Upgrading from Vento TDI to Slavia 1.5 TSI: Purchase & ownership review

We all loved the VW 1.6 TDI, but the Slavia's 1.5 TSI is even better with the DSG being the cherry on top.

BHPian Rachit.K.Dogra recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Getting a Slavia 1.5 DSG after owning a Vento 1.6 TDI for 11 years must seem like a very obvious decision, however, in reality, it was anything but obvious. The story started about 4 years back when the NGT in Delhi dropped a bomb and all 10 years old Diesel vehicles were banned. I will try to keep this journey short, but there were lots of ups and downs in these 4 years of my car-buying journey.

NGTs Bomb

When the ban was imposed, my Vento was 8 years old and was still in excellent condition. I had spent almost 3 lakhs in the last 2 years on maintenance, repair and many running gear-related things like tyres, brakes, batteries, AC, springs etc. The car was running in excellent condition and I was very happy with it. It was still the perfect car for our family's needs and a real pleasure to drive on good roads. My initial reaction to the ban was a huge shock and I was honestly full of anger and denial. I kept looking through the forum, clicking every clickbait title on the internet claiming this ban could be lifted in the hope that it will get reversed. Another major limitation was, I was not financially ready to buy a car at that stage and I felt forced to buy a car when I was not ready or I didn't want to also, because my current car was in perfect shape.

At that point in time Skoda launched the Octavia Onyx edition at 21 lakhs and it felt like the perfect upgrade for me. If an enthusiast changes car after 8-10 years, he would want to have an upgrade. It was the same for me, I wanted an upgrade. The car prices started going up at this time and Skoda launched the new Octavia at 30 plus lakhs. Pretty much every decent car which could be considered an upgrade over Vento was 25-30 lakhs plus. I genuinely felt that the market was very overpriced and it will come down soon. How wrong I was. It was like no car which I could possibly afford, I liked and no car which I liked, I could possibly afford. Plus the government kept changing norms so frequently from BS5 to BS6 to BS6 plus to ethanol blending making it feel like snakes and ladders to choose 1 particular type/year of car.

Usage Changes

There were a few usage-related changes as well which really made the decision a challenge. Our car usage had gone down as post-COVID our family got used to pretty much ordering anything and everything online. My office was always very close to my home and we were not going to the office anyways. Since I am from Himachal, we would go 3 times in a year to Himachal, which also came down to twice considering my daughter was growing and now everything works according to her vacation schedule. My family is not very enthusiastic about longer drives as well, which meant road trips were not a very sought-after thing. I think because of this plus my current car being old enough, I had lost some interest in long drives too. I mean I still loved my car and was not bored of it, but the idea of a longer drive was not that exciting enough anymore. Also, in most places, we would go, I had already done it in the same car. I had also become a very sedate driver as I was getting my dose of adrenaline from my bikes.

From S-Cross to C-Class

I think the tide started changing early last year. A dear friend and a Bhpian were considering selling his 2014 C Class. I knew it was the third car in the house, had only done 32K KMs and was kept like a baby. The offers he was getting felt within my reach too. This kind of marked a change in my stance to start considering finally a change in my car. Vento was more than 10 years old now and thankfully in Gurgaon, the NGT ban didn't have much effect. We stopped taking the car to Delhi. I told my friend to hold on to the car for 1 more year and let me save some money and a year later I will buy it from him. He was also unsure of selling it as to get a car of the same calibre he would need to spend twice what he spent originally to get the C. As luck would have it, cars24 offered him 50% more of the initial quotes he was getting and I didn't have that kind of money and the car was gone. Since I could not connect to any car that I could buy, I thought of buying a used S-Cross 1.5 for a few years and maybe taking a call later on the upgrade. So from a used S-cross to a used C-Class, I had considered many options and eventually was back at zero.

The requirements were:

• Preferably Sedan
• Comfortable highway cruiser
• Good to drive
• Well engineered
• Relatively Reliable
• An upgrade over a Vento
• Preferably either German or Maruti

VW group launched two crossovers and they seemed like very good options for me in many aspects, however, there was a deal breaker and that was the boot space. My family does not know how to travel light plus many times while going home, we have a lot of extra stuff being carried from one home to another. As a reference, I can hardly ever remember Vento's boot not fully loaded and some luggage inside the cabin too. Then came Slavia and it generated a lot of interest in me. However initial reviews were a mixed bag. Many existing VW owners did not like the lighter build, softening of the car, some cheap materials used etc. So it did not seem like an upgrade over a Vento. It felt more like you win some, you lose some and that after paying twice for what I paid for Vento. This was not going well.

Love for Octavia

In this mess, my brother who was in a similar situation to me with his 7-year-old XUV500 which he didn't like anymore ended up going all out and bought a Meridian 4*4 AT. This kind of set the tone again. I thought if I will buy something which I didn't like, it will take my spirit away as driving is an important part of me. I put my kidneys up for sale and straight went to Skoda to test drive the Octavia. I wanted to drive the Octavia to see if it did feel like an upgrade over the Vento and boy it did feel like an upgrade. I was in love and loved everything about the Octavia maybe except for the back seat and of course the price. While we were there we saw the Slavia too but I didn't show much interest in it. Then the Virtus was launched and boy those looks ignited my love for the Jetta. I went to test drive the Virtus and could only get the 1-litre one. But was very impressed with the car and it felt like a very good package, except I felt the interiors to be a bit drab. The design, the materials, and the all-black thing somehow felt a bit drab. I also personally preferred VW over Skoda as I was familiar with their service centres and knew some stuff too.

I took one of my friends who was also looking to buy a car and was all over the place like me to check out the Octavia again. He is not easily impressed and while we were there we compared Slavia and Octavia closely and were surprised with our observation that Slavia came very close to Octavia in many aspects. We then took the Slavia out for a drive and there also, the Slavia felt very close to the Octavia. My friend didn't feel Octavia to be value priced 15 lakhs more than the Slavia and somehow Slavia started feeling like decent value. I personally preferred the interiors of Slavia over Virtus. I think the steering wheel of the Slavia which is a straight lift from Octavia was the star of the show. This is a very nice steering wheel and lifts the overall experience of the cabin a notch or two. I was also told by the VW dealer that waiting on Virtus GT was 1 year in NCR.

Final Climb

But I was not happy. In my mind, Slavia was more of a lateral move than an upgrade over Vento and I really wanted to please myself again and buy the Octavia. The news on my up-for-sale kidneys was not very encouraging either. A final twist happened and I got to know a colleague of mine got the Seltos from our company's car plan. I was always aware of the car plan but never really got deeper into it. In short, I had a limit of 20 Lakhs to buy a car and there were tax-saving benefits to be had. So with a slightly heavy heart, I made my mind to get the Slavia. I was waiting for the 23 model year car in the hope that the Subwoofer might come back, but the offers on the 22 model year car brought it within my limit and we went for it.

So in the month of March, we got the Slavia 1.5 DSG Red.

First Sight

Some of the changes/additions we got for the Car:

• Full PPF (Garware Glossy Self Healing)
• Tyres changed to Yokohama AE51. Couldn't get Michelins as the stock is hard to find
• Carpet Mats
• Sun Blinds
• Grill painted Black
• Roof and side mirrors wrapped in Black
• Decals painted black. This was a huge pain
• VCDS coding for speed alarm removal and Dynamic Steering enabled
• Skoda Horn
• Bonnet Insulation

Some pictures of the result

I have had the car for 5 months and have done almost 5K Kms on it. The car has been on 2 road trips, 1 to Jodhpur and 1 to Srinagar and Himachal.

Here is what I feel for the car in comparison to my Vento and an Octavia. By the way, the friend whom I took to test drive the Octavia, who almost talked me out of getting an Octavia ended up getting the Octavia L&K on the same day as my Slavia. So now I don't only feel sad about not getting an Octavia, it properly gets rubbed on me by seeing his car every day as he lives in the same tower as mine. His car gets parked almost right next to my car too.

Before I get into category-wise opinion, at a high level I will say that my opinion for the Slavia has vastly improved after getting it. It does feel like an upgrade on Vento in most aspects and I genuinely am enjoying driving it. I am also quite glad that I got this over an Octavia because Octavia was a very uncomfortable stretch for me and given the usage, Slavia feels a perfect car for our needs.

Drivetrain

We all loved the VW 1.6 TDI and it was a very good enthusiastic engine. Personally, I feel the Slavia 1.5 TSI is even better in many scenarios and the DSG is the cherry on top. The car feels even more effortless at highway cruising speeds and the power feels linear and strong. The 1.5 might not have the mid-range boost of the 1.6, but it still feels strong throughout and one wouldn't feel the need for more power. The gearbox is slick and the feeling of the car going through its gears from a standstill even on light throttle inputs is really special. This car gathers speed very effortlessly. Plus the engine is very refined and silent and only makes itself heard in the higher rev ranges where also it sounds very good. Overall an upgrade over the Vento in many aspects if not all and a genuine pleasurable drive. The Octavia is definitely stronger, however in our driving conditions, you would rarely be able to use that extra power and torque.

Tech and Features

The Vento is no match for the Slavia in this department. The progress of 10 years clearly shows that Slavia has so much more Tech and Features. Plus it's not only just the features, I think underlying tech has improved a lot like passive TPMS, digital dash etc. One example I would give here is when were getting the tyres changed, the car was on jack on all 4 corners. I tried opening the driver's door to take my wallet out and the door didn't open despite it being unlocked. I was told it is a VW feature that if the car is on the jack on the driver's side, the door cannot be opened. In comparison to Octavia, Slavia is well placed considering the price difference. However, the Octavia obviously scores more in my opinion with more usability-related features like Window Blinds, auto tailgate, massive digital dash, bigger infotainment screen etc

Comfort

This was the biggest surprise for me. I expected Slavia to have similar seats and stuff like Vento, however, they are different. Overall, I feel Slavia is more comfortable over the Vento as it has a quieter cabin which controls wind and road noise better. The engine is quieter and overall space is also more. In addition to space, I feel Slavia's front seats are also better. They are very slightly softer, have a more pronounced bucket effect with more side bolstering and I think the overall shape is better. In my Vento, after a long drive, I would have a stiff lower back, but no such issues with the Slavia. Also, I feel the Slavia's suspension better handles the light to medium undulations on the road. It still thuds and crashes over big potholes, but isolates the cabin more than the Vento on lesser imperfections. Slavia focuses more on the isolation of the cabin from noise and road imperfections. The AC of the Slavia is much stronger than the Vento as well and the ventilated seats make life much easier in NCR summers. To me the Octavia rides and handles even better than the Slavia. The suspension is quieter in the Octavia and its dampening feels even more sophisticated.

Handling

This is one area where the Vento scores over the Slavia in my opinion. The Vento felt more direct and it made you aware of the road surface more. The Slavia is softer and it isolates you from the road surface which robs the feeling of connection to the road. The biggest letdown in Slavia is the very light lifeless steering wheel. Thankfully after the VCDS coding and enabling the Dynamic Steering setting has improved it a lot. After this change, the difference between the Vento has reduced, but the Vento still felt more connected to the road. I personally prefer the Slavia here because honestly on our road conditions, I prefer the isolation as it is more comfortable. The brakes on the Slavia feel sharper and I feel it masks its speed slightly better than Vento. In the Vento 120 KPH was the point where I was comfortable and from that point on the car would make the speed felt unless the roads were super smooth. I feel this point in the Slavia is 130-135.

Some pictures from the 2 road trip

We were taking a break on the highway and stopped at Sukhdev on Murthal. I am very conscious of where I park the car and always try to ensure between adjacent cars. I don't know how casual people are, a Nexon parked next to my car did this while opening their door. I kept wondering what would have happened if I didn't have PPF.

I still prefer the exterior looks of the Virtus, especially that front:

Overall I have really enjoyed driving this car and I keep looking for excuses to get it out. It is extremely effortless to drive and the overall comfort it offers is really good. It is an even better highway cruiser than the vento and one can easily do long distances with less fatigue. The lighter build and cheaper materials are not that obvious and are not that big a concern for me. Of course, it does not feel as well built to last 10-15 years without rattling, but hey, you cannot keep cars for long durations in our country anyways these days. The plus side to this lighter build is the much more affordable part cost. On the way back from Jodhpur, we had a dog hit and the front took some impact. When I saw the repair bill from Skoda I was genuinely shocked. The prices of the parts for Slavia are almost at par with other manufacturers for example front bumper was Rs 3200, and the front light assembly was 20K only. The service experience of Skoda so far has been way better than I expected as well. They have made improvements and as of now, I feel I am having better experience with Skoda dealers than I had with VW ones.

Some observations

1. Although the gearbox is extremely smooth and fast, the fear of reliability remains in the back of my mind.
2. The gearbox typically in city usage hardly goes to the 1st gear. Even from speed breakers or near standstill, the gearbox stays in 2nd gear. This tendency proved to be a concern when we were on our way to Srinagar. Climbing uphill on heavily broken roads behind trucks, the gearbox wouldn't shift to 1st till the engine lost its steam and then it would shift to 1st with a Krrr Krrr sound and a jerk. Thankfully with some experimenting, I found in M mode, the gearbox shifts to 1st much earlier while it still has time and overall the shifts are smoother. I discussed this with friends and they also suggested shifting to M mode in such tricky situations. But still, the shift from 2nd to 1st gear is still a bit jerky at times and you fear something might break.
3. When driving in Manual mode, you need to get used to the car's gearing as it prefers to run a gear higher than you would normally expect.
4. The audio quality of the music system is fairly good even without the Sub and is perfectly useable especially when you are with family.
5. The Boot of the car is really spacious and can eat up a lot of luggage. However, this car sags a bit with load, unlike some other German cars.
6. Personally after living with the car a bit, I welcome the India-specific changes that are made to the car. I feel especially for me, most of those have added value and usability with some minor build-related shortcomings.

Overall very happy and satisfied so far with the car. Just keeping my fingers crossed from a reliability point of view.

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