[ampere]

Originally Posted by sanspatil

I have narrowed down to the A-star now and looking at two offers. Both are 2012, 2nd owner. One is run about 25K and the other 16K.

Typically most AT hatches would have been acquired for city roundabouts. Hence its highly probable that the distances put on the odo would be quite low. That I think should not be a problem, as long as its serviced correctly (Just as Rajeev mentioned).

[sanspatil]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I think you should be able to pull service history from any authorized service center. Sitting idle is fine as long as it had been serviced at correct intervals. Some people say it has not run much, hence not serviced as per schedule. Which is wrong. If you are not comfortable after your inspection, maybe you can check if you can take it to a service center and get a full report. Not sure if Maruti does such reports. Some bigger manufacturers do it. You can also maybe ping the Bhpians who purchased recently and check for any AStar specific things to check.

Originally Posted by ampere

Typically most AT hatches would have been acquired for city roundabouts.

Yesterday I test drove the vehicle and I was quite happy with it. The engine, transmission, suspension and the tires all seem fine. Only the interiors looked a bit run down in comparison to the odo reading. Also this owner had acquired the car from True Value and interestingly the delivery details sheet from True Value (1 years 3 months back) did not have the odometer field filled out. The owner also had not carried the service record with him though I had insisted for it. This prompted me to visit a nearby MASS and check out the service history. The manager there was helpful and pulled up the records for us. It turns out the odo was fine and True Value had sold the vehicle at around 15K. The owner had claimed the car was purchased for his wife who never drove it so he used to take it for a spin only when he was in the country for the holidays. This checked out true after looking at the service record - this owner had driven a total of about 2K in their 1.3 years of ownership.

The only small concern that still remains is that this owner has never gotten a paid service done since True Value gave him 3 free services as part of the purchase and he has availed only these. Despite this I have decided to go ahead with the purchase since the condition of the vehicle is good. I also called up his insurer (Bajaj Allianz) who confirmed no claim had ever been done by this owner. We'll be completing the transaction next week.

Thank you @Rajeevraj and others who chipped in to help!

[adithya.kp]

Hi @Rajeevraj and other gurus,
I too am looking for an automatic hatchback. My requirements, It should not be very large. (so not considering polo, jazz, baleno etc) and safety/build quality. ( so not considering, alto, wagonr, grand i10 etc). I have short listed Ford Figo 1.5 Titanium AT, Honda Brio VX AT, Nissan Micra XV CVT and Maruti Celerio ZXI AT(O). I would appreciate if you could share your views on the above 4. Which one do you think is the best

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by adithya.kp

Hi @Rajeevraj and other gurus,
I too am looking for an automatic hatchback. My requirements, It should not be very large. (so not considering polo, jazz, baleno etc) and safety/build quality. ( so not considering, alto, wagonr, grand i10 etc). I have short listed Ford Figo 1.5 Titanium AT, Honda Brio VX AT, Nissan Micra XV CVT and Maruti Celerio ZXI AT(O). I would appreciate if you could share your views on the above 4. Which one do you think is the best

Among the 4 personal pick would be the Figo. Bigger engine, Dual Clutch gearbox, good feature set, good price (I think there are offers running too).

The Brio, although a peppy car is pretty dated now and sells poorly. In addition with the Amaze also getting the CVT from the Jazz and City, Brio is the only one left with the traditional 5 speed TC based AT and in the long run, not sure how the support will play out.

Micra again is a good city run about, but has been around for some time and the CVT is no match for the Dual Clutch on the Ford. Nissan as a company is also struggling to sell.

The Celerio is an AMT. If you have the budget for a proper AT, no point going for an AMT.

Personal experience in buying a Figo DCT (for my friend) did not go well and he switched to the GT TSI after 1-2 months of back and forth with Ford- Starting with Elite Ford and then with Metro Ford. So that is something to be aware off.

[adithya.kp]

Thanks a lot Rajeevraj. That is very useful. I had already zeroed in on metro ford. Because I presumed they were good. ( If I am not wrong, it belongs to the the same group as VW Palace cross which is right next to it. I had a good experience with vw palace cross). Do you mind elaborating that?. ( or PM me). If its about delay in promised delivery, then please ignore it.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Among the 4 personal pick would be the Figo. Bigger engine, Dual Clutch gearbox, good feature set, good price (I think there are offers running too).

The Brio, although a peppy car is pretty dated now and sells poorly. In addition with the Amaze also getting the CVT from the Jazz and City, Brio is the only one left with the traditional 5 speed TC based AT and in the long run, not sure how the support will play out.

Micra again is a good city run about, but has been around for some time and the CVT is no match for the Dual Clutch on the Ford. Nissan as a company is also struggling to sell.

The Celerio is an AMT. If you have the budget for a proper AT, no point going for an AMT.

Personal experience in buying a Figo DCT (for my friend) did not go well and he switched to the GT TSI after 1-2 months of back and forth with Ford- Starting with Elite Ford and then with Metro Ford. So that is something to be aware off.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by adithya.kp

Thanks a lot Rajeevraj. That is very useful. I had already zeroed in on metro ford. Because I presumed they were good. ( If I am not wrong, it belongs to the the same group as VW Palace cross which is right next to it. I had a good experience with vw palace cross). Do you mind elaborating that?. ( or PM me). If its about delay in promised delivery, then please ignore it.

Yes, it was with regard to delayed delivery and missing deadlines. Experience detailed in this post/thread

Metro was in any case better than Elite and were quite responsive also.

[sgiitk]

One issue is that almost all lower priced Petrol hatches are 1200cc (lower excise). I will love to see some Auto Hatches with 1400-1600 engines, or maybe with 1200 or less cc but blown..

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Metro was in any case better than Elite and were quite responsive also.

Yes Metro and Cauvery have been the oldest Ford guys in Bangalore. My experiences with Metro has been decent both with sales and service. Nothing out of the world, but decent and responsive (Had my Fusion serviced with them. And this was even before Figo came to existence).

With regards to Figo AT, yes one needs to be patient. I think the real reason may be the short supply of Auto box. They may not stock it, but get against build up of orders. One needs to plan for at least 2-3 months at worst.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

One issue is that almost all lower priced Petrol hatches are 1200cc (lower excise). I will love to see some Auto Hatches with 1400-1600 engines, or maybe with 1200 or less cc but blown..

The Polo Tsi is the only choice a 1200cc blown engine.

[TMRT]

I have owned a 1.2 i10 AT Asta for over 4 years and generally happy except for the FE. Conventional options such as i10 come with torque converter that gives 9-13kmpl.

I think Jazz would be a great option! My 1.5 Ivtec is doing far better in this aspect (11-16kmpl) and a fun to drive experience.

A TC sounds way too conventional. I would recommend you to go for a CVT. You may even consider an AMT!

Check out Rajeevraj's thread on AT under 10Lacs for detailed comparisons.


AT threads by rajeevraj

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/167755-automatics-under-10-lakh-otr-comprehensive-guide-now-baleno-ertiga.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/168164-automatics-between-10-17-lakh-otr-comprehensive-guide.html

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by TMRT

A TC sounds way too conventional. I would recommend you to go for a CVT. You may even consider an AMT!

Low-cost AMTs offered in hatchbacks are in no way better than the conventional torque converters out there

[TMRT]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Low-cost AMTs offered in hatchbacks are in no way better than the conventional torque converters out there

By"better" I mean in terms of fuel economy. TC's offer lower FE than AMT!

[sajo]

I took a TD of the Celerio and the Alto AMT. This was for my parents use, who are looking at a convenient AT hatch with safety features.
As has often been said , I found the implementation of AMT to be good in some areas (cost!) , while it takes a beating in driveability. The Celerio I TD'd in particular, juddered quite a lot in stop-and-go traffic , like MT cars do when we hold the clutch just at the bite point (half-clutch). Is this normal behaviour for AMTs ? The specimen I drove had 37k KMs on the clock.
My parents rejected the Marutis rather immediately , due to their extremely barebones (VXi) variants on display and the overall flimsy feel.
Next on the list were the Hondas. Liked the overall look and feel , but Brio is unable to make a case for itself at almost 7.9L rupees on road Pune with dealer pushed extras. Nor can the Jazz , touching almost 10L On road for the V-AT, though we have parked it in our minds thanks to the overall plush feel.
Have not checked out the Baleno yet due to reports of unreasonable waiting periods and resulting dealer high handedness.
Why on earth can Maruti not offer a proper (Not AMT) Swift AT ? That would make it so much easier for people me to choose.
Reluctantly , I am looking at the DZire VXi(O) AT , but dealers are actively discouraging saying that "O" variants are not in production at all.
My search for a reasonably safe AT hatch continues.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by sajo

My search for a reasonably safe AT hatch continues.

Maruti's AMTs are reasonably good (in the small cars) for what you pay.

I'm surprised you haven't considered the Figo and Grand i10.

They are good hatchbacks, Figo is the more performance oriented one. The Gi10 OTOH, focuses on comfort and features. I think Hyundai recently added a passenger airbag to the AT variant.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I'm surprised you haven't considered the Figo and Grand i10.

They are good hatchbacks, Figo is the more performance oriented one. The Gi10 OTOH, focuses on comfort and features. I think Hyundai recently added a passenger airbag to the AT variant.

I dont see Asta(o) being listed for Hyundai Grandi10 AT , even on Hyundai's own price list. I will call someone and confirm.



Figo has not (yet) being considered, because my parents are fixated on the two Jap brands only. We plan to keep this hatch for a really long time (>10 years).