Dec 30, 2009 06:33 PM
10255 Views
Firstly, I would like to give some background about myself and the need for me to purchase a car. I am from a middle class family and stay with my parents. I have two kids and so when we wander out, we find ourselves in need for two autos or one call taxi. Even when I go out with my family, I am stuck with autos and squeeze my family in it for the sake of economy.
Exorbitant auto rickshaw fares and lack of comfort resulted in me hunting for a car. My first car was a Maruti 800 and I was more than satisfied with it apart from its lack of power when we all travelled. Also, the car I had was non-AC so I found it difficult to drive during afternoons. I sold that car when I moved from Bangalore to Chennai.
I started searching for my new car and I laid out my preferences
1. AC(Chennai)
2. Low Maintenance Cost
3. Big enough to hold 4 adults
4. Trusted and Tried
5. Decent mileage and looks
With the preferences set, I shortlisted below models
1. Chevrolet Spark
2. Maruti Alto
3. Maruti Ritz
4. Hyundai i10
5. Hyundai Santro
I started reading lot of user reviews in MouthShut.Com, CarWale.Com and Team-BHP.com on all these models. I found Carwale and Team-BHP particularly useful. Forums like "Initial ownership report" and "Long term ownership report" in Team-BHP played a major role in my decision making process.
Given below is my reasoning for negating few models before I zeroed in on my preference. Given below is my own interpretation and may or may not match the actual performance / official review. I start with models that I removed from my list first.
1. Hyundai Santro - Nothing wrong with Santro but i10 stood there as a refined model from Hyundai. Also, I got a feeling that Santro would be discontinued if i10s pick up sales and could play a part when I exchange or sell
2. Maruti Alto - Under powered engine so could face problems during pickup with AC(from my own perception and user reviews). Globally Alot has been replaced by A-Star so could happen in India sooner than later. Again, the decision on Alto could have an impact on my re-sale value / exchange value
3. Chevrolet Spark - Read lot of good reviews about Spark and was top on my list for some time. In my opinion, the introduction of beat will have an impact on Spark similar to i10 on Santro and Spark might be discontinued soon affecting re-salve or exchange value
4. Maruti Ritz - It was very close contender until I spoke to the salesperson. My call was greeted with the least courtesy and the sales person didn't even ask for my number to call back. No discounts and almost 50K costlier than i10. Only thing that was going in favour of Ritz was Maruti's after sales service, slightly bigger car than i10 and europen design(good or bad is left to user perception)
After a gruelling research of 4 months, I eventually decided to buy Hyundai i10, I found the sales guy accommodating, courteous and willing to talk. I have five Hyundai’s in my family and nobody told me to buy anything else but Hyundai. I went to the showroom to have a look at the car and fell in love with it. My instinct said that I can't go wrong with this car and so I booked it and then took a test drive, I was amazed by every inch of it. I am a novice and even I was able to appreciate the features, ride quality and everything the car had to present. I booked electric red magna and took the delivery in a week; the sales guy kept his promise and didn't delay my delivery.
I have driven the car for 200 KMs so far and I have nothing to complain against it. Few things that I liked are
1. Build quality, once you are in the car you feel like you are driving a submarine
2. The AC cools the cabin in minutes; I haven't increased it beyond 1 and shiver if I keep the knob at 3
3. The ride quality is excellent; I can comfortably seat three adults at the back
4. I don't feel lack of power when I start with AC switched on
5. The engine is super silent and I have tried to switch on an already started engine many times
6. The controls are easy to operate and all are placed within reach, you won't need more than 5 minutes to get used to it
7. The car comes with automatic lock, you can control all the doors with the lock at driver’s door
I haven't checked the mileage yet but am not concerned now as I am enjoying every bit of my driving.
Few tips for people planning to buy a car
1. Talk to multiple dealers to get a better deal and never hide the fact that you are discussing with multiple dealers
2. Pitch dealers against each other
3. Negotiate after visiting the showroom and show you are serious to buy
4. Never go to a showroom in a hurry, always take time out to visit and discuss
