[Sen]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Congrats on your Taco, Sen. Do you really hate automatics?? Hey, to each his own. I was just like you wanted only a manual to replace my aging manual Elantra. But somewhere down the line I started TDing automatics and slowly was swayed towards one. Wishing you miles of smiles with the Taco!

Thanks Durango Dude!

Automatic trannys, I don't hate them, I fall asleep driving them.

Driving, for me right now, isn't about the comfort factor, I get bored driving, it becomes the WagonR chore again.

The DSG was different (blow your pants off different), but the TCs on the new VWs are jerky and nowhere near smooth enough comparatively. The 4 speed AMT or whatever was on the old Hyundai i20 Elite (2017 model, I'd rented one via Revv I believe), truly destroyed one of my roadtrips essentially with the rubberbanding), after which I legitimately swore off of automatics.

Essentially, cost savings on top for something I liked which is also available in a top end variant and a petrol, ticked all the right boxes for me.

Sure, it'd be good to have in back to back traffic, but my car isn't a commuter, it's something for enjoyable, spirited driving. Complete control over when I upshift, downshift, hold a rev, or just coast/engine brake and better FE in most cases is just the icing.

Once I'm past this hot-blooded age, I guess I'll settle for the cushy, unsurprising, effortless ATs if not to the single/dual-geared EVs entirely by then. (Tesla anyone?)

Cheers!

[sharan1988]

What an excellent write up. Trust me Vento is one amazing car. I recently replaced with a pre owned oct TSI and I found it very hard to find it's replacement . Wishing you happy miles ahead.

[DonHyd]

Wow. Great review for a great car. Usually I do not read posts that are lengthy but yours was really engaging throughout. Congratulations on your new purchase.

Vento is looking classy especially in this shade. A very competent and solid car.

Pardon my ignorance but what does SA stand for?

[Reinhard]

Enjoyed reading the thread. Not able to find a suitable superlative to use for the quality, effort & emotion that has gone in the making of it. Rating it 5 stars.

A very balanced approach of car selection & loads of affection towards the car you finally picked. Loved reading through the detailed thread. What a careful & patiently made compilation of pictures as well. You've really covered every tiny detail. Congratulations on the car. Wish you unlimited safe & enjoyable miles with the trusted VW car. I guess with this one - you are set for a long time. Your next one will mostly now be an EV with comparable range. Thats how long a solid VW should last anyway.

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by Sen

Got the oil and filter changed on that STAT! The service costed me approx. 5k, but it had to be done. PS - They use Shell Helix Ultra 5W40, fully synthetic.

Don't take VW's word for it, get your oil changed as often as you comfortably can considering the kind of oil in your particular engine. Synthetics last for 7500 kms no problem, which is exactly at the halfway mark of the "recommended" service interval of 1 year/15000 kms.
[/list]

Hey! Was very eagerly waiting for your thread! Congratulations on your Vento! It's a beautiful and elegant colour and I particularly love the Vento Highline+ LED Headlights and DRLs. Are you sure the dealership specifically used Helix Ultra? I have seen Shell Branded Volkswagen oils with the label Special D (Diesel, Meeting VW 505, VW 505.01) and VW Special G (Gasoline, Meeting VW 502, VW 505) both being 5W-40 grade oils, but they were not explicitly labelled Helix Ultra.

[2TR-FE]

Superb Write-up. I didn't feel like reading 'just another' review of vento. It was something new to read.

Hearty Congratulations on your new steed. With the ever decreasing options in Indian automotive market, this decade old model still has its own charm.

Even I was in the market for an automatic vento/rapid since June 2020. After a lot of search and hardwork, I closed the deal for 11L on a 2019 Vento TDI DSG HL+ with 15k clicks on its odometer. It's almost 3 months since the purchase, and we have completed about 6k kms. Enjoying every bit of DSG equipped drives.

My only headache is that my friends who drive Korean models tease me for features like Engine start-stop button, Ventilated seats, Sunroofs..etc. I reply with a one line answer- 'This model is 11 Years old'.

Do plan a quick coffee meet. It will be fun checking each other's rides.

[knrn]

Hi
Congratulations on your new steed.

By the way I loved your tongue in cheek writing style mixed with a seasoning of sarcasm here and there. Really upped the ante. Keep it up and keep revvin

[Sen]

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

Hey! Was very eagerly waiting for your thread! Congratulations on your Vento! It's a beautiful and elegant colour and I particularly love the Vento Highline+ LED Headlights and DRLs.

Thanks for helping me with the ETKA for the VIN and for the wishes!

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

Are you sure the dealership specifically used Helix Ultra? I have seen Shell Branded Volkswagen oils with the label Special D (Diesel, Meeting VW 505, VW 505.01) and VW Special G (Gasoline, Meeting VW 502, VW 505) both being 5W-40 grade oils, but they were not explicitly labelled Helix Ultra.

This is perfectly valid feedback, and I'm working to get that info removed from the review. I couldn't verify anything apart from the fact that it was Shell 5W40 oil from the service center. Not even the specifications after 5W40. I should look at getting my own oil and negotiating with the service center for filling my own oil for the engine from next service onwards without affecting warranty somehow..

My bad.

Originally Posted by knrn

Hi
Congratulations on your new steed.

By the way I loved your tongue in cheek writing style mixed with a seasoning of sarcasm here and there. Really upped the ante. Keep it up and keep revvin'

Thanks knrn!

Originally Posted by 2TR-FE

Superb Write-up. I didn't feel like reading 'just another' review of vento. It was something new to read.

Hearty Congratulations on your new steed. With the ever decreasing options in Indian automotive market, this decade old model still has its own charm.

Even I was in the market for an automatic vento/rapid since June 2020. After a lot of search and hardwork, I closed the deal for 11L on a 2019 Vento TDI DSG HL+ with 15k clicks on its odometer. It's almost 3 months since the purchase, and we have completed about 6k kms. Enjoying every bit of DSG equipped drives.

My only headache is that my friends who drive Korean models tease me for features like Engine start-stop button, Ventilated seats, Sunroofs..etc. I reply with a one line answer- 'This model is 11 Years old'.

Do plan a quick coffee meet. It will be fun checking each other's rides.

Thanks 2TR-FE! The Vento is definitely still a classy car, 11 years later. I hope you enjoy the golden TSI+DSG combo fully, it's impossible to obtain firsthand now.

Coffee meet, the next time I'm in Hyd, sure! Let the teasers tease, this car is a joy to drive and revv.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Enjoyed reading the thread. Not able to find a suitable superlative to use for the quality, effort & emotion that has gone in the making of it. Rating it 5 stars.

A very balanced approach of car selection & loads of affection towards the car you finally picked. Loved reading through the detailed thread. What a careful & patiently made compilation of pictures as well. You've really covered every tiny detail. Congratulations on the car. Wish you unlimited safe & enjoyable miles with the trusted VW car. I guess with this one - you are set for a long time. Your next one will mostly now be an EV with comparable range. Thats how long a solid VW should last anyway.

Thank you Reinhard for your kind words and rating. I WISH I was as thorough as I wanted to be, but glad it seems comprehensive.

Yep, this car should ferry me into the next decade comfortably with nary a hassle!

Originally Posted by DonHyd

Wow. Great review for a great car. Usually I do not read posts that are lengthy but yours was really engaging throughout. Congratulations on your new purchase.

Vento is looking classy especially in this shade. A very competent and solid car.

Pardon my ignorance but what does SA stand for?

Thanks DonHyd!

SA stands interchangeably for Service Advisor/Sales Associate/whatever else you wanna call them depending on the manufacturer who's service center/showroom you walk into.

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by Sen

This is perfectly valid feedback, and I'm working to get that info removed from the review. I couldn't verify anything apart from the fact that it was Shell 5W40 oil from the service center. Not even the specifications after 5W40. I should look at getting my own oil and negotiating with the service center for filling my own oil for the engine from next service onwards without affecting warranty somehow..

The Volkswagen Petrol Spec is VW 502, which is met by quite a few 5W40 engine oils like Castrol Edge, Shell Helix Ultra, Motul Xcess, Mobil1 FS X2, Mobil1 0W-40, LiquiMoly etc. so technically using any of these oils is not a violation from Volkswagen's Technical Point of view. If at all, Volkswagen denies warranty, there are many legal provisions which we can bank on, since we have stuck to manufacturer approvals and serviced cars using lubricants duly approved. The only folks who will resent this is the dealer since not using their oil is a big loss for them. Plus, since the dealer aids in the warranty claims, we sadly have to listen to all of their whims and put up with their attitude.

[rpm]

Nicely written, read through all of it. Not for a single minute of it did I feel bored despite the detours taken, in a bid to understand that immaculate vocabulary of yours . Wishing you many happy miles of giving your Taco the beans (sorry, I just had to; was too good an opportunity to let slide).

[sagwal]

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

Are you sure the dealership specifically used Helix Ultra? I have seen Shell Branded Volkswagen oils with the label Special D (Diesel, Meeting VW 505, VW 505.01) and VW Special G (Gasoline, Meeting VW 502, VW 505) both being 5W-40 grade oils, but they were not explicitly labelled Helix Ultra.

During 2nd service (after 7500 KM) of T Roc,
Special D SAE 5W-40 VW505 00/505 01 engine oil was filled in 1.5 TSI engine.

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by sagwal

During 2nd service (after 7500 KM) of T Roc,
Special D SAE 5W-40 VW505 00/505 01 engine oil was filled in 1.5 TSI engine.
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Attachment 2101158[/center]

Thanks for sharing the Oil Change experience, but for the Polo and Vento TSI, VW 502 is the base spec and VW Special G (Gasoline) is the appropriate oil. Could you cross-check the Engine Code of your T-Roc for me? I believe the Engine found on the Indian T-Roc which I checked was DPCA. I hate to break this news, but as per Volkswagen's Official Repair manual, the most appropriate Oil Spec is VW 508, which is a 0W20 oil, which I had earlier read about from Prithwi Ray, when he was servicing his VRS and the dealership had no stock of this new 0W20 viscosity oil.

On the flip side, the second page mentions that you are fine with using older VW Compliant Oils, but you'd not enjoy the same efficiency and emission compliance.

[ArunRam]

Hello Sen, a beautiful writeup. You have conveyed your experience wonderfully. It's vivid and detailed.

I am about to own a cousin of Taco (Polo Highline+ AT) . It isn't manual, hope it will be as fun.

All the best and thanks for this review

[Sen]

Originally Posted by ArunRam

Hello Sen, a beautiful writeup. You have conveyed your experience wonderfully. It's vivid and detailed.

I am about to own a cousin of Taco (Polo Highline+ AT) . It isn't manual, hope it will be as fun.

All the best and thanks for this review

Congratulations on getting a great car with good mechanicals, fun handling and a great engine! The AISIN TC box should serve you without hiccups for the years to come!

[theunstabledesi]

Congrats on the new car. May Taco add more miles and smiles into your life. Wonderful write up, however here are my two bits :

-I own a VW Polo. Either my expectations are very low or VW service is too good. In my six years of ownership and with three different dealerships, I never faced any issues.

-Contradicting the popular belief, I am all support for the 1 year VW service interval. There had been times when I could not service my baby for two consecutive years (for reasons beyond the scope of this thread). It has happened thrice. My baby never made the slightest fuss about this. Though the mileage covered during this period was less, she had to face extremes of temperatures.

-I personally feel rearview cameras are not a necessity but an add on. All that a true driver needs is two ORVMs and one IRVM. A rearview camera takes off the fun from reversing.

-Companies need to stop the habit of sharing interior designs (VW, Honda all are culprits). Cost cutting measures I guess.

Thanks for the great write up again. You made me my change mind that "Vento is the sedan version of Polo".