[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by AdityaDeane

Dealers Offering Upto 10000 Rs. Benefit On New Santro (source)

About time! And I would expect these offers to go up. At the moment, the new Santro is overpriced for what it offers. Especially when one consider the offers in and around the segment nowadays.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by AdityaDeane

Dealers Offering Upto 10000 Rs. Benefit On New Santro (source)

What kind of benefits are these?

Normally on a new car that is selling well (or expected to sell well), no discounts or benefits are offered. And Santro is selling more than 8000 numbers in a month.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

About time!

I wouldn't trust that article.

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Normally on a new car that is selling well (or expected to sell well), no discounts or benefits are offered.

True. The article says - "The dealers are offering this as part of the year-end benefits on this month delivery.

Hyundai might stop bookings for some time as they are not able to keep up with the demand of Santro and waiting period is increasing."

These two are extremely contradictory. Looks like just another filler article as is the case with these blogs.

[AdityaDeane]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

What kind of benefits are these?

Normally on a new car that is selling well (or expected to sell well), no discounts or benefits are offered. And Santro is selling more than 8000 numbers in a month.

Ideally when the source article is hyperlinked, it is expected that the readers will click on it and read the article for full story. But for readers like you, let me quote from the article:

Hyundai dealers in Delhi-NCR offering up to 40% OD discount on Insurance as the year-end benefits on the newly launched Santro, 40,000 bookings received
Hyundai India officially introduced the much awaited new Santro in October and the company has already opened bookings ahead of the launch. The Santro price starts at Rs. 3.89 lakh for the base model and goes all the way up to Rs. 5.45 lakh (both prices, Ex-Showroom) for the top end model. The bookings for the new Santro crossed 40,000 within two months.

The Santro is currently not available with any discounts in most of the places but dealers in Delhi-NCR region are currently offering up to 40 per cent discount on own-damage Insurance. The dealers are offering this as part of the year-end benefits on this month delivery. Hyundai might stop bookings for some time as they are not able to keep up with the demand of Santro and waiting period is increasing.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I wouldn't trust that article.

What I wrote was based on first hand experience. We actively looked at the Santro AMT to replace our 2011 AStar AT. I drove it 2 times and the dealer here stated they will close bookings by 21st November or so for the 2018 model. And the booking had to be done online before that. But they rang me last week and said they do have Magna AMT in stock for ready delivery along with other MT variants.

Don't get me wrong, the sales numbers for the Santro for the next few months should look good. But I feel the new Santro won't see it's true potential since Hyundai goofed up a bit on the pricing and variant mix. We also have to consider the segment it's in and the fact that it replaced the Eon when we look at the prospects and actual sale for Santro.

[rohan_iitr]

I would actually be happy if Santro is not a runaway success.

This would force Hyundai to fix the minor shortcomings in the otherwise lovely car. The areas which need improvement are:

1. No rear head rests
2. No AMT in top end variant
3. No alloy wheels in top end variant

Rohan

[Mukund]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

I would actually be happy if Santro is not a runaway success.

This would force Hyundai to fix the minor shortcomings in the otherwise lovely car. The areas which need improvement are:

1. No rear head rests
2. No AMT in top end variant
3. No alloy wheels in top end variant

Rohan

To add to this:
4. No passenger airbags on lower variants

In this day and age, where other manufacturers are trying to push the ball forward with respect to safety, this is completely unacceptable.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

I would actually be happy if Santro is not a runaway success.

This would force Hyundai to fix the minor shortcomings in the otherwise lovely car. The areas which need improvement are:

1. No rear head rests
2. No AMT in top end variant
3. No alloy wheels in top end variant

Rohan

Or make dual airbags standard across all variants. This is the only reason I cancelled my Santro Magna AMT booking (The "I Booked my Car" Thread).

Finally settled with a Baleno instead.

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

I drove it 2 times and the dealer here stated they will close bookings by 21st November or so for the 2018 model. And the booking had to be done online before that. But they rang me last week and said they do have Magna AMT in stock for ready delivery along with other MT variants.

Don't get me wrong, the sales numbers for the Santro for the next few months should look good. But I feel the new Santro won't see it's true potential since Hyundai goofed up a bit on the pricing and variant mix. We also have to consider the segment it's in and the fact that it replaced the Eon when we look at the prospects and actual sale for Santro.

You are absolutely bang on with the explanation.

Hyundai has indeed goofed up the product positioning, especially the AMT. I don't understand the logic of not providing an option (at least) of a top variant for the automatics. Moreover, Hyundai has committed the crime of not providing dual airbags, parking sensors and rear camera as well, which are absolutely essential for new/inexperienced drivers (their main target audience for the AMT)! I mean c'mon, do they think the AMT customers are not worried about safety!? While most of the manufacturers are making dual airbags and ABS as standard across the range, Hyundai has taken several steps back, which is not expected from a manufacturer of Hyundai's repute who in fact was one of the first few to introduce 6 airbags in a hatchback!

I am looking at replacing my Figo with the Santro AMT but the lack of top variant, missing essential features and the price is what is putting me off. I'm not too keen on the other options - Tiago, Kwid, Alto, Celerio. The Figo is serving me well but my wife who is very keen to start driving now, struggles with the MT.

PS: I don't think the Santro is a replacement for the Eon. Hyundai might come out with an updated Eon or a new model with the 0.8 3cyl. Maybe bring out a variant in the Santro itself to go against the Alto?

[BoneCollector]

The Santro GL Plus we had for 1 year and sold off has now run nearing 1L kms in 6 years and still runs good. The engine has not been touched and has not undergone regular service. The car has numerous dents and all but mechanically seems fine. I hope the new engine also can do same levels.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

The Santro GL Plus we had for 1 year and sold off has now run nearing 1L kms in 6 years and still runs good. The engine has not been touched and has not undergone regular service. The car has numerous dents and all but mechanically seems fine. I hope the new engine also can do same levels.

+1 to that. I too had my Santro Xing XG, driven for 90K+ Kms between 2004 and 2011. No issues at all.

[paragsachania]

Some of the most sold cars from the early 2000s & "issues related to engine" never were part of the same sentence. In fact, this is true for any reliable entry or mid level petrol hatchbacks with a petrol engine doing duty. They run for well with just the regular fluid changes at regular intervals and that includes the Good old Santro, The F-Series Engines from Maruti (F8D and F10D).

I am yet to hear horror stories from those who have owned these cars. No wonder most of them still hold on to these car for their simple mechanicals and practical nature. They certainly wont let you down for lakhs and lakhs of kilometers.

[CarguyNish]

They say, "Some things Do Happen Unexpectedly"

That's what happened to me today.

Bought home Hyundai's latest Blockbuster and their iconic car 'Santro'.

I had pre booked it when I came to know about the feature list here.

On Monday, I received a call from my SA that my car (Asta - Imperial Beige) is on the way, I did PDI next day and found everything ok. There was also another Asta in beige shade, but it had small dent in rear door.

Today evening the delivery ceremony was held.

Have driven just 9 km till now, will be posting a detailed drive report in coming days. Will also compare it with my Tiago, for those who are confused between the two.

Here are some pics,









What's special about the last pic, you must be knowing it by now

[Rshrey22]

Took a test drive of new Santro, I have to say, Hyundai has done an immaculate job in terms of engine refinement!

Twisted the key, realised the car was already running . This level of refinement is something which is seen only in 7 lac + segment petrol cars.

A/C was chilled (both front and rear). Music system was better than what my dzire came with in terms of sound.

It was easily able to accommodate 2 adults of my size (6"0 98kg) + 1 12 years old with enough legroom and headroom to spare on rear bench.

It was able to pull upto 80 easily despite carrying 4 adults plus a child (including salesman). Crawling in 2nd gear was no problem.

Only thing which I found a little disappointing is rear seat ride quality. Despite being totally secure and settled in front, it feels unsettled and shaky over potholes on rear the bench.

[vsrivatsa]

I recently had the opportunity to test drive the Hyundai Santro AMT. I wanted to test drive the AMT variant in particular since I own the Ignis AMT.

I called Blue Hyundai Gandhibazaar on a Tuesday evening and they confirmed that they had a Santro AMT available for a test drive if I were to visit the showroom. Headed to the Blue Hyundai showroom and got to see the car in person.

Here are some pictures of the car:

Rear View - Looks decent



Side View - Has an odd shaped window line I felt



Nice Hyundai Interiors - Touchscreen Offered on the Sportz Variant



Door Pads with Bottle Holders



Speedometer Console



Manual Gear Level - Up Close



AC Console



Glove Box



Drive Console View



Hand Brake and Gearbox Console View - Manual



Rear Vents



View from the Front



The Test Drive Car - Sportz AMT Variant



Front View with the Family Grille

When I started out, I did not have much expectations from an AMT. Having read some positive comments here on the forum I thought it maybe slightly better than the Ignis AMT. I have clocked more than 10,000 kms on the Ignis AMT so far. I must also call out that during year, I have had the opportunity to test drive the new Amaze CVT as well.

Started the test drive of the Santro AMT and was completely blown away by the smoothness of the AMT!! The gear shifts from the 1st gear to the 2nd gear which is jerky on the Ignis AMT is completely smooth in the Santro AMT. This AMT Gearbox surely feels like next generation and I would go on to say that it felt better than even the Amaze CVT in city driving speeds in terms of the Amaze Petrol at least. The AMT behaved well upon acceleration as well by kicking down a gear when I hit the A pedal hard. Left me completely impressed.

Despite the other goof ups that Hyundai has done about missing the passenger airbag on the AMT version, they must be appreciated for having created this magnificent AMT Gearbox module. The ball is now clearly in Maruti's court for them to improve their jerky AMT.

Mileage is something I would want to hear from real owners on this forum. The Sales Rep claimed that he expects the car to return about 15 kmpl in city driving conditions. Given the smoothness with which the AMT upshifts without the RPM revving like in my Ignis, I am kind of leaning towards believing what he says...

This AMT is not only far far ahead of any of those 3 cylinder AMTs in the market such as the Celerio/Wagon R/Tiago, it is also way ahead of the 4 cylinder Ignis AMT

Now, if only Hyundai fixes the missing airbag, this would be the perfect city runabout car in the segment as far as AMTs are concerned...