After using my santro(Still retaining) for close to 5 years and clocking 70000kms, I looked for my second car.
My Primary requirements were
1.Comfort and easy power steering drive in city limits
2.Descent mileage
3.Good Driver Ergonomics and a Driver’s car
4.Good After sales service and good resale value
This time my search was exhaustive viz., Palio1.6, Getz1.1/1.3, Swift(P), WagonR(P), UV-A, spark, i10
Palio1.6 being a pure driver’s car did not get good mileage(arnd 9) and After sales service/Resale were the factors not to consider, else it is an excellent buy in 4.6Lakh(After discounts-Chennai)
Getz 1.1 was very good but A/c effect was poor on 35-36 deg temp, Getz1.3 had excellent pickup but mileage is a concern(Also having a santro already, I had opinion to try some other brand aswell)
i10 was very nice to see and spacious but drivability was poor than my old santro(2000 model)
Wagon-R was very good city car but lagging the handling above 80+kms speed
UV-A(Lack of power and pickup) and spark(less leg room for driver) were nice to drive but did not want to turn-up to GM with the price fluctuation and remote station service issues
The left out car to my knowledge was swift and I have taken the TD of Both petrol and diesel.The Diesel is the winner for highways and Petrol found opt for my city driving(Around 30 kms/day).The handling was very good in both petrol and diesel but I have chosen petrol.
Knowing the horror stories of Rattlings/Clutch slippages/Quality issues from swift, I still wanted to try this hatch and I now feel my decision is right.
Before my swift delivery, I have also taken TD of dzire(only diesel was available for TD) and observed the rear seat is more comfortable in swift than dzire(Due to seat curved at edges and slightly inclined at back).Also the protruding center arm rest(in vxi) was uncomfortable.My petrol was not available for test drive.My doubt was whether the pick-up of swift petrol and dezire petrol will be same(atleast 25 kgs added to the boot) and rear visibility is poor than swift(due to inclined speaker mounted parcel tray)
Finally, I have chosen the Swift Vxi(Azure grey) 2008 with an hand-over reading of 35kms at the delivery date.
Since most of our members have discussed a lot about this hatch, I am not going to cover any of the looks/engine/transmissions please.But I want to compare with my upgrade from santro(Though in difft segment)
1.Driver and co-passenger space is huge and offers good support(I found my leg Elbow space(6’ height) hitting the front A/c switch of my santro and while 5th gear is engaged, it will slightly touch the legs rested in the dead pedal), In my new swift I feel relaxed driving always(So far clocked 200kms)
2.Rear is cramped considering UV-A/Getz/Palio but better than santro(Most of times I will only use the car, so manaegable) also in TD, I checked sitting in the rear(total 3) and found descent.
3.Ride and Handling is better than my santro(Obviously being 1.3L) and expecting mileage to be in-line with santro(12-13km/l)will update you folks after 1000kms
4.Observed a less boot space in swift / plastics feel low quality in swift /Good cooling effect(in both cars) /swift Stock bulbs are not much powerful but feel enough for city driving
5.The gear shift of swift is good(As against many reporting 1st/reverse gear engagement) may be an improvement?!
6.The lack of dead pedal against hyundai is not much felt and did not find any issue so-far(Have to check in long drives)
Booked the hatch and got in 3 weeks of time and the Delivery process was smooth and the car is now 6 days old baby, still in the run-in period.So-far no issues and maintaining the rpm range within 2000.
Above views are my personal opinion only and not intended to hurt any members owning other cars.