Hello My Fellow Team BHPians,
After a 40day wait, (which literally seemed like a 40years to me), I finally got my car delivery from Continental Hyundai - Mulund W (L.A. Motors) in Mumbai on 20.11.2011; it's a Black 2011 Hyundai I-20 Asta Diesel, with a 5-speed MT! Car Pictures are inserted at the end! :D
(Prior to this, I used to drive a silver Indica v2 Turbo Diesel which I don't intend to sell it...yet!)
Since my car delivery 10days ago, I've done a little over 490 kms (and I loved every mm. of it! :D), but you can deduct around 25kms from that count, since it showed that in the odometer when I first fired-up my car at the showroom to drive it home!
It's apparently got a top-speed of about 180 kmph, however, I've not dared to go more than 80 kmph which is a common analogy followed by many until the First servicing.
I'd also like to tell you guys how my selection process was, between which cars, and Why i-20? To start things off, I considered classifying popular cars in the market today (that I like) as per their class, as per the best of my knowledge, understanding and practicality:
Standard Hatchbacks:
-Tata Indica and Indica Vista
(although the New "sedan class", ZX variant is very good, way better than current Tata Hatches, however considering the overall factors, it falls under this category!)
-Hyundai i-10, Santro, Eon
-Chevrolet Spark, Beat
-Ford Figo
-Honda Brio
-Toyota Etios Liva
-Fiat Punto
-Maruti Suzuki Swift, Alto, Wagon R
Premium Hatchbacks:
-Hyundai I-20
-Honda Jazz
-Fiat Grande Punto
-Volkswagen Polo
-Skoda Fabia
-Nissan Micra
And..Even a Few Sedans:
-Tata Manza ELAN
-Toyota Etios
-Swift Dezire
-Volkswagen Vento
-Hyundai Verna
-Honda City
-Ford Fiesta
* My parameters for buying my Second Car were:
It had to be Diesel, Within a Budget of ₹ 9L, excellent interior Space, great exterior & interior build-quality, awesome equipment list, good ride-quality & power and fuel efficiency.
So, based on all the above parameters most of the cars were eliminated automatically. The ones left for Final consideration were:
- Hyundai I-20 Asta Diesel – The One which I felt has the perfect balance Overall.
- Swift ZDI – Excellent ride but not much in terms of equipment list, almost average interior quality
- New Polo Highline Diesel – Not much in terms of equipment list, but the suspensions is superb, best in class and so is the build-quality
- Fiat Grande Punto - Excellent Ride (the suspensions are awesome), but noisy cabin and not as powerful as I-20, average build-quality.
- Volkswagen Vento Highline Diesel – Soon realised that it's out of my budget, but still not much in terms of equipment list, although it's a fun car to drive
- Hyundai Verna Diesel – Simply out of my budget, excellent car with great equipment list, great linear power delivery, but I-20 was surprisingly much more spacious
- Tata Vista ZX Quadrajet (the "sedan class") – Surely the roomiest of the Lot in terms of cabin space, build-quality better than its prequels but still not at par with the polo or the I-20.
Now, about my Black Babe!!
Here's a rather short list of goodies provided to me by the dealer:
- Mud Flaps
- Floor Mats
- Car Cover
In conjunction to this, I also got all four tires (and they're Apollo alloys nevertheless), along-with the steering-wheel and my car keys absolutely for Free too!!
Pardon my magnanimity, but I'm very unhappy that I didn't get a good deal on my car that usually costs more than ₹ 8L on-road!
Furthermore, for those who think there's no waiting period for Hyundai i-20 diesel, well you'll be wrong in assuming that, much like I was! Yea, that's right! There was a 40day waiting period only for a 'Diesel' i-20 since the sales guy reckons that the petrol models are more in-demand; however, ironically enough I didn't even get Any Discounts on my Asta Diesel, whereas in the Petrol mod, you also get 200lts. of free fuel coupons in conjunction to the assured Two-day car-delivery, along-with a further cash discount of 10k, free insurance and adding 'fuel to fire' (pun intended!), even a corporate discount of 3k for multinational employees!
Although I did manage to get a great deal on the car-loan and insurance, the full-details of this is shared soon enough.
Now, pertaining to the Pros & Cons of the Car, here's a detailed write-up on that:
Pros:
- Amazing Build Quality and a stunning looking Car; great aesthetics, exteriors and interiors!
- 1.4 CRDI Pulls like a Horse on steroid-overdose; no turbo-lag whatsoever but it's best pick-up comes from after the 3rd gear.
- Extremely responsive and a well-tuned engine
- Very smooth and precise gear-shifts; it also feels very sporty, yet professional!
- I do not know what Hyundai has done, but I felt the steering is great and the feed-back is awesome in the city and at higher speeds which in my case until now is 80kmph! (Lol). But seriously, the 'light/ dead' feel of the steering at higher speeds has been resolved; well, at least in the case of my car!
- Great Equipment list, fully loaded with a pack of goodies. This indeed is the best car in the class pertaining to equipment list that's loaded in this!
- Very reliable brand, with great after-sales and dealer network. (as told to me by many!)
Cons:
- The Suspensions is will bob you around on bad roads.
- Weak Horns and Head-lights.
- No freebies or discounts with the diesel variants of the car.
- Sometimes, when I'm on a neutral at a signal and when the light's green when I want to quickly put it in the 1st gear to take off, it doesn't fall in the right spot. I mean, I ain't daft nor am I an amateur, so I can assure you that I'm not a wobbly gear-shifter, however when I fiddle with about two times it then falls in the right spot, i.e. the 1st gear! :Frustrati
(Please advise me if this happens on all New cars, or is it specific to me only. Moreover, this happens like twice for every 10 stops I make!)
Additional Accessories added by me to the Car: 1.Original Hyundai Manufactured Leather Seat Covers, custom-made for I-20:
₹6,700 + ₹500 labour charge for fixed fitting. Done by Hyundai service-men.
2. Garware Cool-Vision scratch-proof sun-film for the front, and Llumar Silver series sunfilm for sides and rear (The latter was fixed by the Hyundai guys):
₹1600 and ₹1900 respectively (all costs incl. of Labour)
3. Skoda Dual Horns:
₹700 incl. of labour
4. Phillips 100/90 Headlights:
₹750 incl. of wiring and labour charges
5. AutoCop Reverse Parking Sensor:
₹2900 incl. of labour charges
6. Pioneer 240W Oval Woofers in the Back:
₹2410 incl. original ply-wood stand for the speakers, wiring and labour charges
7. Full Floor Black Soft Plubber (a mix of Plastic & Rubber) Floor Matting:
₹950 incl. labour charges
8. Car Perfume from Concept:
₹250
9. Cost for personalised car number:
₹5000 incl. of agent commission
10. Car Vacuum Cleaner:
₹1390
Cost Summary Total Cost of Additional Accessories: ₹25,310
Total Cost of Car Incl. of Insurance: ₹811,366
Total Cost of Car Ownership: ₹836,676 Enjoy The Pics!!! (clicked from my blackberry bold 9900) __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________
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