Hi all,
I was looking to buy a family car since last few months. I am a first time car user. I thought of buying one last Oct. I did 3 months of extensive research of many mid-sized cars, namely, Esteem, Indigo, Accent & Ford Ikon. Finally I bought Tata Indigo and I feel I made the right decision. So here goes my story.
Since last Oct I started reading auto mags like Overdrive, asking car owners on the road for their feedbacks etc. So I will talk about all the models one by one.
Maruti Esteem VXi: If I had thought of buying a car 5-6 years ago, I would have straight away purchased this car without giving it a thought. The car is superb except for the fact that the model looks toooooo old. I don’t feel like I have purchased a new car. Rest all is fine about Esteem.
Fiat Siena: The company Fiat India is closed. So no question of buying any Fiat car.
Hyundai Accent: The general impression among car users is ’Don’t buy any Korean car. They have very short life span, 2-3 years, that’s it.’ Korean car models are brilliant in looks but over a period the car becomes very rusty and shows lots of wear & tear.
Ford Ikon: The car build may be good but there are lots of disadvantages. I will compare Ford Icon with Tata Indigo in details later. Simple advice, go for Indigo instead of Ikon.
Tata Indigo: Brilliant car. Purchased only a month ago but I am very impressed by this car in a very short time. Of course, Esteem and Indigo are highly comparable except the old looking model of Esteem. Indigo’s new look is very impressive. The car is very spacious, very smooth and has lots of power. I will list what indigo has which is missing in Ford Ikon models. Indigo’s dickey (boot) can be opened from inside. No need for the driver to get down to open it. This is not possible in Ikon. Indigo has defogger on the back which is missing in Ikon.
Indigo has left side rear view mirror which is missing in Ikon. In Indigo, the fuel lid can be opened from inside no need for the driver to get down. This is not possible in Ikon.
Indigo is very very spacious both in the front as well as back. Lots of leg room and shoulder room in indigo compared to both esteem and ikon. In indigo, the back seat can be folded (collapsible back seat) which is not possible in other cars.
When we fold the backseat 2 people can easily sleep. We can accomodate lots of luggage too when the backseat is folded. The boot of the Indigo is too big. Indigo also has a boot lamp which is not there in Ikon. In Ikon the back seat is very curved, so people sitting at the back near the window tend to lean towards the person sitting in the center. This causes much discomfort to people sitting at the back.
Indigo’s backseat is very comfortable. Indigo’s AC is very good and powerful. Ikon’s signal lights are operated from the left side of the steering wheel unlike all other cars. So it’s difficult to get adjusted to this absurdity. In Indigo, the dashboard is not slanted or sloppy so you can keep lots of stuffs on the dashboard. Ikon’s dashboard is slanted and sloppy. You can’t keep anything on the dashboard. Same way at the back. In Indigo we can use the back side of the back seat to keep some light luggage. This is not possible in Ikon. Ikon has reduced price by removing lots of features from the car. That doesn’t mean the car is cheap. If you want these bare minimum features in Ikon, you have to pay a lot of money extra. So in fact Ikon is not a cheap cost effective model at all contrary to what they claim.
I had asked lots of Ikon users (5 to be precise) about their feedback. Majority adviced me not to go for Ikon. The spare parts are scarce and very costly. Ford’s service is pathetic. Their attitude & service levels changes the moment you buy an Ikon. What it means is, they will appear to be very good untill you buy an Ikon. The moment you buy one, they will behave as if they don’t know you. I know at least 2 Ikon (past) users who sold it off in just 4 months due to Ford’s poor service.
This is my conclusion after 3 months’ research. Go for Indigo, avoid Ikon.