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Volkswagen Polo GT TDI: 8 years, 170,000 km update

The odo is closing in on 172, 000 km as we speak.

BHPian Gannu_1 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hey guys, sharing some updates after a long time. There are some interesting bits too.

8 years, 170,000 km up:

October 7 marked the 8th anniversary of the car. Time really flies! I fondly recall taking a rickshaw to the VW dealership at Surat on what would have otherwise been a boring Monday, for the delivery! Some of you would know, on this day every year, I usually clean the car, deck her up and do a quick puja in the morn. Unfortunately, I was on a business travel and couldn’t attend to this. Travel by car has reduced drastically since the last couple of years. Not to mention the eye-watering fuel prices! The recent drop in the fuel prices has been a respite but not much. The odo is closing in on 172, 000 km as we speak.

Ayudha Puja 2021:

On the week that followed, 14 October marked Ayudha Puja. I woke up early that day, did a quick waterless wash at the basement, drove the car to the company premises where we have a Varasiddhi Vinayagar temple, did a quick puja, offered some sweets to the security staff who were curiously looking at what we were up to and drove back home.

Waiting at my apartment was my other car, our 22 year old Zen. She was cleaned and decked up too. I drove her out of the basement and did the puja:

My tools, laptop and appliances too deserved their share of TLC:

PS: Here’s the dedicated thread for the wall tool organizer in the snap above, in case you missed it.

A gastronomic trip to Pondicherry:

We traveled to Pondicherry with a few friends from work in the last weekend of August. For folks in Chennai, Pondicherry quite literally located at the backyard of their homes, is a popular getaway. We've been to Pondy several times and covered everything the place has to offer, so we just wandered in the beach, church and streets.

For this trip, we had only one thing in mind - F O O D and loads of it! French bakeries, pizzerias, restaurants that served local cuisine - we gorged ourselves on some delectable stuff! I’ll let the pics do the talking:

Did I hear some tummies growling?! Trust me guys, the food was kick-ass! I am really looking forward to do this once again.

We stayed at a beachside resort -L’ Amby Bay. Nothing too fancy or star rated but the place had clean rooms and linen, clean rest rooms, parking for the cars and a nice view from the front:

We dined at the following places:

  • Baker Street - Pastries, pastas, sandwiches, burgers and breads. Hands down, the *best* bakery in Pondicherry. Great service.
  • De Bluefin - local cuisine. Great seafood, good service, located street-side so no parking.
  • Les Saveurs - pizzas and salads. Great food but limited seating so it can get crowded quickly, service was a wee-bit slow, located on the street-side so no parking.
  • Sri Kamatchi - local cuisine. Mind-blowing! This place is a must-visit if you visit Pondicherry. Plenty of parking space in an open ground adjacent to the restaurant.

I also met an old friend and my high school classmate after a decade - Manu. Quite a reunion this was.

And just when I thought we had a great trip and were driving back home, at the excise check-post where the cops check for liquor movement in the vehicles, I turned off the engine but the music system was on. That drained the battery completely! Lucky for me, I always carry the jump-start cables in my car and we had another car in tow, which drove past us so we called for help. Jump started the car and we drove back home. Guys, on that note - I think it’s a good idea to keep a pair of jump-start cables especially when your car battery is 3-4 years old. You never know when Murphy’s law will catch up!

Battery replacement:

The 4+ year old Amaron 60 Ah battery (the second one in this car after the stock Exide unit) had gotten weak. I had tested the idling and cranking voltage using a DMM and indeed, they were on the lower side. The infotainment unit also began throwing this warning for a few days (neat!):

Plus the experience during the return leg from Pondicherry sealed it for me - time for a new battery. Last time, I sourced one from batterybhai.com - had a great experience. This time, I chose batterywale.com for a change. As far as my understanding goes, these firms have tie-ups with local battery dealers across the country and they simply place the order on a vendor closest to our location. I placed the order in the morning and the rickshaw laden with batteries (fulfilling various orders I am guessing) drove to our apartment complex in the afternoon, the technician swapped the battery and checked the voltages. Had a great experience once again. Went with the Amaron Flo 60 Ah unit once again.

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