I got a new 1.6 retro (old Palio) in May 06. this is my first car. It has been two years so I think I should write something about it :)I will start from the selection process..I had no bias against or in favor of any dealer or manufactures so I considered all cars with open mind. Previously I had driver in USA only (only rented cars) for about 1 year.
My budget was < 7 lakhs M800, Alto were not considered. Santro looks like good car for small family. But not exciting enough despite hefty discount then (50k.!)
Zen is good car for even smaller family and not exciting enough. Dealer told that his margin was low and thus offered only 12k discount. I found the car too costly as well.
Swift. somehow I prefer the top end always (tho I didn’t get impressed by auto AC thing). 5.84 lakhs was over the top for me. I found rear cramped (can you ask your parents to sit there?). Boot was cramped as well.
Front seats were good. But as I told, the price was over the top.
Getz. didn’t like styling much. Seating position not inspiring enough. Price was costly (not over the top). I found power too less, torque too less.
Fusion. Gr8 visibility. Repulsive seat fabric. Somehow seats were strange. I took auto back home. No more questions. What the hell they listed it at 7.5 lakhs? Dumbos. Rest of Fords too looked way over over over the top in pricing.
Xeta. Cool car, but I was looking for more excitement.
Bolero: I liked the looks, but it had old engine. Scorpio. overpriced. I din’t like the looks.
Accent/other Hyundai - sober styling, expensive
Baleno - expensive, sober
Esteen - expensive, dated
Toyato - too costly and Honda cars Costly. VTEC fitted in my requirement, but 9.75 lkahs? No way no matter what is mileage.
Palio 1.2. gr8 car but with fraction more payment I cud increase power by nearly 50%. No way for guessing that I chose 1.6 :)
You select this car the moment you fall into its aura :)
Gr8 looks. Gr8 seating position. Close the door and all showroom noises are silent. Open it and they are back. The thud sound. The precise way the door opens (three stages). The long bonnet (crumple zone?). Xeta next to it had nearly half the bonnet length.!
The bonnet is possibly longer than Honda cars. What more can you ask for safety. Someone can hit from sides? The doors seemed strong enough.
Colors? I was disappointed here with only two option - Canary Yellow (too bright for day to day looks) and Formular Red. Tho both were awesome, but still I wanted a rare color.
Finally I made a choice for Formula Red.
Interiors - the fabric in 1.6is just too gr8. I have not used any cover and it still looks like new even after two years. I tried to get a better cover, but I cudn’t get a better design than the stock one.!
The car is well balanced right from the looks except that you have to add mud flap - way cheap and looks improves by miles.
Yes, I must tell you that all friends were against this car :)
Now coming to running experience.
First the friends :D
"gr8 sound",
"spacious",
"thunk and silence" (the ones with Santro; for the door experience)
"picks up gr8" (the ones with Zen)
"courageous; good car" (for me for defying them and getting good car)
Initial mileage was 8kmpl. I suppose some of it because I had to learn geared driving again :)
After 2000km, it went to 9.5.
All with 100% AC. I always use AC because I always keep the window closed. Bangalore is too dustry, too noisy.
Highways. I got 14 with 5 ppl, all AC. I was new and thus I kept speed < 125kmph.
Later I got 12.5 (tyres changed to 195/60) for trip to Goa when we were too excited to check its top end whack. That is 180kmph.
Other excitements:
still looks gr8 :)
paint job is still awesome (despite parking in weather throughout)
no rust (always outside)
interiors still gr8 (no dust, no fabric tear etc)
gr8 silence zone - to complement it I got gr8 music system with all the money saved in buying. Alpine 9833 with Infinity. Too powerful, too crisp. I suppose I cud get it because I saved lot of money in buyin a car.
headlights are gr8. unlike other cars (santro etc), Palio hi-beams doesn’t mean that lo-beam is switched off. With both lights working you have gr8 visibility. Driving height is gr8 since most other stupid drivers use hi beam. Fog lamps were standard and is very useful in Bangalore roads with high and rough dividers
(I use hi beam only to counter hi-beamers)
Running and Performance:
first and 2nd gear is too exciting
3rd can rip thru anything
you can drive in 5th gear in 900rpm.!
reverse gear lock is useful
steering is gr8 and pricise
brakes require bit useto but then it is heavy car. you have to keep gadi in gears always.
handles good on gravel roads
suspension is too good above 80kmph
After sale service and maintenance:
Others:
- tyre change to 195/60 profile. I think it was waste of money. I suppose mileage has reduced. But looks and feels gr8. Low speed steering has hardened a bit but that adds ’road feedback’ thing
So, it is around 10kmpl with AC, 13kmpl on highways (you can get 2-3kmpl more if highway traffic is disciplined). A fun car at throwaway price (use saving for decent music system - a must after a good AC). You decide what you want.
No other cost. Just the regular oil change. There was one issue with on and off sluggish performance. That was because the ECU wiring was not clean. No erro code was shown and thus bit hard to diagnose. Gone when it was ECu connection was cleaned and connected back.
I think you should buy it when you know what you want. I have seen Honda Civic guys trying to save petrol in deep hosur road traffic jams (by opening the window - AC must be switched off). Now, what sort of logic is that?
Its gr8 car anyday. There are other gr8 cars, but nobody beats this car for VFM.