To start with, I wanted to buy a second hand Swift or Getz. But my wife insisted that we buy a new car. As my usage was very minimal (5-10 kms a day) reliability issues never bothered me! Read all the reviews on Xeta and I felt I should write my own too. I bought the lagoon blue Indica Xeta GLG on the Mumbai bomb blasts day just 2 hours late from the scheduled delivery time! The dealer was too good to be true! I bought it on finance and got a bit of discount too which was impossible to get on a high volume selling car. I transferred my NCB from my old car and saved Rs. 4000 on insurance! Got the registration number of my choice according to numerology. My first car was a Uno petrol, so there is no point in comparing a 10 year old car with no features and a brand new third generation car! I have driven 925 kms till date, still short of 75 kms. before I can really test its speed, vibration and stability. The fuel efficiency has gradually improved from 8.2, 8.8, 9.85 which is quite good during the running in period. I have to wait till atleast 1100-1200 kms till I start getting some real figures. I always filled Power petrol for Rs. 1500 all the time (only thrice upto now) from the same petrol pump (a trusted one with good reputation). By doing this you are sure of the quality and quantity of fuel and the average. Anyways the above figures for fuel efficiency are with A/C on always and the car used for very short trips and my driving style is F1 inspired! so please add 2-2.5 kms to the above fuel efficiency figures.
The looks are good but not anywhere near the Swift! Space inside is huge and a six foot 115 kg guy like me sits easily and still there is a lot of space for others! Interiors are pretty good considering the price! I got custom made leather seats of exactly the same colour as the dashboard and it looks great! And to top it all I got a six speaker music system which sounds great! The suspension is good enough to handle the Mumbai roads (atleast better than the Swift!) The tyres (Appollo Amazer XL) are better than the Goodyears I had on my Uno. I haven’t tried Bridgestone yet so I was a bit apprehensive. Best is the pick up and the 1395 cc engine is quite torquey and hence less gear shifts required in traffic.The A/C is OK but noisy so a good music system is a must buy! Headlamps are inadequate at times so fog lamps help a bit to find small potholes. Wipers are the best with good wipe & speed even in the heaviest of rains. Ground clearance is good enough for most speed brakers and potholes but personally I would prefer 14" tyres which I feel will look better with the sporty look of the car. I will surely upgrade to 14" even if I have to compromise on fuel economy. The reverse gear is hard to find 20% of time. The sqeaking sound in the morning is quite normal and stops after a while. The GLG model doesnot have front and back rubbing bands on the bumpers but have on the doors which looks quite strange. One good thing with Indica is that all your speaker points are wired from the factory so one just has to install the speakers without the need for removing the carpet.
The Xeta is much easier to drive because of the power steering and above all the sitting position is quite high, which I like! The built quality remains a lot to be desired. The door gaps and door alignment when shut are the two main issues. I always feel that my door is open from the side view mirror! The two most irritating things in the Xeta are:
The position of the power window buttons (ahead of the gearbox)
Absence of right hand side reverse indicator lamp (no provision even to install it)
By the way, I am a car enthusiast and practically know every car in the world inside out!
I have bought this car purely on the basis on its price and practicality.
Overall, the car is very good value for money!