[adithya016]

Originally Posted by vinjosep

0 Dep Insurance – 20998 (saved 13K by taking directly from the insurer)

Hey vinjosep, from which insurer did you get the insurance? Booked the Elite i20 Asta CRDI on Monday and the dealer has given me a quote of Rs.32350 for 0 dep insurance.

Also, is there any disadvantage of getting the insurance done outside ?

[vinjosep]

Originally Posted by adithya016

Hey vinjosep, from which insurer did you get the insurance? Booked the Elite i20 Asta CRDI on Monday and the dealer has given me a quote of Rs.32350 for 0 dep insurance.

Also, is there any disadvantage of getting the insurance done outside ?

Sorry for the delayed reply. New year and all, was busy adding miles

I went with ICICI Lombard. Checked with them in person as well as online and the quote was satisfactory. The best quote was from Tata AIG. However there was a delay from their end to get the covering note to me in time. Since I had an urgency and could not wait, I went with ICICI. Still saved a decent amount.

Only point I checked is whether the insurer has any a cashless tie-up with a service centre in Bangalore. This is listed in their website.

Cashless repairs is the only advantage (supposedly) you get by going with the dealer for your car insurance.

In other news, I will be crossing 10K on the car sometime tomorrow morning .

[adithya016]

Originally Posted by vinjosep

Sorry for the delayed reply. New year and all, was busy adding miles

I went with ICICI Lombard. Checked with them in person as well as online and the quote was satisfactory. The best quote was from Tata AIG. However there was a delay from their end to get the covering note to me in time. Since I had an urgency and could not wait, I went with ICICI. Still saved a decent amount.

Only point I checked is whether the insurer has any a cashless tie-up with a service centre in Bangalore. This is listed in their website.

Cashless repairs is the only advantage (supposedly) you get by going with the dealer for your car insurance.

In other news, I will be crossing 10K on the car sometime tomorrow morning .

Thanks for the the information !! I will look out for the best quotes.

10K kms in about 3 months That's terrific.. Congrats

[vinjosep]

A short update on the 10K service.

So crossed the 10K mark during the week. Didn't waste time to get the associated service done. The car went in today at 9AM and was handed back by 5PM.

I had only one major grouse - high beams are useless for my needs. The service guys have claimed to have adjusted the headlamp motors to rectify the problem. Yet to confirm if it's indeed true.

Total cost:

Oil - 1370.00
Oil filter - 363.70
Consumables - 154.60
Windshield washer - 16.00

I also insisted on changing the air filter which added 280.30 INR to the above.
Wheel balancing & weights plus tyre rotation costed another 1377.20 INR.

The final amount was 4146 considering the taxes.

How is the car so far as a whole? Awesome! We are enjoying every moment with it.

Will try to add a detailed experience over the weekend, coz there are a few minor irritants like the design of the AC vents in the centre of the dash. Also a few pleasant discoveries...

Fuel efficiency has settled to 17km/l for city drives. The highway figures are in the range of 18-20 km/l (fluctuation is because of the route & speeds )

[dvv]

Hi vinjosep, thank you for the wonderfully witty review. I've also booked the i20, albeit the ASTA petrol variant in the same star dust grey color. One your pics in the review made me decide that this is the color I should pick.

Originally Posted by vinjosep

I also insisted on changing the air filter which added 280.30 INR to the above.
Wheel balancing & weights plus tyre rotation costed another 1377.20 INR.

The air filter that you have changed, is that the a/c filter? Reason for asking is when I asked the sales consultant regarding the air filter during the test drive, he was clueless regarding it and just went on to explain regarding the air ionizer. Didn't bother asking him any further regarding it since there seemed to be no point. Does the car come with the a/c filter by default or should we get it fitted separately?

Also, did you try ask outside regarding the cost of the wheel balancing & tyre rotation outside before having it done at the service center?

Drive safe.
dvv

[vinjosep]

Originally Posted by dvv

Hi vinjosep, thank you for the wonderfully witty review. I've also booked the i20, albeit the ASTA petrol variant in the same star dust grey color. One your pics in the review made me decide that this is the color I should pick.

The air filter that you have changed, is that the a/c filter? Reason for asking is when I asked the sales consultant regarding the air filter during the test drive, he was clueless regarding it and just went on to explain regarding the air ionizer. Didn't bother asking him any further regarding it since there seemed to be no point. Does the car come with the a/c filter by default or should we get it fitted separately?

Also, did you try ask outside regarding the cost of the wheel balancing & tyre rotation outside before having it done at the service center?

Drive safe.
dvv

Thanks dvv. Glad to know this helped.

No, am not referring to the AC air filter, but the regular engine air intake filter. The ACC air filter is sort of a mesh which is in the glove-box. It can be taken out and cleaned at wish. However I believe its not a pollen filter. I will take a snap and add it here.

I had not done anything with the tyres ever since I bought the car. Hence did not want to wait further, so grudgingly agreed to part with the money at the service centre. Yes, am sure the cost would be comparatively less in a regular shop. Out of the mentioned cost, 1000 INR was termed as labour charges.

[vinjosep]

Crossing 12500 km today. No major irritants, touchwood.

Yet to find that "elusive" time for writing a "story so far". Maybe this weekend, if time & wife permits, that is..

[vinjosep]

The ODO now reads 13355 km or so...

I have attempted to sum up the experience so far, below. Loosely (read shamelessly) inspired by S2!!'s observations..

What I like:

• All-rounded package in a pleasing European design & traits. Brings a smile everytime I drive the car, as well when I walk away having parked it. Wifey is happy that am happy
• Spacious interiors with outstanding quality, fit and finish. Practical 285 liter boot with a light
• 1.4L diesel has excellent driveability, refinement (very low NVH), performance & fuel economy. 6-speed gearbox is smooth; the gearshifts are short and "clicks" into the relevant gates.
• Mature suspension offers a comfortable ride and neutral handling characteristics; moderate potholes are dismissed with aplomb at low speeds; excellent high speed stability (never feels nervous at 3 digit speeds)
• Hyundai's fuss-free ownership experience & excellent after-sales-service so far
• Loaded with many well thought out features & gizmos ( apart from the 16" rims, keyless entry & go, 8-speaker stereo, rake & reach steering, rear air-con, reversing cam, cooled glovebox), will elaborate shortly on those that I found good.
• Good braking poweress adding to the overall driving experience
• Excellent GC; almost all speed breakers encountered on Bangalore roads dismissed with ease.

What I don't like:

• Missing equipment : sunroof, projector headlamps, alloy wheel for the spare tyre
• No fuel-efficiency indicator, auto-locking doors or height-adjustable seatbelts on any variant
• Glovebox is not spacious enough for our needs.
• Armrest becomes incrementally un-useful if one raises the height of the driver seat
• Body-roll evident on bad/ really uneven roads at low speeds
• Turbo-lag evident in the 2nd gear is an irritant at times

Fuel efficiency has been a consistent 17-18kmpl for both the city and highway drives (aggressive to an extent, the style of driving, i mean) with the A/C switched on at all the times.




Eye-candy: at the Muzhuppilangad drive-in beach

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by vinjosep

The ODO now reads 13355 km or so...

Eye-candy: at the Muzhuppilangad drive-in beach

Congrats on the "Mile-munching" drives vinjosep, you really seem to be living up to the phrase "Live-To-Drive" !!

Oh and by the way .

Were you by any chance driving on the Bangalore-Mangalore Highway last weekend ?

I was there and encountered an Elite I20 CRDi in the same shade. This 1.4 CRDi is quite capable of high speed runs and he was tailing me constantly.

I just love the Elite Design and IMO the biggest flaw is the removal of rear disc brakes. Ironically, this apparently has removed the jittery feeling on the car on hard braking.

[vinjosep]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Congrats on the "Mile-munching" drives vinjosep, you really seem to be living up to the phrase "Live-To-Drive" !!

Were you by any chance driving on the Bangalore-Mangalore Highway last weekend ?

I was there and encountered an Elite I20 CRDi in the same shade. This 1.4 CRDi is quite capable of high speed runs and he was tailing me constantly.

I just love the Elite Design and IMO the biggest flaw is the removal of rear disc brakes. Ironically, this apparently has removed the jittery feeling on the car on hard braking.

Thanks. Have around 30km drive to the office, so munching miles is kinda part of the job . The whole idea was to make this commute fun & bearable. The car does justice to this requirement.

I wasn't enroute to Mangalore recently, am currently content in terrorizing Bangalore roads. Didn't venture out of town for nearly a month now. Speeds above 100kmph is easy considering the 6th gear is just above 2K rpm at that point. My top speed in this car has been much much above that... and I found the car to be absolutely at ease with maintaining those speeds. Didn't feel strained and very low NVH.

The brakes, well, is a debatable topic. I find its performance good enough even though the rear brakes are drum. No nervous moments at all at high speeds.

[vinjosep]

The service experience (9/10)

Where: Trident Hyundai the Hosur road, B'lore

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Her: "So you are here for the first free service of the car, huh?"
Me: Uhh..mm.. no. but for the second free service
Her: *frowning* "You said it was an Elite i20..?!"
Me: Yes. Asta CRDI, to be exact.
Her: *brimming with patience* "Ahh. let me correct you Sir, its the first free service, Elite i20 you see"
Me: ok. The booklet here says second free service at 10,000km..
Her: "Ohh.. *rolls her eyes at her colleague - we have a nutjob in the house* Please wait while we get your SA to you".

The "her" was the lady who received me for the car's second service at 10K km. I don't blame her at all. I guess I do border on the insane when it comes to adding to the odo. Precisely the reason why we wanted a diesel car.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have given the cost breakup a few posts above; total cost for service so far has been 4146 INR out of which 560 odd was coz I insisted on changing the air filter as well as bought a spare.

No add-on services were forced on me.

Also purchased the 3rd year extended warranty (upto 60,000 kms) which made the pocket lighter by 9301 INR. Am told this has since then become dearer by another one grand or so.


"I had only one major grouse - high beams are useless for my needs. The service guys have claimed to have adjusted the headlamp motors to rectify the problem"

And they did walk the talk. I now got back a cross-eyed car! Evidently the high beams were too high pointing in the wrong direction. Made sure the Service Head and my SA made a note of my concern. They wanted me to drop the car at my convenience the next day.

I landed back at the service center a month later to get the problem due attention. Had a long drive coming up and wanted to make sure this wasn't an irritant.

This time around it was just a five minute affair after I shook hands with the service head. Got two experts to play with/rotate the adjustment screw on the HL motor assembly and the beams were set as I wanted 'em to be. The headlights now seem to do the job for me. <I would still like to have those sweet projector setup which the Euro version has... ::sigh::>




The screw for HL adjustment highlighted in the pics above.

[vinjosep]

Update:

Was just switching on the car to start the tedious journey back home (from the office) when I glanced at the odo. It was at 14,000 km, which meant it was past the mark by the time I reached home.

Have observed lately that the car feels more eager in all gears except 2nd. Maybe I have now adapted to the car better. Lag in 2nd though is evident, even if the turbo seems to kick in earlier than the 2K.

Also bought the fourth year/ 80,000km extended warranty. Made the pocket lighter by almost 12K rupees. Combined 3rd & 4th year extended warranty comes to 19K & change for the diesel variant in B'lore. I had to dish out nearly 2K extra since I bought them separately - not fair, me thinks.

The light steering and the clutch are definitely welcome in the city traffic. The steering feels neutral on the highway/ at higher speeds (90+). The steering and the handling definitely doesn't make one feel nervous at such & higher speeds, though the drive might not be as engaging as a few others. However the overall comfort and cocooned feeling more than makes up for that, I guess. No boat-like bobbing movement felt either, which I'm told was the bane for the previous version's suspension/ ride.

[kkkkkaran]

Im planing on booking a sportz option petrol variant here in pune. The waiting period is a whopping 3-4 months here! Is it that bad in the other cities as well?

And how well does the steering weigh up at higher speeds? I wasnt able to get a test drive where 60+ speeds were possible. I hope its enough that it doesnt induce nervousness on the highways

[toiingg]

Originally Posted by kkkkkaran

Im planing on booking a sportz option petrol variant here in pune. The waiting period is a whopping 3-4 months here! Is it that bad in the other cities as well?

And how well does the steering weigh up at higher speeds? I wasnt able to get a test drive where 60+ speeds were possible. I hope its enough that it doesnt induce nervousness on the highways

It weighs up perfectly as speed picks up. Highway driving is a breeze.

[vinjosep]

The car has just crossed the 16500 km mark. Will be crossing 17,000 km sometime during the next 1 week

Touchwood, no unpleasant discoveries so far.

Couple of pics just after it turned 16K km old...




I like the nifty feature provided for switching on all the reading lamps in the car at the press of a single switch. Highlighted in red:

We don't like the central a/c vents. The direction of the flow of air can't be controlled the way we would like it to be. We hate air flowing onto our face and often thats what happens. When we try to adjust the flow, we always end up shutting the vents. In comparison, Liva's setup is so sweet.