I have owned Skoda Octavia earlier and thought that this is it... can’t get better than this in terms of mileage... but hold on until you drive Toyota Altis Diesel....Amazing is the word for this car.
Selection Process: I had taken test drive of Skoda Laura and Chevy Cruze and had paid advance for buying Skoda Laura until I test drove Altis. Although both Laura and Cruze are good in terms of pick up / power which Altis lags behind but in terms of space, mileage and maintenance cost Toyota Altis scores the point. I travel around 100 KMS every day from my home to work. (Yes you read it right 100 KMS every day). After driving Skoda for close to 4 years I felt the difference only in first gear but thanks to the variable torque provided by Toyota the moment it picks up in second and third gear I never felt any difference. Also the engine of Altis is quite smooth and quite. You won’t come to know if this is diesel version of Altis. The leg room and shoulder room are excellent in this car. Air conditioner is too good although there isn’t any rear air conditioner vent but you won’t feel the need due to the powerful air conditioner Altis has. After the test drive I decided to go for top end version of Altis Diesel which had waiting period of 2-3 months but it’s definitely worth a wait.
Mileage & Performance: It’s been over a month’s time since I have bought this car and I have been getting over all average of 17kms per liter and minimum of 15 kms per liter in city driving condition. I have done around 3000 kms and have been quite happy with the overall performance of this car. The electronic power steering is at its best in this car. The steering is so smooth you won’t even feel if you are driving a big sedan.
==Interiors & Accessories: ==The interiors are plush and quite refreshing but as the interiors are beige this needs extra attention during monsoon and with kids. The top end model comes loaded with in dash DVD player and Bluetooth phone pairing upto 5 phones. The in dash DVD player works only when the hand break is pulled (Kind of extra security measure of not distracting driver). This player also records all the incoming, outgoing and missed calls and address book of the phone can be exported into this. The headlight is quite nice and has auto headlight on and auto leveler feature which is quite useful while climbing up the hill. This feature stands out and is quite noticeable while driving. Headlight washer is quite powerful. Remember not clean your car’s headlight at traffic signal else one of the fellow biker will yell at you due to the power of the water which comes out of two jets.
== ==Maintenance cost: This the area where Toyota Altis scores over Laura and Cruze by a leap. The first servicing is free and paid servicing cost is hardly 3k – 4k where as Skoda Octavia didn’t have any free servicing and paid service would cost atleast a whopping 15k.
Comfort: This car is a treat to drive on smooth roads BUT on bad road full of pot holes it’s a nightmare to sit on the rear seat. Whenever this car goes into pothole the rear seat passenger will feel as if they are inside sugar jar and someone is shaking the jar to fill more sugar. I hope Toyota does something to overcome this issue.
Verdict: I would suggest this car to those people who travels at least over 2000 KMS per month as this car is value for money in terms of mileage, maintenance, maneuvering and great comfort.