The Story Of My 1.0-TSI Volkswagen Virtus Ownership: 2 Years & 35,000 Kilometers Later

So here’s how I ended up buying a Volkswagen Virtus, and it has been one of the most fruitful car purchases I have ever made!

About two years ago, I was looking for a Hyundai Creta, but the Hyundai salespeople were unwilling to deliver a car without making me wait for six months. I didn’t have as much time, so I started looking at other options. After some time and research, I got myself this beautiful 1.0-liter Volkswagen Virtus in the subtle shade of Carbon Steel Grey. 

The Sales Experience

I’ll tell you what, the sales approach is everything these days. Sometimes, even if the product has a lot of potential, the sales approach of the manufacturers is not effective enough. 

As I mentioned earlier, I intended to get a Creta at first, and the showroom was not even willing to deliver me after 6 months of waiting. Moreover, I even tried to book their cars with 30-40% of the car’s price in advance, but they kept saying no. 

Then I checked out the Honda City. The Honda Showroom had the car available and was ready to deliver fast, but it felt like they didn’t value their customers enough. I saw one person handling 4-5 customers at a time. That ruined it for me. 

Now, visited the Volkswagen & Skoda showrooms, and both of their attendees gave me enough attention and walked me through all the trim levels. Both of the companies followed up pretty well. Since both the cars were technically the same, you might wonder why I didn’t get the Slavia. 

Well, Slavia offers halogen headlamps in its mid-trims, and I wanted the LED headlights, so I asked if I could get it upgraded from the showroom. Unfortunately, Skoda was not able to give it to me and asked me to upgrade it from their service center. 

In terms of Volkswagen, firstly, they offer an LED headlamp setup as standard, and when I asked them for the upgrade, they were very happy to replace the unit with the higher-spec unit from the Topline model. The charges were only about 9,000 rupees. 

However, I kept the regular setup as my family was already happy with it, and they didn’t want me to get it replaced. So that’s how I got my Virtus and the first Volkswagen of my life! 

I’ll talk about my aftersales experience as well by the end of this article. Before that, let me tell you why I liked the Volkswagen Virtus 1.0 TSI as a product and how the experience has been so far. 

My Initial Take On How It Looks

I prefer cars that look very subtle. So I was sold the moment I saw the Virtus. It had lines and cuts all across the body, but they were so well put together that it didn’t scream for attention like a Verna; it just felt naturally attractive. 

Moreover, the headlamp setup that I discussed earlier is another plus for Virtus. 

I loved the overall stance, too. It looks a bit slanted in the front, whereas the rear stays a bit high up. This helps you tackle the uneven roads of India while making it look very sporty even when it’s parked. 

In one sentence, “The Volkswagen Virtus is subtle, yet attractive.”

Even my mom and mother-in-law love the way it looks; what can be better than that?

One important aspect that I’d like to make a note of is how well-built this car is. Since this is my first Volkswagen, I can’t judge the Virtus the way old VW owners do. 

But coming from cars like the Hyundai Grand i10, the pre-facelift Tata Safari, and the Ford Ecosport, I think the Volkswagen Virtus is a very sorted car in its segment. 

The fit and finish level is at its best, and there are no uneven panel gaps either. 

The Interior

Now, once you get inside the Virtus, you’ll feel how well the design language transitions from the exterior to the interior. 

The interior feels new, upmarket, and tech-loaded, yet it’s designed to feel subtle. Basically, I found it to be a very perfect blend of simplicity and advancement. 

Let me break it down for you. 

If you’re the driver, you have both the touch-based controls and buttons, especially on steering wheels. 

For a passenger, it might be a bit complicated to use the volume controls from the touch-based console. 

Other than that, I love the infotainment screen. It’s of sufficient size, and for me, it’s just more than enough. So, I’m pretty much happy with the overall dashboard and interior design. 

However, keep in mind that the quality of the material is very cheap, and they do rattle a lot on bad roads. As a VW, you do expect better quality materials in the Virtus, but that’s not the case here. Compare it with any other old VW; you’ll realize how much the quality has gone down in the name of localization. 

In terms of practicality, let’s start with the AC. 

The air conditioning is on point; it will maintain the temperature you set, barely malfunctioning, and considering it’s got such a small engine, I love how quickly it cools down the whole cabin. I had some issues with it earlier, but we’ll come to that in the Aftersales section about how VW handles issues. 

Other than that, the seats are very comfortable. I won’t say they’re the best in the segment, but they’re better than decent. 

We are a family of five, and almost each of us has an average height of around 5’5”. None of my family had any problems with the interior and seating. We covered 600+ km of stretches together, and neither I nor any of my family members got tired!

My whole family is very happy with how well the car is in terms of spaciousness and comfort.

I’ll come into more detail about the comfort as we start talking about the dynamics of the car. There are some issues that I need to address. 

Amazing Engine & Gearbox Combo!

If you’re wondering why I didn’t go for the 1.5-TSI EVO engine, then I’ll just clear it out that the 1.0-TSI is more than enough for Indian roads. It’s so well-tuned that you barely feel any turbo lag or power loss in regular driving conditions. 

Up until 150-160 km/h, the Virtus 1.0-TSI stays excited enough to do quick overtakes here and there. On Indian highways, that’s more than enough. 

Moreover, in terms of quick acceleration, it touches 60 km/h in almost no time, no matter what gear you are in! 

It’s a very tractable motor, and the gearbox is perfectly suited to juice every penny out of the 3-cylinder engine. 

In terms of mileage, with a bit of aggressive driving, I’ve churned out approximately 18 kmpl on the highway. And in usual Delhi-Gurgaon traffic, I get around 10 to 12 kilometers to a liter, which is very justified considering how potent this engine is!

Suspension & Driving Dynamics

The current generation of entry-level Volkswagen models is targeted to suit Indian conditions, which include poor roads, frequent acceleration, and deceleration. 

And the Virtus does a very nice job of soaking up the bumps, potholes, and undulations on the road. It also keeps the car supremely stable when you’re traveling at a high speed. The car stays glued to the road all the time, and you will probably never have a moment of underconfidence with the Virtus. 

Although, I don’t encourage you to chase that!

However, there is one problem, and it is very irritating. The Virtus is equipped with a suspension that makes a sound whenever you go over some undulations. This sound is more like the knocking sound a car makes when the shocker is out of fluid. 

Oh, and not only that but combining it with cheap quality plastics creates one of the most irritating sounds you can ever experience inside a car. 

Not only me, but we also have a owners’ Whatsapp group where every single owner has this same complaint. Some people have also done sound insulation coating to get rid of this, but the results are not close to expectations. 

Unfortunately, there are no trustworthy aftermarket solutions for this either, so it is something that I have to tolerate every day. 

VW says that it happens because the car is powerful and heavy, which is why suspension makes such noises, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me. Now, let’s move on to the brakes. 

Brakes, They Need Some Attention 

Volkswagen India offers disc brakes in front and drum brakes at the back. It might sound like the brakes may not be that effective for such a heavy car, but that’s not the case. 

I love how the Virtus brakes, as well as both the traction control and the ABS, work very well with the whole setup. Just like the chassis and suspension, it inspires confidence, as it is not too spongy, but you get proper feedback on what is going underneath. 

However, just like the suspension setup, there is a very noticeable problem with the brake pads. These company brake pads wear out very quickly. Volkswagen recommends that you change your brake pads by the second service, i.e., around the 30,000 km mark, but my brake pads were completely worn out at around 18,000 kilometers.

Moreover, these brake pads will cost you way more than its competitors, as Volkswagen uses carbon brake pads instead of metallic ones. No doubt these are supremely good at their job, but if you have to spend such an amount of money that much too frequently, then it might be a dealbreaker for someone. 

Although, I feel like it’s worth it, considering the amount of confidence you get from the setup. It’s just that you need to check on them every now and then. That’s it. 

Aftersales Experience

Now to the most important part, aftersales. 

There are a few companies that are known for their poor aftersales service, including Volkswagen. 

Nevertheless, they’ve overcome it in the past few years, and I had no issues with them so far. 

Before the first inspection, I had some problems, including AC malfunctions, infotainment screen blackouts, etc. I even faced issues with the ORVM not folding electronically, and the one-touch-up feature of the driver-side window also used to give up sometimes. 

However, VW assured me that some cars face these issues and they will resolve all of them with the first inspection. That’s exactly what happened; after the software update, everything started working perfectly. 

And in the last two years and 35,000 kilometers, I haven’t faced a single problem from these. 

So, we can say that VW keeps its word. And that’s a huge plus when it comes to buying a new car these days. 

Would I Recommend The 1.0-liter TSI Virtus To Someone?

Definitely, but if that person is not looking for the most calm experience in this segment, or if he wants to be chauffeured around, then it’s best to get a City or a Verna. 

Moreover, I’d just add that Volkswagen is at its best phase right now, but there are still some flaws that need to be addressed. 

As far as I know, they have sold 50,000 Virtus models by last month or so, and that’s a huge achievement for the company. However, if they don’t address problems like excessive brake wear, irritating suspension sound, and cheap material quality of the cabin, then people will probably give up on them at some point.