My new drive

I call it my Mint, without a hole. To tell you the truth, I could probably just as well call it my Black Beauty.
My new drive is the Volkswagen Polo (Highline). I have had it for close to 3 weeks now, and I absolutely love it. Frankly, you somehow just feel that immediate connect with the car, before you have even taken a test drive. For some reason, it just feels right. The design of the car, it's colours, everything they advertise about it makes you want to feel it. I don't think I can give it any tangibility.

Even before I started looking for a car, it was right there at the top of my list. When I actively decided to go for a purchase, it still remained at the top of my list. Even though I really thought I should at least check out some of the other brands before making the final purchase. Well the only other car I wanted to even test drive was the I20. Truth be told, the I20 was definitely higher on the features- reverse parking sensors with video, it even told a driver when he should change gears. Though quite frankly, I feel that if you have reached a stage where you are ready to invest in a car, you shouldn't have to be told when to change the gear- so I suppose while some people might find this feature as a major plus, I don't in particular. Feature apart, the drive was certainly smooth. All in all, it seemed decently like value for money, with some value attributed to the luxury of just owning a good car.

Then came the Polo test drive. Even as I sat inside the car, it seemed like a dream come true. Adjustable steering for your convenience, adjustable seats (that of course is there in every car now a days), a car which gets locked automatically as soon as you hit a speed of 20kmph. Central locking, remote locking, with the option of selectively opening the trunk from the outside (I love this feature, it means I can at times ask my driver to take out the car cover and cover the car without me having to go down, or worry about the entire car being exposed). Quite possibly the best feature of all, the car tells me how many kilomtres I can go with my existing stock of petrol. Literally in terms of mileage. For a person like me, it saves me the trouble of trying to decipher how much petrol is left by looking at the number of bars left on the petrol metre. I can quite simply decide it's time to visit the petrol pump as soon as my car tells me I only have 10 more kilometers to go. I do not need to compulsorily go for a servicing before 6 months have passed. Free services go till 3 years from date of purchase. Possibly the only negative feature (at least at this point of time)- it doesn't come with a safety lock by default. While I am unlikely to open the car from inside while it is running at 100 kmph, I would still like to feel safe when, for instance, I fall asleep while someone else is driving. Though definitely, as far as the exteriors are concerned, the car offers amazing security.

Definitely value for money, with brand and luxury both covered.

The flipside of the entire experience only truly began once the decision to purchase the car was final. Don't worry, the car itself runs amazingly well. It doesn't even matter that the indicator and wipers are seemingly on the opposite side compared to most other Indian cars. But if my opinion is anything to go by, go find your financing elsewhere, not from VW! While at first it seems amazingly convenient, after all, who'd want to go about finding finance from other banks, how to know if there will be any hiccups etc? But in retrospect, that was the  most troublesome part. It might just be about the oldest story in the book- sales will over simplify everything to make their sale, finance will over complicate everything to ensure they don't have any defaults etc. But when you are waiting for the wheels of your dreams, trust me, you don't want to be stuck in such a situation!

But all in all, it's an amazing driving experience. Look forward clocking many many miles...

Comments