Sep 09, 2010 10:31 PM
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If you are searching for a good premium entry level hatch back, my experience may help you.
I owned my first car, a Maruti Alto Lx (Cool silver) from 2001 t0 2006. Both me and my wife drove it equally. In 2006 I exchanged it to a Maruti Swift VXi (Bright Red). My wife used it to commute between office and home most of the time and I was the preferred driver on long trips & on highways ;). When my office gave me a Honda City in 2009, we stopped using Swift for long journeys. Sometime in 2010, we started thinking that Swift is too big for Bangalore traffic and started looking for a smaller car - Just for city drive.
We also wanted the same driving experience & the features Swift offered us, if not more; specifically power windows (all 4 doors), central locking and power steering. Additionally, I wanted my wife to enjoy the features which Honda city offered me namely factory fitted music system in the dash board, reverse parking sensor (Accessory I fitted), keyless entry (remote keys), tilt steering, height adjustable driver seat, steering mounted audio controls and electrically adjustable rear view mirrors. ABS and airbags were excluded from the wish list as we were clearly in need of a city car and we felt the Bangalore traffic slows us down so much that there is no chance of skidding on wet roads at those speeds and possibility of an impact with an intensity required to inflate the air bags!
I was expecting 3.25L for a 4 year old Swift (in good condition with 35, 000 kms on odometer). The best hatchback in July-2010 was Volkswagen Polo but I have to shell out another 2-2.25L more to buy one. Nissan Micra was also very close. Both were ruled out as they are as big as Swift.
Then the choices left were Spark LT, A-Star VXi, Estilo VXi and my recommendation a nano! Spark LS LPG version was also considered but ruled out later because it lacked basic features we were looking for. A new Nano was available at 2.25L (I came to know, there were few who wanted to cancel the booking they made before for whatsoever reasons) but it lacked almost all the features in our wish list. Plus my wife was not at all in favor of a Nano - A Tata Auto - By its engine noise as per my 10 year old nephew, Arpith :). Though Alto K10 Vxi was a good choice we did not consider it because we owned an Alto before, for 5 years.
None of the options then; A-star, Spark LT and Estilo VXi offered features like reverse parking sensor, tilt steering, steering mounted audio controls and electrically adjustable rear view mirrors. Spark LT was 20K - 25K less than A-Star but had no music system in it, no remote keys and no height adjustable driver seat. The good thing about Spark was the 60:40 folding rear seat which means a small family with 3 people can use the car for weekend short trips. Estilo Vxi was feature rich but they were more of fancy in nature than they actually put into regular use, same with Spark LT (Fog lamps, rear viper, body colored door handles, body colored outside mirror etc.). Estilo Vxi had no music system in it, no height adjustable driver's seat but offered factory fitted remote keys. Estilo was roomy inside, lot of sunlight and a good boot. Spark was also not bad at all on these aspects. My wife didn't like the new Estilo Zen for its shape and the cheap looking interiors. Actually, I was for the brown Estilo with the brown dashboard. A-Star VXi offered height adjustable driver seat (which was a big plus for my 5' 3" tall wife) and factory fitted music system with 2 front speakers (only) but was enough for a city drive (Note - Only high end version of A-Star ZXi offers 4 speakers with ABS and airbags)
So, it came to A-Star VXi vs Spark LT. Factors remained to consider were Style (Look), technology, fuel efficiency, resale value and reputation. We permanently dropped features like tilt steering, steering mounted audio controls and electrically adjustable rear view mirrors from our wish list. Remote keys and reverse parking sensors were not difficult to fit in both the cars as accessories.
Style (Look) wise both A-Star and Spark were almost equal. K -Series engine of Maruti scored high in technology. A-Star was better in claimed fuel efficiency (19.6 kmpl vs 17 kmpl of Spark). Resale I thought both were same (Maruti has better resale than Chevrolet but for A-Star, I doubt it. There maybe few buyers from Indian families of used A-Star than other Marutis because of its small boot). A-Star, exported and sold as Alto by Suzuki outside India and sold by Nissan as Pixo in Europe definitely has international reputation though it has a slow acceptance with Indian families.
Finally, bought A-Star VXi (Silky silver) on 27-Aug-2010 for Rs.4.43L on road in Bangalore (By the way got 3.35L for Swift + 25K exchange bonus). Got Remote keys with security features, reverse parking sensor and Garware sun film free of cost from the dealer. Driving experience is good in the Bangalore traffic after driving a big Honda City for an year now and even compared to Swift. Handling is as good as or a little better than Swift except for a little drag in 3rd gear compared to Swift, when A/C is on. Overall enjoying the peppy ride from this small cutie! Excellent city car for 4 people and a good highway car for 2 people with lots of luggage :)
