Decent practical family car. Review on Hyundai Getz Prime

I bought Hyundai Getz 1.3 GVS on 15th may 2009. the ODO shows~500km right now, so the review will mostly be about test drive and initial ownership experience. Will keep on updating as miles keep ticking.I started looking for a car with following things in mind 1. Good build quality2. Spacious - should accomodate 4/5 people with some luggage for any outing3. Should be stable at highways at decent~100/120 speeds4. Decent after sales service5. decent fuel economy - expect more than 10 in cityI was looking for hatchbacks only because snob value of sedan is don't care for me. I think boot which I am going to use hardly 1-2% of the time, doesn't feels practical to shell 1-2L for that. Instead I was looking for bigger hatchbacks, which mostly have more cabin space than entry level sedans. And yes I was looking for petrol versions only because I expect average running per month to be <=1000km

Ok, so the hunt begins with following options - maruti suzuki swift, palio stille, indica vista and hyundai getz. Chevrolet aveo UVA was ruled out because chevrolet didn't inspire confidence in me because of mainly A.S.S and it felt pricy/underpowered also, so didn't have a look at it. Now details of others.

1. Maruti suzuki swift- Initially I was inclined for VXI model of swift. Did a test drive with total 5 people on board. Power looked adequate but gear shift didn't feel comfortable. The passengers on rear seat also complained of cramp legroom and shoulder room. After sitting inside the vehicle it felt dark and that also contributes to feeling of small apce. The boot-space is also small as compared to competitors(except UVA with a tiny boot). The price in bangalore was 5.12L. Although I am not a fan of looks of swift but that part was managable as I don't give looks department much weightage. Looking at reviws many people complained of build issues i.e. door rattling noise after 2 years. Though I took TD in city and din't check at high speeds but felt stable and as mentioned by everyone it gives decent mileage.All in all it felt a decent vehicle for 4 people but at that price it didn't have many features that competitors had. It remained in list after TD.

2. Fiat Palio stille - I was very much looking forward for palio for build quality. Went to a TATA showroom after taking an appointment with a FIAT guy. The floor with fiat vehicles was empty and that guy also didn't show much response, although we were only customers at that time. Looked at features of palio myself, the showroom guy just opened the car and left us. Had to call him again to open boot. The build quality felt exceptionally good, (the reassuring'thud' of door closing) understood why people say that it is build like a tank. Asked for a test drive and he said that petrol version not available in whole bangalore for TD and he will contact me for deisel TD and I should get test drive for deisel vehicle to buy a petrol one:-). Decided against palio after that experience. People say it has bad A.S.S., but when before sales itself it had these issues, GOD help A.S.S. Also as per spec it 1.1L stille had a very underpowered engine and 1.6 sports was supposed to be a fuel guzzler. Couldn't experience since no TD:-(

3. TATA Indica vista - Went to TATA showroom. Car looked spacious and after looking at prices felt Value for Money also. It didn't look like a well knit unit though, many gaps in plastic at different places, and the sound of door closing completely put me off. It felt like a heavy tin sound(similar to wagonr/800), may be I was still in hangover of the build quality of Palio:-)In reviews I have heard many build/finishing issues with vista, so wasn't very comfortable with buying this. Felt like buying vista is like lottery, if it goes well.very good, you get features worth 5-6L in 4.5L price otherwise keep on going to showroom to fix issues and TATA A.S.S. in not supposed to be very responsive. One of my friend's brother baught a vista and it was leaking in rain:-), it took him complete 1 year to get rid of all niggling issues. The sales guy said he will call me for TD but never called and I was also not very keen for that.

4. Hyundai Getz - Went to TD the same day when I did TD of swift with same 4 people. Although I took a TD and due to something(may be spacious or gearshift or engine response) felt more comfortable than swift. the rear passengers also gave better feedback for space(legroom and shouler room) and suspension. I liked it's gearshift, power steering also felt good. The build quality looked good(not as good as palio but decent) and as per reviews also no-one has complained about any build issues in getz.

It has a lot of small but very practicle features. Some of these are -(a) rear 60:40 split seat - very helpful for carrying large objects. (b) dead padle on left of clutch - helpful while driving, remove your foot from clutch and put it on dead paddle, not present in many higher end vehicles also(i.e. Honda Jazz)(c) Small bulb in glove box for night- BTW glove box is very small in getz but it had many small places to put bottles/cups in center/door pockets.(d) Adjustable rear-seat inclination - rear seat can be adjusted at 3 different inclining postions as per comfort, not present in any other vehicle in same segment.(e) steering adjust - most of the vehicles have it now a days, but was disappointed with swift for having this only in ZXI model(f) Probably due to high seating road view from driver seat was excellent.

So after TD Getz and swift remained in the list.

Then after looking at prices and features and getting feedback from passengers, compared the 2 vehicles.(1). swift better in Fuel economy than getz, by around 1kmpl - as read in most reviews(2). Getz better in space, build quality, practicality. One very interesting point for spaciousness. Swift is much wider than getz externally. external width - swift-1695mm, getz 1665mm. But getz is much wider inside. rear seat width - swift 1295mm, getz - 1335mm( as per autocar magazine)(3). As per everyone Swift better in looks, road presence(4). Swift was pricier than getz for around 30K for similar model, with swift having somewhat lesser features). Getz GVS 1.3 - 4.82L on road, swift VXI - 5.12L(bangalore prices)Got decent discounts from hyundai dealer for accessories also(Absolutely No discounts in car price, only some accessories worth 5-6K free).

Delivery -So aftertaking couple of weeks for decision, decide for Getz GVS 1.3. Due to strike inhyundai factory car got delayed by 2 weeks and got the car after 3 weeks ofbooking. Sales people in Advaith(outer ring road) behaved very good and helpedin in finance and all formalities(actually they were doing all the job and I was helping them:-)

Adding delivery and initial driving experience in comments section due to 7500 character limits.Will keep on updating as ODO rating keeps ticking.

Writing a review after 4/5 years, so comments are most welcome.