[graaja]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

I'd agree with that sentiment, Bajaj Allianz seemed to have the most comprehensive network of cashless tie-ups when I was checking things too. Purely from that perspective, it's the pick of the litter.

Thanks! I really needed that moral support

I have been breaking my head over the past week on this insurance decision. A part of me (would that be the heart) keeps telling me not to worry about the higher premium and stick to Bajaj as the process was super smooth during my last insurance claim, and another part of me (the head maybe) was telling me to go with the least amount. The moment Bajaj brought down the premium close to 3K of ICICI, I it was easy to convince the head

Now one more week of handling the reminder calls from all the other insurers!

[Tanveer_2558]

Good to know you had a pleasant experience with the 2nd service, And wow the car looks like its taken out from the showroom just now, Amazingly well maintained.

[F150]

Originally Posted by graaja

Got the following quotes from various insurances companies.

Bajaj Allianz - 53.8K
ICICI - 43.5K
Tata AIG - 39.6K
HDFC - 35.6K

Of these, Tata AIG did not have a cashless facility. I asked them to send me their official cashless garage list, but they were side stepping this question till end, and were telling me they will not give this in writing, but they can confirm over phone. After too much pressure from me, I received an email that mentioned they have cashless facility with my dealer. But by this time I had lost trust.

HDFC guy was very straight forward. He said they have cashless facility with my dealer, but not all VW dealers. Same with ICICI as well.

I then took these quotes to my dealer and asked him to get a reduction in Bajaj Allianz premium. After some negotiation the premium for Bajaj is at 46.8K. The insurance guy at the dealer showed me that this is a 55% discount on the premium. I had read somewhere that insurance guys can give upto 50% discount on the premium. So, I think 55% is itself a stretch and I will not be able to reduce this any further.

Though the premium is still close to 11K higher than HDFC, I have decided to stick with Bajaj for the convenience.

I was in the same situation last week. My Skoda Rapid DSG 's insurance was up for renewal.
I got a renewal quote from BAJAJ (online) and Dealer for Rs 32425.
I got a quote from Bharti Axa for Rs 25096.
The difference was 7K.
Bajaj Allianz has all india tie up with SKODA and Bharti Axa didn't have cashless tie up with Skoda.
I couldn't get a quote from TATA AIG.

After a lot of tense moments, as the rates were going up from 1st APRIL, I called Bajaj Allianz office number specified in the insurance document.

I gave the quote given by Bharti AXA and they came down to Rs 29056.

Still the gap was 4K, but went with Bajaj Allianz for the peace of mind in dealing with SKODA.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by F150

Still the gap was 4K, but went with Bajaj Allianz for the peace of mind in dealing with SKODA.

You did the right thing. Though saving on the premium is good, with VW and Skoda, paying a little more for that peace of mind is always better.

[graaja]

Mudflaps Installed:

Have been planning to install mudflaps for a long time. The OE mudflaps were costing 8K with the dealer, which I thought to be exorbitant (Polo's mudflaps cost around 1.5K). So ordered from AliExpress from the below link. Cost me about INR1050.

Jetta Mudflaps

Took about 4 weeks to arrive.


The quality is quite good. I would rate quality 4 stars. They are a little soft and bend easily. So, if they hit speed breakers they would bend not break. These mudflaps are a perfect match to the Jetta with no cutting or drilling required. The mounting holes exactly match the ones provided in the car. I thought this could be simple DIY, but for this I required a right angled wrench with Torx screw driver head, which I did not have. The 3M dealer did this installation when I left the car for paint protection treatment and interior cleaning.

The front.


The rear.


3M Exterior and Interior treatment

A few months back, during a spirited drive in the mountains, my younger daughter threw up on the rear seats and carpet. Since then, my wife has been complaining about a lingering odor. Took it to the 3M outlet and the manager checked if the odor was coming from the AC ducts. As there was no odor from AC ducts he suggested to go for just the Gemiclean (Germiclean+ has AC duct cleaning as well) treatment which cost 3.5K. I also asked him to do a paint protection treatment. As there were not many swirl marks in the car (I use at least 5 microfiber clothes during washes), he said there is no need for rubbing - polishing and waxing would be enough. There was a 20% discount offer for the Tamil New Year and he quoted 7.2K for the paint protection treatment and interior cleaning. He also fixed the mudflaps.





Shirdi Trip

Did a Coimbatore - Shirdi - Coimbatore road trip with family. Did close to 2.9K KMs in 4 days. Be it relaxed cruising at 100kph, or ripping it in Sports mode, the car performed flawlessly!

Trip statistics.



As there is about 1.5 to 2.0 kpl error in the MID fuel economy number, the actual fuel economy is around 16kpl. Not bad for a fully loaded car with 100% AC with outside temperature reaching as high as 45 degrees in the afternoons.

One issue I noted during this trip is the increase in road noise. On smooth roads, the car was quite silent. But there was lot of noise in rough roads. I am not sure if this is because of the bad state of road surface or the tires.

The Scary Moment:

There was one scary situation. On the last leg of the drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore, it was around 9PM. There was lots of truck traffic near Salem. It was a 4 lane highway with a truck occupying the right lane. I was preparing to overtake the truck, and was doing a speed of around 90kph. I was just into the overtaking maneuver when I noticed a broken down tempo half into the left lane with a few stones around. A couple of guys were working on the tempo with no hazard lights. Two things saved me and the family. The powerful BiXenons lit up road well ahead and gave me that few hundredths of a second to react, and the powerful brakes, ABS and ESP.

I slammed the brakes, the enormous braking threw everyone forward, but all were held by the seatbelts (I make it a rule for my kids in the rear to wear the seatbelt too), the car rapidly decelerated, ABS kicked in (and maybe ESP too) and held the car totally steady and steerable, and as the truck passed by to my right, I swerved back into the right lane, missing the tempo and the guys by a matter of few feet. All this took place within a couple of seconds. Thinking back, it was a very close call indeed! Now I love the Jetta more than ever!

[iliketurtles]

The car has been beautifully maintained, graaja, you're clearly putting a lot of love (and in this case money) into it. Keep it going!

Scary to read that experience you had, but is exactly for times like that that you have the extra security features. ABS and the ever reliable brakes have saved me on a couple of occasions too. Does build that connect and confidence in the car.

The car is looking beautiful, as I mentioned earlier. Showroom condition, in fact, so kudos on that.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

The car has been beautifully maintained, graaja, you're clearly putting a lot of love (and in this case money) into it. Keep it going!

Scary to read that experience you had, but is exactly for times like that that you have the extra security features. ABS and the ever reliable brakes have saved me on a couple of occasions too. Does build that connect and confidence in the car.

The car is looking beautiful, as I mentioned earlier. Showroom condition, in fact, so kudos on that.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, Karan

Thinking back on the incident, I shudder even now. I will never go back to a car that does not have all discs. Had this been with my Polo GT which has drum brakes for the rear, the outcome may have been disastrous!

[iliketurtles]

Just as important is ABS. Really irks me when people says it's not needed if you're a city slicker. Perhaps so at city speeds. But if it comes to your aid even once, it's worth it IMO. Can't have enough safety features on your car, all the more so when you have little ones on board.

[vishy76]

Hi Graaja,
Your car looks awesome with those bi-xenons and that platinum grey colour.I have a question regarding some squeaking of the door panels?
The door card clips seem to have come loose and it is possible to actually flex certain areas of it on the edges by hand(where the card meets the metal door).
As a result,all doors squeak while going over bumpy roads.
Have you faced a similar issue?
Regards,
Vishy

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by vishy76

The door card clips seem to have come loose and it is possible to actually flex certain areas of it on the edges by hand(where the card meets the metal door).
As a result,all doors squeak while going over bumpy roads.

Door squeaking sounds are there for me too, Only for the front 2 doors though, Even after repeated complaints to the service centres they were not able to fix the squeaking noise permanently, They used some kind of spray which would fix it temporarily.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Hi Graaja,

Your car looks awesome with those bi-xenons and that platinum grey colour.
...
As a result,all doors squeak while going over bumpy roads.

Have you faced a similar issue?

Regards,

Vishy

Thank you for the kind words!

Thankfully (touchwood), I have not faced any squeaking sounds from the door yet on the Jetta. As Tanveer has mentioned, a silicon lubricant spray is the solution to this noise. I have seen many users having this problem in the Octavia and the same solution used there as well.

[Asta_la_vista]

Originally Posted by graaja

Attachment 1500975

Beautifully maintained car graaja sir! Would love to see your car in person.

Regarding the roof mounted bike carriers, is that switchable between your polo and your jetta? I mean, is that an universal fitment or specific to car models?

I am dying to buy one for my trek but spoilt for choices and unable to decide on one. Kindly help me!!

BTW I drive an Elite i20!!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Asta_la_vista

Beautifully maintained car graaja sir! Would love to see your car in person.

Regarding the roof mounted bike carriers, is that switchable between your polo and your jetta? I mean, is that an universal fitment or specific to car models?

I am dying to buy one for my trek but spoilt for choices and unable to decide on one. Kindly help me!!

BTW I drive an Elite i20!!

Thank you for the kind words

The roof rails and the bike holder are universal. But the four feet that fix the roof rails (called foot kit) to the car are specific to each car. Thule should have specific foot kit for i20.

If you are interested, I can put you in touch with the Thule dealer and you can talk to him and find out about foot kit for i20.

[Asta_la_vista]

Originally Posted by graaja

I can put you in touch with the Thule dealer and you can talk to him and find out about foot kit for i20.

Thanks for the info. I thought I can swap the carrier between mt Innova and the i20. Now I have to purchase individual foot kits for the car it seems.

Kindly put me in touch with the thule dealer. Since I an still a newbie, I cann send or receive PMs.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Prasanth Krishnan

[maglev]

Hi Graaja,

I am facing an issue with the sensor placed on the dashboard. Something which you faced a while ago. Could you please share how you got this resolved, thanks.





PS: Pictures taken from your thread itself.