[Bubby]

I booked my Elite i20 Asta (CRDi), Passion Red, before the launch. The car is in transit now and dealer has already shared the VIN number, car will be delivered to me in next 5-6 days.

[canonball]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

So the extended warranty is ONLY for (3rd) 1 year? Would have been nice to have it for 4 years atleast.



I think that says a lot about the product. No wonder Hyundai keeps growing.



Space at a premium? Even the older i20 has pretty good space in the rear. Looks like you are so smitten by Zest that you are NOT able to see even what is better in the Elite i20 (compared to Zest).

Thankfully your thoughts don't make the world go round Lol . Jokes apart, I am not smitten by either, impressed by the zest? of course yes. The previous i20 had a well packaged interior in-terms of space, the new one is big only on the outside not inside. I am we'll aware of the fact that zest is essential a refurbished or improved indica vista platform, and the i20 some other platform reused or ground up one can never tell these days the ingenious ways platforms are used and reused. I have been patronising Hyundai since the santro in 1999 and frankly they have positioned themselves at premium in India when they are not anywhere close the world over. For some in India this may be a novelty/poor mans premium car. I would rather go with more value and substance instead of a getup. I may perhaps be in minority as such concepts are not in vogue in our fully exposed media bombarded Indian society of showmanship.

I also get the distinct feeling that you may perhaps have yourself not sat in the new i20 since you are making references to the old one, just a guess

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

So the extended warranty is ONLY for (3rd) 1 year? Would have been nice to have it for 4 years atleast.



I think that says a lot about the product. No wonder Hyundai keeps growing.



Space at a premium? Even the older i20 has pretty good space in the rear. Looks like you are so smitten by Zest that you are NOT able to see even what is better in the Elite i20 (compared to Zest).

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Had a look at Elite i20 ( referred to as new i20 henceforth ).

The relatively boxy front end looks odd. Flat front bumper+grille, a relatively flat hood, looks odd. Hood is not exactly low.

The rear seat does not feel significantly better than Grand i10. Front seats are comfy, but very firm. I felt Grand i10 front seats to be more accommodating than new i20. New i20 front seat felt a bit narrow as compared to Grand i10.

Boot space is large for a hatch.

The plastic cladding on C-pillar looks odd IMO. I did not like it. Also,felt like a small hit will take it out. Rather, black paint would have looked less cheap than a plastic add on.

Sitting in new i20 felt a bit claustrophobic. Not so in my Grand i10. Hyundai, for the sake of aesthetics, has kept the sill level really high for a low slung car. Interiors did not feel airy. My grand i10 felt much more airy and also got a sense of relief when I was back to driving grand i10 after sitting in new i20.

Interior quality is very nice. But the interior A-pillar finish is similar to grand i10. Overall, not a very significant step ahead of earlier car or grand i10.

New i20 Spare is a steel rim, not alloy on asta.

Visibility. Not as good as grand i10. A big negative here as compared to earlier version. I felt the old i20 had lower dashboard and better front visibility. Grand i10 also fares better than new i20.

The sound insulation from outside noise felt awesome. Around 5-7% better than my grand i10.

No way this car can be a proper 5 seater.

My verdict :
If somebody wants a petrol powered primarily city car : out of Grand i10 and new i20, select Grand i10.
Buy i20 only for diesel.
Grand i10 does around 90% of what new i20 could achieve in petrol format.
Overall felt that grand i10 is overall more value than new i20.
And if you need better boot space with petrol motor in that price range, go for xcent.
The overlap by Hyundai is very serious.

Looks like I am not the only one here, the distinguished individual who responded to my first posts seems to suggest I smitten, duh! I think you have summarised it spot on. I too sat in the i10 grand in the same showroom and found it more roomier but legroom here too is at a premium my knees kept hitting the transmission cladding. Perhaps I am a 6.2ft giant what do I know. All the same we are not china so average Indian build is taller and wider. I must admit it is a decent looking car (better than the zest) can't see the value in the auto/top line versions

Mod Note: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD!

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by canonball

...frankly they have positioned themselves at premium in India when they are not anywhere close the world over. For some in India this may be a novelty/poor mans premium car...

I am NOT sure how many new generation Hyundais have you been in; but they all have class leading quality (sometime rivaling two segments above). If they have placed themselves as a premium manufacturer, they earned it. Sadly, in India, I am yet to come across (m)any manufactures (less than 20L) who offer that kind of quality in their cars.

Originally Posted by canonball

...I would rather go with more value and substance instead of a getup. I may perhaps be in minority as such concepts are not in vogue in our fully exposed media bombarded Indian society of showmanship.

You probably are the one who prefers "substance". Those prefer Hyundai would be those who love "quality/premiumness". To each his own.

Originally Posted by canonball

...I also get the distinct feeling that you may perhaps have yourself not sat in the new i20 since you are making references to the old one, just a guess

You are correct - I have NOT been in the new i20. But I am yet to read a post which says it's (Elite i20) cramped and your post hints it's too cramped, which is more of a first of a kind of feedback about the space.

Edit::

Originally Posted by canonball

Looks like I am not the only one here, the distinguished individual who responded to my first posts seems to suggest I smitten, duh! ...

I think I got confused seeing the below post.

Originally Posted by canonball

... This is the best so far in a Indian car since I got my license 22 years ago...

[RSR]

The reviews from the auto magazines are beginning to come in. Unsurprisingly, they agree on most points with Vid6639's observations from his brief test drive.

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-rev...ve-389943.aspx

http://overdrive.in/reviews/hyundai-...0-first-drive/

The car looks quite smashing in the darker colours. The new shade of blue is gorgeous and suits the design of the car very well:



The GC looks more than adequate (from the pictures). The wheelbase is long and the front overhang is long-ish, but these should be managed well over large speed-breakers by the good 170mm of ground clearance and firm-ish suspension.

LED DRLs & projector headlamps would enhance the looks even further, while a rear fog lamp would prove to be useful (especially in some parts of the country). Hyundai would do well to include these soon.

Which brings us to the big question - when is the Team-BHP review coming up?

Edit: That long antenna placed at the rear (carried over from the i-gen i20 and some other Hyundais) looks quite out-of-place on the Elite i20.

The good this is, a sporty Sparco short antenna is a perfect bolt-on fit and it costs somewhere around 650 rupees. Just unscrew the stock antenna, screw on the Sparco, and the car looks much smarter (and is more practical too - in places with a low garage door etc.)

[needmorebhp]

Has anyone been able to bring down the price of insurance? Here is gist of my 2 hours yesterday shunting on ORR(Bangalore) between Trident and Advaith.

Total on-road quote for Diesel Asta in Bangalore is 9.43lacs, which includes 8K in logistics charges(yeah they are still charging this and shamelessly advocating legality of these charges), 1K in standard accessories(don't know what this is) and 33K for Zero Dep Insurance.

The quote I am getting from outside (online/offline) is around 22K for Bharti AXA(Zero Dep).

Went to Trident Hyundai, Whitefield(KR Puram) yesterday. This is how conversation went after I mentioned that I'll get insurance from outside:

Me: Your insurance quote is too high, I'll get it from outside.
Sales Rep(SR): Sir, we can't do that for newly launched car
Me: Why?
SR: Because this is a new car, insurance company will create problem during claims.
Me: Don't worry about that, I'll deal with them as long as you're not causing any problems and forcing me to buy insurance in-showroom
SR: Sir, no one is forcing you. Insurance company will create problem so We'll not let you get insurance from outside
Me: Are you going to create problem or insurance company. If it's insurance company then I'll deal with them.
SR: No Sir, you have to buy insurance from us.
Me(Getting up): Ok. Thanks for your time.

Conclusion: Because insurance company will create problem because it's a new car so Trident Hyundai will not let me buy insurance from outside. Easy to conclude who will create problems.

Next Stop Advaith Hyundai(Near Passport office, Opp Intel campus on ORR, Devarabeesanahalli). Same conversation. They say they will check with their Insurance rep and see if he can lower the premium otherwise I can buy from outside.

Insurance guy calls, basically telling me that he will not lower premium (because it's a new car and if not me, next guy will pay the same amount). Now I need to talk to Advaith once again to see if they are still 'letting' me buy insurance on my own.

Another thing to note. Booking charges at Trident are 10K and 25K(cancellation Rs 250) at Advaith

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by needmorebhp

Now I need to talk to Advaith once again to see if they are still 'letting' me buy insurance on my own.

Another thing to note. Booking charges at Trident are 10K and 25K(cancellation Rs 250) at Advaith

If they create any issues, just ask them to give in writing on Advaith/Trident letter head that you are not allowed to get insurance from outside and you need to take it from them only else claims will be an issue. Tell them you plan to get this confirmed directly with Hyundai and then take it up with the IRDA that a dealer is not letting you get your own insurance.

I did the same with Ford and they grudgingly obliged saying we cant give a letter so please get your own insurance.

[needmorebhp]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

If they create any issues, just ask them to give in writing on Advaith/Trident letter head that you are not allowed to get insurance from outside and you need to take it from them only else claims will be an issue. Tell them you plan to get this confirmed directly with Hyundai and then take it up with the IRDA that a dealer is not letting you get your own insurance.

I did the same with Ford and they grudgingly obliged saying we cant give a letter so please get your own insurance.

Agree with all of this. I am a sucker for doing things by the book. This whole charade of playing dirty with dealers simply spoils the fun in buying a new car. I am in a bit if hurry to buy a car so I was trying to avoid all this. Have written to Hyundai to check on this practice.

Another concern is that, even if I get Hyundai Dealer to follow rules, the dealer or the insurance rep may feel s*****d over and may cause issues later on while making claims. Obviously, legally, he/she can't do that but he/she also knows odds of getting caught are slim so might as well decide to play the odds.

Will keep posted on how this goes.

[vinjosep]

Originally Posted by needmorebhp

Has anyone been able to bring down the price of insurance? Here is gist of my 2 hours yesterday shunting on ORR(Bangalore) between Trident and Advaith.

Have got a quote from Tata AIG, ~21K with zero dep & bumper to bumper. Also many of the Trident branches are allowing insurance from outside (think corporate lease ).

[RSR]

The Elite i20 does not have automatically locking doors as a feature on any variant, unfortunately. The Asta variants' advanced supervision cluster does have a user-configurable auto-unlock function for the doors, but no auto-lock function.

Surprisingly, the Body Control Module (BCM) of the Elite i20 does have an option to configure the auto-lock feature for the doors at a preset speed. It's the same with the Grand i10 & Xcent as well. I hope Hyundai service centres accept requests from customers to enable this useful feature on the Grand i10, Xcent and i20.

Even if they don't, if one has access to a suitably advanced diagnostic system that supports manufacturer and model specific functions, one should be able to enable this feature in a matter of minutes, through the car's OBD-II port. Attached below is the screenshot of the BCM's user configurable options.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by needmorebhp

...Another concern is that, even if I get Hyundai Dealer to follow rules, the dealer or the insurance rep may feel s*****d over and may cause issues later on while making claims. Obviously, legally, he/she can't do that but he/she also knows odds of getting caught are slim so might as well decide to play the odds...

Nop; do NOT worry on this. Usually the sales and service teams hardly have any connection. Once sales is over, those guys are NOT even in the picture.

[Amarendranath]

Been to Lakshmi Hyundai yesterday. Got to see the new i20. All the facts that viddy stated could be clearly seen. The i20 clearly wins in the looks department. The tail lamps are just gorgeous. Few observations:

• The quality seems to be better than the previous generation but no where near the German quality standards.
• The ride surprisingly felt good and better than the polo. It is stiffer no doubt but on broken roads felt supple compared to the polo.
• The steering frankly felt super light. It may be a boon in the city but it was not to my liking.
• The MID doesn't seem to be intuitive. Too many options to explore, but once i select an option all i could see is a go back screen.
• The alloys are just stunning. Beautiful finishing.
• The front of the shark seems more like an Bull Shark
• Got to drive it for a very short distance as it was heavily raining, i felt the polo to be more engaging than the i20. Going for a test drive once again tomorrow to test the car thoroughly.
• The linear power delivery was not exciting, the pick up and pull of the polo was missing.
• The rear seat is definitely a 100 times better than the polo.
• The entire cabin felt good. The AC was a chiller but this could be due to the cold raining weather.

Few shots:

[chncar]

Has anybody who had a chance to test drive taken a look at the underbody to see if there is enough protection for the engine/sump etc and other key underbody areas? If I recall correctly, this was a major flaw in the i10 Grand as pointed out by the TeamBHP review.

[scarlet.fever]

Guys I am going to book Elite i20 Sportz.
Any suggestions about the color ?

[prince85]

Originally Posted by scarlet.fever

Guys I am going to book Elite i20 Sportz.
Any suggestions about the color ?

Great choice of car and variant, Coming to the colour, since you seem to be a die hard fan of the Scuderia Ferrari, your choice should be Passion Red

PS - I was a fan too of the Scarlet team till about some years back when i got fed-up of all the politics within the team. Now i am a fan of the Silver Arrows works team

Cheers

[pgsagar]

3rd pic in post # 551 looks like mini Range Rover Evoque. That in itself is enough to pull customers ( those who like Evoque ). But 4-speed AT which may adorn this car, just like it has on all Hyundias shy of Elantra, is a downer.