I got my Santro from DSC Hyundai in Saidapet, Chennai. The guy who sold me the car is a liar. I know sales people do lie sometimes, but this chap was so pathetic that he would not deliver the car even after repeated reminders and follow-ups. He gave my the car 6 six days later. His boss was a good man but he had done the damage already.
Anyway the car is okay. I was impressed by Santro Zip model which my friend had. Its cabin noise level was as good as(or nearly as good) my Opel Astra. The suspensions were good and gave a mileage of 10km/ltr in Chennai traffic.
The new santro me and my friend have got(6 months old now) is comfortable to drive in city. But the noise level inside cabin is high, suspensions are good but I(and my friend) feel the ride was better in the old model.
Mileage is only 10 km/ltr in Chennai traffic(usually peak time).
The worst part is the AC. The engine has a’feature’ or a’bug’. When you start moving in 1st gear, the AC is cut-off for few seconds to provide you a better pickup. Good idea, but if you are in crawling traffic on a hot day in Chennai’s Anna Salai road, the AC is simply not working.
We have found this problem in couple of my friends car as well. And this definitly was not there in the old model.
The AC is my biggest dissappointment.
Another risky feature of the car is that when the AC turns on/off, it affects the break pedal. The pedal turns hard or weak during this time, which translates to slow breaking or slamming your breaks.
We had difficulty adjusting to this new feature, but we have got used to it now.
The good part is that, you can drive the car within 15-45 KMPH in 3rd gear and that helps in lesser gear shifts.
Overall, its good car to drive in city traffic, but it does not provide a good deal of comfort and has its own set of problems.