May 11, 2007 02:31 PM
23503 Views
(Updated May 11, 2007 02:40 PM)
What do I say, I bought this car(1.6 Xi) a couple of months back(March 2007). have driven close to 1000 kilometres. and I think my best decision ever has been to shelf the Honda City and buy the Verna instead. here's why:
1) Driving pleasure - test drove all cars in the market before buying(was upgrading myself from an Alto). Came down to the Honda City and the Verna - the City for its mileage and the Verna, well for being a Hyundai car - the Accent was too old to be bought now with all the new cars coming in. In the test drive, the City feels like a heavy deadweight car - not otherwise, but specially so if you drive it 30 minutes after you drove the Verna. The Verna flies like the wind, is too smooth and too light a car. 100% pleasure. The City feels a bit heavy with the AC on. With the Verna, a slight push to the accelerator and you can feel the 100 horses growing and pushing and the car talks to the wind - all this completely silently AND with the AC ON. Beat that.
2) Comfort - The City has a lot of space yes, but all that space it at the back. The front has very litle space, just a little more than my Alto(not exaggerating at all). So the City is a car for someone who has a chauffer. If you are driving yourself, the Verna is one to go for. Amazingly spacious in the front, and decent at the back
3) Fuel Economy - I realize that the Verna cannot beat the City on this, the City I hear gives 13+ in the city and around 17 on the highways. The Verna so far has given me around 10 in the city(mostly driving on lower gears 2nd and 3rd, and changing a lot - all thanks to the Metro construction happening in Noida), so slightly lower than the Honda City, but for the driving pleasure, this much is worth it. I am sure, all of you who want to drive well and not a heavy car, can shell lout a maximum of Rs 500 a month extra on petrol. If you can afford a City or a Verna, you can definitely spend 500 extra on petrol. Also the 10 mileage is right now, when I haven't even had a single service - once I am through with the second service, this will only go up.
4) Cost - of course this has to be a big factor when the difference between the 2 cars is Rs 70000(comparable versions - Verna Xi and City Gxi) on road. It is a huge amount of money and definitely not worth the Honda City. Add to this that in this cost, you are getting almost all major features - height adjustable seats, belts, electronic outside RVMs etc. What you dont have compared to the XXi are alloy wheels, which you can get yourself, auomatic climate control(who needs that anyways, the AC is just too good and effective) and map reading lights inside. Not too much of a loss to spend an extra 50000 for the XXi or much for for the City V-TEC
5) After sales service - Hyundai is Hyundai and Honda is Honda. Have read terrible reviews about Honda dealers and the horror stories they make their customers go through. Hyundai can never do that - they have too vast a network to be able to do that.
6) Looks - The City has become too common a sight, every 2nd big car is a City. The Verna is fresh, it is sexy and in Silver is sporty and dashing
Overall, I think the Verna is a true "value for money" car, something that beats the Honda City hands down. I dont consider the Fords and the Chevrolets in the comparison here, purely because of their TOO HIGH maintenance cost. Chevy has come out with that 3 year guarentee, but what after that - Ford and Chevy cars have a useless resale value - Hyundai cars have a good one. all in all, complete value for money in the long term.
