Nov 03, 2016 02:34 PM
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Buying the car:
I had done an extensive research of the market for petrol cars with the below details in mind and finally settled for Amaze Petrol SX:
1) Cost to be around 7.5L for the petrol car as my daily commute is close to about 25km/day. The breakeven time will be around 5 years or more.
2) Big Boot is preferred as family size is increasing, plus I do a lot of Airport and railway station pickup and drop service. Also ladies in my family doesn’t believe in travelling light.
3) Decent mileage. I didn’t dream for something around 18 or 20 kmpl in city because it would mean compromising on other things.
4) Maintenance can be a bit high, but not high like VV. Also the trips to service centers should be minimal. This all on a long run.
5) Finally the look and feel should be good.
6) Good/decent resell value.
7) *This is my first car too
With these options in mind, the best option was compact sedan and the options were Swift Dzire, Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze, VV Ameo and Tata Zest. I went to each and every company’s showroom and I enquired extensively about everything. Now considering the above 7 points, I will give a brief as to why I choose Amaze:
Dzire:- Everything is good in terms of features. But I didn’t like the engine feel. Moreover its been very very long that it is in the market. Felt over matured, plus what if they close Dzire production in a year or two like Santro(which was doing quite well even while closing) and start selling with a new name.
Xcent:- Internal Feature wise, Hyundai is the best I think. But I really hated was the external view. Specifically the front and rear lights. I like ambassador lights better then Xcent
Ameo:- Fear of high maintenance and bad review of services across the country.
Zest: I would have probably gone with this car, but my ego didn’t allow to accept the TATA logo. I mean Indica cab and my car having same logo and knowing people take it for granted. I would have probably chosen it if they had a separate logo.
Amaze:- Well I have purchased this.
Chennai market is not so pro customers, so out of the whole lot I purchased it from Mansarovar Honda. Till now, Customer care wise, they are the best.
The only huddle I faced during purchase was that the colour and variant that I wanted was not in production, so the delivery got delayed by about 3 months. This being my first car, it was like 3 years to me. Rest was very cool
Driving Experience:
I got the delivery of the car during the first week of August 2016. Till date(3rd November) I have driven just over 5000km and second service is over.
The car is totally sound less. It has happened 3 to 4 times in standing traffic that I turn the ignition key while the car is on and strange sound comes making me nervous. Now one point is, it needs a little time for the engine to heat up and only post to that only the sound is lesser. If you are a first timer like me, then FYI, its for all cars
The only sound you get while driving is the tires noise, even on highways
Steering response is quite good. Though it become a bit heavy after 120. Before that its silk. AC is also very strong and works really fast.
I have done short trips to Pondicherry or Mahabalipuram a couple of times and one trip to Munnar via Coimbatore(1700km done in this trip) all from Chennai. This is apart from my daily office trip. On the highway, you can surely give the big guys(SUVs) a run for their money till 100kmph or so. My pickup is better than their diesel right, and Indian road is more like Sprint than marathon. In marathon type roads, better let them pass. BTW I kept my car mainly between 100kmph to 120kmph. Just twice I took it to 140, mainly to hear the engine.
After my last trip I gave for second service and till now didn’t have to pay for anything by God’s grace.
The average that I get in Chennai city drive ranges from 13.5kmpl to 14.5KMPL. Highway I was getting around 17kmpl but that reduced to 16.5 when Munnar. Its high hill and the roads are quite narrow. Oh Yes, AC for me is always ON and set at 24*C.
I calculate it like tank empty to tank empty. Also I reset the average and trip meter while refilling. My calculations say, resetting only will give you the current average for the existing liters of petrol. Else it will calculate average considering all the driving done till date. Second option surely would not give current average and that’s what I am interested in. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Next on the inbuilt sound system, I didn’t hear Ameo, but the rest I have heard. Amaze has the best sound for a normal user. If you are a pro kind, well please customize it as much as you like.
Ground clearance might not look so great on papers, but trust me, its more than sufficient that you don’t scratch over big speed breakers.
One advise to all the readers who are new drivers(Old ones all know this for sure) don’t floor the accelerator while starting in traffic signal or anywhere, atleast for the first 2 gears. You will never get mileage plus you are ripping the engine badly.
Have a happy driving and I will keep scrip ling if I have any good update.
cheers
