.

- Sad that the seats are not fold-able. The bicycle and ladder will now has to be transported using an Ape.

- There is not much space on the left of the clutch pedal to rest your left foot. Though I’m a small footer, my sandals had a tough time going between the pedal and the center console plastic.

- Was it so difficult for Volkswagen to put reverse lamps on both sides for the Vento?

- I’m afraid whether the front over hang will hit the innumerous inclines at my place. Will it?

- I absolutely adore the Shadow Blue color and even got an infraction on the forum for drooling over it in fewer words. Sorely miss the Blue as I had to give in to dad's preference of White.


Bottom line - I still love the other car in our garage - the Micra for its' excellent overall drive-ability and niggle free experience. That does not make the Vento any bad. It is just that the Micra more matches my personal preference. The Vento is a beast on the highway, but unfortunately, Kerala has very few real highways. Almost all over Kerala, the speed is restricted to 70 kmph!

[thoma]

The stills

Please excuse me for the sloppy captures.



The average FE as per the MID over a 400 kms. To be precise, 399 kms took in 22.4 liters of diesel for the first tank full. Comes to 17.8 kmpl. The conditions involved more of ghats and highways and less of city traffic; A/C on all the time



Trying a hand at the Picasa editor



The front nose from the sides



From along the front wheel arch towards the back



Water beading on the roof. How long does the wax effect on a new car last?



A look at the rear view mirror in the rain. I'm in no mood to appreciate the modern day rear view mirrors. I just keep on missing spotting a biker or a car



A rain shot



The meters and the MID



The RCD 220 and the climatronic A/C console



A look at the beige interiors from outside. Wondering how fast this becomes dirty. I loved the thick fabric on a new Verna that parked side of our car the other day. The fabric on the Vento reminded me of the thin loose fabric on the Liva, though not that bad. This point I missed in the 'dislike' section



The rear 3/4th from the side



Another angle of the rear and the sides. She needs a well deserved wash after covering 1500 kms from delivery



Bang from the back



The illumination around the cigarette lighter. This too was missing due to the loose fuse



The C-shaped tail lamp cluster at night



Another try at night shot



Volkswagen claims a max speed of ~184 kmph



A night shot from the rear. Maa, I need better equipment to shoot these



The redline starts at 5000 RPM



A collage of mobile snaps



A lot of information booklets accompany the buy



The parting shot, another trial with the Picasa editor



Thanks for reading through.

[Rehaan]

A quick reply here...

Originally Posted by thoma

- The interiors are simple and well laid-out and moreover spacious. Seems that the build quality is excellent but why are the door rubbers squeaking and leaking! - more on this in the 'dislikes' section. The panel gaps are consistent and the panels with thicker gauge than the competition.

I've heard that the A.S.S will change the beading for you free of cost because of this (known) issue.

Also, if you see water on the door-sill at the bottom, thats normal - because the Vento has the beading in a different position than most other cars.

cya
R

[Loud]

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please do not reply to posts using bold text within a quoted post, as it leads to visual discomfort for readers. For the correct way to quote, please see this thread (How to MULTI-QUOTE (when replying to a thread) on Team-BHP).

[motomaverick]

First off congrats on your new car and secondly really good pictures. I quite liked the speedo photograph. I dont think you require new equipment you already have a good equipment with fair bit of post processing knowledge

[Batfreak]

Congrats on the buy! Wish you many more happy miles with the German tank!
PS. Are those Polo's rims?

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I've heard that the A.S.S will change the beading for you free of cost because of this (known) issue.

R

Hey, do you know if the beading replacement is also free for the Rapid? Does changing really solve the issue?

Cheers,

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Batfreak

Hey, do you know if the beading replacement is also free for the Rapid?

Not sure. Do search the ownership threads & the Official Revew.

Originally Posted by Batfreak

Does changing really solve the issue?

From what i read in the Vento threads - yes.

cya
R

[thoma]

Adding a couple of missed points -

- Saw a 2011 red Vento at the dealership with the VIN number still intact on the windshield. I asked a sales executive and he admitted it to be a 2011, but what was unbelievable from his part was that even that 1.5 year old car carried the same discount as a 2012 model!

- Sorry that I missed out mentioning this important dislike - my wife certifies that the Micra does better on undulating roads. I definitely agree with her that small bumps from undulating roads are transferred to the passengers. And who can deny her? She is carrying. She prefers the Baleno the most, then the Micra. Vento and i10 the least. I was an avid fan of the boat effect (because any bumpiness is converted to swaying motion) in the i10 but now I realize why swaying is not that good; however slow I go (I even go at 25-30 kmph at times) in the i10, there is definite sideways rocking motion.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by thoma

Adding a couple of missed points -

Amazing open and frank review @thoma. Both the cars have their own pros and cons.It depends on your own priorities which you bring about clearly.

Wish you (errr... Your dad ) many many miles of ownership.


PS : You redefine the words : sloppy captures!

[ninjatalli]

Lovely pictures, especially the close-up and the night mode ones.

I don't think there are a lot of Vento owners who aren't VW fan-boys, so it'll be interesting to hear your feedback(s) as you spend more time with the car.

[sawnilrules]

Amazing shots of the car mate. I simply loved the way the logo was shot. Could you let me know which camera are you using. I have recently gifted my self Canon 1000D, but have not bought any extra lens, am just using the one which was with the box....

[revintup]

Congrats on the Vento

Originally Posted by thoma

- It is only now that I realized the use of rear fog lamps. Good to have those in bad climate conditions.

In kottayam, you must be meaning rain and not fog when saying bad climate.

Please do not use rear fogs or hazard blinkers during rain. It is highly irritating to the driver of the car trailing you. In heavy rains, I am compelled to overtake due to the use of these fogs or hazards. The rear reds do the job just fine from the perspective of safety.

Originally Posted by thoma

- Headlamps. Pathetic from Volkswagen. Didn't expect this from a company who speak a lot about build quality and safety. The headlamp aiming is too bad that it is focused to a point making it difficult while negotiating turns. What are my options in upgrading the headlamp bulbs without any additional relay? And how about re-aiming for a wider throw?

Go for the philips xtreme vision. Provides about 50-60% more light except when it rains. I have been using it for an year now. Its a 5 min job.

Originally Posted by thoma

Love the Rapid for the overall looks. Aren't the overall straight design lines on the Volkswagen cars fast aging?

Absolutely not. I had considered the Rapid better looking when it was launched but now that its common on the roads, I find the Vento much classier.

Originally Posted by thoma

- Was it so difficult for Volkswagen to put reverse lamps on both sides for the Vento?

Sadly this is the norm with so many manufacturers now. Sooner than later, I guess they might dispense off with one headlight too.

[Sommos]

Many congratulation for the Vento.
Wish you many happy miles with the car.

Change the headlights to Philips VX or Osram NB+ and get the headlight alignment set from the service centre.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I've heard that the A.S.S will change the beading for you free of cost because of this (known) issue.

Also, if you see water on the door-sill at the bottom, thats normal - because the Vento has the beading in a different position than most other cars.

Thanks R, I need to take up the squeak, leak and headlamp issues with the service center soon.

The door sill is a mess - gets dirty on every rain. It is not the water and dirt entering the door sill that bother me much. A drop of water fell on my forearm while holding the steering!

Originally Posted by Batfreak

PS. Are those Polo's rims?

I really don't know if it is a straight lift from the Polo but those are steel rims with clip-on wheel covers. Were you asking about the wheel covers or the rim size?

Originally Posted by ampere

Amazing open and frank review @thoma. Both the cars have their own pros and cons.It depends on your own priorities which you bring about clearly.

PS : You redefine the words : sloppy captures!

Thanks amp and very true about perceptions and priority. That was why I had put the disclaimer "It is just that the Micra more matches my personal preference"

Were you sarcastic about the 'sloppy capture'? I was thinking that I was casual this time around, but glad that few guys liked it.

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

Could you let me know which camera are you using.

If I let you know which camera I am using, probably you guys will stop looking at my snaps. Anyway, it is a humble point and shoot - Canon PowerShot A550.

Originally Posted by revintup

In kottayam, you must be meaning rain and not fog when saying bad climate.

Go for the philips xtreme vision. Provides about 50-60% more light except when it rains.

I was thinking about the heavy rain and the fog towards the east. Had used the rear fog lamps when fog surrounded Kuttikaanam. No, I don't use the hazard lights, but are fog lamps that irritating during heavy rains? I thought they would be helpful.

The driver side and passenger side headlamp bulbs on my Vento is of different make! One is Osram Bilux 60/55W H4 and the other Philips H4 60/55W. And the spare is Halonix H4 60/55W. I'm pretty more satisfied with the same Halonix on the Micra but it could be because of the reflector design.

Does the extreme vision not perform well in rain? I already had real real issues when it rained. First the lighting is poor, then it is focused to a point and on top of it, I need not mention about rain.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

the squeaks coming so early is not a good sign.

Why so, not a good sign, ninja? Need I be concerned with any deeper/underlying/upcoming issue? Please.

Originally Posted by newtonMeter

There were lot of queries about WD40. And how to apply. Here are few pics and video attached for your use

Thanks for sharing. I dug up some old posts on the Vento thread stating the same. But I have serious doubt whether any spray/fluid that picks up moisture is going to harm (read dry up) the rubber ultimately.