Jun 19, 2009 12:16 AM
11202 Views
This is my opinion about Astar. I was having Ford Ikon 1.3 for about 3 years. Ford has no resale value at all even with fords dealers. But ford cars are very well built; I have had enough issues & wanted to get rid of it & to go for an economy vehicle as well as trendy decent looking Car. I travel around 70 Kms everyday for Tambaram to Ambattur.
Initially I thought of going for a Diesel TATA Vista or Swift/Ritz. But I would be locking at least 1.25 Lakhs initially, for which I can keep spending on petrol for almost 5 years if I buy Astar or I10 & the maintenance on a petrol cars are always cheaper than Diesel. After all any car would fetch me only 1/3 on the purchase cost. That is when I saw Astar ZXI & I10 Magna & took a test drives on both. To be very frank I was impressed by attributes of Astar like, two tone interiors, Funky dashboard, ABS, Airbags.
I did not find any difference between I10 & Astar when it comes to space. Khivraj Motors Mount Road was the dealer & they gave me few offers on ZXI Model. They offered Alloy Wheels, Teflon Coating, Sun Control film, 1 Year Extended Warranty, Door Sill in place of Rs.12, 000 Offer, which I felt it was reasonable. Landed cost is Rs.4.58 L. I took the delivery of on 17th June 2009. I have seen few reviews about Astar about the space & drive Comfort etc. But this is what I feel.
Drive quality is good. Engine is very quite in stand still conditions, little noisy above 60 Kms speed; I felt it is decent for a 1000 CC vehicle. I am yet to check on my mileage as I have driven it only 300 Kms so far. Compromise on Power though, but good enough to me. Thank god I am not a race driverJ.
I am 5.11 feet tall & my brother is also of my same height. We could easily fit into the car. My parents are 5.6ft & my wife is 5.5 ft. We all could surprisingly fit in!! I feel this is an additional bonus because we occasionally travel together. Mostly I travel alone.
Red color dash board lights are not so pleasant while driving, may be I will get used to it over a period. The rest of the items are just in place where I wanted to be. Interiors are classy to me as I used to drive an outdated Ikon.
Suspensions are not too good when compared to Ikon. I think it’s because of the shorter wheel base. May be Maruthi could have done better.
A/C is very good. Ground clearance is better than swift & I10.
People say that it is over priced. But my advice is to let them point one car with the features that Astar is offering for that cost. I really feel happy about buying Astar & would definitely recommend any one if you are looking for value for money.
