I was for around 2 months (October & November 2005) I have been contemplating to buy my first car. We (my wifeI and I ) decided to look at the options and our budget was around 4.0 - 4.5 lacs at max. We said to ourselves that we’ll do a thorough research before putting our money and paying EMI’s in the foreseeable future.
The following lines aren’t meant to demean any other cars in comparison and are purely based on my personal liking and assessment.
We started looking at the Maruti Alto. It was within budget to begin with, small n compact for a city like Bangalore. After getting to know more about this car, it was immediately went out of consideration for the following:
Very small car: My friend owns one and I tried my hand at the wheel, It was like crawling into a small vehicle.
Low on power: It is a Maruti 800 refurbished, and therefore I practically cannot do my Bangalore - Goa trips often in this one in comfort.
Power steering: Only in the LXi which comes at a whopping 3.5 lacs on road ( I hear today that Maruti is increasing the prices by another 3k), Give me a break!!
All in all, there was many pros, but not my cup of tea. We moved to Wagon R.
Again, my friend owns one for the last two years and he is happy with it. I fell in love with his car instantly. The car had everything, Power steering, good bhp, nice boxy feel (some people I hear saying Ughh!!) but I feel is good for a city like Bangalore. And finally yes, it was within my budget at 4.5 lacs for the VXi. The dealer said he is willing to give first year insurance free, which meant the car was going at around 4.35 on road.
A few draw backs, I can list:
However, we felt the one is definitely on the short list.
Cut to the Swift and the Getz.
I collected all the info on these from their respective dealers and finished the test drives as well.
Swift:
I could only afford the LXi the base model sans the stereo, power windows and any other offer you might think. When I enquired with the dealer if there are any offer with the Swift the lady curtly responded ’’What Saar ! people are waiting for the swift for 90 days and you are asking for offers’’ (with that ’’you Moron’’ kind of looks).
The car was definitely good and I felt nice after the test ride. It felt light, good response at the wheel and quite spacious. The only thing (just for aesthetics) we did not like was the posterior, that was kinda huge according to us. Anyways this was also on our shortlist.
We moved onto the Getz and were disappointed. For starters:
The price tag: nearing 4.85 lacs on road, No offers whatsoever and we’re talking about the base version here. The demo car was awful. Tight gear shift, and my friends felt the nteriors were a touch low quality.
So much for the Getz. I felt it was a little hyped. So this one was definitely not going to make it.
The one fine day, my wife suggested, that there was one car she saw by the name of SAIL. I knew this one as my ex-boss owned one. But I remember it had a price tag of upwards of 5 lacs on it.
Nevertheless we decided to try it.
I approached Garuda Autocraft first. Those guys are selling some stuff. The sales persons were quite aggressive and the ride started. I was given a demo on the cashmere color 1.6 Sail and I was impressed. What really made me short list was the budget. The 1.4 Sail I was told was on offer for 4.35 on road. We decided to definitely consider this one for shortlist.
There were umpteen visits to the show room of each of the short listed cars (basically to the Maruti and GM showrooms).
We decided on the Sail 1.4 for the following reasons finally:
The car finally purchased:
Sail 1.4, Shimmering Black.
Beig interiors, with Triple info display (TID) ; Alloy wheels, with a car stereo (Blapunkt); This was the limited edition.
All this for 4.6 lacs on road. Those guys got me a 100% ex-showroom funding from ICICI bank as well.
The car is now more than a month old clocked around 650 kms and gives me around 9.5 kmpl ( I drive around 17 km / day only; Lucky eh !!)
The suspension is good, it is roomy at the back and the A/C works well. Though I must say after reading some reviews on MS about A/C vents falling off after sometime is a bit scary though.
I love my car and planning to take it to Goa in March 2006. I plan to write a detailed review on the long trip and the cars’ performance after that.
HAPPY Driving.
Vinayak.