[jomyboy]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

It just keeps reminding me of various types of fish.

OMG!!! Now that you said it, I just can't get the image out of my head. I so wanted to upgrade to the S-cross, but sadly it was discontinued.

[ash22]

Would like to include Skoda here.
Their First Gen vehicle was never much appealing.
Where as, their face-lift was Spot on.

Rapid,



Octavia,

MK3 vs MK3.5

[AYP]

Originally Posted by Sanjunair5

The real McCoy of facelifts has to figure in this thread! The Santro 2003 facelift called Santro Xing! A 2004 version of the same was my first car! Gosh! I feel so old!!



The 2003 facelift of the Santro was more dramatic. New headlamps, tail lamps, grill, hatch, fenders and I believe all external body parts except the doors got some or the other change. May be a new steering wheel too, not sure what else changed inside. The pre-facelift had a sort of oddball design and that toothy grill was not to everyone's taste. The facelift ensured that the design was no longer polarizing and improved the mass appeal of the car tremendously. While the Santro was always a successful model, sales surged after the facelift and cemented the Santro brand in auto folklore!

I wonder how the Santro escaped my mind. The original Santro was competent but it was quite an ugly duckling. The facelift and the transition to the Santro Xing completely transformed its looks. Back in 2003, my father was looking for an upgrade from his Maruti 800. We went to the Hyundai showroom straight after checking out the WagonR and I was bowled over by the looks of the Santro Xing. In fact the impression was so strong that I insisted very very strongly that we go for the Santro and not the WagonR.

The WagonR was superior in terms of engine but as a 9 year old, I was oblivious to this fact. It's a different thing though, that we ultimately went for the Palio.

Santro 1998-





Santro 2003-

[Sanjunair5]

Originally Posted by AYP

I wonder how the Santro escaped my mind. The original Santro was competent but it was quite an ugly duckling. The facelift and the transition to the Santro Xing completely transformed its looks. Back in 2003, my father was looking for an upgrade from his Maruti 800. We went to the Hyundai showroom straight after checking out the WagonR and I was bowled over by the looks of the Santro Xing. In fact the impression was so strong that I insisted very very strongly that we go for the Santro and not the WagonR.

The WagonR was superior in terms of engine but as a 9 year old, I was oblivious to this fact. It's a different thing though, that we ultimately went for the Palio.

Those were the days!! You are in the market for a car and there are princely three cars you can pick from Santro, Wagon R and the Palio. Yes, we too were evaluating the same three cars. Wagon R lost out because the rear seat got stuck when they were demoing how the fold function works ()! Palio was a strong contender but eventually lost out as it was a shade above what we wanted to pay and also Santro came across as the most 'family' car of the three! We then used it for 12 years!

[fhdowntheline]

I would like to mention the Verna 2023 here. Just about everything about the car has changed for the better- be it interior space, features, performance, ride and handling , boot space and above all, certified safety of the highest order. The car looks pretty exotic and unique amidst the hordes of crossovers and SUVs.

[aviator1101]

The Scorpio prior to the N

Pre Facelift

Post Facelift



Maruti Brezza

Pre Facelift

Post Facelift

[ashivas89]

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

I think the Honda Jazz deserves a mention here. The vehicle did go through a major transformation looks-wise.

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Innova and Innova crysta

Every newer fortuner facelift

Brezza 2021 vs latest

Last Gen Thar and New Thar

XUV5OO and XUV7OO

Elite i20 vs New i20

Nexon gets better with every update too


Cars that went the opposite direction

Scorpio

Verna

Creta

Originally Posted by shishir333

Although very competent when launched but looks were really not the forte for the HONDA AMAZE when launched in 2013. Both interior and exterior was boring (no offence to the owners as I also did own a 2013 version)

But the facelift was a significant update and made a best looking sub 4 meter sedan

Sorry guys, but most of the examples quoted here talk about entire gen changes and not face lifts. Isn't this thread about face lifts only?

It is relatively easier to fix everything that is wrong with the styling and the car in general, in case of gen. changes, because the development times are longer and budgets are an entire order of magnitude or two larger.

However, there are way more boundary conditions in case of facelifts. That's why an ugly ducking to swan transformation with just a facelift IMO is a noteworthy thing, deserving this thread.

My personal vote goes to the OG Santro - Santro Xing transformation. We owned both of these.

[AYP]

Honda-

The Amaze was launched in 2013 and became the talk of the town due to the 1.5 i-Dtec diesel engine. However, it was panned for its interiors and rightly so. It looked horribly basic and the interiors of both the Dzire and the Xcent were much better. Honda launched the facelift in 2016 and while the changes to the exterior were subtle, the changes they brought to the interior was much appreciated. The interiors were shared with the BRV and brought the much needed opulence to its interior.

Amaze 2013-





Amaze 2016-

[Bhodrolok]

I think the Venue and the S-cross actually messed up during the facelifts. Both of them in the latest avatar are garish and poorly designed, the Sonet on the other hand is really well done.

[kd_r16]

The Honda City 4th generation 2017 facelift is the champion of midlife facelift, subtle changes to the headlight assembly, slight change to the front and rear bumper.
The 2017 facelift looks so much better and sharper than the 2014 variant.

[Vibhav-Van]

Ford's 2018 facelift for the EcoSport was significant, and helped them sustain the momentum for 3 more years. I feel they would have sold at least 2000 cars a month even today; if they stuck around.

Pre-Facelift


Facelift - I decided to put my money where my mouth is. Got this in Feb 2018


After the Raptor grill treatment


Even the interior overhaul was good, albeit subtle.

[lina]

Nexon hands down. Such a superb progression

[pradeep_mvpa]

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

I think the Honda Jazz deserves a mention here. The vehicle did go through a major transformation looks-wise.

I like the first gen more. Original one looked really premium and felt like a segment above. Also the exterior design made it look bigger. The facelift has evident cost cutting everywhere.

[Siddj38]

Every generation of Honda City's facelift is better than Pre-facelift. They tend to add the missing elements in the exterior design

Now I come to think of it, this is the case of every model Honda has ever sold in India. They get better with facelifts

[cpbopanna]

I beg to differ. The first S-Cross would have looked beautiful with it's original grill (attached for ready reference).
But alas, as usual, Maruti went overboard and totally messed it up.
The next iteration was a total disaster, to say the least, buck teeth and all!

Originally Posted by AYP

This thread is to point out the instances of a manufacturer hitting it out of the park(in terms of aesthetics) in the process of facelifting a car. Let me do the honours-

Maruti Suzuki-

The S-Cross never achieved success in its early stages. It was panned universally for its looks and this was a major reason why it didn't find success. With the facelift, Maruti worked on the exterior design and what we got was a smart looking car which went on to achieve moderate success.

The ugly duckling-

Attachment 2531752

The smart looking facelift-

Attachment 2531753