Its About Wowing the Onlookers. Review on Mitsubishi Cedia

Its been four months of pleasure ride and we don't seem to be getting enough of our French Claret Cedia. By now, we have read it so often on the awing faces of the onlookers "Ye kaun si gaadi hai yaar !", Every time we saw an exclamation like that, we felt good about our decision to go for a Cedia. Yeah, our desire to be in the 'premier slot and yet stay unique' was very well fulfilled by this beautiful piece from Mitsubishi. Many a people from my wings often assumed that the car was from a stable of 14 lacs+ machines and I always wondered what if there was a decent advertising spend backing this car.

Decision Making

We considered cars in the bracket ranging from Honda City to Honda Civic. While Honda was a great machine, City had far too much presence on the road than we would have liked and the safety features were also left wanted. Civic was a brilliant purchase but it was way too steep for our pocket. Toyota was not in competition as it had too classy looks which seemed outdated.

Somewhat reluctantly we went to the MItsubishi showroom when we read about Cedia on net, but my wife and I were floored by the eye pleasing front of the car. It seemed much better than any of the contemporary cars upto D category. Safety features and performance specs were impeccable too, although the rear could have been a bit more jazzy. We had not imagined a 2000 cc car for that price and features, so were a little skeptical about the acceptance of the car in the market. We learnt that there was frugal advertising for the car and some people had concerns on HM dealer network from after sales perspective. Later we heard that Mitsubishi was to take over completely on that part by 2008 and it was comforting. An Auto LPG model was also on the show, but we definitely did not want to compromise on the luxurious bootspace. As the flexibility to look at all colours was not possible at the dealership because of relatively small sales, we had to make a few trips to the dealer to see different colours. As we wanted to wrap up the decision, we went to few Cedia owners also and that was where we saw the French Claret Color. The decision was sealed then and there.

We did hear about big SX4 launch and were impressed too. The car had all updated features, though some of them seemed like a mediocre plastic work. As there was too  much value stuffed in one car, we saw it becoming one of the most common cars by 2008. So, we dropped the idea of forcing SX4 into our consideration set. GM cars were also in consideration, but they were primarily outdone on overall looks and power parameters.

After all considerations, we booked a French Claret, Cedia Spirit Model from Excel Motors in Delhi. The dealer provided some discounts and fitted fog lights too on request. The treatment by the dealer was good and they later extended a "Welcome Kit" also which entitled us to a family dinner for upto 10 people in a 5-star Hotel.

*Performance

*It may be a little too early to judge the car on all its aspects of performance, but it has been an effortless driving experience so far. Speeding up, transmission, Speeding down are all bliss. Interiors are also very ergonomic and suited for a comfort loving driving freak. Gear box and suspension could have been somewhat softer. Fuel economy is about 10 kmpl in city and 13 on highway.

*Overall

*A very good purchase for believers of Niche Living.