Mine is a 2.5 year old verna xxi (petrol) , I am too satisfied with my car , while writing this long term review my beast had clocked 21k in odo , now lets see from day 1
At that time in 2008 , this was the most powerful & spacious sedan in 8 lakh budget, even after 2+ years in the market I can see still people prefer vernas
I took delivery from HMP Chennai, on day 1 I installed 3m sunflim , art leather biege seat cover brought some accesories like neck rest, pillow, door sill, cargo net , mats etc from showroom itself
First Service : did at 1000k , nothing much still its a new toy
Second Service :At 5000k , 6 mths , no problems , ive touched 180+ in highway, yes I agree suspension is too smooth (when lifted for water wash front tyres are touching the ground even after the car is lifted about 1.5feet), at turns its like a boat above even 80kmph, makes driver scary, need to get adjusted to it
Third Service :At 10000k , 1 year , slight rattling from rear left door , service centre guys fixed it (problem with door lock unit) & touch wood , zero scratch even I completely drive in metro , not a rash driver, but I drive fast depending upon traffic.
After 1 year insurance 16K , I got average of 380 km full tank (45 ltrs) completely in chennai traffic with a/c & 600+ km full tank in highway with speeds above 100 , ive covered from cbe to chennai in 6 hours , nonstop , 550 kms distance , no tired nor fatigue , just maintain ur throttle b/w 3000 to 4000 rpm in fifth , it does zips on the road,
My first scratch a biker tried to avoid pothole banged my front bumper my speed was less than 30kmph, nothing happpend to him, my front right side bumper spacer lock broken & paint peeled off , paid 2.5 k , got it fixed, then my car was left unused for 6 months a I need to travel out due to my job,
came back , just charged the battery , first crank , it got life , took it to service centre , did all the jobs to my satisfaction , even though not req , changed all oils, flushed petrol tank, interior cleaning, polishing , under body treatment, spark plug , front brake disc/ shoe , fan belts, exide battery, wipers, coolant , wheel balancing/ alignment got bill of 35k , fine , I got my car back in mint condition at 14k in odo, thanks to express hyundai , sholinganallur chennai
then at 19k kms I faced a strange noise , at any gear, any speed , if vehicle is travelling , engine rpm is at 1800, if throttle is pressed suddenly , a vibration is sent throughout the body at 1900 rpm ,
i re-submitted again to Express guys , 1 week , they called me daily to update the status, even GM spoke to me directly requesting for some more time , they are really professional, escalated to hyundai hotline , worked day & night , took the demo petrol car, swapped ecu, air intake , drive shaft , idle pulley bearing & finally , after replacement of clutch plate(1/4 springs in clutch plate is worn out) the issue is fixed got a bill of 3.5 k (1k for engine oil, 1k for clutch replacement , 1.5k clutch plate)
This was the only problem I faced during my entire tenure , service center advisor & gm was not happy to deliver me the car , at it was very dirty in & out , they requested me to provide the car for 1 more day & they will re do all cleaning & polishing jobs for free , also during test drive in night he found scratch marks in windshield , he suggested for glass polishing(rs 1500), I too aggreed as it was in the right side of windshield & driving at night is disturbing , next day evening got car back , charged Rs 800 for all the cleaning & polishing jobs , ok got my car as new again & still performing the same as it did on day one
Some tips :
1.Dont try to do wheel balancing / alignment outside showroom , there is only 100Rs diff in price , but I swear verna suspension is very tricky , even though only toe (+/-3) adjustment needs to be done outsiders cannot do it to 100% perfection, maintain tyre pressure of 32psi avg
2.Down shifts from 3 to 2 & 2 to 1 needs some trick , 3 to 2 at speed 30 & rpm 1000-1300, 2 to 1 at <10kmph & rpm 1000, try this its really smooth & u dont feel any trouble
3.ORVM are huge use is at the max while parking, reversing & left turns , u never miss or hit anything
4.Hyundai service if far better than maruti/ tata/ skoda, always do service at authorised centers
5.Braking is not up to the mark in verna , quite slippery , avoid sudden braking in traffic, it wont help
6.Even though the car has a good ground clearance , chances of front bumper getting scrapped are more
Yes driving a petrol head is more expensive than diesel , but on the other way if driving is max of 1000km/month , diesel is of no use , it takes atleaset 7 to 8 years to get back the difference in money spent on a diesel car
The car is fun to drive within the city & on highways , its very smooth on bad / worst roads , high speed driving in straight line is good , but on turns it floats like a boat , need to get used to the car ,
finally im enjoying every ride in my car , have plans to keep it for another 5+ years , even I go for another sedan
Drive safe , wear seat belts , happy motoring