Volkswagen Vento [2012-2014] User Reviews

 

Hello VW,

First of all we would like to congratulate your team for launching your products in India. At the launch of VW vento car you have advertised in T.V's and news papers that your engineering team were weeping to see off your cars from the manufacturing unit. This advertisement has impressed the customers and we in particular were forced to purchase the vento car from M/S.Elite Motors Bangalore on 30-12-2010 bearing chassis number WVWL10603BT018544, trendline diesel model. Now after going through the features in your car we are forced to weep for selecting VW vento inspite of better varieties and features available in other Indian cars, The reason are as follows.

1. The right hand wind shield wiper arm cannot be lifted even by one inch to wash,maintain the wind shield.you could have easily extended the hinge portion of the wiper arm by three inches to facilitate easy lifting as commonly found in other cars.

2. The instrument cluster which displays temperature,kilometer, fuel tank capacity,RPM needle, KMPH reading and back lit display of AC knobs all are in red light, which will Perice the drivers and the co passengers eyes in the night journey. There is no colour discrimination for which items we are looking for in the cluster.you could have easily used diffent colors to differentiate as in other cars.

3. The child locking system needs the help of driver who has to come all the way by putting off the engine and bring the ignition key to operate the child lock and go back to his seat and start the
vehicle.

4. All the doors cannot be locked from inside which is a big safety concern especially in country like India were the majority of the travelers prefer to lock there doors from inside.this can easily be solved by providing a latch adjoining door handle which very common even in a basic model cars from the inception of cars in the world, and we never expected VW the world leaders in automobile industry to do such blunders.

5. The fuel tank cap cannot be locked from outside after filling the fuel and it has to be locked from inside only.

6. The rear door power window cannot be operated from the driver side and the glass cannot be bought down completely also the top of the glass design is not uniform and one side of the glass is not moving in the rubber beeding.

7. The wheel jack and spanners are housed in a thermocole container which will break very easily, instead a good bag could have been provided which help in a long run.

8. The engine number is not in a prominent location which is very difficult to copy to a document while registering the vehicle.

VW is a century old German car manufacturer and we never expected those basic and silly mistakes by the renowned world famous car manufacturer. The above mentioned mistake are not found in any of the age old Indian cars.We request you to rectify the above mentioned mistakes in our car also we hope that you will put your R&D depatment to swing into action and you will not repeat such mistakes in your next production. About 20 of my friends who were about to book VW Vento are dissatisfied after finding the above mistakes in VW vento and they straight away switched over to your competitive cars. Hope you will rectify these mistakes in our car at the earliest if not we kindly request you to take back the car to keep up the German company image.hope this will be taken seriously and will get a positive reply from your end,as complaining to the toll free number did not yield any result.

 

VW brand imageBad

Exterior Excellent exteriors and a stylish body. great curves and lights

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Great interiors, huge space and a comfortable seating and leg space. big boot also.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Superb pick-up, noiseless, driving pleasure, great brakes and a small turning radius fuel economy not checked but claimed is around 12-14 kmpl.

Ride Quality & Handling Phenomenal ride both sitting at the rear and driving too. easy entry in the car

Final Words A MUST HAVE CAR for all car lovers who look for top quality at low price. More than Complete value for money. enjoy the best name at an affordable price. Good for family outings, As well as for daily driving in traffic to office and back as provides maximum comfort, Good for ladies also as provides easy manouvreability and parking. Hence, on an overall basis, a must buy in its category.

Areas of improvement  None worth describing! May be more colours to choose from. Check if extended warranty is given and take that to be safe.

the brand name and the price tagNone

 

Exterior Exterior Looks are Ok. But Following points to be improved.

1. Front style (lighting and frontage) and ground clearance (bumper side)

2. Undercarriage (near rear wheels), two cables are hanging - could have been tucked carefully to under carriage. (seen in all Vento cars)

3. The radio antenna at rear spoils the total beauty of the car.

4. All the door beedings are of poor quality - can wet and spoil in rainy climatic conditions.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

1. Door locking system is not reliable.  Only front door lock is synchronized to remote system.  Hence if any other door is open(partially - unknowngly), the car does not give any warning after remote locking.  A major safety issue.

2. Visibility of rear view mirror is partially blocked by the unnecessary aand unusable backside height/slope rear to back seat.  A poor design.

3. The Floor plates at all the door steps are perfectly horizontal allowing water to rest there.  Also, during rainy driving water seeps into door steps.  Would have given a small slope.  Poor quality implementation. 

4. Rear passenger seat at the middle has a big obstruction from the projecting mid portion at the floor bottom.

5. Driver seat area - the resting pedal near the cluth pedal would have been provided

6.  The quality of plastics used in the dashboard and interior are very poor.  Cannot expect this from Volkswagen.

7.  Volkewagen would have used a better audio system with more features, which is not costly now and available in almost all types of cars.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine performance - Not bad. 

Fuel Economy - not as expected. Can get average 17.5km/l only after 5000kms of drive (mostly highway drive), where as company claim is 20.5km/l.

Gear box has occassional rattling at 2/3 gears are rear gear shifts.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality not bad. Suspension would have been better. Handling OK.

 

Final Words Not at all upto the expectation from Volkswagen. Need to improve in many fields. Technically as well as in quality aspects and customer support. It was disappointing to note that the dealer could not inform the exact time in which first service of the car has to be made. At 15000km (one said). Service people told to bring back at 7500kms. Which is correct?

Very poor dealer training from company - it seems.

 

Areas of improvement Many - as mentioned above.

 

Engine power good and have some driving comfortMany - This car doesnot show Volkswagen's professionalism. Details below

 

We purchased a Volkswagen Candy White Vento 1.6 TDI HGL MT Car (Registration No. MH 02 BR xxxx) through Tornado Motors Pvt. Ltd. The said Car was delivered to us after 2 months and 1 week. At the time of delivery the Dealer told us that Diesel to the extent of 15 litres had been filled in the car by the Dealer. He also gave us a coupon using which our client could fill in an additional 15 litres of Diesel from a nearby fuel pump. The representative of the Dealer also provided us with the details of the Service Centre of the Dealer located at Andheri (E) and advised us to get in touch with them in case of any difficulty.

Around July 28, 2011 i.e. after around 5 days of taking delivery of the car, we noticed that after the said Car had travelled around 20 - 25 kms, at idle, the engine sound varied, the car itself shook and vibrated and the indicator needle showing Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) moved between around 600 and 800 RPM. Alarmed by the said condition, I called up the service centre and informed the service manager of the condition of the car. He assured us that it was not a major problem and advised us to bring the Car over for a check on the next day. I took the said Car to the Service Centre of the Dealer on July 29, 2011 and the service advisor took a test drive of the Car. The test drive lasted for less than 15 kms and at the time, the condition did not recur. The service advisor assured us that the Car was safe to drive. But when we drove the car on Sunday July 31, 2011, and after the said car travelled more than 25 kms, the said fault condition recurred. Since we were assured by the service manager that the said Car was safe to drive, we assumed that the fault condition was temporary in nature. However, the said fault condition once again occurred on the next day i.e. August 1, 2011 and so I once again took the car to the Service Centre. By now the fault condition had worsened and the car appeared to be stalling while at idle. At the Dealer’s Service Centre, another person examined the car and immediately observed that the said fault condition was present. He advised me to hand over the said car to them for examination and repairs, if necessary. He also requested me to wait for a while so that he could conduct necessary tests on the said Car.

After almost 2 hours and after persistent enquiry, I was told that the Car was examined using Volkswagen’s Analysis Software and an electrical fault had been detected and that they would require some time to identify and rectify the same. On the next day, I called the service advisor at around 10.30 am and was told that the fault was yet to be identified. Being anxious about the fault condition in a brand new car, I did not attend office on August 2, 2011 and instead went to the Dealer's Service Centre to understand the reason for the said fault condition and the remedies for the same. At the Service Centre, I met Mr. Milind Kuwalekar, the Service Head of the Dealer and appraised him of the situation and requested him to do the needful at the earliest. I also expressed my shock and surprise that a brand new car from a reputed company like Volkswagen had started to show problems even before it was a week old. Mr. Kuwalekar assured me that he would instruct his service engineers to attend to the car on a priority basis. Around 2 pm on August 2, 2011 i.e. around 6 days after the said fault condition was observed in the said Car, I was informed by the service advisor that they had tested the Diesel in the said Car and had observed small quantities of water. He told me that the water in the Diesel was the likely source of trouble. I told him that after filling in Diesel from the Fuel Pump in favour of which the Dealer had issued a coupon, no Diesel had been filled in the said Car. He told us that the entire Diesel in the said Car would have to be removed, the Diesel tank would have to be cleaned, the Diesel lines and injectors would have to be cleaned and the said car tested thereafter. He requested me to await his call. 

On the next day i.e. August 3, 2011, the Head Foreman of the Service Centre got involved and after Diesel was filled, test drove the car. The fault condition again occurred after the car was driven for around 15 kms. So he decided to replace the fuel injectors and test the car again. Even after replacement of the fuel injectors, the fault condition occurred, this time even without the car being driven. Now the Head Foreman decided to test the said Car after replacing the fuel pumps. By this time, it was almost 10 pm and it was decided to do the work on the next day. On August 4, 2011, I called up the Head Foreman at around 2 pm and was told that they were yet to test the car after replacing the fuel pump. I visited the Dealer's Service Centre on my way back from office and was told that even after replacement of the fuel pump, the fault condition persisted. They had also replaced an electronic control unit (which received inputs from the accelerator pedal) but the fault condition persisted. I was now told that they intended to replace the Engine Control Unit of the said car and then to test it again.

We ere now anxious, alarmed and disappointed that our brand new car had a fault that the famed expertise of Volkswagen's German Engineering and its sophisticated analysis software could not ascertain even 3 days after the car was put in the workshop. So we personally spoke to Mr. Kuwalekar and requested him for an update. Mr. Kuwalekar expressed his inability to give any time frame for resolution of the problem. He again said that all the problems were caused by the water in the Diesel. 

So, now fed up, we contacted the sales head of the Dealer and thereafter, the General Manager of the Dealer and demanded that they replace the defective car with a new one. The General Manager and Service Head has now promised to revert by 5 pm today. We relied on the statements and representations made by Volkswagen India in its brochures, promotional literature, advertisements and website and by the Dealer and its representatives to decide on the purchase of the said car. These do not anywhere suggest that Diesel sold in Pumps in India can cause trouble to the engines of TDI Ventos or that a new can be grounded for 5 days because of water in diesel. If that were so, all Diesel Ventos would be at a standstill considering the quality of Diesel sold in India. Anyway, the replacement of part after part especially the electronic control units clearly shows that the fault has nothing to do with the water in the diesel. It appears that Volkswagen and their dealer, Tornado Motors, have no clue as to the true nature of the fault. This is hardly the way a top notch automobile company would behave. If this had been in the US or Germany, they would hardly have behaved in this fashion. What is disappointing is that after spending close to Rs.12 Lakhs on a so called premium brand sedan, we are now dependent on a hatchback Polo that the Service Centre has given for our daily office commute and other business.

Comfort, stylingTheir inability to fix faults

 

Exterior Good design. A very neatly and perfectly designed boot. Boot is integrated well into the whole body. Great work. The front grill and looks must have been different from the polo. Could have had a different look. Stylish alloy wheels. All around, very good in appearance.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

Features: Not many. Disappointing features in the high end variant. They call it Highline, and it does not even have USB connectivity, Steering mounted controls, foldable back seats etc. VW claims electrically adjustbale ORVM, climate control, rear AC vents, air bags etc as high end features. It is high time car manufacturers made few of these items as standard features. I dont know the reason but most of the fittings such as, arm rests (both front and back seat), rear view mirror, parcel tray....all are placed very high. VW say that this car is exclusively designed for the Indian customer, but I could harldy find any feature in detail which supports this claim. Most indian cars have Indicator lever on the right hand side of the steering column and wiper lever on the left. In Vento it is just the opposite. A person who had been using a typical indian car will take time to get adjusted with these kind of annoying changes. In Vento the complete switches and controls for Head lights had been taken off from the steering column. Now is sits on the dash console on the right hand side of the steering column. When they make a car for Indian customers and Indian conditions they have to see it to every detail that they have the complet Indian version. May be because it is for the Indian customers, they have reduced the quality of the plastic as well as its finish. I would say fit and finish is not upto the mark. You can see a lot of flaws in the fit and finish aspect. I believe the Vento is a front wheel drive car, then for what reason the car have a huge bump on the floor in the back cabin. Back seat is comfortable. The back seat incline could have been a few more degrees more. The upholstery is not of high quality. The stitches on the material are worst. If you follow the stitches from where to where it goes, I mean if you keep a scale next to it, it is flowing like a river, with no proper direction. Very poor stitching. Even in the high end they dont have the option for leather seats. I mean leather seats, not leather seat covers. You have to pay almost 10 lacs off road and when on road, in Bangalore it will be close to 12 lacs. When I pay 12 lacs I would surely want features such as i have already mentioned. VW should look into the following areas,

1. Missing features and utility items - USB, Steering mounted controls, foldable back seats etc

2. Arm rest heights - Both in front and back. The front armrest is a flop. A disaster.

3. Rear view mirror on the windshield - This one is so tiny. Gives hardly any view of the rear.

4. Good upholstery - Option for leather in the highend variant

5. Completely foldable rear seats

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Now what do I say about the engine performance. How do i describe the feeling. Amazing, Incredible, Splendid, Superb. Well many more of the similar type of words. Boy you have do it on your own and find out. I felt like i taxied an airplane in the last leg of its take off attempt. It is so poweful. Amazing pick up. Shoots like a rocket. Now I have no idea about the fuel economy. I have only test driven it. Gearbox I think is superior. The gear shift was smooth. I can say anything about the FE and GB only after driving the car for some time. 

Ride Quality & Handling Amazing ride quality and handling. Just amazing. Splendid. I drove it on a paddy field like road. Full of slush, gutter, potholes. Uneven surface. The bottom never hit the ground at any point. I rode very fast on this road. Amazing handling. The cabin was so quite while the car was cruisin on a rough terrain.

 

Final Words A powerhouse with limited features and comforts, Value for money only if missing features are added and areas where attention needed attended to.

 

Areas of improvement Add more features in the high end variant. Use good plastic and good upholstery material. Redesign the arm rests. The driver seat armrest must be redone. Lots of blind spots. Especially when you look over your shoulders to get a rear view. 

 

Power House : Amazing pick up and power, Incredible control, Ultimate performanceLacks so much in comfort and utility zones.

 

I have bought Vento highline petrol from a Bangalore dealer. I got the car from the first batch itself. I bought this Car with lots of passion and love for Volkswagen Cars. The car looks Great and gives a very costly Car look.

It is a very specious car. The front seats should have been wider and more comfortable. The plastics finishing is not good and the color is not matching with the Music system panel. The Music system is of low end model. There is no USB connectivity and music quality is not good. The AC system is good but, bit noisy.

We had been to Mysore, Ooty and back in this Car. I managed to drive at 130Km/hr. Great pick-up and has good control. It Claimed the Mudumali forest hill without any strain.

I could feel the Transmission / Gear Box sound while driving. The some rotation sound from the Gear Box / Transmission could be felt while shifting the Gear from 1st to second and from 2nd to third. After third, there is no problem and the drive is smooth. The engine is not smooth as Honda City. The driving comfort is also less than Honda City. With AC on, some sound is coming from the Gear Box, at low speed. Rattling sound was also coming from the front left side door.

I took the Car to the dealer for checking Gear Box problem and window rattling problem. The dealer does not have skilled engineers. However, it seems Volkswagen Engineers assist the dealer engineers for major problems. But, they did not rectify my Car Gear Box problem and tried to convince me that, this is minor problem. However, they rectified the door rattling sound. I do not except the Volkswagen Cars to sound like this. I had a Maruti Alto Car for six years and I never faced such problem. I always had an impression that Volkswagen Cars are sturdy, robust and designed for long life. But, I am disappointed.

In short, the car outer look is very good. Engine pick-up is fantastic. But, the Interior and Transmission / Gear Box, comfort levels are not up-to the mark. The engine noise could be heard in side the car, during acceleration. Further noise (of engine and Gear box) reduction inside the Car is required. 

 

The car looks Grate and gives a very costly Car look. Super engine pick-up.Poor plastic finishing, low end Music system and Noisy transmission or Gear box.

 

Up Side

1. The name and the Badge.

2. The drive and the feel of the car is superior that any other car. tried Linea, Manza, Verna, City and Aveo.

3. Smoother drive. eats up all the potholes,bumps and extremely less jerks.

4. Excellent pickup. better for Diesel. but u already know that as that is an upsell point for the diesel variant.

5. The interiors are excellently designed. and you really get a feeling of sitting in a superior car. the chrome lining in the highline adds the spark.

6. Nice positioning for the center hand rest for driver (found it to be better than Linea). (unless except as stated by someone in a review that if you pull the seat back too much then it is bound to hinder with the movement of your left hand.. but then it can happen for any car with that feature. why blame only this car for it.)

7. The steering wheel adjustment (especially telescopic). and the driver seat adjustments makes a great difference for the driver. especially if the car would be used by at least a couple of people.

Down side

1. Rear seats are a bit upright. Also if you compare the seat length. it does not reach completely below your legs till your knees (or atlease 2 inches till below your knees) and hence may have an issue during long journeys. drove other cars Linea, Manza, Verna, City, Aveo. this issue is less.

2. The AC blower get very noisy and the noise increases even further when one of the AC vents is closed. i.e. if the pinion driver shuts down his AC vent.

3. The rear view is a bit compromised. could have been better. rear seat head rests and the level of the rear glass sharply cut the rear view and the driver will have to depend on the outer rear view mirror.

4. (don't knw if anyone noticed this). due to Euro 4 standards.. the rear windows will only open 60% and not completely. but then i heard that there is a way around for this.. however can be done only after 2 years of the warranty being over.

5. Assuming that test drive vehicles being severely abused... the engine - Petrol and diesel makes a lot of noise. hoping on the brand and the german engineering to bail the buyer out of this. To add.. it also depends on how u drive the car as well. so this only time can tell.

6. For a car that comes out to be at lease 10.5 lakhs at on road in Mumbai. features like USB/bluetooth, remote and steering wheel controls were welcome features. alas. (However. checked with my dealer twice. this feature is not given by the VW. so don't know how one user review has stated that the same has been promised by the dealer. and also the VW website does not state this.)

7. The center hump in the rear seat near the legs (don't know the technical name for it) is slightly more. the person sitting in center may feel a bit uncomfortable over a period of time.

8. Delivery time. delivery time. delivery time. U cannot book a car this good and then wait for 3 months for it.

Other comments: don't know why some people crib regarding the revese gear and the turning indicators and viper settings. this car is based on Euro standards and hence will have this. just drive the car for a few hundred kilometers and u will find that your hands will automatically move with these new settings.

Over all. an excellent buy.

everything about the car is good and the feel is excellent.... also mentioned below are more points.mentioned below

I bought a Petrol Vento 2.5 years back. I was happy to own a Vento in the beginning. Dear friends, I really understand now that I made a totally bad decision :-(.

To tell you an incident, I had a minor accident two months back, one of the doors got damaged. Another door and a back panel had minor issues. When I went to the showroom, they told both doors and back panel need to be replaced, and gave an estimate of 80,000 Rs. Believe me, I got my car back only after 2 months, and thats too with multiple escalation emails and calls to their Mumbai office, and with a whopping bill of more than 1,12,000 Rs. Reason that they told is, they had to order all spareparts, and it took more than a month to reach the service center. One sparepart is yet to be arrived.

More than the money, I felt shaken by the attitude of those guys !!

So my advice, go for this brand only if you have pocket full of money for after-sales service, and you have enough backup options in case of a service repair, or spareparts change...

Good looks, famous brandSpare parts availability in India, too long to service, shocking spare parts and service cost

Exterior

Good.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

Zero on features as compared to others in its class. Backseats are like wooden benches with zero comfort.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

There are huge problems with VW in terms of Engine Mounting & Body Noise. I have taken the car to Downtown Service Station in lalbaug, Mumbai thrice. They kept the car for a week everytime. While the body noise was fixed; the engine mounting noise remains a nagging complaint. The sales & service staff is apathetic and don't care. I guess the german attitude of the VW masters is acting up since i have even tried contacting the parent company to no avail. I posted a message on their website to which i got no response; i posted on their facebook page which was taken down that very instant. VW India is a sham. Fuel economy is good though.

Ride Quality & Handling

Very bumpy ride quality, suspension is sub-standard. It seems to be giving up after about 5000KMS. What the hell is going on???

Final Words

Refrain from buying. It's a huge mistake to go in for a VW vento for the kind of price u shell out. I've tried to get in touch with the company directly but they don't seem to care. The attitude of the sales & service staff is as deplorable. These Germans think that they can come in & sell absolute shit to Indians. Do not buy this piece of junk.

Areas of improvement  

Where do i start??? Well, they can check their attitude towards customer service to start with.

 

Looks & MileageShady Quality Checks, Recurring Noise Problems