[acidkill]

Reliability

1. No major issues on the service front so far. Except for the boot lock which stopped functioning. With the boot open feature in the electronic key, this issue was never a hurdle anyway
2. VW has offered 1 free Monsoon Checkup and 1 Free Summer Checkup
3. The 15000 Km service was expensive as a single payment, but not by much on average cost per km if you consider that all other cars have to be serviced every 5000km. Cost of service has worked out to about 70-80 paisa per km
4. Front armrest takes a beating all the time especially if you are moving things around in the car. The leatherette part is attached something like a clip on so it is fragile and can easily breakoff if ill-treated. So be careful.


Highway Performance:

1. The vento is at home on the highway. Its no pushover here and can crunch miles at a brisk pace with rock solid stability. You are in the same league as a Jetta, Passat, A4 2.0d or a A6 2.0d as far as highway performance is concerned
2. There is always reserve power for overtaking even in 5th gear, so expect to maintain your FE pretty easily too.
3. Seats are comfortable and you dont feel tired at all
4. Headlamps are not that floodlight-y enough.
5. FE is about 17-18 if you are brisk and 19-20 if you are very careful

Rough Road Performance:

1. Just about Satisfactory, the lowish GC and the Soft Suspension bottom out a lot and underbody will constantly get scraped unless you travel slowly
2. Front suspension will easily bottom out on a pot hole if you are at speed, sending a crashing noise

City Performance

1. Delightful gearbox and medium-light clutch are a joy to use
2. The auto HVAC system settings keep changing - dunno why - so you always end up resetting it
3. Rear seat is ok, so chauffer driven guys will be satisfied too
4. City FE is about 13-14 depending on your driving skills

My recommendations:
1. Buy Leatherette seat covers - helps keep the seat tidy, cause the standard cloth seats are bound to get dirty quite easily
2. Do a Tyre Upgrade - And what a difference it makes to drive comfort!
3. Music system upgrade - the current system does not have any song display or external device connectivity
4. Buy the VW floor mat - it is good quality
5. Buy the VW reverse parking sensor, it really helps

[samarjitdhar]

Wow, I am pretty confused here. You seem to be one really early bird owners of the Vento and your ownership thread is coming out of the assembly line now ? I might be missing something here. But better late than never, congratulations on hitting the 15K mark .

Originally Posted by acidkill

Highway Performance:

1. The vento is at home on the highway. Its no pushover here and can crunch miles at a brisk pace with rock solid stability. You are in the same league as a Jetta, Passat, A4 2.0d or a A6 2.0d as far as highway performance is concerned
2. There is always reserve power for overtaking even in 5th gear, so expect to maintain your FE pretty easily too.

Tell me about it. I was out for a weekend trip on NH2 and the car again reiterated its highway worthiness. It literally can smoke out cars well above its segment. I drive at sane speeds most of the time on the highway just for better FE and due to busy highway conditions but this time on the return leg I found lots of empty stretches. Just this once I was tempted and I was able to hit the record speed hit by some other Vento owners here. Only then the engine sounded to strain but I felt it could still go further. Given the highway conditions returned back to my normal driving. Still I could sense the eyes being popped of the other drivers at the way it drives. I love the braking too. Its just amazing. The way it helps me dodge through slow moving trucks on the highway with confidence always leaves me in awe. Not once do the occupants in the car feel scared or threatened. It's that good.

Originally Posted by acidkill

4. Headlamps are not that floodlight-y enough.

Another true fact. I suggest you upgrade to Philips Xtreme Vision 60/55 and you will see a lot of difference. If you have to do a lot of night driving, you can look at the Philips 100/90 with relays. I myself was thinking of the Philips 100/90 but thought it was better to pause making any electrical changes after the fire incidents. Seems those incidents have abated now even though VW is still silent about them. Hope it was something to do with careless servicing and no inherent issues with the car.

Originally Posted by acidkill

Rough Road Performance:

1. Just about Satisfactory, the lowish GC and the Soft Suspension bottom out a lot and underbody will constantly get scraped unless you travel slowly
2. Front suspension will easily bottom out on a pot hole if you are at speed, sending a crashing noise

Umm. That's interesting. Generally I have never had much GC issues unless I am going through moon sized craters. I thought the Vento GC was above par with the Verna and the City having more of an issue. Sure you have to slow down a bit going through really rough roads but then this is a sedan not an SUV. I have driven some really rough roads and only scraped the bottom a few times with no damage to the under-body. I agree with you about the crashing noise. Very irritating. What is tire pressure you use? I generally keep it at 32 all fours in the city and 34 when on the highway.

Originally Posted by acidkill

2. The auto HVAC system settings keep changing - dunno why - so you always end up resetting it

Are you by any chance pressing the re-circulation mode by accident? In that case you will have the settings reset every time. Its a better idea to use the re-circulation mode all the time as I learnt the hard way having to change the a/c pollen and dust filter twice.

Originally Posted by acidkill

4. Buy the VW floor mat - it is good quality
5

Not sure about the VW floor mats, but I am floored by the 3D Kagu mats I put. They are extremely good. For almost the same price you would get a better product. Do check it out.

[acidkill]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Wow, I am pretty confused here. You seem to be one really early bird owners of the Vento and your ownership thread is coming out of the assembly line now

Oops!

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

I love the braking too. Its just amazing. The way it helps me dodge through slow moving trucks on the highway with confidence always leaves me in awe. Not once do the occupants in the car feel scared or threatened. It's that good.

Another well accepted point about the vento. The braking spoils you and the difference is noticeable when you sit in another car. Many times i endup overestimating braking in other cars that i own as a result.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

32

I have upgraded my tires from stock to Pirelli P7 205/55. They are several times better than the stock tires. And yes i maintain them at 32 bar. Did you know that the upgraded tires change the handling feel of the car?
I think that my vento's handling is as good if not better than any Linea.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

3D Kagu

Not a fan of after market products. Im quite sober that way. I like OEM stuff. I even put the Pirelli P7 tires cause the Passat comes with them. Which is why i havent changed my music system yet. If i do upgrade my headlamps i would get the polo GTI lights, and if i do upgrade my systems i would fit the RCD 510.
The much more expensive Jetta has all the things that could make a better ownership proposition for the Vento viz. RCD 510 music system, auto box, paddle shift, all the electronics, steering wheel controls, better MID etc. I am perplexed. I would have loved to spend more for all this as standard kit. And i am sure that VW would have benefitted with much higher sales of vento, cause it would have made the vento a better proposition than many cars both within its segment and above its segment. Technically all this is all possible because VW Polo in australia has all this as options

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by acidkill

I have upgraded my tires from stock to Pirelli P7 205/55. They are several times better than the stock tires. And yes i maintain them at 32 bar. Did you know that the upgraded tires change the handling feel of the car?
I think that my vento's handling is as good if not better than any Linea.

Yeah wider profile tires should give better grip and control. How about the steering feedback? Steering feedback is not comparable and should have been better. Did it improve or worsen after your tire upgrade?

Originally Posted by acidkill

Not a fan of after market products. Im quite sober that way. I like OEM stuff. I even put the Pirelli P7 tires cause the Passat comes with them. Which is why i havent changed my music system yet. If i do upgrade my headlamps i would get the polo GTI lights, and if i do upgrade my systems i would fit the RCD 510.

Well do let know when and how you source the Polo GTI lights as a lot many members will be interested in such an upgrade . Aren't the stock HUs actually Blaupunkt ones? You could also consider the Blaupunkt New York 800 which member Anil Kalvani has upgraded to giving the same OEM look and not too expensive compared to the Caskas.

Originally Posted by acidkill

The much more expensive Jetta has all the things that could make a better ownership proposition for the Vento viz. RCD 510 music system, auto box, paddle shift, all the electronics, steering wheel controls, better MID etc. I am perplexed. I would have loved to spend more for all this as standard kit. And i am sure that VW would have benefitted with much higher sales of vento, cause it would have made the vento a better proposition than many cars both within its segment and above its segment. Technically all this is all possible because VW Polo in australia has all this as options

And I guess that is exactly why they do not offer these as options on the Vento as it can cannibalize the Jetta easily. Also trying to give these as options would mean a more complex manufacturing process where VW is trying to improve localization and still struggling with the quality provided by the Indian vendors. The build quality is absolutely fantastic which I think the local vendors would struggle to meet those standards pushing the price further north. Already the Vento HL TDI has outpriced itself in respect to the competition now hence the lower sales numbers now. I have no idea about the profit margins VW has on the car but I give credit to them for giving a much better built car than the competition which performs like cars 2 segments above it.

[acidkill]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Steering feedback is not comparable and should have been better. Did it improve or worsen after your tire upgrade?

Yes it did improve after tire upgrade and it is quite weighty, but within the limitations of EPS. Manual Power Steering will always be better no doubt.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Well do let know when and how you source the Polo GTI lights as a lot many members will be interested in such an upgrade .

For sure, but in all fairness, its a long shot because of what it costs!

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Aren't the stock HUs actually Blaupunkt ones? You could also consider the Blaupunkt New York 800 which member Anil Kalvani has upgraded to giving the same OEM look and not too expensive compared to the Caskas.

Im gonna look into this. Thanks

[madnish30]

So did you upgrade your lights? Or are they still stock which are not floodlight-y enough?

[acidkill]

20000 KM Update

The car itself

1. Top class driving experience - grip, acceleration, steering feel are all unbeatable. I have always met vento owners that praise its highway manners and i strongly second their views.
2. FE of ~13 kmpl in the city. This is because i mostly drive in peak hours. On highway, depending on how light footed you are, you can get anywhere from 17-21 kmpl
3. Sorely miss having automatic transmission as an option. Especially with peak hour driving. Frequent gear changes are tiring.

Car Issues:

1. Arm rest top is broken and there is no way it can be fixed. Upon complaining to the service guys, they proposed Araldite as a solution. Im not happy, but it works. I shall post pictures of it soon.
2. Boot lock gives way. Anyway, since I use the remote lock more often, I dont really care. I left it unfixed
3. Front bumper is clearly a weak point. Thanks to soft suspension and easy bottoming out, it always gets whacked on unlaid roads. It has been dislodged several times. VW ought to put some cross polo like front bumper.
4. Someone stole the VW sticker on my remote key. Irritating.
5. Wiper scrapes against the bonnet lid every time you try to pull it up. But the wiper wipes fine and bonnet closes fine. Design error?
6. Left leg does not get sufficient space thanks to it being boxed in by the clutch and the lower section of the dashboard. Ergonomic issue for sure. Left leg ergnomics are better in the i20.

Brand Experience:

1. VW has respect as a brand, and i have noticed that most people consider the vento and jetta as the thinking mans option to a 30+ Lakh car. I agree, but i feel that VW compromises on the potential of the vento a bit too much to make space for the higher priced jetta. if vento had DSG Box, Paddle shift and touch screen interface it would sell much more. Not to mention if all black interiors were an option.
2. New Highline owners get steering controls and a music system that displays track names, aux/usb connectivity etc. And what about old highline owners? Currently, is no option to upgrade even if we like. VW atleast ought to give us the option to upgrade if we like.

Service Experience

1. I think VW are in trouble on this front. You are required to book an appointment for service or workshop atleast 15-20 days in advance. In my most recent experience, once the car was given for service, the car was kept at the workshop for 25 days to fix a minor dent at the rear. How can VW expect customers to support them if this is the state of affairs? Luckily i can borrow a car from a family member, but what about those that dont have spare car?

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by acidkill

3. Sorely miss having automatic transmission as an option. Especially with peak hour driving. Frequent gear changes are tiring.

I too wish there was a DSG, there is so much power on tap, the 1.6 TDi with a box like DSG would become an awesome car. Maybe the price would have shot past into D seg or VW simply didnt want to offer such an expensive box to a C segment car. With goodies like these overall cost of ownership increases and C seg car buyers very carefully monitor these.

5. Wiper scrapes against the bonnet lid every time you try to pull it up. But the wiper wipes fine and bonnet closes fine. Design error?

No design error, VW puts it as something to do with aerodynamics. Why do you pull it up like that, please put it into service position and then pull them up or else it will scrape the paint of your bonnet.

When you stop the car, ignition to off, push the right side wiper stalk down once and your wipers stop midway, then you can lift them off. Simple.