Silver Power - Volkswagen Vento 1.6 Petrol (Highline) Arrives


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For more than 6 years I was driving my Alto Lxi. I loved my Alto very much and it had a special place in my heart. Reasons being it was my first car and supported me through various phases of life. Car had completed 69000 Kms. but appeared to be just 3 years old. Though, to me it had started showing symptoms of ageing. Dropped pick up, some noises from loose screws etc. Though I won’t say it was old enough. With the mixed feelings [cry] I started to hunt for a new car. During past 6 years lot of things were changed for me like I got married and have a kid too. That is why I was looking for some more space in the car, more power & more comfort. So, car buying criteria for me was clearly defined –

- Is should be a Sedan
- As my run is not much, it should be a Petrol car
- It will be a Manual Transmission car
- It should fit my budget of 8 Lacs
- (Optional): Car will be European for engine/build quality etc.

With above criteria I started looking for cars. After initial research, below options were ruled out -

· Maruti SX4 – One of my friends own it and is not enjoying it. Dropping Sales figures also indicate decreasing popularity.
· Ford Fiesta – Overpriced!
· VW Vento (Comfortline) – Seriously lacking features.
· VW Vento (Highline) – Beyond 8L budget.
· Hyundai Verna – Wife did not like it. Back seat windows go pretty high & almost to the shoulder height of person sitting.

Shortlisted below cars after initial round of research

- Honda City (Beyond budget though)
- Skoda Rapid (Ambition plus)

Honda City is a benchmark in this segment. I would not hesitate to say that it’s tough to beat it performance wise. Though, these days somehow I started liking the European makes over Japanese/Korean. Hence I made up my mind to go with Skoda Rapid. I was aware about the A.S.S but recently heard about some improvements caused because of the management change. Also thought that I would not need much A.S.S considering the overall quality that comes with Skoda brand. I decided to go with my heart than my mind and booked a Rapid. I was happy & overwhelmed when I booked Skoda Rapid Ambition Plus 1.6 Petrol MT. My joy did not last long as I started getting false commitments about the delivery date and even after a month they were not sure by when they would be able to deliver my car. Read complete story (http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...skoda-rapid-horror-story-asset-auto-pune.html) posted on the forum already.[frustration]

I don't know how but I thought about an option which was not the very preferred one - Volkswagen Vento Highline. When I compared it with Rapid, I was actually getting more features in the same car with slightly higher price. I closed my mind for no more thoughts and went on to cancel booking of Skoda Rapid and booked a VW Vento. I dearly wanted this car within 3 days as my anniversary was approaching. Car was readily available and dealer cooperated fully to deliver the car within 3 days. Finally my dream of a new car was fulfilled at the end of Nov'12.[clap]

(I've been writing this story since last 3 weeks at least :-(. Since this has reached some logical end, I will stop writing. Will get back with some pics, ownership/drive reviews soon.) VW Vento Highline - I'm loving it !!!

Here are some of the pics ..

Front View
1.jpg

1-1.jpg

Side View. It's a long car. Can feel it when you sit in.
3.jpg

7.jpg

New black bordered headlamps
8.jpg

New 6 spoke alloys. Gap between spokes is too much. Could have been decreased.
10.jpg

Front seats. It feels rich and spacious. Company fitted leather upholstery
12.jpg

Rear seats. Passengers sitting at the back have enough leg room even if the front seats are moved to the extreme back position.
13.jpg

Decent Dashboard
15.jpg

Leather covered steering. VW Trademark.
16.jpg
 
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Congrats on your Vento
Really i great car and i like that too.
Choosing petrol variant is a good option
BTW what is your expected meilage ?
Pls Post some photos.
 
Thread Starter #3
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Congrats on your Vento
Really i great car and i like that too.
Choosing petrol variant is a good option
BTW what is your expected meilage ?
Pls Post some photos.
Thanks Rajvel. It's been One and Half month of the usage now. My way to office is too crowded and not an ideal way for a car. In the morning time, the MFD shows a mileage of 11.5 kmpl. On the way back in evening, it drops to 9 kmpl. I would say these are extreme conditions. When I drive on decent bigger roads, MFD shows close to 13 kmpl. Tank full to Tank full method calculation does come up to 11 kmpl in city.

I had gone for a long drive as well. Tank full to Tank full method calculated average as 14.5 kmpl. MFD showed 14.7/8. Full drive was with A/C.
 
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Pkid2k congrats for your new Vento, very nice color choice and it suits her quite well also company fitted leather upholstery enhances her look, nice review and good pics do update this thread regularly as i am keen in this car too thanks in advance.
 
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Congrats for VW Vento.Vento is one excellent Car with Fit and Finish,Build Quality.But,VW should improve its Dealer Network.We are finalizing to buy Vento replacing my Swift Diesel.But,Diesel.
 
Thread Starter #7
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Thanks all for your comments!

Congrats for VW Vento.Vento is one excellent Car with Fit and Finish,Build Quality.But,VW should improve its Dealer Network.We are finalizing to buy Vento replacing my Swift Diesel.But,Diesel.
Thanks Music_Swift. Vento is indeed a nice car. You get to know once you own it. This car was over budgeted but now I don't regret it at all [:)] I agree to your point of feeble dealer network. This was one of the points which I too considered & risked on before buying. I think with time & success in market this should improve. Though, the sister company Skoda has a long time presence in market but could not improve on this aspect [;)]
 
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Hi Pkid2k,

Congrats for your Vento,

I like the interiors & Head lights very much, but I didn't like those alloys.

Have a millions of miles ahead[drive]
 
Thread Starter #11
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Good buy bro. VW Vento is a superb car [:)]but I think so that the maintainence is high.[:)]
Talking about the running cost, YES! My petrol expenses went up by almost 40% Vs. what I used to spend earlier using my Alto. On the cost of parts - YES. It should be ideally more. Though, I am very optimistic about the service cost as VW has a schedule of 15K kms OR 1 year and costs 7-8K on an average. Whereas any other Japanese/Korean car like Maruti, Honda, Hyundai has a schedule of 5K (if I am not wrong) and would cost you around 5k per visit at least.

Hi Pkid2k,

Congrats for your Vento,

I like the interiors & Head lights very much, but I didn't like those alloys.

Have a millions of miles ahead[drive]
Thanks Appu! I agree that alloys have a scope of improvement.

Congrats Pkid2k

What about the gps device? I thought the device was coming as a freebie with vento highline?
Thanks Rightnow. When I booked this car, I had to choose between 2 offers -

Offer 1 - GPS device, Bluetooth device
Offer 2 - Free Insurance

I went for Offer 2 as I had already crossed my budget by 1.5 lacs.
 
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Though, I am very optimistic about the service cost as VW has a schedule of 15K kms OR 1 year and costs 7-8K on an average. .
My polo petrol service bill came to around 5-6k, I am expecting similar figures 7-8k as you said. Quite reasonable for this car.

Thanks Rightnow. When I booked this car, I had to choose between 2 offers -
Offer 1 - GPS device, Bluetooth device
Offer 2 - Free Insurance
I went for Offer 2 as I had already crossed my budget by 1.5 lacs.
You did the right thing!
 
Thread Starter #13
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Some motivation to take out some time from very tight schedule and get back to continue writing Ownership Review. Yesterday my car completed 4000 Kms. So far it's an absolute pleasure to drive. Continuing now from where I left the review ..

Buying experience
Bought this car from B.U.Bhandari, Pashan, Pune. Before going to the showroom, I already had couple of rounds of discussion with the SE Dinesh over the pricing stuff since my budget was going up by almost 1L. However, there were no negotiations over the phone and the SE said that they have offered the best quote.

With this background I went to the showroom. I had a clear aim of in my mind about owning the car in next 3 days (Since my anniversary was coming). With the previous experiences [frustration] it looked like a dream and impossible thing. I entered showroom and informed receptionist asked for the SE-Dinesh. I had to wait for 5-10 mins. as this guy was busy with some other customers. We were offered a good place to sit along with some water. Once Dinesh was free, he took us to show the Car. There was a white Vento HL on display. He explained each and every feature of the car. As he was aware that I have already booked a Rapid, he was also comparing the features wisely. He explained exterior features, interiors & even opened the bonnet to explain various some of the parts inside in which VW boasts about the superiority than others. I got a nice surprise to know about Steering Mounted controls, Reverse parking sensors & Leather upholstery. (This stuff was missing in Rapid. By now I had almost made up my mind to buy this car.)

Nice explanation of features & the car was followed by a Test Drive. I had never driven this vehicle before hence wanted to do it (even though I had TDed Rapid & was expecting the same feel). The TD vehicle was arranged in no time. I tested it in all best possible ways and was 100% convinced to own it now. I also had a friend accompanying me though he was not completely taken off by the fun part as he owns a Punto and it gives more Raw feel that the Vento. I also agreed to him but I was already pleased by this car somehow. So, I decided to book it.

I sat across the table with SE now. Told him straight away that I will cancel booking of Rapid if you can give this car to me in next 3 days. He was pretty positive about the delivery happening soon provided my financial stuff is clear. He had some cars in stock. He gave us the color options - White, Silver, Red & Shadow Blue. We were pleased to choose Silver. (Though personally I feel that Vento has very limited color choice and they should come out with more options.) I again brought the topic of discount but dealer was not ready to give more. They already had offered free insurance. So I had to pay exactly the same what they quoted. With this understanding I went ahead a offered him a cheque (my full portion excluding bank's share) and booked the car.

SE gave us an option to see the car in stockyard. We took that option. He arranged a car and took us to the stockyard situated at Mhalunge (if I remember correctly). There we saw the plastic laminated car. He just showed us the chasis number and told that this car is yours. We did not achieve anything by visiting stockyard but gave us a good feel by doing so. Now we were really feeling like buying a car.

As I had a bank finance, I had to re-do the documentation part by changing car name, dealership name, amount etc. Bank supported me a lot and so did the dealer. A day before the delivery, there was some technical problem reported by bank in transferring the amount to dealer's account. SE himself made a point to go to bank and collect a DD from them. This was a great experience that I had to look into it a minimal. Finance was cleared and the car was ready to go for registration. I was in regular touch with the SE & was doing follow ups. This guy was never rude & entertained always and was positive about the delivery. Next day was the delivery day and I was keeping my fingers crossed for not to hear any last moment surprises.

Delivery experience
Finally the day arrived when I was supposed to drive the baby home. I called the SE twice or thrice during the day and ensured that he is delivering it today. I was supposed to get the delivery at 5:30 PM or so. Unfortunately I was late in reaching over there at it was almost 6:30 PM. After completing some paperwork, we moved ahead to see our car. I was a bit bothered about taking the delivery in evening since I may miss of any minor scratches, damages etc. When we reached the basement for delivery we saw that the Car was well washed & in very neat condition. They had also put a garland at the front. It was also good to see that the registration thing was done & Car also had a number plate. I examined the car for scratches etc. but fortunately there weren't any. [:)]

SE offered us Puja Thali & asked to do the Puja. After that he handed over a big key to me and clicked the snap as well. Then he volunteered to click the snaps of car with my family. B.U.Bhandari offered us a Chocolate box & their Sales head & Services head greeted me and handed over their personal visiting cards. We were pleased to get a good treatment from the dealer. Later, SE again explained all the features of the car with utmost care (how minor it may be). After all this was done, he handed over the keys to me and we were all set to drive it home. [clap]

Overall it was a very nice buying to delivery experience with the dealer.
 
Thread Starter #15
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Thanks Music_Swift. Mine is a New Vento & has these company installed blackened headlights. Hence I am not sure about the costing part.
 

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