I was using a Santro for more than 3 years in Bangalore, since 2007, and was satisfied with its pick-up, mileage, low maintenance, ease of driving along narrow lanes but was not happy with its hard suspension, and bumpy ride. As I travelled to my home town with family, occasionally, which is 500 kilometres away,
I wished for a more comfortable and spacious car, with almost the same good points as of my santro.
After many months of research, I shorlisted Volkswagen Polo (petrol) and Ford Fiesta (petrol). (I had to rule out Figo, as my wife observed it as similar in size as Santro!). I did not consider a diesel Fiesta, as my total running during the ownership period would be less, to justify the extra budget of more than 1 lakh rupees or higher, required for the same model of diesel.
Our budget was between 6 and 7 lakh. Some other cars which I liked was Vento, Linea, Punto, Figo and Manza. Vento was out of my budget, and I dropped the other two as I heard of poor service quality from Tata dealers in Bangalore. But finally, I had to drop both Ford and Volkswagen, as I found that the service centres are far away from my place of stay. Then I narrowed down to i20 and verna. At last, decided to go for Verna VTVT as I heard of some AC issues with i20. Verna diesel price was more than 1.2 lakh higher than petrol.
(I was never fond of Maruti due to flimsy build quality in my personal observation).
My experience so far with Verna Transform VTVT (petrol):
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The buying experience was not too bad from Trident Hyundai, (Dec 2010) and they had given me 60k
discount, as it was an outgoing model. I didn't wait for the Fluidic Verna, since at that point of time, I got information that it will be available only by end of 2011. Total, it cost for me Rs.7, 43, 000/- on road, after the 60k discount. Now I have been using the Verna VTVT since last 11 months, and covered around 8500 kilometres in the ODO. (70% long drive, 30% bangalore city). So far, no technical problems at all, and I had visited the service centre for the first two free services, and am going to do the third free service shortly.
The mileage I get in day-to-day run in city (with 100% AC usage) is 11+ km/litre, and on highway long drives is 16+ km/litre, and am quite satisfied considering the powerful engine and weight of the vehicle. You may get slightly better mileage if AC is used sparingly, and with a light foot on the accelerator pedal, and careful usage of the gears.
Initially, the car seemed to be very sluggish for me, when compared to Santro, but after running around 4000km, the initial pick-up improved. Now I don't feel that lack of pick-up. The best part is the strong mid-range, that is, when the RPM is around 2000+, and on 4th gear itself, you can easily overtake vehicles moving at 70-80km/hr on two-lane highways, without scaring about on-coming vehicles.
The car is very stable on straight-line at speeds upto 120km/hr. The engine is very refined, but becomes a little audible after 3500rpm but by that time you could be cruising at more than 120km/hr speeds and so it can be observed seldom.
The suspension is soft sprung, and hence it feels good at speeds less than 50km/hr on bad roads, but becomes bouncy and sometimes the front tyres comes up and hits the mud-guard, when moving fast across bumpy surfaces, which is not so nice. The cabin is very silent, with excellent noise insulation, good build quality, but I feel the AC controls are a little flimsy. There are no vibrations or rattling observed so far. The steering is too light, and it feels good for city, but once you are above 100km/hr speeds, it gives a floating feel, and this necessitates extra caution on triple digit speeds. Also, the tyres feel narrow, creates a screaming sound with body roll, if you take 60 degree plus curves, common on two lane highways, in speeds more than 80km/hr. Hence, the Verna is not a car for enthusiastic or careless driving. You need to slowdown a bit at curves, and do not try to corner like a swift. But this won't be a concern with people used to driving tall cars like santro or wagon-R, since they may be used to the driving style. But on straightline, Verna behaves good,
with quite good braking, in high speeds. So, with little bit of caution, you can take her even to 140km/hr or more, but is not recommended unless you are an experienced driver. This is where cars like Vento/Fiesta
or Linea scores over Verna, I feel.
The irritating problem, if any, with this car is the extremely poor quality head-light lens/reflectors, which can barely emit a light beam equivalent to a scooter, even with standard 55/60 watt bulbs. I had submitted
a complaint with the manufacturer but they could not provide any solution. It is a badly designed head light cluster from Hyundai India. Also, the so called fog lamps are actually of no real use.
Another matter which I don't like with this car is the very hard horn pad on the steering wheel, which is not suited to Bangalore conditions, where people will give way only if honked, atleast twice. To summarise, the positive points are: Good mileage, power, pick-up, engine refinement, interior-Space and build quality, 350 litres boot, good seating position and visibility, good braking on straight-line, soft suspensions good for city and speeds less than 60km/hr, impressive interior sound insulation, smooth and vibration free ride and a good service network from Hyundai.
The negative points: Un-stable ride in speeds higher than 120 km/hr, (due to soft suspensions, extreme light steering setup, and narrow tyres), body roll which scares you when taking curves at speeds higher than 80km/hr, slightly bumpy ride on bad patches at very high speeds, extremely poor head lights, hard horn pad, notchy gear shifts (not smooth like santro or even Accent), and may be an old fashioned dash board and controls, and may be an ugly front bumper and grill design(but it looks better on black or white coloured cars).
So, a slightly harder suspension setup would have made Verna one of the best entry level sedans. But still it is an all-rounder and good family car if driven sensibly.
Some other cars, which I feel, could also have been good for me, could be Ford Figo diesel, Volkswagen Polo petrol (considering its mileage and build quality), or Honda Jazz (considering its revised pricing).
Thanks for your patience.
