Finally, I bought Hyundai Santro XG. After lot of deliberations and
spending countless hours on research, I settled for this sunshine car.
I had explored all cars within a budget of Rs 4 lacs.
Maruti 800 - Had this car initially in mind. Would have been a
supersaver in my budget and has good fuel economy too. Ideal for city
drive, and being out of Maruti stable, the maintenance cost would be
least. But struck it of the list as its a small car, has enough space
for 4 persons but crampy. So if you intend to take people with height
above 5.5 feet, think again.
Next came Alto in the list. An absolute beauty, it is. Stunning looks,
good fuel efficiency and small enough to fit in tight parking spots.
But then compared to M800, it is highly priced. It has the same engine
as 800, but a little more roomier. Has some extra features such as
remote fuel lid opening, remote hatch opening and power steering. But
the price difference between M800 and Alto is nearly Rs 75000. The
additional features do not match the cost. Moreover one would prefer to
go for a Santro or Wagon R by paying additional Rs 30K to 35K above
Alto and get a lot more powerful engine, much more space, and a host of
extra features. Also, Alto has only 50% 1st year Insurance off whereas
all other cars have full 1st year insurance off. And had heard a lot
about the failing pick up once the AC is turned on.
Wagon R is a good car. Would have gone for it but for its boxy looks.
Moreover, lot of hype had been created about the head on between the
two in Autocar Magazine. Autocar clearly put Santro in front.
Moreover Maruti is a big manufacturer and its dealers have certain
amount of high headedness. One, None of the dealers contacted me back
after I left my phone number and choice of car with them. But the
Hyundai dealer landed up right at my house, convinced me about Santro,
completed the formalities and then left. I visited their showroom only
for choosing the color. Rest, all the paperwork was done either at my
house or at my office. They came to meet me wherever I was and whenever
I could squeeze time. Never did they show any signs of frustration.
Secondly, they also took care of my loan paperwork and got a good rate
of interest too. One thing I want to highlight is that the interest
rate on Maruti cars is generally a little higher than other
manufacturers.
Getz is a beauty too. Excellent looks, well done interiors, spacious
and thoughtfully provided holes. . But then, it has been priced too
high. The GLS version costs Rs 5.25 lacs. Would have been a pinch on my
budget. And with a low fuel efficincy, in these times of spiralling
prices, the monthly running expendiure would have gone through the
roof.
Did not consider Palio becos of low fuel efficiency, also, the general
impression is that Fiat service is not so good.
Then came Santro. It had everthing I wanted. Good looks, well done
interiors, spacious, powerful engine, good fuel efficiency, smooth ride
and well, Shah Rukh Khan’s charm in the commercial finally pursuaded me
to get it in my parking lot.
Had my share of troubles though. Took the delivery of the babe on 20th
October. drove straight to a temple and then home. By the time I drove
it home, found that the AC was not working, the front indicators had
mist formation (It was raining heavily that day) and the bonnet became
quite hot after just 8Km of drive. Gave a call to the dealer
immediately and put him thro the issues. The guy was trying to convince
me that everything is fine and that I might not have pressed the right
buttons. Lot of talk and he still wud not accept the defect in the car.
Told him straight, I’ll be bringing the car to the showroom, and if the
issues are not resolved, I’ll not pick it up. The next day morning 6.30
AM he landed up at my place with a mechanic, confirmed the presence of
the issues and took the car away.
The guys replaced the complete headlight kit and recycled the
AC gas (Looks like the Hyundai guys forgot to fill in the gas). But the guys maintained that the bonnet does heat up as the body is metallic,
unlike in Maruti which has a fibre body and the heating is
relatively less. The guy convinced me that it is
normal heating (The pick up car also was heated up though it
was a much older Santro) and said that I should guage the engine
heating by the meter and not by touching the bonnet. The heat meter
should not cross 50% level. I have noticed that in all my drives, the
heat meter is stable at 50% level. So will wait and watch. The mileage
is quite low. It gives me around 8-9. Could be because its a new car,
and expect its fuel efficiency to increase after 200-250 Kms. Also,
since I migrated from Maruti Omni to Santro, the pickup in Santro is
excellent and babe reaches 40 Kmph in 3rd gear efortlessly. So I hardly
shift to 4th as I generally commute during peak traffic hours.
The dealer service has been excellent. Though I was upset because of
the defects, I cannot blame the dealer for them, they were all
manufacturing defects. Initially he did try to convince me that maybe I
had knocked off some wrong switch, but then, he took my vehicle and
brought it back in as-it-should-be condition. The dealer gave a lot of
accessories as it is festive season. Got the accessories kit containing
floor mats, dicky mats, mud flaps, duster, steering cover, sunfilm,
Ganesh idol and perfume. Also had some extra things like remote central
locking with security alarm, reverse horn and complete car body cover,
all complimentary.
Will write the next review once I have a good look at the baby.