Why I cancelled my Hycross booking & bought the Scorpio-N petrol AT

I still think Hycross is a very capable vehicle and I have high regards for it. It was just not for us, I feel.

BHPian Scorpi0N recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Recently brought home the Scorpio N Z8 Select Petrol AT. The story.

Three years back I and my wife had purchased a Kia Seltos HTK+.

We kept it with my father in my hometown. We brought here (Mumbai), my father’s 2010 Ford Figo (1st gen) with two intentions. I had left driving for some personal reasons for close to four years then, and was not comfortable in driving in Mumbai traffic. I wanted to get back to driving mode and my wife wanted to learn driving. For both these reasons, we felt that an older (and smaller) car may be more apt.

Three years with Ford Figo in Mumbai

In the last three years, the car has clocked more than 30k. It was a mix of chauffeur-driven and driven by me. Despite the car being 10 years old, it was well-maintained. Due credit to my father, who used to look really well after it. Further, during the 10 years with him, the car was driven only for 36k KMs and that too mostly in city. Therefore, the wear-and-tear were quite less. And the car was as good as new. In fact, when I took it for servicing at Kalina in 2021, the service advisor (who tested the car by driving) was throughly impressed and I still remember him saying, with a big smile, that “Sir, car to full condition me hai! Aajkal to aisa nahin dikhta hai itna purana car aise condition me!”.

To say that Figo served us well would be an understatement. In the last three years it got me back in driving mode and helped my wife to get her hands on driving. We used it for our daily office commutes (our offices at same location helped) and occasional weekend getaways to Lonawala, Khandala, Igatpuri, Durshet, Madh island and Matheran. The car, I have to say, is really fun to drive. Though lacking in features, it has the essentials right – a responsive and quick steering, reasonable power, robust built quality, decent space and fairly large boot. Besides, the fit and finish make it look classy and premium. The AC and music system were okay. Overall, lot of things to be happy and few to complain about.

Search for a new car and initial dilemma on EV/hybrid vehicles - initial choice of Innova Hycross

Overtime, however, the wear-and-tear in the car became noticeable (it was in its fourteenth year by then). There was constant noise from the tailgate, as if it had not closed completely, when the car went over rough surfaces. The suspension was also giving way and we could feel it. These started feeling more pronounced once we both (subconsciously) started comparing the issues with the refinements in Seltos; in which the drive was quite smooth. So, we felt that maybe it was time for a new car.

The main debate was whether to purchase immediately or wait for one or two more years. This was in the middle of 2023. We both felt that EVs are the future and by, say, 2025 the EVs would be much more acceptable on account of various developments - technological and otherwise. Further, TATA, with promises like the rollout of Harrier.EV and Sierra.EV, had given high hopes. For a few months we felt that may be we should wait till 2025.

But, as a compromise between EVs and ICE, we also started exploring hybrids. Exploring would be an overstatement as in our budget there were only two options – Toyota Innova Hycross and Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder (and their Suzuki equivalents). I am not sure, but some people said that MG Hector also has a hybrid. But, I didn’t bother as I have negative impression of MG on account of many reasons; the discussion of which may be parked for some other time.

Now, between Hycross and Hyryder; without a doubt Hycross is a superior vehicle on all accounts. Teambhp review of Hyryder also indicated some cons, such as lack of adequate power and limited rear space, which were deal-breakers for us.

We contacted Wasan Toyota, Chembur for Hycross and booked a VX variant before even taking a test drive, as the waiting period was high and there was no other option in hybrid segment. Subsequently, Wasan arraged a VX for test drive and we were impressed with the light and quick steering, excellent manoeuvrability despite the size, comfortable seating in all rows (even the rear one) and the fuel economy. We booked the vehicle in August, 2023 and were promised delivery around January, 2024.

After booking the vehicle, however, we started having second thoughts. First, Toyota is charging a premium of about ₹ 7 to 8 lakhs between the GX and VX variants; effectively, the premium for a hybrid engine over normal petrol engine. We started feeling that somehow this is not fair on the part of Toyota to charge about a fourth of vehicle price just for hybrid technology. It may be noted that low fuel economy was not a concern for us as our running was expected to be within 10k KMs a year. Financially, a GX variant would have made all the sense for us. But, once you go for a normal petrol engine, it would no more be only Hycross under consideration.

Second, within only a few months of launch more than half the Hycross which I was seeing on roads were with yellow number plates. This might not bother some, but it did to me. Further, I somehow was not comfortable with Toyota and Suzuki rebranding the same vehicle. Don’t get me wrong, Invicto is a very good vehicle. But, I felt it was somehow diluting the pride of owning a Toyota. Anyway, all this is subjective and I am just voicing out my thought process. I am well aware that many will not agree with all these. But, if you are paying above 30L for a car (which for us was a stretch), there should be a peace of mind and strong conviction.

These manifested when Wasan called us in October conveying that the vehicle had been allocated and that if we were interested we could take delivery in November. I discussed with my wife, and we felt that maybe we should wait till January as agreed earlier. There were some other issues which were going on in our lives and we were more focussed on sorting those out and it did made sense for us to wait a few months. The same was conveyed to Wasan. I think Wasan sales executive sensed that we might not be interested.

Scorpio N selected - test drive and booking experience

One fine day in first week of March, 2024 I contacted Mahindra for a test drive for Scorpio N. We did not consider any other vehicle – did not strongly feel much about Harrier, Safari (lost its DNA by some accounts; see Vikrant Singh's review) and XUV 700 (which did not grow on me). Negative impression of MG (as stated before). Hyryder already dismissed. Already have Seltos. So, it seemed like nothing else will do!

I had passively followed the launch of Scorpio N and had seen some on road. I think the vehicle grew on me with time. Scorpio was a brand which I had always admired, albeit it never occurred to me that I would be owning one some day!

Ejaz from NBS International, Chowpatty reached out and brought the test vehicle the next weekend. The colour was deep forest, which we wanted to see. We were both very impressed with such a handsome looking vehicle. The test drive went on smoothly. We wanted petrol variant and found Z8 Select (which was recently launched) the most VFM. In the next few days, the Scorpio N booking was done and Hycross booking cancelled.

At this point, I would like to state that I still think Hycross is a very capable vehicle and I have high regards for it. It was just not for us, I feel.

Scorpio N delivery experience

We did not have second thoughts after booking of Scorpio N. Within few days, we got the delightful call that vehicle was allotted. As it was the last week of March (end of financial year), our employer was not processing loan applications and we requested time till first of April from NBS. NBS also did not force insurance and matched the price, when I showed lower price of Acko. Eventually, I took insurance from NBS only. In the first week of April, we completed all the payments. But, the new rule of RTO for BH registration delayed the delivery. For those who might be unaware, from February 2024 RTOs in Mumbai have imposed additional document requirement for BH registration. There was not much clarity on what was required. Eventually, our employer (a central government institution) issued a strong letter about service record, transferable nature of job and need for BH. This was promptly submitted to RTO and the vehicle was registered in a day.

Parallelly, after payment we listed out the accessories which we wanted – front and rear bumper add-ons, bumper corner protection, rain visor, comfort kit, sun shade, mud flaps, radiator & underbody protection, car cover and paint protection treatment (wax). NBS started the installation of these while we awaited registration. After payment and before registration, we requested PDI by visiting the stockyard. NBS was adamant of not acceding to request for visit to stockyard, but offered to bring the vehicle to showroom but also said that the vehicle will be returned to stockyard after PDI. We did not want to risk so much movement of vehicle as the distance between showroom and stockyard was close to 40 KMs (around 1.5 hrs in normal city traffic). However, when the vehicle was brought to service centre at Reay Road for accessories installation, I completed PDI and found the vehicle to be perfectly fine. While at the service centre, the registration was completed and vehicle brought to showroom the next day. Delivery was scheduled for a Friday. We went there with token gifts for all the staffs with whom I had interacted. The delivery went on smoothly and we brought X-pedition home.

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