I bought a black santro eRLX XG in Sept 2005 from Advaith motors Residency road. I should appreciate Hyundai / Advaith for their customer orientation. Why I am saying this? let me explain it at the end.
First I should thank all mouthshut members for their extensive and useful reviews.
At that time there were only competion between Palio, santro wagonr and Indica , and my budget was less than 4.5 lakhs, I went through all the specs and comparisons available through out the net and was almost decided on santro for the following reasons.
Palio, I liked it but service was an issue.(I don't know how it is, since Tata have taken over the service)
Indica, Petrol - I wanted a decent Mileage so skipped this.
Diesel - I don't like vibrations.
main factor, My friends scared me for some one calling Taxi. . . .Taxi. . .(No offense meant please)
Wagonr, I don't think its an ugly looking car(the second edition), infact I liked it's square reflective head lights, (Some how I don't like at all the new looks 3rd edition Gas/Petrol) but the features of santro made me give the marks.
What are they?
Good looking(It's individual, but I like European design)
Internally adjustable Mirror(ORVM)
3 spoke steering.
Hydraulic power steering.( Gives you a feed back from the vehicle which is missing in electronic power steering). My colleague who owns a WagonR said my steering is better after he test drove.
Bigger tyre size(More grip)
Height to Width ratio has been altered to look like a Sedan.
Gear box, I felt it is much better and smooth than wagonr, (I realized this when drove my colleague's wagonr, even he admitted it:))
Santro interiors looks elegant.(We mutually agreed on this too)
Response, You should test drive both to realize your self.
Build quality.(You should press the boot door with your hand and see if it goes in and come out lightly:) that shows how thin or thick it is)
Dual horn to chase away those deafs, I bet this is very useful when you find even bikes with two horns now a days.(Revised edit on my review)
Option to put speakers in the rear, my Sony xplode ovals on a ready made plank fits nicely.
Some factors where wagonr has it's upper hand.
Over all height is more.(If you need it)
Mileage people say it give you additional 0.5 to 1km / ltr(My santro gets me 13.5 to 14 in City with on/off A/C and 18 to 19 on highway).
Service network is bigger.
Digital instrumentation.
CNG version available.(Revised edit on my review)
Suspension both are equally Good / Bad:)
Spare cost, earlier Santro spares were believed to be expensive as they were imported but now they have their plant in Chennai and so is the cost.
(This part I had missed out earlier and some one requested for it, so added the same)
As for as service is concerned in Bangalore, I am receiving a fantastic service from Advaith, till now absolutely no problems.
Let me explain why I said about customer orientation in the first of my review.
I went to Mandovi motors(Maruthi dealer) in bangalore to enquire about WagonR, they said it was their lunch time and they will surely send the catalogs(I never received it), on my next visit, it was a like a Jatra(Fest) so no one was interested to sell, it was a janatha treatment. . .some how I caught hold of a sales executive and got the info. Then I headed straight to Advaith motors(Hyndai dealer), believe me there I remembered I was buying a car and not a TV or washing machine:) , I was welcomed, shown all the features of the car, made me aware of the current offers and discounts, I booked it on the same Day. From the day I booked and till I was handed over the key every thing was smooth perfect and fantastic experience.
later I realized their service is also of the same class.
Keep it up Hyundai / Advaith!
Hope this not because Hyundai is not selling any diet budget cars and the volume of customers they have to handle is much lesser than the Maruthi.
The new Zen estilo looks small in size to me compared to Santro. If I had to choose now I would have compared Aveo U-VA and Santro. Now some cars are going to land from Hyundai, Renault and Maruthi this year, if you can wait for some time, it's ideal for now.
So happy driving! take a test drive of all available in the same class and decide.
