I own a Xing XS, 2005 model. I live in Bangalore and use this car primarily for city commute. I have to say that I also have a Ford Ikon zxi in the family and hence end up comparing these two cars quite often.
So first things first - Do I think I made the right decision 2 yrs back...Let’s see.
I had the following things on mind while before deciding to buy the Santro.
1) City use primarily, with weekend getaways once in a while.
2) Reasonable resale value, when I want.
3) Discounts offered
4) Service network
So far, I will say, I’ve had no issues with any of the above criteria.
I drive the car daily to work and for small errands on weekends. I find the car very easy to handle in Bangalore City traffic. The fuel average is decent, @12kms in city and @18 on highways (both with AC on).
It’s usually just me and my wife and the car is perfect for that. Now, if we do take a couple of friends with us, that’s when things start getting a little irritating. The leg space is nothing for the rear passengers, if you want the people at the front sit comfortably. So the question is, do you want to keep you front or rear passengers happy..?
The car is the high end version, so all around power windows. But here’s the thing, most of the time, your rear passengers will keep wondering where’s the power window switch..well, surprise.. surprise..It’s near your feet ! The engineers thought you anyway cannot move if you are sitting behind..so use your feet.
There are couple of other things I could keep on and on about the design and build quality..but then, should I? Santro is not meant to be a high end car..and so dont expect things inside it to be high end either. Of course, if it’s your first car, chances are that you will never complain.
One thing I will be very vocal about is the service. I have completed, all the free services and couple of paid services too in the last 28000 kms. Everytime, I had the luxury of the car being picked up and delivered to where I want, so I could go to office and someone will pick it up from there for service. By evening the car is back for me to drive home. Also a couple of instances where I was not satisfied, they re-did the whole thing for me on both occasions. Well, I cant expect anything more than this...I’m happy with the service.
I will also want to say this. While picking up the car, I went through a nightmare. I bought the car from Advaith Hyundai in Bangalore, and have also previously written a review about them on this website. I was promised delivery in "2" " days, and finally ended up waiting for almost a month. Later I realised, it was a false promise to get me pay up as quickly as possible. There was no hope until I spoke to the Regional Manager, Hyundai. I expected, somebody atleast will apologise on the delivery day..but I was wrong. I just picked up the keys and walked out without anyone even bothering about how I felt.
So, net -net..it’s a good car for first time buyers, and suits the requirements for most other people who go for it.
Buying from showroom can be an irritating experience, depending on where you go. But service is good and that’s more important.
If you are going in for this car, I would strongly recommend you to look at the AT - automatic transmission version. If there is anything I could go back and change in my purchase, it’ll be the first. It can be a big boon as a car like this is bound to be used more in the city traffic conditions.