Hunt and result -
Started looking for a Diesel Sedan by mid 2010 as part of our planned upgrade from a hatch. Ford and Chevy first hands were not my options. Was not happy with Linea's performance and interior quality. Was not happy about Verna's road manners, esp at high speeds.
Knew about Polo sedan launch and started waiting for the review. Finally the launch came, which was followed by an elaborate review by GTO in t-bhp. But I didn't want to book it till I get a chance to TD the car myself.
Finally after a few test drives, booked the car (TDI HL) by late Oct 2010. Kept the colour options open between Black and Red as I never got a chance to see both till then.
Waiting period and dealership experience -
Then started the painful wait for around 4+ months against the initial promise of 10 weeks. During the time, almost every one from Elite motors (with whom I had been interacting) moved out of the company starting with the sales exec, Sales manager, GM etc. The dealership experience was pathetic.
No one was ready to give any information and I started looking for potential options - used Optra magnums or a new Safari. Couldn't find a good magnum and didn't want to wait till the new Safari launch!!. Then had a short idea of extending the budget and looking for a Laura ambiente MT and had a TD too. By then the dealer confirmed that my car was in transit and I would get it in a week (Feb end).
Delivery -
Had a short confusion between Red and Black colours towards the end and eventually ended up with Red - Which now I am happy about. Delivery experience was good at Downtown - finally some thing!. Thanks to my final sales contact at Downtown (A fellow bhpian, who is active in our Vento thread). Thanks mate!
Finally got the red machine on 4th March morning after registration.
Accessories
1.
Kagu 3D Mats - Quite happy about this. Its made for Vento and hence it fits perfectly without moving around. Very easy to clean. A bit costly though (4.5k)
2.
3M sun film (SP 20) - Done though Evo (Satya). Though my experience at Evo was good, 3M guys messed up the rear window a bit. They offered to redo the sun film for that window, which eventually didn't happen since they were not ready to give a guarantee about any potential damage to the rear defogger while removing the installed sun film.
3.
Ovion seats (Art leather) - This was also through Evo and it was one of my best experiences in this journey so far. Sudham at Ovion spend quite some time with us (me and my wifie), understood our needs, gave suggestions and made sure that his workers understood it very well. The staff over there (Manjunath and Santosh) were also very helpful and they delivered what we asked for. I would recommend them any day.
4.
Vento door sills - Fixed this after a week when we started seeing small scratches.
5.
Yokohama S drives (4 Nos. 205-55-R15) - Waited for tyres for around 12 days without driving her much. Finally got 4 from Govind at Millivision (Thanks to Chet in T-bhp for his suggestion). Didn't change the 5th one.
6.
Rear spoiler - This is quite a story. After paying for it on 5th March, it was painted 4 times at VW Downtown already and we were there 4 times to fix it. Each time, we could find some silly paint job issues (White/Silver marks, holes, finger marks etc..). Been there this Saturday and asked for a refund. They promised to deliver it to me on Monday/Tuesday. Went again today (5th time) and they messed the installation again. I think I can live without a spoiler now and get my money back!!!. Absolutely horrible quality after charging Rs 2.5k for the paint job alone!. Anyways, no longer confident about their service capabilities.
Future plans - Probably change the alloys and the music system - not finalized yet.
Have covered only 300 kms so far. Engine, Gear and brakes has become a little smooth lately. Have not gone beyond 2.5k rpm yet and my first full tank is yet to come. She has not seen highways yet. So will wait a little more before my detailed comments on high speed manners (which was good with the TD car earlier) and mileage aspects.
Whats Good?
1. Performance and minimal lag
2. Gears - Shift and accuracy
3. Space
4. Build quality, fit and finish
5. Front arm rest - Didn't like it much during initial test drives. Now probably got used to it.
6. Remote key with windows open/close. Boot release etc. All one touch windows.
7. Steering and seat adjustments with good range.
Whats Bad?
1. Dead steering - Will take time to get used to this. Not giving confidence while cornering!
2. Paint quality - paint loss at certain areas (edges of doors, Edges in boot lid near the rear window etc)
3. Front wiper setup. There is a limit in educating cleaners on this aspect. Guess I do not have to explain this as its done in detail already Vento t-bhp threads.
4. Music system - Sound quality, Lack of USB/Aux and steering mounted controls.
5. Central locking without individual locking/unlocking and auto locking. You could open any door in just one pull, when its centrally locked
6. Beige interiors - This is a personal view as we do not like this new beige culture. Have managed to get rid of most of it. See pics below.