Model: New Wagon-R, Lxi, BS-IV, Bought on : June 2010
I got this car on 2nd week of June and I have driven around 600km yet in some 15days. This is my first car and earlier I was driving a pulsar.
Reasons for buying
Tired of traveling on bike in Hot whether, Rains, night times. Though I am a biker for life (i have traveled 400km in one pass) I wanted a car to drive safer at nights and able to have entire family along with me traveling.
Car options:
#) Ford Figo: Looks and space better then wagon-R, but not headroom. Mileage, handling. Interiors turned me off. I had almost decided to buy a figo.
#) Beat: Don’t like the looks (don’t hate mail me here!!). I don’t want to be seen driving a beat. Maintaining Beat might be costly over the years.
#) Swift: A too good car out of my budget. I can afford it but I have a chunky home loan so SAVE is my motto now.
#) Alto: I wanted breathing space...so nope.
#) i-10: Way too costly for a Kappa engine.
My Experience
Got this car from Mandavi, Lavelle Road, Bangalore. They delayed it by a week but thats fine!! I got a SBI loan. All well till now. I will recommend Mandavi.
Car Features: Since I have Lxi, it has a remote open for boot & fuel. Collapsible back and front passenger seats, cup holders for front seat driver and passenger. Seat is rather low and I can’t keep my arm across the window while holding the steering (one very bad point), the window is slightly higher. The space inside is just TOO GOOD. Its excellent for 4 people and you can squeeze in the 5th one. The headroom is again amazing, I just love it. So much of breathing space when u are stuck in traffic. The clutch is very deep, have to hold it till the end to change gear (i have to get it relaxed after 1st service). After some 140km drive I had a bad pain in my leg holding the clutch. Shock’s are good, u don’t feel nasty potholes and speed breakers. Gear changes very smoothly (people have complained about it in old wagon-r). This is my first car and for learning I had driven 800, so this feels much much better. I picked up city and highway driving in 4days. I am keeping max at 85kmph as it takes some time for car to break at high speed (for smooth breaking). Low gears are good, 2nd gear is quite nice. Boot space is less, that has gone into passenger side. This is ok since how any times would I keep big bags at back in a month (may be once or twice). Car is responsive and AC is quite good. I have Lxi and this does not have back side AC vents thus takes some time to cool down at back. Front power windows are good. Manual windows at back, usually I don’t have anyone sitting at back side so its ok. Noise cancellation inside car is not that fine, u can hear some outside noise (bad when car/truck is there behind with loud horns). I didn’t go for music player in Vxi as I wanted to save on cash. Will get it installed next month. Mileage is good hoping will be better after 1st servicing. A-Star and Estilo come for around same price and I feel that A-Star buyers really got cheated on space. Default seat cushions are not good and I have to buy better seat cushions. My requirements from a car are very average: low cost, able to take family along, safety of travel at night, ease to drive and good space. It has all that. Color choice in Wagon-r are not many so I went for safe silver and might also get good resale after 6-7 years due to new engine.
Verdict: Overall a good package. If you are planning to go for a Spark, Alto, Figo, Estilo or A-star then buy Wagon-R. It gives you lots and lots of space for 4 people and ease of driving. I will recommend it. If you can invest 1Lk more then then go for a Swift.