[AkMar]

Presenting an initial ownership report of our Hyundai Xcent. Since we had a Swift before this, there will be many comparisons to Swift in the review. I am not an expert in technical stuff either. Please feel free to correct any mistakes you might find in the review. I would like to thank Team-BHP for the detailed official review, and CrAzY dRiVeR for his ownership thread. Both these threads have a wealth of information, which was useful for our decision making.

Since the last 5 years we owned a Swift VXi. It was from the initial batch of Swifts after it got K series engine. Except a few rattles & a stubborn noise from front wheels, there was hardly anything to fault with the car. It was serving us beautifully, and all of us were happy with the car. But with an increase in members of the family, we felt the dearth of boot space, as the rear seat could no longer be used for luggage. It was a totally unplanned change/upgrade - a casual mention by a friend that he is looking for a used Swift triggered the decision. He came over to our place, had a look at our car and the deal was done. It was a win-win situation for both of us. He got a guaranteed well maintained car instead of the uncertainty of the used car market. On the other hand, we are sure that our car is in safe hands for the years to come, and would be well looked after. Another advantage, and a major one - I can still drive the car occasionally if I wish to! With a heavy heart we bid farewell to the Swift.



Simultaneously, the search for our next car had begun. The car was not meant for daily use. It would be used during occasional errands within the city (once or twice a week) and for long drives. It would be mainly used by my father. Like all our previous cars, the running was expected to be low, so it had to be a petrol car. Other requirements were:

• Reliability
• Good boot space
• Decent passenger space
• Preferably good quality interiors
• Budget of 7 lakhs
• Should not scrape the ground on bad roads

With our budget, only the compact sedans came into the picture. Among the compact sedans, Dzire and Amaze were not under consideration. Dzire was out mainly due to its low boot space, oddball looks, slightly dated feel and lack of VFM. Amaze was not considered purely because of its poor interiors & overall cost cutting all over the place, though it has the best boot integration in compact sedans. So with these two eliminated, one Saturday we set out to TD the contenders.

Ford Figo Aspire:


Went to a mall where the car was on display. Car looked good. But we weren't allowed to check it out due to a photo session. The central console too was not to everyone's liking. I did not like the all beige interiors - the shade of beige was not to my tastes. From its images on the internet, the boot too seemed tad small. The petrol engine's reputation too wasn't that great. Hence we decided to skip the Aspire. The car is good, no doubt about that, just that it did not fit our requirements. The personnel took down dad's contact details. We did receive a couple of calls after the car's launch inquiring whether we were still interested in it.

We did consider the Ford Classic as well, but various factors like age, price (for top end variant), parts availability, the fact that it is a soon to be discontinued model & general unavailability went against it.

Tata Zest:

(Image credit: Team BHP official review)

This was a car I was really interested to have a look at! We went to our neighborhood Tata showroom - Wasan Motors. Ambiance of the showroom left a lot to desire. It was crowded, paint on walls was in a poor shape and in general lacked an upmarket feel. The sales person was very polite and seemed eager to sell the car. We were explained features of XM and XMS versions which we were interested in. We then went for a test drive. The TD car was top of the line XT variant. The sales person was particular enough to show us an XMA car waiting to be delivered, to give us an idea of XM trim. That was a thoughtful thing to do. Full marks to the Sales executive.

The car looked good, and fit & finish was in general at acceptable levels. Paint quality was impressive. Now coming to the actual test drive. We went for a 4-5 km TD. The rear seat was very comfortable. Ride quality was good. Interiors were of good quality, though there were visible areas where quality was lower. The all black doorpads looked way too plain-jane though, especially compared to the awesome looking dashboard. Gear shift was not as smooth as we were used to. The boot was oddly shaped, which meant that the 390 liters were not completely usable. The car had impressed me. If the decision was purely in my court, I would have probably opted for Zest. It was really VFM.

Hyundai Xcent:

(Image credit: Team BHP official review)

From the Tata showroom we proceeded directly to Sai Auto Hyundai showroom which was close to our home. A sales executive promptly attended to us with a quotation & brochures. There was no TD vehicle available. It was a Saturday, and we were promised a callback on Monday. Meanwhile there was a display car in the showroom which we proceeded to check out. Interior quality, fit & finish was very good. Rear seat was comfortable for 3 normal built adults. There was abundance of rear legroom. Even the mid variant was well equipped with features. We tried shifting gears in the stationary car. It was butter smooth - smoother than our Swift. We then opened the boot. It was h-u-g-e. Easily the best in class, and well shaped too. All of us were impressed with the car, but we deferred a final decision until a TD.

Monday came and went, but there was no call from the dealership. We waited for a couple of days, and then contacted another showroom - Global Gallarie Hyundai. The next day, a sales person came over to our house with a TD vehicle. Everyone was happy with the Xcent. The uncertainties of Tata A.S.S, niggles associated with Tata went against the Zest. There was a sense of discomfort in buying a Tata petrol car too. Comparatively Hyundai was a reliable option. I was a bit sceptical about the GC, but a BHPian's travelogue where he traversed all kinds of bad roads in the North East was a confidence booster.

Thus, Xcent was finalised!

Booking & Delivery experience

Once the car was finalized, it was time to decide on a variant. This was one area where I was really unhappy with Hyundai. The spread of variants did not make any sense. Base, S & SX were the variants, with SX being the top of the line. ABS was not available as standard on any of the variants. One had to go for the option pack of S or SX to get ABS. I found this extremely irritating. The SX variant had fancy features like reverse camera, chrome door handles, push button start/stop etc, but no ABS! We did not want these fancy features. Reluctantly S(O) variant was finalised, missing out on airbags. This anomaly of variants was later corrected by Hyundai (related thread). Our previous 2 cars were red. Hence red was almost ruled out for this car. Silver or Twilight blue were our colour preferences. Eventually Twilight Blue was finalized, as it is a different & uncommon shade.

We got a discount of 30K, along with mud flaps, floor mats & car covers as freebies. Final on road price came out to around 6.55 L, with registration at Vasai RTO. The booking was done on 29th May 2015. Delivery was expected around 20th June. The sales person was very co-operative throughout the booking process. We were handed over a Customer Docket containing all the info one can need, which was a first for us. Everything was systematic.

We were allotted the car, and made full payment on 16th June. There should have been no problems with delivering the car on the weekend that followed - 20th & 21st June. But from hereon the dealer experience went downhill. For 2 days - 17th & 18th, the dealer did nothing - car was not sent for registration. On 19th (Friday) there was heavy rain in Mumbai region due to which the registration could not proceed. All hopes of getting delivery on the weekend came crashing down. Then, due to unavailability of someone or the other from our family over the next few days, we had to push the delivery into July 2015.

Delivery Day
Brimming with excitement, We reached Global Gallarie Andheri showroom at 4 pm. Ours was the only delivery scheduled for the evening. There was a car kept under wraps in the delivery area. That was surely our car! We were greeted by the salesperson and asked to wait for a few minutes while he got the documentation. The showroom was clean and well maintained. There were almost all Hyundai cars on display, except the Santa Fe. In a short while the documentation was brought by the sales person. There was a spelling mistake in residential address which we sternly asked to be corrected. We were not provided payment receipts at the time of delivery. We had to literally pester the dealership staff to get those receipts, and finally got them after escalating to Hyundai. After making full payment, it was almost as if the staff had lost interest in the customer. At no point in time did they proactively try to address our concerns. They had 10 days to get together all the documentation after registration (due to our unavailability) but did nothing. Even after all this they shamelessly asked us to rate them 10/10. I would strongly recommend staying away from Global Gallarie Hyundai.

Nevertheless I had decided that I would not let these things dampen the mood & excitement of new car's arrival. After completing the formalities, we went over to the delivery area for the delivery ceremony. We lifted off the cover to unveil the car, and keys were handed to us with customary photograph. A small pooja was performed. The car was not clean at some places - we asked the staff to get it cleaned. We then drove off towards home in the new set of wheels after filling up at a nearby petrol pump. Thus a new member was now a part of our family.

The very next weekend, I headed to Sanjay Gandhi National Park to get a feel of how the car drives. A couple of pics from the National park:





Disclaimer: The motive of visit was not to push the car to its limits, but to get a feel of the car on relatively empty roads. Road manners expected while driving in a wildlife sanctuary were followed strictly.

Shining after her first wash

As of writing this review, the car has clocked around 1050 kilometers. All photos in the review are clicked using iPhone 4S & Canon EOS 550D.

[AkMar]

Exteriors

The Xcent's styling is rather understated/conservative. It will offend very few people. The car can easily remain unnoticed in the crowd. However it does not look outdated by any yardstick. The styling has far less influence of "fluidic" theme than some other Hyundais. When viewed from the front, the car can be easily recognized as a Hyundai. The face has that Hyundai family look to it. The car looks well proportioned from most angles. Some may find the rear to be slightly out of proportion (that includes me), especially due to the small tail lamps. Boot integration is one of the key factors in the styling of compact sedans. Xcent does well here. The integration is executed nicely. The boot does not feel as if it is stuck on later, and has a well proportioned look to it. Fit & finish and the paint quality is good across the car. Panel gaps are consistent too. However the build quality is no match for the Europeans. Their build quality is in a different league altogether.

On the front, a narrow grill with a large H logo is housed between the two headlights. Xcent's face is dominated by the large hexagonal grill in the bumper. This grill gets a chrome border which the hatchback sibling Grand i10 does not get. It is flanked by round fog lights on both sides. The fog lights get chrome rings and are housed in high quality plastic surrounds. From the side, the car looks extremely well proportioned & matured. It is difficult to say that it was originally a hatchback. Side profile is my personal favourite look of the car. Our S(O) variant gets 14 inch clean silver alloys with Apollo Amazer 3G radials. Black plastic mouldings on both doors enhances the look. The tail lamps have a wrap around effect, and extend slightly into the side profile of the car. Though these don't look bad, I feel that a different design could have enhanced the rear looks of the car. Number plate is housed on the boot lid, and has a chrome garnish. Only the SX variant gets a variant badge on boot lid. The lower variants do not have it. The boot lid has just the slanted H logo & "Xcent" badge giving a clean look to the rear. Bottom section of rear bumper is matte black plastic, which looks great. Parking sensors are a standard fitment which come in handy while reversing. Narrow width of the Xcent is more prominent from the rear than any other angle.

Overall, Xcent looks contemporary and matured on the outside. While the Swift had a sporty love-it-or-hate-it styling, the Xcent will please a wider set of audience. I'll let some pictures do the talking now.

Front face dominated by the large hexagonal grill


Front 3/4th view.


Side profile - the car looks most proportionate from this angle IMHO.


Tail of the car - not its strongest point in looks department. It also looks noticeably narrower than its competitors from this angle


Rear 3/4th view. Boot is well integrated in spite of the length restriction.


Lights on!


"Xcent" badging on the boot lid


VTVT badge on driver side fender


Up close with the headlight cluster. It is a rather simple design, with single halogen light, parking light & turn indicator


With the parking lamp on


Chrome ringed fog lamp with black plastic surround


Parking lamp, fog lamp & turn indicator switched on. Note that the turn indicator is not fully lit. The photo was clicked while it was in transtition!


All front lamps lit up!


The tail lamp


Some intricate detailing inside tail lamp to try and break the monotonous design


ORVM with integrated turn indicator


A closer look at the turn indicator on ORVM


The size of ORVM is adequate, and it offers a sufficient view of the happenings outside.


14 inch 8 spoke alloys, shod with Apollo Amazer 3G 165/65 R14 tyres. I like this design. It seems the same as older i20 alloys.


Our variant gets body coloured door handles. Top variant gets these in chrome.


Micro antenna for radio


Lastly, the top view! Of course it was not possible to get perfectly on top.

[AkMar]

Interiors

Now this is a vast section with so much to write about. Let me try my best to cover everything. The first thing that hits you on entering the car is the quality of interiors! There is no visible cost cutting anywhere. All the controls are easy to reach. The ergonomics are nearly spot on. Of course the interior is very similar to the Grand i10.

The dashboard is made up of a combination of beige and black plastics. The beige portion has a different rectangular pattern on it which looks awesome. The dashboard is set a bit higher than our swift. Most of the times we end up setting driver's seat at maximum height. The center console slightly protrudes out from the dashboard. Music system occupies the top portion of center console while air-con controls are below the head unit. Center console continues downwards right upto the gear lever which is integrated into it. Just ahead of gear lever, there is a closed compartment which houses USB, Aux ports and 12 V socket. Lid of this compartment opens in a nice smooth damped motion. The gear lever itself is of top notch quality. Along with its cover, it exudes a very premium feel. There are 2 cup holders and a rectangular storage near the hand brake.

It is easy to find a good driving position. A B C pedals are spaced out properly and are hassle free to operate. A dead pedal is not provided. The footwell is narrower than the Swift's footwell. Instrument cluster is simple and easy to read, and stays illuminated even in day time. Analog temperature gauge is present, Hyundai scores a couple of brownie points for this There are the usual tell tale lights as well. FE & distance to empty indicators are sorely missed in the MID. Brownie points lost here. However looks wise I think this instrument cluster is no match for what the old Swift had. The old Swift's font style, needles look far more classy than Xcent. Here is a comparison.

Xcent:


Swift:


The steering wheel looks great. It could easily have been from one segment above! It has XL sized buttons for audio, phone and MID operations. This is our first car with audio controls on steering wheel. I must say it is a very convenient feature. However due to all these buttons it is a tad difficult to reach the horn pad, after being used to the large horn pad of our Swift. We ended up pressing the audio keys instead of horn on a few occasions initially. Indicator & wiper stalks are easy to operate and feel durable.

The driver's door pad has the standard fare of controls - ORVM adjustment switches, a switch to fold/unfold ORVMs, a window lock switch and central locking switch in addition to customary power window controls. These high quality switches on the doorpad are a refreshing change from Swift's low grade switches. All 4 door pads get bottle holders. If one had to find some part where Hyundai has done some cost cutting, I would point to the rear door pads. Make no mistake-they do not feel cheap per se. But compared to rest of the interior, their quality is a notch lower.

Air conditioning

This variant gets manual HVAC system. Like all other parts, the air con switchgear is of top notch quality. There are 4 circular vents at the front and rear vents too. The AC is not an absolute chiller, but it is adequate for the car. Rear AC vents do help, but I feel the volume of air blown by them is less. The temperature control knob though has poor tactile feel. In Swift there were distinct positions/steps throughout the travel range of the knob, which are missing here. In summary, it feels like the AC will be just adequate for the car. During a highway drive on a hot afternoon, the blower had to be kept on speed 2 to maintain a comfortable temperature. Looking forward to test its efficiency in October/summer heat.

In Car Entertainment system

The car is equipped with a bluetooth enabled HU & 4 speakers. The HU is loaded with features, just like the rest of the car. It supports a myriad of sources - AM/FM radio, Bluetooth, aux, USB, iPod, CD and on board 1 GB storage. That is every possible source you can imagine, except SD card. The stereo has a fairly large display surrounded by buttons. Contrast of display is good, and it is easy to read at any time of the day. The operations are easy to understand. We haven't used the on board storage yet. Bluetooth telephony is a feature that will be rarely used by any one of us. However I did try to pair my iPhone with the system once. It was a hassle free process with nothing to complain about. The sound quality is decent by OEM standards. There is adequate bass from the speakers. The system is equipped with an immensely useful Speed dependent volume feature, which works well at "Mid" setting. We find this setup adequate for now. There are no plans of any upgrade in the near future. However serious audiophiles will feel the need for an upgrade!

Here are some photos of the interiors!

Dashboard as seen from front passenger door. Note the high quality steering wheel


View from the other side.


The center console


A closer look at the head unit flanked by AC vents on both sides


Head unit + AC controls below it


Closed compartment on center console housing storage space and the Aux, USB & 12 V socket.


A look inside the compartment


USB and AUX ports too are backlit. Fantastic attention to detail!


Classy looking gear lever is equally enjoyable to operate.


A closer look at the lever tip. I love its looks!


The steering mounted controls for audio, phone and MID


The stingy MID - has only 2 trip meters, vehicle average speed & engine running time indications.


Control stocks feel durable. Owner's manual has description for speed settings of intermittent wiper, but the feature is not available in India.



Headlamp leveler near driver door.


Controls in driver side doorpad. Mirror fold/unfold button, mirror adjustment controls, central lock switch, window operation lock switch and individual controls for the 4 windows.


Door handle & lock lever. I don't quite like these silver/metal finish door handles. This is one of the few places where I think chrome looks good.


The front doorpad. All doorpads can hold a 1 liter bottle.


Two cabin lights are useful to light up the cabin


A rectangular cubby hole and 2 cup holders in handbrake area


IRVM offers a good view of the rear


Side AC vent. Texture of beige portion on dashboard looks nice.

[AkMar]

Interior photos (contd..)

Rear AC vents. They can be completely closed.


Rear center arm rest


Rearward view from the front


The parcel tray


Like all other compact sedans, there is no cladding inside boot lid


Useful boot lamp. Initially when I saw it during day time, I was doubtful of its effectiveness - it appeared too dim. But it provides sufficient light in the dark.


Rear door pad. Note the rising window line.


Space
The Xcent is narrower than Swift, and this fact is immediately noticeable on entering the cabin. However that doesn't mean the cabin is cramped. The Seats have beige fabric which feels durable enough. No need for seat covers as of now. Integrated headrests in front seat look out of place in the cabin. This cost cutting measure should have been avoided! The front seats offer good support. Seat compound is slightly harder than the seats of Swift. However, Swift's front seats had awesome body hugging contours which I miss in this car. The front seats are spacious & their slider has a healthy travel range. Leg room at the rear is generous. The seat back's angle of recline allows a comfortable seating posture. However I think the rear seat could do with some more under thigh support for a person of my height (5 ft 10 inches). No, the seat doesn't fold to expand the boot. There is a center arm rest in the rear seat with 2 cup holders. The floor hump is low, making life easier for 5th occupant. On the flip side, the limited width of seat will make 3 well built passengers a tight squeeze in the rear. The best-in-class 407 liter boot can easily accommodate the luggage of a family.

Negligible floor hump. Dealer had provided crappy floor mats which we replaced with new ones. 12 V charging socket can be seen below the AC vents.


Best in class boot space. Dealer provided floor mats temporarily used in the boot. Jopasu duster as a reference to get an idea of the boot's dimensions.


Loaded boot - 4 medium sized bags, a medium sized vessel & a 20 liter water container fit comfortably with some space still left.


Fairly large glove box with cooling facility


Rear space: That is me in the rear seat. Sufficient legroom, with the front seat also adjusted in a comfortable position for me.

[AkMar]

The driving experience

Firstly, everyone in our family drives sedately. We rarely cross 3K rpm. So, my observations would be with respect to our driving style. Also, these are initial observations about the driving experience.

Engine

Like all sub 4m cars, Xcent too is powered by a 1.2 litre petrol engine, equipped with VTVT technology. The engine churns out 83 ps of power. Crank the engine, and it fires up real quick. Its refinement is excellent. While idling it is difficult to tell whether the engine is running or not. The power delivery is smooth, and the engine seems to have sufficient punch for day to day driving. Mid range has awesome response. Keep the engine in its power band, and it is eager to move! It will go about doing its job satisfactorily. All in all, it is a competent engine for a car of this size.

However, comparisons with the Swift's K12M (pre-VVT) engine are inevitable. The K12M felt relatively more rugged. We felt that this motor has to be treated slightly carefully. It was possible to start the Swift from a standstill without any throttle input, provided you release the clutch a bit carefully. Xcent tends to stall far more quickly while attempting such a move. While coasting in gear with foot taken off the throttle, Xcent tends to lose speed far quicker than Swift. IMHO, the K12M is a gem of an engine. Though the Kappa motor is good, I would rate it a notch below the K series.

I do have 1 observation to share, though. The earliest point of upshift is slightly late in the Xcent. Our previous cars, i.e. Maruti 800 & Swift, used to pull cleanly from 30 kmph in 4th gear. In fact this was the Maruti recommended speed to up shift to 4th for max FE (of course, acceleration was slow at these speeds). However the Xcent's engine sounds strained at 30 kmph in 4th. You have to stay in 3rd gear till 40 km/h. The gear shift indicator too recommends downshifting to 3rd at speeds below 40 kmph. This could be due to taller gearing too, I am not sure.

Clutch, Gearbox, Brakes
The clutch pedal is sufficiently light to operate, but it engages somewhat abruptly at a point in its travel range. The gear lever looks fabulous, and operating it is an equally joyful affair. The gear shifts are effortless & butter smooth. In particular, I find shifting from 4th to 5th a lot easier than the Swift. However, I do miss that "click" sound which used to accompany gearshifts in the Swift. Previous ownership reviews report that the brakes have a lot of bite. I echo this observation. But once you get used to the bite, it is absolutely not an issue.

Steering, Ride & Handling
The suspension is tuned on the softer side. Small undulations and potholes are tackled with a muted thud. The ride quality is satisfactory IMHO. It is not best in class though.

We are not the kind of drivers who would push the chassis to its limit. The car's handling is safe and predictable. Under normal driving conditions, there is nothing to complain about the handling. The Swift was much better in this department. The steering is ultra light at low speeds which makes parking a hassle free affair. With rising speeds it does weigh up, but still remains lighter than Swift. The feedback from steering is poor though.

With a full load of 4 passengers and a full boot (pictured in the previous post), the car has traversed a few rural roads in Palghar district which were in a pretty bad state. Its underbody did not scrape the road at any time.

To sum up, the car is not for enthusiasts. It will do its job without any fuss, but look elsewhere for that fun factor. I am not complaining though. We knew about this well before the purchase decision thanks to Team BHP and went ahead with the purchase fully aware of this fact.

I haven't yet got a chance to do a tankful to tankful FE calculation. However by initial crude estimates, the FE is somewhere around 11-11.5 for city driving. Another approximation have a figure of 13 kmpl with some highway running included. This is less than the figures of our Swift. I will post tankful to tankful mileage data as and when it is available.

[AkMar]

If you have reached till this post, thanks a lot for the patient reading That is all I have for now. In its petrol avatar, the Xcent makes a strong case for itself in the compact sedan class. It comes across as a well rounded package, with hardly any major drawback. I would say it is truly a jack of all trades. Finishing the review with a point-wise list of likes & dislikes.

Likes

• Matured, modern looking styling which will offend few
• Very good fit & finish on the outside.
• Excellent quality of interiors - probably the best in class. The cabin has a premium feel.
• Middle variant too is decently loaded with features
• Decent OEM music system - upgrade not needed
• Ergonomically sound - all controls are well placed
• Spacious, at the front as well as rear
• Best in class boot space
• Engine's awesome refinement! Does not feel underpowered either
• A true jack of all trades - has no major drawback
• Good packaging of the interiors. Ample space in the rear seat & boot in spite of 4 meter restriction

Dislikes

• Illogical spread of safety features when we purchased the car. This point is no longer applicable - safety features have been rejigged to more logical levels now.
• Not a fun-to-drive car. Will not suit everyone's tastes
• Small features like auto locking doors, FE & distance to empty indicators on MID and a powerful horn are sorely missed
• Dealership experience was below par
• Narrow rear seat will make 5th occupant unwelcome at times.
• Integrated front headrests stick out like a sore thumb in the premium feeling cabin!

[AkMar]

Smaller miscellaneous observations:

-The front grill (between headlamps) is not a grill in the true sense! It does not allow air to pass through it. The hexagonal grill below is where all the air flow takes place.

-Now this will border on nit picking, but I did notice slight rough edges behind the steering wheel. For most of the time, these will remain hidden from the occupants.


-An example of flimsy build quality - rear bumper. It flexes easily when pushed with my thumb.

-I personally think that these 14 inch alloys suit the car's character more than the diamond cut 15 inchers.

-The car does remind you of its narrow width. In our swift we used to gently release the belt after unbuckling, and the belt would fully retract itself without any issues. But in the Xcent it often gets stuck in the gap between seat and B pillar.

-Attention to detail is good. The power windows can be operated for some time after switching off the ignition. Helps to close the windows which may have been left open accidentally.

-Doors unlock as soon as the key is removed from its slot. Another small but useful functionality.

-Design of fog lamp has a slight flaw. Dirt gets splashed onto its underside. Initially I thought it was a problem with our car but I checked a couple of other cars, they too had this same problem. It is not easily visible. One needs to look closely to notice it.


-Windscreen washer nozzles are brilliantly integrated into plastic cladding ahead of the windscreen!


-Both front door locks are control central locking. Operating the lock of any one of the two results in all other doors following suit. Ideally only driver side lock should do this.

-If cabin light is set to "Door" position, it lights up when the car is unlocked using remote.

-A KIA branded belt


-Classy black folding key. Looks much better than Creta's chocolate brown


-Interior gets cool blue backlighting at night. Looks fab


-I went through some sections of the owner's manual. So many sections of it have "if equipped" in brackets that at times it is too confusing to determine whether this particular car is equipped with the feature in question.

-There is some logic that controls switching on the headlights. If I turn the ignition to "on" and switch on the headlights, they do not light up if the engine has not run since a while. Only the tail lights, parking lights & fog lights turn on in this case. After this, I cranked up the engine and let it idle for a couple of minutes, and switched it off. Now the headlights worked normally even with the engine off. I could replicate this behavior twice. Has anyone else observed this? I guess it could be designed to work this way to prevent battery drain.

-The first service was done at around 800 km. Nothing much to report from the service. It was just the routine check up & wash.

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[skanchan95]

Nicely writen review AkMar. Wish you many happy miles with your car.

Originally Posted by AkMar

-Design of fog lamp has a slight flaw. Dirt gets splashed onto its underside. Initially I thought it was a problem with our car but I checked a couple of other cars, they too had this same problem. It is not easily visible. One needs to look closely to notice it.

The same issue I had noticed in our Grand i10 and pointed out to the workshop. I was shown a few other Gi10s and Xcents which showed similar leakages. The design is as such but the water / dust does not go inside the fog lamp. Similar water leakage in there in the tail lamp cluster as well. But again, its not a cause for worry as the water does not actually get inside the cluster.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

The design is as such but the water / dust does not go inside the fog lamp.

Yes, that is what I meant when I wrote "dirt gets splashed on its underside". I meant to say the lower portion, from the outside.

[S2!!!]

What a fantastic review! Brilliant attention to detail too. Loved reading the review

As you correctly mentioned, the K12M motor is a gem but I'd rate the Kappa2 quite close to it. Reason, it has this peaky, push you to the seat kinda feeling once you cross 1,800 rpm. I'd say both are almost as silent, but I loved the engine note at higher RPMs in the K12M, which incidentally felt more comfortable at higher RPMs than the Kappa2.

I had suggested my friend to consider the Zest but just before he entered the Tata showroom, he checked out the Xcent and that one drive was enough for him to book the Xcent immediately. While he liked the Zest, he found 100 excuses to pick the Xcent . I won't blame him though. All in all, the Xcent is an absolute value pick in the compact sedan segment. Even the Aspire never gave me that feeling of quality which the Xcent offers.

[Aakarsh]

Congratulations for the Xcent. Wish you a safe and hassle free ownership. Really a brilliant review. You have very keenly mentioned each and everything about the vehicle and your experiances. Xcent in this particular colour looks really nice to me.

Regards
Aakarsh

[roby.thomas]

Congratulations AkMar, well written review and professional photos !

I did search around for your ownership report a while back, but it's now that I saw it listed.

[dheepak10]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Silver or Twilight blue were our colour preferences. Eventually Twilight Blue was finalized, as it is a different & uncommon shade.

Congratulations on your purchase. Twilight Blue is a nice color indeed.
My wife and I also have finalised Xcent for now after TDing quite a good number of cars. We feel that it is a truely VFM car.
Unfortunately, I have to travel out of the country for 3 months and hence will have to make the purchase decision only in January.
On the plus side, it gives us time to finalize the color - My choice is Twilight Blue and my wife's is Passion Red

[batterylow]

Congratulations AkMar, the sheer number of feel good features that Hyundai provides is unrivaled in India.

Cheers and drive safe!