[ntomer]

Hi,

I've been driving a Getz for past 5 years, and have done about 1.2L KMs with it. I never faced any problems with it, and Hyundai *** have been great too.

For last few months, there have been a few niggling problems, which can be expected from a vehicle having done 120K KMs. So I decided to buy a new car myself. I drive almost 60 KMs daily so I wanted to buy a diesel. And since most of my driving is in Delhi's maddening traffic, I decided to buy a hatch.

So the requirements boiled down to a premium diesel hatch and I was almost sold on i20 CRDi Asta model. Today I went to test drive it with my wife and two daughters. I was carrying my cheque book to book the car in case we liked it.

I bought the Getz from Nimbus Hyundai, Noida and the experience was really good, so I went to them again. When I reached there, something was amiss, about 15 badly mangled cars were lying outside the dealership, and the overall impression was of a service center. We thought that maybe they have shifted their showroom to some place else so went to ask the security guy about where the showroom is. But it turned out showroom was there itself, though it didn't look like one.

We went inside and started looking at an i20, a girl came asked whether we wanted petrol or diesel. When I said diesel, she told me that there is waiting period of 3 months and whether I am ready to wait for that long. When I replied in affirmative, she said she will send a sales guy.

The person who turned up was exuding arrogance and disinterest. While talking to me, he was looking in all directions except towards me. At one point of time he had him back towards me while answering my question. This went on for 2-3 minutes; I told him that if he is busy send somebody else. He asked to me ask whatever questions I had quickly so that he can carry on with his work.

This blew my fuse off, and I had to raise my voice. This prompted his manager, Mr. Vinay Kumar (Team Leader). He apologized profusely for the salesman behavior and answered all my queries patiently. When I asked for a test-drive, he said that i20 CRDi isn't a high-selling car and they don't have it for test-drive. He didn't say that whether he can arrange a test drive vehicle or not. And since I was fed up with Nimbus, I didn't ask.

After that we went to Capital Hyundai in Sec. 63, Noida. Showroom was in much better shape than Nimbus and sales-person, Mr. Gaurav Sharma too was very courteous and answered all my queries. But even they didn't have an i20 CRDi available for test drive.

And Gaurav told me that i20 CRDi is a very slow-selling car, they get only 3-4 inquiries per month for the CRDi model and therefore don't have a test drive vehicle. He told me that in NR only HMP and Sunrise Hyundai have i20 CRDi test drive vehicles.

This was opposed to my perception, I thought that in i20, diesel is the one which sells more. But if what Nimbus and Capital told me is true, it means I will face problems in getting the spares for car and also resale value will be hit (since diesel i20 doesn't sell much). This made me worried. Till morning I was almost decided on i20, but now it doesn't look that good a choice anymore :-(

Time to test drive Punto and Polo.

Nitin

[car-dent]

this callous attitude of at least 3 different dealers towards i20 Crdi made me buy a linea.

[narayan]

thats right. i20 sales are more for the petrol model than diesel. But diesel sales are not insignificant. I think still about 30-35% of sales is from the diesel.

while you have had a tough time getting a TD vehicle, i dont see any reason why you should draw the conclusion - "lower" sales ===difficulty in getting spares especially for a Hyundai.

check out umpteen i20 CRDI ownership threads and get yourself reassured. go to HMP , take a test drive and book the car - its a very capable car..

but of course while at it, you should check out the competition too in the form of the Puntos, Figos etc

[KPS]

I would like to believe that North India is largely a petrol market. South India has always shown an affinity for diesel right from the Amby/Fiat day's. Fuel cost is high in South, Petrol @ 58+ and Diesel 43+

In Bangalore all the Dealers have TD vehicles. I have owned a i20 CRDi for the past 14 months done about 15K kms and very happy with the performance of the car. I would recommend the Asta which has ABS + EBD. Braking at high speeds is just fantastic.

Cheers

KPS

[ntomer]

After a long thought process I have decided upon i20 CRDi; but now don't feel like buying it. Attitude of dealer has really pissed me off.

Now I am again back to square one. But now I have included diesel sedans in my short-list as well. I have asked Avon to send a Tata Manza for test drive. At 7.8L on-road it looks hige VFM.

Nitin

[BuRnT RuBbEr]

tell me about it. I went hunting for a verna. and the only TD on offer was a santro. and the sales guy took 15 minutes to appear. such behavior, with a 10 lakh tag.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by ntomer

After a long thought process I have decided upon i20 CRDi; but now don't feel like buying it. Attitude of dealer has really pissed me off.

Now I am again back to square one. But now I have included diesel sedans in my short-list as well. I have asked Avon to send a Tata Manza for test drive. At 7.8L on-road it looks hige VFM.

Nitin

Hi Nitin,

Have you tried asking the dealers who have the i20 Td vehicle to send over the car for test driving. In case you find the vehicle fitting your requirement then you might book one from the dealer closest to your place after verifying the service facilities.

From your post it looks like you have been having the i20 on your mind and paper only but not actually Test driven it. Maybe after TD you might find it not suitable to your needs.

Suggest you to keep your options open apart from i20 and TD the cars instead of getting disappointed with Hyundai in total.

[ntomer]

Hyundai today sent an i20 CRDi for test-drive to my office (by Deep Hyundai - Mongolpuri). The car drives good, and I didn't notice much turbo-lag. Equipment level is good too.

Now essentially the choice is between i20 and manza. Both are priced exactly same. Manza loses on refinement, top-end performance and some equipment but is more spacious and has boot.

I will decide by this Saturday and book the car :-)

Nitin

[ampere]

If you have reservations between hatch and sedan, I would say take the I20.
Lesser rattles/niggles as compared to Tata.

[FlyingSpur]

I've been through this. I usually find whatever I want to TD at HMP in Mumbai. Even a Verna Automatic, for that matter.

[suhaas307]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It's rather sad to see how some of these dealers behave with their customers. Don't they realize that they're shooing away potential customers? If you want change, you could perhaps send a mail to one of the head-honchos at Hyundai. In all probability, it might help!

Your daily usage suggests that oil-burners make more sense. Try the VW Polo/Skoda Fabia/Fiat Punto/Ford Figo. All of them are good and worth a test-drive.

[SILVERWOOD]

Originally Posted by narayan

thats right. i20 sales are more for the petrol model than diesel. But diesel sales are not insignificant. I think still about 30-35% of sales is from the diesel.

No sir,i disagree with you.Diesel sales contribute not more than 10-15%

Many of us aspire to own crdi,but deter from buying because of the premium charged by Hyundai for the Diesel variant.The diesel engine of the Hyundai i20 is expected to give better fuel efficiency, higher torque, and better handling capability when compared to the petrol version.

The petrol variant of the Hyundai i20 is priced between Rs 4.78 lakhs and Rs 5.81 lakhs. The Hyundai i20 diesel version may well cost something between Rs 5.75 lakhs and Rs 7.75 lakhs.