Hi,
I have been a frequent visitor of this site and frankly the reviews posted on this site did convince me to go for a Santro Xing XG. I bought this car in September 2005 and I cannot find many reasons to repend on my decision.
To start with the purchase, the dealer (Deep Hyundai in Delhi) have been a bunch of real good guys. They made sure that the finance formalities were completed without any running around. The delivery of the car was more or less hassle free.
I have run the car around 3500 Kms and it has been a smooth ride. Talking about the looks, I feel Hyundai has done a decent job to get the car in its current form. It is much improved from its initial froggy design. The interiors are pretty good. The storage tray under the driver seat is a value add. It helps me store my CDs and medical kit comfortably. The dash board is as expected in a car of this segment. Some small storage spaces for mobile phones etc and an arm rest for the driver are good features.
I must say it does fit in 5 people pretty comfortably.
As for one of the most important part which is milage. Before the first service I was getting an average of 9 kms/lt in the city but after the first service it has gone upto 14 Kms/Lt. I had recently taken the car to Himachal and the car performed well. It was easy to handle on the hilly tracks and I had no problems controlling the car. After getting a milage of 14 in the city, the car did not surprise me by running 18 kms/lt on the highway.
The only improvement I would like Hyundai to make in the Santro is the power steering. Though it is very handy in the city streets, it becomes a little too soft on the highway. One feature that Hyundai could copy from Wagon R is that the steering should become manual at speeds exceeding 100 Kms/hr.
I am not someone who would explain things from a technical perpective. Everything mentioned about the car is completely based on my experience with the car. Its a pleasent experience.