This is my first car. I have referred to https://mouthshut.com for reviews, https://carwale.com for car comparison and https://team-bhp.com for reviews and FAQs. I will be driving around 50KM per day and 1-2 long trip in a month. Approximate estimated usage per month is 1500 KM Hence did not consider any petrol vehicle. Following were my choices and comments on each of them:
considerations/requirements:
need max comfort, Value for money
budget of Rs.5L-Rs.9L on road
seating in car: 2 persons for daily use, 5-6 in weekend trips
All "for", "against" opinions mentioned below is w.r.t to my particular considerations/requirements listed above.
wagonR-duo
for: easy to get-in and out due to increased height,
LPG option, maruti service, Rs.3.96L on road
against: old-engine, for my usage the fuel cost between LPG and Diesel
not too large. felt not comfortable for long trips
swift Ldi/swift dzire Ldi
for: high mileage - 17KMPL city and 21KMPL highway
low-cost diesel car, maruti service
Rs.5.5L and Rs.6.4L for swift and s.dzire respectively
against: felt leg space for rear seating is less,
3 persons seated in rear may not be very comfortable during long trips
xylo E4/E6/E8-ABS
(Did not consider E2 since there is no 7 seater option)
for: spacious and comfortable, upto 7 persons can be seated very comfortably,
good for long trips, roof AC in 2nd row and 3rd row,
power windows, entry key with remote.
E6/E8 only: electronic goodies, audio player with 4 spk+2 twitters and few
handy things like individual lamps, individual ac vents, seat bed option
against: mileage as compared to my other choices listed above is less
10-11 in city, 13-14 in highway
city driving may be challenging till one gets used to this big vehicle
*I decided to settle for one of the Xylo variants for its space and seating comfort
and traded off on the mileage**. Though Xylo looks aren’t great on pics, did not feel
it ugly when had a close look in person. Out of 3 xylo variants **I opted for E8-ABS
*This is Rs.1.2L costlier than E4 but has following major additions:
indicates distance that can be travelled in remaining fuel
alarm if set max speed is excceeded - 80KMPH, 100KMPH, 120KMPH
gear indicator, temperature indicator
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Dealer: Sireesh Automobiles, Hebbal, Bangalore.
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With this dealership, java brown colour is not a fast moving colour for E8-ABS variant, hence the delivery time frame promised during booking was slipped by 3 weeks. Otherwise, in terms of offering multiple test-drives, courtesy and politeness in communication was good.
my deal for XYLO E8-ABS:
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Cost of the Vehicle Rs. 8, 09, 256.00
Road Tax Rs. 1, 15, 724.00
Insurance Rs. 32, 067.00
Incidental Charges Rs. 6, 000.00
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Rs. 9, 63, 047.00
paid accessories I opted for:
front bull guard Rs. 10, 000.00
body cover Rs. 1, 000.00
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Rs. 9, 74, 047.00
Discounts:
- corporate discount Rs. 7, 000.00
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TOTAL on road cost Rs. 9, 67, 047.00
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free accessories provided:
1.Extended Warranty worth Rs.11K promised(will be done in a month or so)
2.floor mats, mud flaps
3.sunfilm for windows
1000KM Update - 15th Oct 2009
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The driving experience has been very good, both in city bumper-to-bumper traffic and on 4-lanes. The initial pickup(traffic stops in city) is very good. Sometimes at potholes feel that suspension is a bit sensitive and similar feeling if humps are passed at around 25KMPH speeds or higher. Had been to 160KM trip on bangalore-mysore highway. However haven’t crossed 80KMPH. Did sudden brakes a couple of times at 60KMPH speeds and the vehicle is in full control.
The average mileage from delivery till 1000KM is 11KMPL with AC being on for about 30% of the distance covered. Yet to check the mileage by full tank method. The tyre pressure recommended by show-room personnel is 32PSI for smooth ride, however the manual says 35PSI. Till now I have been running on 32PSI and plan to maintain 35PSI going forward. Any feed back on this from fellow owners will be helpful for me. No issues from the vehicle till now, either major or minor.
The DDAS also indicates, inside temperature, outside temperature, humidity and direction of travel. Hence I guess one can manage without GPS navigation devices for long trips, though having it is handy. Search for maps on https://maps.google.com and take a print out, then it can be referred while the direction of travel is shown on DDAS.
Apart, as others have reported, even I am not able to play songs from USB stick. Will check it sometime. The mileage, distance numbers on DDAS seems not accurate. Others have indicated it is fairly accurate over long distance driving and not in city conditions.
Correction:
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The line in my main review ."audio Player(USB stick only)". should read "audio Player(supports CD, SD memory card, USB stick)"
"DDAS - indicates distance already travelled(with, without AC)" should read
"DDAS - indicates mileage(not accurate in city conditions), distance already travelled and distance that can be travelled in remaining fuel based on indicated mileage" The distance travelled with and without AC is indicated in odometer itself.