VW Vento Hiighline TDI

I purchased a Vento Highline TDI from KSM Motors - Chembur. The entire process was a headache to begin with. I took the option for a Red Colour since the same was available Ex-Stock, rather than wait a month for any other colour.

I have been driving this now for a week and done about 1200Kms and the following issues have been noticed.

1. Fuel Economy - The 1st fill i got approx 12kmpl, this included drives from South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai and a couple of trips to Andheri East. The 2nd fill was at approx 11kmpl. All the time the Electronic Display showed between 15 -16kmpl. The service engineer himself stated that you should expect between 12-14kmpl.

My other car is a Laura 2.0 Auto and i get approx 13 - 15kmpl for the same journeys. So the Vento with a smaller engine + manual transmission is not as efficient as bigger cars even those with an Auto Box.

2. The pickup in the 1st and 2nd Gear is pathtic - especially in the 1st it just revs and torque just dies out, there is no punch at all!

3. Put the car into 'Neutral' press the clutch and there is a noise which sounds a bit 'rough'. I took this to the Service Center and tried out another similar car which was ready for delivery and that too had this. I am informed that since this car has a Hydraulic Gearbox there is going to be this noise, also some story about location of the Hydraulic Cylinder viz-a-viz other cars. Honestly - this is not the customers problem and there is a design flaw, any car that costs so much should make such noises. My earlier Skoda Octavia didn't make this noise (has a hydraulic clutch as well) but as per the Service Engineer the Micra also makes this noise!, pretty pathetic excuse in my opinion.

4. If you try and pull from a redlight shifting between 1st and 2nd causes a jerk. Even the service engineer when driving the car experienced the same jerk. He tried to manipulate this by leave the clutch and only then after a short internal pressing the accelerator, however this is not the way anybody normally drives, if you engage him in a conversation he will forget this new technique and then there is the jerk again.

6. The Engine is unrefined at high RPM and this is not the nicest car to be in especially if you intend on driving it yourself!

5. The interiors are pretty lame, no soft touch on the dashboard. The sound quality from the music system is 'boomy' at best, could be either poor speakers or maybe the system itself.

I would advise anybody to drive this car for atleast an hour before making a purchase, even then it might be better checking out the new Fluidic Verna or even the SX4 Diesel, especially the Fluidic Verna which seems to have all the bells & whistles and even the performance on paper.

Vento does advertise 105Bhp, but its actually the torque that matters, something that is in short supply. The old Verna had better pull and similar levels of efficiency.