When I thought about buying a new car, Verna was not there in my list since it was just launched and I was not much impressed about the looks. Since I was not an automobile expert I took almost three months to take a decision. I just want to share my experiences because I used to read other reviews here, before making the pruchase.
I test drove all the cars from Maruti, Hyundai, Ford, Honda, Fiat and Chevy in 4-7lakh segment. I shortlisted few of them and test drove those cars many times eventhough dealers were not that happy about it, especially the ford guys. Who cares.i am only concerned about value for my money. I took feedback from many of my freinds, net reviews.etc. In short it was a long process.
I can give short description about the shortlisted ones and why I chose Verna.
Ford Fiesta has good looks. The test vehicle from one dealer was really impressive, but from the other dealer was making lot of noise. Interiors were just okay, but not at all feature rich in 1.4EXi. I still feel Ford is costing more when we do feature comparison with other guys. With four of my heavy freinds, Fiesta was not at all impressive. Then I tried Ford Fusion. I thought I can get a cheap SUV;-) but except the ground clearance Fusion doesnt have much to boast about. Looks are just okay and my couple of freinds are getting pathetic mileage in Bangalore.
Apart from all these, most important factor that I didnt like ford is the dealers and their service. I requested for a test drive and get it after 3 days.! I wanted a corporate qoute and I got it after 3 weeks.!.amazing service. And they are not at all happy if we request for test dtrive again. if pre-sales is like this what about post-sale?, I didnt want to take a chance.
Maruti is the best in sales and service. I tested mainly Esteeem and Baleno. Baleno is very good in performance. But for a tall guy like me head clearance was very less. Still I may have gone for it, but Maruti discontinued it in December.
I was not impressed with Chevy Aveo. Looks are good; spacious interiors too. But performance is below expectation. Slow pickup, rough gear shifts. Gear shifts reminded me about Tata 407.!And lot of noise peeps in from outside. Adn I guess horn is more audible inside than outside:-) Drive comfort is just average. Just for looks I dont want to invest my money.
Atleast I feel Honda city is a over rated product. I test drove their GLX couple of times and was not impressed with the overall performance. It has spacious interiors and they claim best mileage. But for the money you pay( almost 8.5lakhs on road on Banglore) I really dont know if its worth. Its not that good for long ride I guess; try to overtake in 3rd gear- it cries.
Now the verna. I am happy with the front looks; but surely they can improve on the back. Its just okay. I went for 1.6Xi petrol. interiors are really good almost fully packed. Lots of storage spaces. Interior Spacious even for 6feet2inch tall guy like me. I found 60:40 split for back seat useful. Now the thing that amazed me is power and performance. 1600cc 101bhp engine is a heavy duty one and so silent that I mistook many times that engine is off.
Driving comfort is best. Gear shifts are smooth. it just zoooms and you can catch anything on highways. 4th gear itself has good power. Torque is good and less gear shifts in city. I got good performance even in high ranges of Kerala. Getting almost 15KM per litre. Advaith Hyundai service is good in Bangalore.
Ford/Honda/Chevy charges much more for the same feature car.
But Hyundai surely needs to improve on the safety features. They need to add Airbags and ABS.
Its 2000KM done as of now and altogether I am very happy withy the performance. It surely gives value for money. And Hyundai has now service centre even in my village.!
Will update as I cover more distance.
Drive safe.Live long.