20000 kms and the purple beauty is still young - Zen Estilo VXI LTOR

[Harry1983]

How it started: I and my wife wanted to buy a car mainly for shopping as it is hard to carry all the stuff on a bike. Neither of us knows driving. The cars I had on my mind were Maruti 800 A/C and Alto.
I went to Varun Motors, Begumpet, Hyderabad and had a close look at both the cars and Alto was not for me because I am a well built guy and space in Alto was not sufficient for me. Getting in and out was a problem.
Maruti 800 looked too simple with no style factor etc, and then in a corner there was a Red Zen Estilo for display which looked a bit different from the other cars. My first impression, it’s a peppy car meant for the youth. Gave a second thought, I am only 25 last year and that’s certainly is not old. My job role always makes me think I am an older guy than what I am. Asked about the price and the sales guy stated that
Zen Estilo VXI metallic on road was 4.05 lacs and they have Rs35000 cash discount and it’s till end of June
I came back from show room as I wanted to take my friends opinion (Guess Who? – Of course it’s TBHP). I did not find any negative comments on it. I decided to book the car as my wife liked the car very much.

The Learning Curve: In the mid of June I went to the showroom and booked the vehicle, the color PURPLE FUSION. This is one color I did not notice much in Hyderabad. The delivery date is on July 1st 2008
That leaves me 14days to learn driving. Remember at the showroom I did not do a test drive; I sat in the passenger seat when the driver from Varun took me for a test drive
Again I went to TBHP for help and read all the threads related to driving, safe driving, runin of the car etc. One of my friends has a ford icon and he taught me the basics and I got a hang of it.

Delivery Experience: Finally the day has arrived and I could not sleep overnight. We got ready and asked one of my office cab drivers to accompany us to the showroom as I am too scared to drive in Hyderabad traffic.





Freebies: JVC stereo with two Sony speakers in the front doors
Car comes with central locking and electrical ORVM’s

Must Haves:
1. Miracle Teflon coating
2. Underbody anti rust coating
3. Floor mats
4. Car Cover
5. Perfume

ICE: Nothing major
1. Added two more Sony speakers to the back door (Day of delivery in the showroom)
2. Changed horn to Roots dual horn recently as the car comes with a single horn and is not of much use on highways
Mods: Changed the head lights to Phillips Vision Plus after going through Team BHP threads and it improved the night driving experience a lot. Thanks again TBHP



First Long Trip: After going through the TBHP threads on highway driving, driving in rain, must haves on long trips I decided to take my Estilo to Vizag and it was a successful trip which gave me lot of confidence in me and the car. Many websites stated the car is for city driving but I proved it otherwise.

Note: I bought this car for city driving but the urge to travel and TBHP travelogues made all my trips happen. I do not drive my car to office as I get a cab and 90% kms are long drives
Trips done so far: (15 months and 20000kms)
1. Hyderabad – Vizag - Hyderabad(Aug08)
2. Hyderabad - Vizag – Hyderabad (Oct 08)
3. Hyderabad – Vizag -Annavaram- Antervedi – Dwaraka Tirumala – Hyderabad (Feb 09)
4. Hyderabad – Chennai – Kanchipuram -> Vellore -> Chennai ->Hyderabad (June 09)
5. Hyderabad – Vizag – Hyderabad (July 2009)
6. Hyderabad – Tirupat – Kanipakam – Vellore (Sept 09)
7. Hyderabad – Vizag – Hyderabad (Oct 09)

My home town is Vizag, that’s the reason for too many Vizag trips. On all the Vizag trips, the time was same as a Volvo bus if not better.

Vehicle performance: I must say I was amazed by the vehicles performance; I drove all the trips with A/C on 90% of time and the engine is very smooth. Maintaining speeds over 100 for extended period is not a problem. I drove the vehicle in all kinds of climates and it never showed any signs of restlessness. Gear change to reverse gives a screech sometimes otherwise the gear shift is pretty good



Servicing and Repairs: As I mentioned earlier, I learned driving on this new car and on the second day after delivery, I banged into our neighbor’s i10 while trying get out of our lane in reverse gear, result- a dent on the left front door. Got it repaired at Varun under insurance. The bill came around Rs 14000. I paid Rs 500 as insurance claim fee.

Pic with the dent:




As you can see the maintenance cost is very low (at least for me) with no minor hiccups etc.

Mileage: It’s giving me a consistent 16.5 with 100% AC in city, this is possible as I don’t use clutch very much and shift gears at the right rpm level. The problem is on highways also its giving me 16.5 – 17 except the first trip where I got 19. I probably know the reason, on first trip I drove in a speed range of 80 -90 but from the second trip onwards speed range is between 100 and 120 with a max speed of 140 which I did on Hyderabad – Kurnool highway. This again I found out on TBHP thread on mileage.

Conclusion: It’s a fantastic car for newly married couples like me with just two of us traveling all the time. My purple beauty did a great job in taking me to places which I cannot go by public transport. It a good car for highways which allows maintaining a nice cruising speed. As you noticed Team BHP has been the guide for everything related to my car. Thank you Team BHP

I will post my travelogues soon. I am a nature enthusiast, I desire to travel by the road less traveled and make my mark.
My purple beauty can’t take me there. I am already planning to upgrade to my next vehicle in a year or two. Any guesses?????

Last pic of the thread

[Dippy]

Very well written review Harry. You seem to be enjoying your car to the fullest. The purple is a very unique colour and looks nice on the Estilo. The car is treating you just as any Maruti would. Small, compact and reliable. A very practical buy for you and your wife. With the Estilo in your garage, you wife could take to the wheel too. Wish you many more kms of happy motoring and please do keep updating this thread regulary.

Your next car? I'm guessing its an SUV

[Harry1983]

Thank you Dippy. You are right about my next car. Its an SUV. You wanna guess the name too before I say it loud?

[Ramsagar]

Harry: let me guess, that would be Scorpio/Safari?
Any of the two would be great choice of upgrade from the existing one.
Are you expecting the change within this year?

[Harry1983]

Hi Ram,

You are right, it will be Tata Safari VX 4X4. I wish I could do the upgrade this year. However, I am not so lucky. I must wait for another year or so. By the way my estilo is only 14 months old