Mar 23, 2012 12:02 AM
33910 Views
I first heard about the Vento in late 2007, 3 years before it was launched. And I started researching. I thought if this car ever came to India I would pick it up. It has got good reviews in the European market. In fact it has been present there for over a decade. The Honda didn't have a diesel and I wouldn't really trust their diesel version if they were to launch one. The other cars in this segment were all so so. At least that's what I felt - the SX4 or Fiesta or Verna. of course the latter 2 has launched better versions now both in terms of looks and technology but I have this negative mindset about American and South East Asian products.
Well to get to the point, when the car was launched I did like what I saw. One could immediately sense that the build quality was great. The ride and handling could have been better but I did buy the car a year and has done about 22000 km till now. And the experience so far has been good.
1) The pick up is great
2) The handling is decent
3) I have done up to 170km on the Mumbai Pune ExpressWay and it was quite steady.
4) You dont feel the speed inside and there is barely any noise either so you could end up really speeding on good straight roads though there are very few of those in our country.
5) The customer service experience so far has been good.
6) The mileage is good. I get around 15 on Mumbai roads and around 17-18 on other roads. I have got close to 20 on highways but cant really comment cos my highway driving is limited.
7) The Ac vent at the rear is a good thing to have
Now the issues to look out for:
1) You might have already heard this, but I will repeat anyways, the windshield wipers are not designed correctly. So cleaning your windscreen is an issue unless you start the car and move the wiper into a better position
2) I am not very happy with the AC. the cooling is great mind you but it seems to get clogged with dust very quickly. I don't know whether it's my particular car or the roads I drive on. But I do Mumbai roads and I have had to clean up the filter couple of times. the cooling itself is not affected but the blower force reduces.
3) The diesel version has to be serviced every 15km km, which is good. but it can set you back by around 11-12k each time. you also need to change ur diesel fuel filter each time. cant blame VW for that but it's on the expensive side
4) Couple of times on bad roads the undercover of the front bumper came off at one end. more to do with my rough driving but a pain nevertheless.
5) The front arm rest could have been positioned better. I am now used to it still it does get irritating every now and then, especially if you have a heavy passenger in the bucket seat
6) The rats seem to have a fondness for some of the rubber parts, and I realized mine is not an individual case.
7) Almost any part starts at arnd 4-5k. Thankfully I have had to go through this experience only once when the rat chewed up some rubber air hose. But on inquiry I realized most of the other parts that could get affected were around that price range.
