[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Did you get the underbody washed as well?
This is pretty useful specially in the monsoons, as the muck splashes onto the underbody, specially under the wheel arches and in the disc brakes.

I recently read an article in the HINDU newspaper, confirming that the under body of Vento should NOT be pressure-washed, to avoid damage to the sensors. Is this true? The newspaper claims to have confirmed this with both the dealer and the manufacturer.

[noopster]

Celebrated a new milestone with the Vento this morning.


I suppose I could have slowed things down till about a month later, thus achieving 11111 km on 11/11/11 but that would have been pushing things a tad

Some more random pics to commemorate the occasion:




Had my oil levels checked at Shell station today since long trip coming up. Seems to be fine- the car hasn't had any oil top-ups yet. Which is good news since the VW group drivetrains in general seem to be oil-guzzlers from all accounts.

And talking of milestones, yesterday was the anniversary of my booking the Vento Gosh- it seems like such a long time ago!

[Swanand Inamdar]

Did you just go upto Ph3 to complete that milestone .
The last pic looks like its been shot around TechM phase 3 office. Right?

Congrats on the 11111 mark. Agreed, that mark on 11/11/11 would have been great!

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Did you just go upto Ph3 to complete that milestone .
The last pic looks like its been shot around TechM phase 3 office. Right?

Congrats on the 11111 mark. Agreed, that mark on 11/11/11 would have been great!

LOL!! You beat me to this!! I was just about pull noop's leg for this!!

[noopster]

Heh, yeah! Was 11,005 when I reached office so took a detour.

Phase 3 is beautiful! I had no idea we had a mini-Kaas in our midst. Have taken some more pics that I'll post on the HJW thread.

Credit where it's due: subodh had sent me his own 11111 milestone pic about a month ago and that triggered the idea!

Edit: @selfdrive- That's NOT for want of trying! Unfortunately traffic was heavy and I could only manage to get it up to 10.1!

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Congrats on the 11111 mark. Agreed, that mark on 11/11/11 would have been great!

To stretch it a bit further, noop's pockets would have been happier if the average mileage showed 11.1 instead of 10.1

[subodh]

So now i have close to 13k km znd i am feeling the strzin on the car beczwuse it has not been serviced for so long. I really think they should have a mini compulsary service at 7.5k km. How did ur peacce of mind check up go noopster?

[noopster]

I have completed approximately 11,400 km to date and, with a 2000 km roadtrip on the anvil, thought maybe I should do the first year service earlier than normal.

Booked an appointment at BU Bhandari whose service station is at Wakad on the Mumbai-Pune highway, next to Garve Hyundai and opposite Hotel Sayaji. I had called them and they said I could only get an appointment after Diwali and then agreed to one on Saturday. Tried my luck online and they gave me a slot on Thursday, the one I wanted . It pays to do stuff online, see?

Anyway, I got there this morning a little before time. There weren't any service advisors around but some staff there were extremely polite, asked me to wait in the customer area and assured me that someone would be along shortly. I had company so I didn't mind. A couple of other customers- a Polo involved in an accident of some sort and an old Jetta- pulled up and joined me in the waiting area.



At 9.30 a couple of service advisors showed up. So far so good, I thought, now let's see how they handle the queue (I had an appointment for 9.30 PLUS I was first to arrive). No need to worry- one of the early arriver staff told the SA something and he approached me first. I was impressed. He also made it a point to check with the other waiting customers what time their appointments were (one was around the same time, the accident case was a last-minute phone-in).

I told him what I wanted and the SA (Anil) heard me out patiently then suggested that I NOT do the full service right away but wait till 1 year/15,000 km had actually elapsed. Must admit it was rather surprising. I asked him why and he explained that most of the parts replaced (air filter, oil filter, plus engine oil and some other stuff) probably had 40% of their lives remaining. I told him I had no problem with that but wanted to know my car would not break down suddenly on a remote section of the NH4.

He said he understood that perfectly and would be glad to do a "general checkup" and check that the wheels, tyres, engine were all right while also checking all fluids (oil, coolant, etc.) and ensuring any shortfall topped up. I asked him how much it was cost and he said 350. Plus if engine oil were topped up, say another 250 odd. I thought that was a steal and told him to go ahead.

They had offered me a free pick up and drop which I had declined earlier but now I asked for the drop off at my office. He told me he's need to check and later on said it was possible but at a cost of 150/- I declined and said I would pick it up myself. The only sore point in the whole experience- they could have dropped it off. It was a 10 minute drive and I would have probably dropped the guy back at the shop if he'd asked!

They finally billed me just 165 (150 for the general check up plus tax)- no fluid top-ups required and my vehicle pronounced in general good health.

No complaints at all. The service advisor was incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and attentive: even my non-petrolhead car pool buddy was impressed by the service. Consider that my custom fetched them just 165 (an average service costs about 8-10K) and they treated me just as well as they did anybody there. It seems the staff is trained to treat customers as lifetime prospects, which is heartening.



Small price to pay- quite literally- for peace of mind. I was especially worried about the oilguzzling the VW engines are notorious for. Specifically asked and they said the level was fine and so was the quality. They even washed my car nicely in the bargain.

Overall a very pleasant experience, hopefully a harbinger of things to come. Will be back in January for the annual service.

PS>> I realise that hardcore petrolheads will be amused by the fact that I seem to be incapable of checking own oil and coolant levels and paying someone else for this. Rightly so, but I am risk-averse to the point of frustration most times

[junkishya]

Originally Posted by noopster

Celebrated a new milestone with the Vento this morning.

10.1kmpl !! That's less than my 9 year old Palio which still gives around 10.5 kmpl with full-time A/C on in Hyderabad traffic !! Assuming that the actual milege would have less than the MID reading by about 0.3 - 0.4 kmpl, what you would actually get is around 9.7 kmpl !! Hope it will improve a bit after 1st service.


Surprisingly, the Verna has been giving 12 - 12.5 kmpl consistently, that too in Hyderabad city traffic with 100% A/C. The first service (10K kms) is not yet done !!

[C300]

Originally Posted by noopster

Booked an appointment at BU Bhandari whose service station is at Wakad on the Mumbai-Pune highway, next to Garve Hyundai and opposite Hotel Sayaji.

Nice update Noopster. Good to see VW service centre near Hinjewadi.
That stretch of Mumbai-Pune highway near Wakad has been transformed into a mini auto hub.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by junkishya

10.1kmpl !! That's less than my 9 year old Palio which still gives around 10.5 kmpl with full-time A/C on in Hyderabad traffic !! Assuming that the actual milege would have less than the MID reading by about 0.3 - 0.4 kmpl, what you would actually get is around 9.7 kmpl !! Hope it will improve a bit after 1st service.

My Swift gives me around 12 kmpl in identical conditions so I am hardly complaining given that this is a heavier car with a boot and an auto transmission I get around 15 kmpl on my Mumbai-Pune runs (the expressway stretch gives around 18, dips sharply after entering city limits). The FE dips crazily in first and second gear, which is what I am in when doing a part of my daily commute.

No complaints at all except the price of petrol! And that's not VW's fault is it?

Edit: @C300- yup! It's a good thing given a lot of us work close by! Hyundai, Maruti, Skoda, VW an a lot more are all located in the same close vicinity.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Wow, thats a welcome change of attitude towards customers that VW has started.
Is it only limited to VW West (B U Bhandari) though? Is Vidyut still the same? Compared to your monsoon checkup and this peace of mind checkup, which VW's attitude was better?

I was wondering as to how the serivce update wasnt mentioned on the thread as yet? Lo, here it is!

So, all in all peace of mind costed you a mere 165 bucks? Not bad then. Now, go on, rock yourself silly in Bangy with Metallica. Post a ton of pics with you head banging all the way .

[RavenAvi]

Just went through the entire thread. Very well-written and amply detailed by some wonderful and exquisite pics, Noops. It is an immense help to anyone on the hunt for a petrol Vento, like me.

Loved all those snaps of the outdoors, the walk you took in the rains, Lavasa, and the great meet - the Admiral, dotty, mdsaab and you. Superb pics, and moments to cherish. Good to see the Fraulein serving you well through good times and bad, goes a long way in certifying how good German engineering is.

Rated this thread an extremely well-deserved 5 stars as well.

Although you have the AT, it gives a great look into the heart of the petrol Vento and it's ups and downs. The first thing I did after finishing reading your thread was call up my local VW dealer and inquire about offers on the petrol HL, and asked him to send me a quotation via email.

Big, deep heartfelt thanks, bro. Bookmarked your thread. Keep the good work going!

EDIT - Just noticed that I took you past the 500 Thanks milestone as well. Congratulations!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Wow, thats a welcome change of attitude towards customers that VW has started.
Is it only limited to VW West (B U Bhandari) though? Is Vidyut still the same? Compared to your monsoon checkup and this peace of mind checkup, which VW's attitude was better?

I was wondering as to how the serivce update wasnt mentioned on the thread as yet? Lo, here it is!

So, all in all peace of mind costed you a mere 165 bucks? Not bad then. Now, go on, rock yourself silly in Bangy with Metallica. Post a ton of pics with you head banging all the way .

Don't start praising BuB so early itself. Murphy does have a final say, so it seems.

Did the same (general checkup) today at the BuB workshop - had a completely opposite experience, plus the price tag was more than double for me (close to 400 INR). More on this later when I get the post up.

[souravc]

Noops , seems you are all set to rock Bengaluru Wish you loads of fun when you hit metal(lica) to the pedal

Originally Posted by junkishya

10.1kmpl !! That's less than my 9 year old Palio which still gives around 10.5 kmpl with full-time A/C on in Hyderabad traffic !! Assuming that the actual milege would have less than the MID reading by about 0.3 - 0.4 kmpl, what you would actually get is around 9.7 kmpl !! Hope it will improve a bit after 1st service.

Noops has an AT , hope you are comparing apples to apples

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Don't start praising BuB so early itself. Murphy does have a final say, so it seems.

Did the same (general checkup) today at the BuB workshop - had a completely opposite experience, plus the price tag was more than double for me (close to 400 INR). More on this later when I get the post up.

Ninja , waiting eagerly for the breakup . How many KMs is done at your end that you did the checkup ?
Folks can we expect a winter check up camp lik the summer and the monsoon ones love the free stuff