Confused Between Vento / Verna / City Ciaz

[a.ashish]

hello friends,
sold my black vento few days back. reason? fuel injectors malfunctioned four times in 3 and a half years of ownership. out of four times all four fuel injectors were changed once and twice one injector was changed and once two injectors were changed. so in total 8 fuel injectors were changed in a span of 27500 odd kms.
although because of warranty it was done free of cost but raised reliability issues. and also discomfort of car breakdown midway and to wait for road side assistance and taxi.
on searching in the internet came to know that vento 2012 and 2013 models were facing faulty fuel injector issues.

so now i am again in hunt of a car my budget? 10 to 12 lakhs. few things about my wishlist

fuel : diesel
type : sedan

as i am living near a sea shore area so the corrosion is primary concern the reason i bought vento was 6 years anti corrosion warranty. as compared to maruti cars which starts catching corrosion after 3 years this was not a case with vento not even a single bolt or any body parts have a slightest sign of corrosion.

my second concern is safety as mostly i would be using this car on highways approx. 95 % of total kms.

now the confusion is :-
ciaz is good in terms of ownership cost, mileage, looks and features but doubtful about build quality and 1.3 turbo charged engine.

city is good in terms of mileage and brand value but i personally didnt liked the dashboard design and quality of the interior. Although best in class rear seat comfort. but major concern about city is i think the build quality is very very poor. it might catch corrosion very soon.

verna 4s is good in terms of value for money, list of features but declining sales is a concern and also this is the only car which i had not taken test drive so no idea about the build quality. no idea about effect of corrosion.

vento is best in terms of handling and build quality but past bitter experience. i have heard that 1.5l diesel engine does not carry fuel injectors issue but not sure. i am again thinking of buying this car is because and just because of the quality and road grip. A.S.S. is not a concern as the dealer has always co operated me and did his best to resolve the issue of my previously owned car. they had taken guidance from German engineers to resolve my issue something they call it discit or so.

HENCE I REQUEST THE USERS OF THEAUTOMOTIVEINDIA TO KINDLY SHARE THERE OPINIONS / EXPERIENCE / VIEWS

before buying vento in 2012 i had booked skoda rapid and cancelled my booking because of irresponsible behavior of the staff. so not considering rapid as an option. POOR A.S.S.

had test driven sunny diesel in 2012 but felt the build quality too much poor.

renault scala?? does that car even exist. didnt bother to even think about it.

ford fiesta?? heavy stearing and poor back seat comfort hence rejected.

 

[acechip]

Re: confusion vento/verna/city/ciaz

hello friends,
sold my black vento few days back. reason? fuel injectors malfunctioned four times in 3 and a half years of ownership. out of four times all four fuel injectors were changed once and twice one injector was changed and once two injectors were changed. so in total 8 fuel injectors were changed in a span of 27500 odd kms.
although because of warranty it was done free of cost but raised reliability issues. and also discomfort of car breakdown midway and to wait for road side assistance and taxi.
on searching in the internet came to know that vento 2012 and 2013 models were facing faulty fuel injector issues.

so now i am again in hunt of a car my budget? 10 to 12 lakhs. few things about my wishlist

fuel : diesel
type : sedan

as i am living near a sea shore area so the corrosion is primary concern the reason i bought vento was 6 years anti corrosion warranty. as compared to maruti cars which starts catching corrosion after 3 years this was not a case with vento not even a single bolt or any body parts have a slightest sign of corrosion.

my second concern is safety as mostly i would be using this car on highways approx. 95 % of total kms.

now the confusion is :-
ciaz is good in terms of ownership cost, mileage, looks and features but doubtful about build quality and 1.3 turbo charged engine.

city is good in terms of mileage and brand value but i personally didnt liked the dashboard design and quality of the interior. Although best in class rear seat comfort. but major concern about city is i think the build quality is very very poor. it might catch corrosion very soon.

verna 4s is good in terms of value for money, list of features but declining sales is a concern and also this is the only car which i had not taken test drive so no idea about the build quality. no idea about effect of corrosion.

vento is best in terms of handling and build quality but past bitter experience. i have heard that 1.5l diesel engine does not carry fuel injectors issue but not sure. i am again thinking of buying this car is because and just because of the quality and road grip. A.S.S. is not a concern as the dealer has always co operated me and did his best to resolve the issue of my previously owned car. they had taken guidance from German engineers to resolve my issue something they call it discit or so.

HENCE I REQUEST THE USERS OF THEAUTOMOTIVEINDIA TO KINDLY SHARE THERE OPINIONS / EXPERIENCE / VIEWS

before buying vento in 2012 i had booked skoda rapid and cancelled my booking because of irresponsible behavior of the staff. so not considering rapid as an option. POOR A.S.S.

had test driven sunny diesel in 2012 but felt the build quality too much poor.

renault scala?? does that car even exist. didnt bother to even think about it.

ford fiesta?? heavy stearing and poor back seat comfort hence rejected.

Regarding Sunny's build quality, perhaps you could take a look at this accident.
Accidents in India - PICS - Page 1218 - Team-BHP
No one was injured in the Sunny, inspite of the rear being bashed up and the A pillars took the weight of the 1.6 tonne Innova. I would say that qualifies for wonderful build quality! Nothing else matters , not plastics, not touchscreen, buttons or leather. If the cabin structure can take this stress and still keep you injury free, I'd say its up there with the best.
You might also want to look at Fiat Linea, which also has excellent features and equal or better build quality.
BTW, heavy steering is good for a driver, helps him/her aware of road conditions at all times.

 

[msjawahar]

Re: confusion vento/verna/city/ciaz

ford fiesta?? heavy stearing and poor back seat comfort hence rejected.

Heavy Steering ? No never. It has the best Steering in this Category. Yeah, the back seat comfort is really poor, but not so worse as you think of.

 

[Ajaykrishn]

Re: confusion vento/verna/city/ciaz

Ciaz
+ boot space and leg room
+ lots of features( keyless entry , push button start , touch screen and lots more )
+ maruti suzuki A.S.S is excellent
+ fuel economy


- least poweful engine, build quality is okay, fit and finish is okay as well, high speed handling is not upto the germans

City
+ feature packed, excellent legroom and boot space, fuel economy , Honda's after sales service , full option comes with sunroof and paddle shifters

- noisy diesel engine, good performance , build quality is good , really thin tyres

Verna
+ feature packed, looks good , powerful engine , 6 airbags , well put together interiors , legroom is adequate, good boot space

- no touch screen console , rear legroom not as much as ciaz and city, high speed dynamics are okay,heard that the older verna handles like a boat at high speeds i don't know if it has been cleared in the facelift,

Vento
+ facelift looks classier , well built interiors , DSG is excellent, a bit more features have been added into the facelifted version, impeccable fit and finish, airbags come standard in all variants, hoot to drive and high speed dynamics are really good.

- not as feature rich as rivals (no push button start, touch screen , keyless entry etc)
- chances of scraping the underbody with 4 people on board , VW's after sales service is not as good as the others and is expensive,dsg transmission reliability issues

I would suggest you to go for the vento. Its not as feature rich( ciaz,verna,city) and spacious ( ciaz , city ) as its rivals but it scores high on the build quality / materials used, high speed dynamics and driveability.

I think VW is the only company offering 6 years anticorrosion warranty here :D

 

[a.ashish]

Re: confusion vento/verna/city/ciaz

@acechip the cabin might be safe but overall quality is not upto the mark.

personally i love linea its beautiful and its strong but again doubtful about the small engine and also there is hardly any takers of linea so no idea about A.S.S.

yes heavy steering gives confidence at high speed but it is tiresome for long journeys. a well weighted steering is much desirable.

@msjawahar sir, i forgot to mention i was talking about fiesta classic and i had that car for a month and driven few hundreds km. i am of the opinion that the steering is much heavier. and also it might discontinue fiesta classic sales anytime.

 

[Music_Swift]

If I were you,get Vento again but with DSG box.As per reviews,there are no issues of injectors after VW launched 1.5 TDI engine.We too have a Vento TDI and nearing to 80,000 Km although it has run 79000 Km and still feels new.Another choice is Honda City which you can get better service treatment than VW but not tough as VW's.My friends own City Diesel and there are no issues so far except accidents due to poor build quality.But got to know from my dad that his friend's friend who owns City Diesel and said its giving problems even though it has run 32000 Km whereas our Vento didn't have that problems except clutch replacement at 45000 Km and intercooler replacement at 68000 Km because my driver hit the underbody.Eventough,its running fine.

 

[roman]

Verna- Best features, value for money,reasonable handling and good after sales.

City-Highly reliable, good dynamics and reasonable features. Best built quality in class.

Ciaz- Sluggish engine,cheapest to maintain, best service N\W.

Vento- Good car overall but parts cost a bomb.

Linea-Can be an option. Best dynamics and an average engine. Still turns heads. Service N\W is questionable

 

[Tornado]

BTW, heavy steering is good for a driver, helps him/her aware of road conditions at all times.

Rather, one should call it lively steering.

vento is best in terms of handling and build quality

Nothing can match this car except Linea.

i have heard that 1.5l diesel engine does not carry fuel injectors issue but not sure

Linea 1,3 MJD has such a wonderful tunning that you won't feel the difference between 1.3 & 1.5 L.
.

i am again thinking of buying this car is because and just because of the quality and road grip.

Again, only Linea wins on this front.

ford fiesta?? heavy stearing

Infact the steering is near perfect & that's why it is known as driver's car.

 

[Jerwin]

The only car that will fit your bill is either another VW vento or the new Ford fiesta. Cars often have these manufacturing defects in particular batches and unfortunately your vento was one of them. I believe the recent vento models do not have this issue .
regarding for fiesta, its built really well, Drives extremely well but the only problem is rear seat space and doubtful servicing costs since its a poor selling model.
Do not consider the honda city. Its a poorly built car with noisy diesel engine. it cannot match vento's driving dynamics too

 

[msjawahar]

regarding for fiesta, its built really well, Drives extremely well but the only problem is rear seat space and doubtful servicing costs since its a poor selling model.

reat seat comfort is not so worst as you think of. Yeah, its not up to mark in the cars of this segment.

The service cost is too low.

In my fiesta here is the list that i spent in each service.

1st service - free
2nd service - 2300
3rd service - 4500

Its too low compared to the VW & Skoda

 

[a.ashish]

THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE WONDERFUL FEEDBACK. I APPRECIATE THAT.

@ajaykrishn bro. thanks for the pros and cons of each one. in gujarat the dealer of honda and volkswagen is the same and as i had already owned the vento so i can safely say that A.S.S. of volkswagen in gujarat is reliable. no complaints on that front. regarding honda city the top variant is out of budget. and mid variants lacks many features and i personally disliked the dashboard and glossy plastic in between and also the gearknob looks ugly in my opinion. however many peoply might like it. also the plastics and switches doesn't feel to be as good as vento's.

@music_swift even i am seriously thinking about automatic vento. since the vento facelift has just launched i don't think they will offer any discount. since i am interested in vento again even after past bitter experience i will try for some extra loyalty discount.

@roman brother i beg to differ for one point that honda city has best build quality. do let me know if this is the case. i agree with your views on other cars.

@tornado linea is a great contender be it looks or build quality but A.S.S. is doubtful also we see very few linea on road

@jerwin agree with you bro. i have read a lot about handling and driving dynamics of ford fiesta but i never liked that car. people here in this forum are much knowledgeable than me as far as automobiles are concerned but i had never enjoyed driving that car neither i like the looks and interior of fiesta classic. the new fiesta looks good but still this is not the car i am looking for.

@msjawahar bro. fiesta is a good car but i personally do not like it. i agree with you on service cost and the parts are much reliable so the maintainance cost is low.

 

[Tornado]

The only car that will fit your bill is either another VW vento


Cars often have these manufacturing defects in particular batches and unfortunately your vento was one of them. I believe the recent vento models do not have this issue .

If it is a manufacturing defect why the heck they are making the owner suffer? And why to reward VW by opting a car from same stable?

reat seat comfort is not so worst as you think of. Yeah, its not up to mark in the cars of this segment.

Agreed, not comfortable for 3 full size adults but for average height ppl it not uncomfortable.

The service cost is too low.Its too low compared to the VW & Skoda

YES, many spare parts are shared with ES & are localised.

@op, Fiat is expanding its ASS network day by day and it's not a lamentable problem now a days. Also, why are you so much bothered about sales figure?

 

[jovicud]

Hi Ashish,Few months back I was in a similar position like you,I was upgrading myself from a hatchback to sedan and I have probably taken test drive of all the cars available under sedan category falling below 11 lakhs Maruti ciaz ,Verna.4s,Honda city,Fiesta,and linea (I purposely left Vento and skoda as i didnt found them that attractive in terms of interior feel and was.not very sure of after sales service of both the cars )
Here are my two cents for all of them
Ciaz- Vfm but was not impressed with the engines and exterior look , found it too sobre somehow this car just didnt clicked for me ,looked big thats it just didnt gave a good road presence.

Fiesta- I just loved the feel,looks and handling of the car,Engine was super smooth , it didn't feel like diesel at all the build quality was also good, was also getting very good discount but had to leave it bcoz my wife didn't approve it for not so spacious rear seats as she found it very cramped,This would have been a very strong contender for me only if the rear seats was not a problem.

Fiat linea- A good car but again less rear space and little outdated (again a personal opinion)

Honda city: Nice Revy engine in petrol,diesel felt like truck :( dashing exterior looks, excellent rear seats and very spacious but just couldnt digest the filmsy feel of the interiors , and on top of that those skimpy tyres ; final nail in the coffin was the hard gear box compared to verna and the price difference.

Verna 4s- The moment I took test drive of this beauty i I was sold this car gave me all what the above mentioned cars were missing, I loved the exterior look of the car( though it's subjective) It looked premium, interiors were plush and of very good quality (something that honda was missing) Engine was butter smooth ( was as good as city if not better) Features provided were also better than city ( model to model comparison) Steering was responsive and very smooth prefect for city drive, supension was good too (I have so far driven 600 kms through some nasty pot holes and let me.say the shock absorbers so far have done a fantastic job( touch wood) the gear box is very smooth and perfect for city drive where you may need to change gear very often. Though i opted for petrol but I must say if your running demands diesel then after fiesta this was the most fun to drive with as good as no noice inside the cabin (I took test drive of both engines) . The icing on cake was the discount I got on the car, I have opted for s/opt which costed me 10.58 on road with Lbt against the price of 11.26 , When I compared the same with city it was lesser than city by almost a lac .
I'm very happy with my purchase and will also post my ownership review very soon.
If you are looking for a sedan in diesel and if you are ready to sacrifice a little rear space compared to city and ciaz then verna 4s will not disappoint you infact it beats every car in this category ,if you are looking for petrol then it's a close call between city and verna 4s but with the discount and features provided i feel verna has an upper hand here too..
But I would highly recommend to take test drive of verna4s to decide on your own and yes dont worry for the declining sales as its a blessing in disguise for buyers like us ;)

 

[rselva]

@a.ashish In one word- Verna. It is the right car for you. Just test drive it. The handling is comfortable, taller gears give you better drivability on highways and the NVH level are so good even in diesel trim that Honda City Diesel feels like a Khatara in comparison. Of course the interiors are - as always in Hyundia- classy.With 6 airbags , ABS and EDB there is plenty of safety .Hyundai has good ASS too. My neighbor owns one and we often go to Vellore in it. About Vento DGS, don't even think of dual clutches they are pain in ass in long run with lot of niggles. Let VW give a 10 year warranty on DGS like they give in other countries and then you can put Vento in your consideration list. Till then forget it. VW is a fun car to drive - not to own!

 

[acechip]

Re: confusion vento/verna/city/ciaz

@acechip the cabin might be safe but overall quality is not upto the mark.

personally i love linea its beautiful and its strong but again doubtful about the small engine and also there is hardly any takers of linea so no idea about A.S.S.

yes heavy steering gives confidence at high speed but it is tiresome for long journeys. a well weighted steering is much desirable.

@msjawahar sir, i forgot to mention i was talking about fiesta classic and i had that car for a month and driven few hundreds km. i am of the opinion that the steering is much heavier. and also it might discontinue fiesta classic sales anytime.

what is your definition of quality ? I have been on Nissan Sunny taxis where the engine has run over 1 to 1.5 lac km (K9K Renault diesel is a workhorse as we all know) , and the car took all the bad roads without even a single rattle in the cabin. Its a revelation to me as well. I'd rather have hard wearing plastics that do not start ratting after 5000km . All the other fancy stuff like touchscreen doo-dahs and fancy audios etc do not matter much to me atleast.

For the record, my own Nissan Micra CVT doesnt rattle one bit after 17000 km of bad to worse Pune area roads. It just runs smoothly , without any fuss, niggles . Typical Nissan, one might say.