Mods : I do not know whether to post this under what car thread, ownership reports thread or shifting gears thread. Since this post will be reviewed before it goes online for all to see, I request you to direct me to the right thread in case posting here is not appropriate.
This incident was in June 2009. I have been a petrolhead ever since I knew the first thing about cars. My dad's first car was a Premier Padmini, next in line being the 118 Nissan Engine, the third being the last generation Esteem Vxi still being driven by him. Most of my friends drive maruti cars and I had been brainwashed (and with good reason) about the reliability of maruti cars and petrol cars in general. I learnt a bit of driving on the NE (what a gearbox!) and there is something about driving a petrolhead car that the diesel (even the accent viva crdi) can never give me.
This thread is to tell you the funny story of how I ended up booking my accent executive while shopping with my friend for his shoes.
After being self employed for a short while I figured if I continued being self employed (especially since I was alone in my venture) it would take me a year or more to buy a car. Hence, as any petrolhead would have done, I got myself a job in a company which had a scheme for no downpayment loan scheme for cars.
Needless to say, the first thing I did after getting the job and a bit of where-is-my-life-headed haggling, was to settle down with a petrolhead car. Now the deciding factors for me were as follows
1. Had to be a petrol car (I know that you know that by now)
2. Had to be within 6L
3. Had to be a new car
4. Had to be a maruti car
The only option was the swift since the beloved esteem was not in production anymore. Although I needed boot space for a couple of guitars and amplifiers to be transported for my rock shows, I figured I could manage with the backseat since I would drive alone 99% of the time.
So, I decided
> After arguing with mom and telling her I cant buy a big car for snob value,
> After telling dad that if I buy any car, it has to be an agressive red or black and not the mild grey he wanted;
that I will buy a red swift vxi with abs from Kalyani Motors, Bangalore.
Being a geek that I'm proud of, I started my research on swift and looking around for good deals and insurance tie ups my company and the finance company had, drove around in every friend's swift, drooled whenever I saw a red swift on road and had sleepless nights researching on what ICE I should load her up with and what not.
But, as fate would have it, even after pulling every possible string using my company's name, my dad's contacts and friends' contacts, I was told by every maruti dealer that if I needed a car in a hurry I had to buy A-star(What a design!), Swift Ldi, or
wait for A MINIMUM of three months! .
And no,I did not want to even look at the ugly Dzire (no offense meant to owners, my brother-in-law has a Dzire, good car, bad styling).
So, on friday, I dropped my plans of buying a car for the weekend and hoped to distract myself over the weekend with some good music, good food and gear up for more research for a swift replacement. On Saturday, I read everything about the Aveo, Fiesta, Ikon, NHC and Accent on team-bhp, got to know that the jazz and punto are not in my best interests and browsed carwale for on road prices for so many cars and did not make any decision as I was too upset after having got so close and missed by three months. Blame my impatience, but do remember,
I changed my career path to buy a car and the car was making me wait for three months! By now, after a lot of consoling and advising, my parents had told me the accent is a good bet because its a big car which will earn me respect(?), and available in a good grey colour while I was still brooding about the waiting period.
Anyway, on sunday I went along with my bass guitarist friend to buy shoes for him to mg road. We usually park our bikes in the mayo hall building next to nagarjuna. I had gone a little early and so was walking aimlessly when I passed the hyundai showroom which was open (my luck?). I thought instead of waiting for my friend, I can check out the i20 or the getz. I was pretty impressed with the i20's boot space, dash (reminded me of civic) and all the bells and whistles although I was stumped when I learned the price which was IMHO a little too much for a hatch and just a bit over my budget. And then, there was a shiny black accent cng which was parked there in the showroom. I thought I might as well check it out when I'm here. I sat inside the car and I thought to myself, come on, wake up, this is what I want, a 1.5L engine, huge boot, big dont-clutter dash board, and the good old esteem-like door handles and low riding height for well under 6L. After calculating and comparing the running cost, on road price, handling, A.S.S, wow factor of Aveo, Fiesta, Ikon, Getz and every other car in my budget in five minutes, I had a decision to make. As my friend called again and again on my cellphone, disturbing me while I was brainstorming so much, I picked up and told him to come down to advaith hyundai. And, I asked the dealer how long this car will take to be delivered. To my surprise, he said "I can give it to you in a maximum of 12 days, white would take a long time- probably 18 days". After telling him my color of choice would be black, and threatening him with dire consequences if I did not get my car in time,
I booked it. As my friend walked in, he asked me what I was doing there and I told him "You know what, you are buying something in black, I thought I'll do some shopping as well, I bought a black car". The look on his face at that moment, and my parents face when I came home in the evening, and my face when I got the delivery, absolutely PRICELESS. Now, everytime I read about lukeskywalker's new accent from trident, the reliability and cost of maintenance of accent, I can only look back and wonder how suddenly I made the decision and not cringe one bit.
The things I miss because I did not buy the swift.
1. The Maruti badge which three other cars at home have.
2. The savings per month because of better FE (My average driving is around 1500-2000 km per month)
3. The dialogue which my friends already made up"Shanky bought a red sports car!" (Some said that when I changed my status on orkut to "Bought a new car not knowing I'd bought accent")
4. Storage space in the glove box, below the AC controls, and on the dash
5. Approving looks from uncles and aunties in the locality that the son bought a smaller car than his father (I'm tired of snob value stories!)
What I am extremely happy about in accent compared to swift
1. 1.5L engine with 95bhp!
2. No frills, old school analog meters with an easy to reset trip meter
3. Low ride height since I am not a big fan of the tallboy stuff
4. Weird and big dashboard on which none of my friends can keep their stuff, spill drinks or spoil the finish
5. Boot space for all guitars, processors, amplifiers etc., of the whole band and space for more!
6. Slick rubbery korean gear shift
7. All preloaded free goodies like mats, flaps, leather wrapped steering and gear knob, OEM remote locking, OEM ICE wiring etc.,
8. And most importantly, the happiness on my mom's face
If only I can maintain my black beauty in ship shape without any swirl marks throughout her lifetime I'll be the happiest man on earth.