[ramkya1]

Friends,

I have a 4 year old Santro LP, sparingly used for the last one year. It has done 20 K and is in excellent condition, mainly used by my wife. I am thinking of changing it:

1. After 4 years the maintenance costs increase.
2. Lost of scratches and small dents all around (will need 25 K to repaint and make it look like new)
3. Milage has dropped, getting around 9-10 in city with a/c on all time.
4. The car broker said I'd get only between 1.7 to 1.8 L if I sell it now and later resale value will be worse.

Will Wagon R give better milage with the Gas kit fitted in? Will it be any easier to drive in the city. Is it cost-effective to buy a one year old Wagon R and fit it with a gas it?

Need advise from owners of Wagon R and long term users of Santro.

Thanks in advance for help.

--Ramky

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[bhp]

i prefer wagon R over santro any day....the lpg option has made wagon R more vfm and some extra added features in its class...

[esteem_lover]

Wagon R...specially since you have had the santro for 4 years now. calls for a change (for the better). experience maruthi & you will not regret it

[bharanidharang]

wagonr any day.... but think twice before converting to lpg. do u need it ? how much kms do u do daily... r u willing to sacrifice boot space and a little drop in pickup etc

[prabuddhadg]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

experience maruthi & you will not regret it

He has a point there. My colleague has a Santro. I have an 800. Spectra Motors here in Bombay give me reminders for servicing even after four and a half years, and this guy has never received a single call and his car is 9 months old.

[satishfaction]

I also have a 2000 Santro LE which has done 50000KM. My advice is not to sell your car especially if the option is to buy a WagonR. If you are planning to shift the class (Hatchback to Sedan or Bigger Hatch like swift or Getz) then it makes sense. But otherwise, U will end up paying more money and will not get the differential pleasure to match the excess money that you might spend out.
The same logic is applied for LPG WagonR.

[DCEite]

Yup go for the wagonR. But in my honest opinion, there wont be considerable difference as far as drive feel is concerned. You can also look at Swift/Getz as a segment upgrade.

ramkya...
drove a friends wagonr fr mumbai 2 pune last week, feels unfirm. if a heavy vehicle overtakes nearby wagon r wobbles and can flip over. the santros i have driven dont have this problem. wagonr feels like a DABBA and road grip is terrible on curves. think 10 times before you buy this. i think santro is a better engineered car. .... fargo

I drive my car everyday. A lot of heavy vehicles pass by me but i havnt toppled yet. (touch wood)

[tifosikrishna]

Originally Posted by satishfaction

I also have a 2000 Santro LE which has done 50000KM. My advice is not to sell your car especially if the option is to buy a WagonR. If you are planning to shift the class (Hatchback to Sedan or Bigger Hatch like swift or Getz) then it makes sense. But otherwise, U will end up paying more money and will not get the differential pleasure to match the excess money that you might spend out.
The same logic is applied for LPG WagonR.

with you completely. If the car is in excellent condition, why would you want to sell it. You are going to spend around 2.5 lakhs in excess for the new car.... think.

[ravibhat]

According to me If you are looking for comfort, FE, Resale Value, Space then gor for WagonR and If you look at safety, easy city and highway handling, looks, quality, engineering then buy Santro Xing any day. Both are good vehicles, over all Santro wins anytime since very soon Santro LPG also expected.

Ravi.

[rks]

Originally Posted by prabuddhadg

He has a point there. My colleague has a Santro. I have an 800. Spectra Motors here in Bombay give me reminders for servicing even after four and a half years, and this guy has never received a single call and his car is 9 months old.

This proves nothing. My experience is the direct opposite. When I was in Bangalore, I initially had a Maruti 800. Not only did I not get any reminders for service -- the dealer (Mandovi motors) actually requested me to bring the vehicle for routine service only after it runs 5000 kms, even if takes 2 years to do so!! Obviously at that time Maruti was dominating and all dealers were swamped. In contrast, when I acquired the Santro, the dealer in Bangalore (Advaith Hyundai) reminded me every 6 months and insisted on service even if the vehicle had run only 2000 kms.

[danlalan]

definetly would chose the wagonR its maruti and its hell cheap to run...reliable and cheap spares also readily available.looks better than the santro and is bigger than the santro.

[s0uljah]

Though the consensus is to go with the WagonR, a few members have asked why replace the car with a used Wagon R? You dont end up gaining anything really !

Think of it as an "upgrade".

Santro - I definately agree regarding maintenance, cost. Car needs to be serviced twice a year and often the bills are expensive. With maruthi depending on the vehicle in particular you can get away with basic services and not worry every 6 months !

O/T :
Our santro zipdrive is a little over 4 years.
That said, I cried when my parents sold of my zen (mh410). Went to the extent of buying a yamaha and used that to show my dissaproval. Now this many years down the line Im humble to admit that the performance of the car is good and it has taken a beating and still provided us a great experience.

[rahul_intlad]

Santro vs wagonr a little too close to call.I think it should boil down to your personal choice to some extent.Now that you already own a santro you very well know about hyundai customer service,maintainance costs etc.If you are happy then no point switching over to maruti camp.One thing for sure is that santro interiors give you a better experience than the wagonr.

However test drive both vehicles and try to see how much discount you are offered amongst the two.

You should try and buy a model with abs is all I can say.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

with you completely. If the car is in excellent condition, why would you want to sell it. You are going to spend around 2.5 lakhs in excess for the new car.... think.

Thanks for all the inputs.

What I am confused about are:

1. Whether to sell a Santro which has done good job, needs a complete paint job, may be replace the bumpers and do an overall tune up and change the exhausts, max cost of about 50 K if done through Hundai. Down the line I can fit it with a gas kit; its going to run in the city only max of about 500 Km a month.

2. Or sell it for 1.8L invest another 2.5 L and buy a new Wagon or.

The heart says go for a new car (pressure from wife too) the head says revamp the Santro make it looks like new and ride it on a gas kit. We don't want to upgrade to a Swift or such car; we have a Fusion and use a qualis (sleeping in garage) of a cousin which is on call anytime we want.

I know the ride quality would'd be widely different in Santro or Wagon R, but the Wagon is a bigger car and more refined engine and maintenance economic.

I would be grateful to Santro owners for info on maintenance costs after 4 years? What about the LPG kit and how good is it and how much it would cost? How economic is it compared to petrol? Tnx.

--Ramky
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[drifter]

I havent really gone through the replies here, but recently having driven the new wagon r and the santro automatic...it has got to be the santro...the wagon r though much improved is no where near the santro in terms of comfort, handling and overall appeal...and if its your wife that drives the car then go for the automatic...

Drifter