I do not know how to compare my Santro Xing with others, in driving,
because this is the first car which I have driven. In looks and other
features, it beats other cars of this type of sedan for
a small city-living family.
I brought this car from DSC Hyundai, Chennai in January 2004 for Rs.420, 000. Their service
and initial user training was excellent. I drove this car till now for six months
only, as I have to come to Sydney in Aug 2004, locking the car in a garage in India.
People say that, one is supposed to learn driving in a used old car, but no,
I learned driving in my new Santro Xing, and there was no problem for the car at all.
Which means that novices can also start driving in Santro Xing. Hope Hyundai
advertise this as a point. Of course I did have an accident where I lost
a left fender, but I got it replaced for Rs.4000 by DSC Hyundai. The blame
should go to the maddenning peak hour traffic of Kathipara Junction of Chennai.
This car is best suited for the Indian middle-class. Especially to those
who buy apartments and vehicles on loan-basis. It is also suited for the novice,
ordinary, scared driver and best suited for ladies. What I liked best was,
one need not bend ones knees too much to get in. The height of the
sedan is really a plus point. The clutch, brake-pedal,
gears are so user-friendly, not to mention the power-steering. Easy to start
and speed off even in the steepest Kodambakkam bridge of Chennai. (Chennaites
will know about the driving challenges like Kodambakkam bridge in peak-hour). Initially I
used to get a mileage of only 9.9 km per liter of petrol because of my poor two-gear-only
driving. After I started driving properly I used to get 15km even
with the A/c on. With an experienced driver (not me) I took it from Chennai
to Palakkad (about 563km) using up just 31 liters of petrol, the a/c on for most
of the 10 hour drive, with a load of 3+1 and luggage.