When my family of two decided that it was time to stop getting drenched in the rain and getting fried in the scorching heat, we knew that it was time to get a roof over our head when we travelled around. The necessity of a four wheeler was evident and soon we decided on a budget of between 4-5 lakhs. Various models were considered, notably WagonR, Swift, Santro, Getz, Ford Fiesta and Chevy Optra.
We shifted focus from a small car to the one that could comfortably seat 5 people, was spacious with enough leg room everywhere, offered good mileage and had good boot space. Swift & Getz were ruled out because we didn’t want a hatchback at such a high cost. Ford Fiesta & Optra were out of picture since their ex-showroom prices itself began at Rs. 6 lakhs.
At the right time, Mahindra & Mahindra in partnership with Ranault(of France) collaborated to bring the Logan to India. First look of the car was impressive. For an on road price of Rs. 6.24 lakhs(in Bangalore) the car offered a 1.6lt. engine with 84Bhp, AC, Power Steering, all 4 power Windows, Engine Immobilizer, 550lts. of boot space, tubeless radials, adjustable headlights, day-night mirror and pre-wiring for music system. A test drive of the car impressed me with its quick acceleration and low torques which didn’t stop the car at higher gears and lower speeds. In the maddening bumper-to-bumper traffic that was a welcome feature. Power steering of the car is a bit hard but good enough for such a big car. The rear seat could very comfortably seat 3 big built adults which added another brownie point to our list. However, the boxy looking rear end of the car was a sore to the sight. After much deliberations of what the car offered and what it didn’t, we stamped our vote for the Logan for its sheer value for money that we got for a sedan like this.
Its been 18 months since we’ve owned the car and we have had good satisfaction index with the car. A city mileage of 11kms is good to have in a sedan like this. The AC is powerful and cools well even when set at a fan speed of one. The engine power doesn’t drop when you turn on the AC. The power steering makes the car easy to maneuver in the city traffic. The breaks are quite good too, but it could have been better. I always get the feeling that the breaks are a bit on the lighter side while the service guys always say that its on the correct side. On the highway, the car lets you get on a high even in speeds excess of 120kms. There is no wobble or the feeling of instability and I have got a mileage of 15-16kms on longer drives.
Overall, I feel that the car is an excellent value for money compared to Fiesta, Optra in the same class or Getz, Swift which are almost of the same cost. On the downside, the turn indicators & wiper levers are on opposite side when compared to other cars on Indian roads. Also the windshield wipers move from the driver side to the passenger side. Again a result of European design gone wrong to Indian conditions. When it’s raining, the water gets splashed back on the driver side and is very irritating. Till now there’s no sign that M&M is doing anything to fix it.
After 18 months of ownership, I can say that I am indeed happy with the car for whatever it offers. After 3 free services, I got a paid service done which cost me around Rs. 2K. So I am guessing that maintaining this wont be like having a tusker as a pet:)