Why I bought a Palio S10 1.6 over OHC-Vtec

[khan_sultan]

OK, some background on why I was looking for a car and my requirements from my next car:

I had a 2003 Santro Xing for my daily commute to office and city driving and must say that it was going good and never ever game me any trouble in the 5 years I drove it. However for a person who enjoys driving, santro is not the ideal car. Santro is good for going from Point A to Point B (but must admit that it does a decent enogh job at it)

I also have a Gypsy King MPFI that I use occasionaly in the city and primarily for off-roading.

So after 5 years time had come to say good buy to my Santro and look for my next car. My requirements from my next car (in order of preference)

1. Should be a drivers car and should bring a smile every time you sit in the drivers seat
2. Should be fun driving it
3. Should have ample power, great handling qualities
4. Preferably a hatch and not a sedan
5. Reasonable FE [a FE ~9-10 is good enough for me]
6. Good A.S.S and ownership experience

Few choices I had were:

Buy a a new car. I looked at various options and decided against buying a new car. In my opinion (it's my personal opinion..) that one get great VFM buys in used car market and the price to pay for a new car is way too much.
The cars I looked were Optra SRV (over rated, toooo expensive), Swift Diesel (Expensive, cramped, Clautrophobic & long waiting period) Palio Stile 1.6 (don't like the new looks from back and very poor resale value. Infact this aspect becomes a +ve part when you want to buy a used Palio)

Used Car: I narrowed my choices to Palio 1.6 GTX/Sports/S10 or the OHC-Vtec. I test drove a GTX, a S10 and a Vtec. My take on these:

VTec: Great car, great response and overall great package, feels good while driving also. However Vtec was ruled out because:
- Tooooooo expensive. The least quote i could get was 5.00 L for a 50K Kms done 2002 model
- Looks too frail and fragile for the power it delivers. (again this is a personal opinion)

Palio 1.6: Drove few 1.6 GTX and Sports. Were good -- felt equally good as the Vtec. However the interiors in each of the cars were poorly maintained and didn't feel like buying them. were available for 1.5 - 1.7 L (2002/2003) models. Even tried to get an S10 from Chennai, however didn't pursue that angle bacuse of the RTO taxation issues.

Palio S10: Found one at a dealer [2003 Model, 32K Kms done]. Drove it and just loved it -- it was love at first sight. Took my wife along and she also loved it. The interiors were spotless, ICE in good condition, engine in pristine condition, paint work in showroom condition, exterior condition excellent -- just a very very minor dent on read door and the left C pillar S10 emblem sticker missing. Decided that this is the car.. bargained with the dealer for the price.
Settled on swapping my Santro with the S10 (co-incidently, both the S10 and Santro are June 2003 models) and also getting 20,000 back from the dealer and also removed the whole iCE setup from my santro (will fit it in my Gypsy).

Took the S10 to Green Tracks on Hosur road for inspection. They charged Rs. 185/- for a thorough inspection & report. Said that rear left suspension would need work in another 5K Kms + Brakes would need attention. Tyres good for another 10K kms. Apart from that regular servicing.

Drive back happy to the dealer shop and finalized the deal that day itself and drove back in S10. (Though must say that my wife felt emotional when she realized that the Santro will be no longer with us and she was seeing it for possibly the last time)

PS: My rational reasons on not buying the Vtec:
In my opinion, both the Palio 1.6 and Vtec are good driver's cars -- each one is good in it's own ways.

• I would have had to pay approx 2.5L from my pocket for getting a good Vtec
• No doubt a Vtec would give me better mileage. However, in the next 2-3 years that I intend to keep the S10, even with S10 giving me 8-9 Kms/l and Vtec giving me 11 kms/l and me driving approx 15,000 Kms/year the Vtec is an expensive proposition.
• With an S10, I was getting an equally good, if not better car and that too a hatch and also 20,000 rupees in return.

I know of the Fiats legendry A.S.S, but what the heck, it;s a small price to drive the beauty of this italian 1.6 gem

Will be posting the pics soon -- the camera needs battery.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

ese:

VTec: Great car, great response and overall great package, feels good while driving also. However Vtec was ruled out because:
- Tooooooo expensive. The least quote i could get was 5.00 L for a 50K Kms done 2002 model
- Looks too frail and fragile for the power it delivers. (again this is a personal opinion)

. (Though must say that my wife felt emotional when she realized that the Santro will be no longer with us and she was seeing it for possibly the last time) .

A rational report

I must confess that a key reason for selling my Vtec was that i could get a good price and it was best to cash in. Agreed, it is very light and scary at high speeds, it is a great inner city sprinter though.

We all got emotional when it went but give it a few days and you will forget, unless you made a big mistake on your next car

Good luck!

[kutlee]

Good car and a very wise choice. Please post pics. I think S10 has an ABS too. It's a rocket with great exhaust. Expect travelouges from you in your S10.

[Surprise]

If you intend to keep for only two years, S10 is the best option given the price at which S10 can be purchased.

You have got only 20k upon exchanging your santro with palio s10. Always thought that Santro would go for far better prices than a palio

[srishiva]

Enjoy your new car.
Getting back money from the dealer for a Santro !! Hope the car gives you a good experience.

[i_see]

great buy........you will love every km of it...as another s-10 owner, take my word for it!

Originally Posted by kutlee

Good car and a very wise choice. Please post pics. I think S10 has an ABS too. It's a rocket with great exhaust. Expect travelogues from you in your S10.

S-10 sadly did not come with ABS or airbags!!!! the only shortcoming in an otherwise great car.

[zenopio]

congrates on your buy dude....any pics?????

[Jaggu]

Congratz!! Wise and logical decision. Take good care of the car and it will give you trouble free experience also.

[GTO]

Bang for the buck, a used Palio 1.6 gives the Vtec as well as most other cars a run for their money. Where the Palio is better is in terms of build quality (tank!) and high speed stability. But the Vtec will rule in terms of sheer engine prowess, long-term reliability and resale value.

You can't go wrong with either car. In the end, it depends on whether you want to spend 2.xx lacs or 4 - 5 lacs.

Congratulations on the S10!

[extreme_torque]

I am looking for a well maintained Palio S10 for myself... Can anyone help me witht that.

[gods-envy]

good descision buddy
one thing i felt was the cash back that u got, i thought u shud have got some more....

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by gods-envy

one thing i felt was the cash back that u got, i thought u shud have got some more....

Well, my the santro had some good dents & scratches. I had taken an estimate and it would have cost me ~20,000/- to get the dents/scratches removed.

If i had spent this money, I would for sure have got another 15-10 K extra than the 20K i got now. So in a way it was a zero sum game

[gods-envy]

oh! k k
So it turned out to be a barter system them

Anyways enjoy ur drive


dont forget to upload some snaps soon

[flyingspur]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

VTec: Great car, great response and overall great package, feels good while driving also. However Vtec was ruled out because:
- Tooooooo expensive. The least quote i could get was 5.00 L for a 50K Kms done 2002 model
- Looks too frail and fragile for the power it delivers. (again this is a personal opinion)

You got some pretty high quotes there! I've been looking at OHCs for a few months now, in search of a good A/T. And everytime I come across a VTEC in pretty good condition (no mods) it was quoted between 3.5 and 4.2 for anything between mid-2002 to mid-2003 !! Now what that means is either I'm right with the quotes, or all the VTECs I saw were crap !! That's why I am quite surprised you got a minimum of 5.00.

Nevertheless you've got yourself a cracking car there, and got some money back as well !! So all I can say is forget about the OHC, congrats and good times lie ahead !!

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

You got some pretty high quotes there! I've been looking at OHCs for a few months now, in search of a good A/T. And everytime I come across a VTEC in pretty good condition (no mods) it was quoted between 3.5 and 4.2 for anything between mid-2002 to mid-2003 !! Now what that means is either I'm right with the quotes, or all the VTECs I saw were crap !! That's why I am quite surprised you got a minimum of 5.00.

This is bangalore my dear friend. You will be amazed at the prices quoted by Vtec owners here...