[jaspal singh]

Dear Friends,

It was a day I had been waiting for since the time I completed MBA in 2011 and joined my first job.
After Commuting from Malviya Nagar in South delhi to my office in Noida sec 2 on a bike via DND for 18 months, finally decided to book a car on 9th June-12 .
Our first car was the humble little Daewoo Matiz(still with us) way back in the year 2000, followed by an i10 in 2008, but that was in my hometown Jhansi before I shifted to Delhi for my education.

Selection Criteria:-
1) It had to be a petrol hatchback within a max budget of Rs 6 lacs on road.
2) It must be spacious, comfortable and easy to drive.
3) No compromise on build quality! Both interior & exterior.
4) Must be a feature rich car-cant digest the idea of spending 6 lacs on a hatchback and then taking it to an accessories shop for getting the basic stuff fitted.
5) Must be a good looker!
6) Easy on pocket with acceptable maintenance cost.
7) Must have excellent refinement levels.
8) Anything extra would be welcome!

Even though I’m not very active on team-bhp in terms of posting, I regularly visit the site.
Reviews by fellow members and also by team bhp were extremely useful for finalizing my car.

Cars Shortlisted:-
I had shortlisted only 4 cars before finalizing.

Volkswagen Polo-

Visited Volkswagen Metropolitan in MGF mall to check out the car.
Liked the excellent styling , build quality and the boot space. But the cramped back seat , high clutch pedal, feature starved trendline and comfortline variants went against it. Highline variant was ridiculously expensive for a petrol car and still lacked Auto Climate Control, auto folding/adjusting OSRVM , Music system without USB/AUX .

The car had reports of poor mileage, high maintenance cost, & average refinement.
Also the sales consultant displayed an arrogant attitude when I highlighted the above shortcomings.
He took me to the basement of the mall where their cars are parked! And while in lift he said “ Sir Jisko Volkswagen leni hai woh Volkswagen hi lega, feature se fark ni padhta hamey.!”.
Also visited Volkswagen Delhi South ( south Ex) where the staff was much more courteous but somehow could not convince me to book the car.

Maruti Suzuki Swift.

Liked the styling of the car, excellent front seats, decent quality interiors but like the polo, back seat legroom was less. Also the vxi variant lacked music system, climate control . Also the all black interiors were not to my liking. Boot space reminded me of My Daewoo Matiz!
Build quality too was good not great though I must admit the car looked great in Dark grey color.

Skoda Fabia!

Visited Jai Auto, Mathura road to check the car.
Like all skodas, the build quality was excellent. Dashboard design was too boring though the quality was good. Boot space was the best, 315 litrs!
But dated styling, 3 cylinder engine like polo, fear of high maintenance cost, and average equipment levels turned me off, even though substantial discount was being offered on petrol variants.

Hyundai -i gen i20

Visited Hyundai Motor Plaza(HMP) , Mathura road in the 2nd week of may.
Was immediately attended to by their sale consultant, who explained the features of the car and also the difference between the pre-face lifted i20 and the new one. I was immediately impressed by modern European front end , those sharp looking headlamps, and the rising waistline of the car.
Interior quality too was great and the equipment levels could shame cars priced in 15-20 lacs bracket.
Took a test drive & though roads near sarita vihar-jasola are not the best the car handled them quite well.
Note-I’ll proceed to the booking and delivery part, without discussing the test drive experience as the same would be discussed later.
Told the delear that I’l be visiting again in june to book the car.

Booking the Car.

Went to the showroom on 9-June-2012. The same consultant welcomed me.
I had pretty much finalized the Magna (O) variant during my previous visit as the sportz version was exceeding my budget.
Checked out the car in all shades and without doubt it looked best in coral white. I20 has always looked best in white as the color clearly highlights the various design curves which the car possesses.

After negotiating , got the following offer from the dealer.

Ex showroom Price Delhi- Rs 5,27,278
Registration Delhi-Rs 25661
Insurance-Rs 15621
Logistics charges-Rs 6290
HP Charges-100
Discounts- Cash Rs 2000+ Rs 2850( Fuel Hike Encash)- Rs 4850
Mats+mudflaps+10 liters of fuel.
Total Amt- Rs 570,100

Signed the booking form and paid the Rs 50,000 booking amount by chq in favor of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, since HMP is a company owned showroom.
Though the car was readily available I wanted to take the delivery by EOM. So the expected delivery date in the booking form was 28-June.
The VIN no was mailed 2 days after booking the car.

Loan Part!

Got the loan approved form SBI at a floating interest rate of 11.25%. Apparently SBI doesn’t offer any fixed rates on car loans. Process was hassle free and surprisingly the loan was approved in 3 days after submission of required documents.
Since my salary account is with ICICI, got a pre approved offer from them at 11.75 % fixed rate with 50% waiver on processing fee.
Went with SBI as it had no pre closure penalty or any other hidden charges.

The delivery was expected by 28th I told the dealer to postpone it by a week or so as my parents could not manage to get confirmed seats in any train from Jhansi to Delhi. 30th June was sat so it was avoided.
It is at this stage that the consultant tried to force me to take delivey this month itself giving excuses like, we deliver cars according to the delivery date on booking form!, Delhi govt plans to charge parking prices from July onwards etc. !

Finally asked the dealer to confirm delivery date as 8-July-2012 on mail which he promptly did.

Surprise Phone Call!

Got a phone call from the sale consultant on 6th july saying Hyundai is offering free insurance + exchange bonus on i20 petrol variants.

So the earlier offer was revised and the new one was:-

X-SHOWROOM - 5,27,278/-
ROAD TAX - 25,661/-
INSURANCE - 15,991/-
LOGISTICS - 6,290/-
HYPOTEHCATION - 100/-

NET PRICE - 5,75,320/-

CASH DISCOUNT - 20,000/- (I-20 PETROL)

AFTER DISCOUNT - 5,55,320/- ( HIGH SECURITY NO. PLATE CHARGES EXTRA 214/-)

+the mud flap +mats and 10 liters fuel promised earlier.

The same day I visited the showroom to pay the balance amount and also did pre registration inspection of the car.
The car seemed fine it’s just the driver side handle required a little extra effort. This was crosschecked with other i20’s parked and it felt same. so I was ok with it.

Delivery Date-

Reached the showroom at 10:00 am with parents.
Remaining formalities like PDI, signing Form 20, insurance and all took two hrs or so.
Mudflaps, carpet, and gear lock(paid) were fitted and the car was taken to the New car deliver section at around 12 pm. Here they added 10 litres of fuel.
Keys were handed over & in the meantime they brought the print out of the photograph in a frame which was really a nice gesture. A haldiram sweets pack along with a bookey was given too.
So finally photographs, a small pooja ceremony and wowwww..

Took the car to Bangla Sahib Gurudwara from there.

Initial Impression:-

The engine is silky smooth , idle being extremely refined.
Gearshifts are smooth though a bit long through. There is definite improvement in the suspension which feels far more refined and composed than that of pre face lifted i20.

Positives:-
1) Auto AC works flawlessly and silently. I have not faced any cooling issues in 1300 km odd driving till date.
2) Auto folding /adjusting mirrors. Can’t live without these now!
3) Dead pedal, extremely useful in both city and highway driving.
4) Reverse parking sensors do their job quite well.
5) Music system has good sound quality for an OEM unit. Front soundstage is good its just that the rear speakers are too feeble and hardly audible even while sitting back!
6) Ipod/usb connectivity.
7) Folding Key, looks sexy!
8) Lane change indicators!
9) Large front seats , provide excellent cushioning though they lack under thigh support but only slightly.
10) Vanity mirror on both sides!
11) Huge glovebox is extremely useful, cooled(not chilled!) too.
12) Black buttons for audio sytem are of extremely good quality and a definite step up from the older one’s
13) Dark grey/black color for the top of dash board is far more pleasing to the eye than the shiny chocolate brown on the earlier car.
14) Theatre dimming interior light.
15) Huge295 liters boot, well shaped and with lamp too!
16) Gear shift indicator is quite accurate but I hardly use it.
17) No transmission tunnel, back seat comfort. This is the biggest flaw in Polo’s design.
18) Headlamp throw and spread is good, doesn’t need upgrade, at least at this stage!
19) Very legible dials for speedo/tacho. Looks cool at night.
20) Display above dashboard, clearly visible in bright day light shows trip distance, audio tracks info, outside temperature etc.
21) Doors shut with a decent thud. The sheet metal thickness used in construction is of heavy gauge by Hyundai’s standard! Even in polo the doors are not that heavy, its just because they have 3 stage opening/closing mechanism they seem to look heavy. The door close thud in polo too is not that of a proper European hatch. Only the Fabia has that feel.
22) Build quality-inside out-Excellent.
23) Exellent brakes
24) Perfect shut lines-compared to this liva looks miserable!



Negatives-
1) The car lacks grunt below 2000 rpm, no doubt. 1st gear has been kept deliberately short to counter this I guess.
2) Door locking mechanism-though I’m confused or the system is flawed, will discuss this later.
3) Thick A Pillar-obstructs visibility.
4) Rear door panels- very boring without any door pockets!
5) Single reverse lamp , earlier one had two!

Its too early to comment on the steering feedback as the car has done only 1300km.
Though for city driving its perfect.
Will discuss this after a proper highway drive is done

Modifications

The very next day got the stock Apollo accelres replaced with Yokohama A drives fitted on 5 spoke BSK alloys. After checking with 2-3 dealers in lajpat nagar got the best exchange price from a dealer in CR Park, who is authorized dealer for Yokohama.

New Tires
YOKOHAMA A DRIVES 185/65/R14
Price Rs 4300 /tire

Old tires
Apollo Acceleres 175/70/R14 on steel wheels
Buyback at Rs 3300/ tire.

So the effective price was Rs 1000/tire.
Total Cost
Rs 4*1000+ Rs 10500 for 4 alloys=Rs 14500.

Kept the spare tire stock, though I’m planning to change it too cause of size difference.

Below are the photographs.
Inside photographs would be uploaded soon!

[abhayshanu]

Let me be the First to congratulate you on this really amazing looking and feature packed car. Wish you many happy kms ahead.
P.S. Looks amazing in White. Hope you get some projectors.

[bluevolt]

Congratulations Jaspal on getting the new i20.

I really liked the alloys, looks cool. Any plans for upgrading the ICE?

Are you planning to get it CNGfied? Though your commute is around 40KM per day which is feasible on petrol I guess.

Keep the thread updated and enjoy your car.

Wishing you happy and safe driving.

[jaspal singh]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further.

[Blow Horn Ok]

Congrats Jaspal. The car in this shade and these alloys look really cool. Do update with detailed report on engine and ride/handling. Which brand alloys are these?

Drive safe!

[promit]

Congratulations on your new ride. I've always had a soft spot for i20's. Its a brilliant package.I understand the models get update from time to time. A friend of mine has a 2009 i20 magna.It doesn't have ACC and electric mirrors. Magna's started coming with acc little later on.Can you kindly share the difference between the magna and magna(O) in the current gen?
Enjoy your new car. Drive safe!
Promit

[jaspal singh]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Congratulations Jaspal on getting the new i20.

I really liked the alloys, looks cool. Any plans for upgrading the ICE?

Are you planning to get it CNGfied? Though your commute is around 40KM per day which is feasible on petrol I guess.

Keep the thread updated and enjoy your car.

Wishing you happy and safe driving.

Thanks bluevolt...

No immediate plans to upgrade ICE. at max i wish to change the rear speakers to better sounding 6 inch coaxial. will discuss this in the ICE thread.
as rightly pointed by you, 40 km a day with five day working is quite manageable in a petrol car. so no plans to switch to CNG. also i plan to shift to Noida permanently in a years time . Kept all this in mind while choosing petrol over diesel which in any case was quite expensive.
will keep the thread updated!

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

Congrats Jaspal. The car in this shade and these alloys look really cool. Do update with detailed report on engine and ride/handling. Which brand alloys are these?

Drive safe!

Thanks Blow horn..

As mentioned in the thread, the brand is BSK.
will discuss the engine performance / ride and handling after 1st service, which is due in 2-3 days time.

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

[guyfrmblr]

Congratulations on your uber cool ride Jaspal. The alloys looks great. They just blend with the overall looks of the car .

Originally Posted by jaspal singh

4) Reverse parking sensors do their job quite well.

Are these present by default in Magna? How about rear camera?

5) Music system has good sound quality for an OEM unit. Front soundstage is good its just that the rear speakers are too feeble and hardly audible even while sitting back!

Try adjusting the balance in the Setup menu which you can view in the display on the dashboard.

2) Door locking mechanism-though I’m confused or the system is flawed, will discuss this later.

This is how the door locking mechanism works in the previous gen i20. If you lock/unlock the driver side door from inside, all the doors gets locked/unlocked including the boot. However the front passenger can override it. Similar behavior can be observed when the front passenger locks/unlocks his door. Rear passengers cannot unlock if the driver has already locked. The doors get locked automatically once the speed crosses 40 kmph. I have read somewhere that this feature is available only in the new gen Asta variants whereas it was present across the previous gen variants. You can long press the boot symbol on your key from outside if you want to unlock only the boot.

5) Single reverse lamp , earlier one had two!

Hyundai has introduced many new techs but why have they gone miserly on this? Last week a new gen i20 was taking reverse in a mall. My mom said "Look at that new i20. It still has the ribbon on the bonnet but one of the reverse light has already stopped working" .

Can you please tell me the difference between Magna and Magna(O)?

[jaspal singh]

Originally Posted by promit

Congratulations on your new ride. I've always had a soft spot for i20's. Its a brilliant package.I understand the models get update from time to time. A friend of mine has a 2009 i20 magna.It doesn't have ACC and electric mirrors. Magna's started coming with acc little later on.Can you kindly share the difference between the magna and magna(O) in the current gen?
Enjoy your new car. Drive safe!
Promit

Thanks a lot promit

The magna(o) gets the following features above magna variant.
1) Auto Climate Control with clean air filter, magna has manual AC
2) Integrated CD-Mp3 player with 4 speakers and two tweeters.
3) AUX-USB Ports
4) Electric folding/Adjusting OSRVMs
5) Turn indictors on OSRVMs.
6) Multi information Display. MID
7)Rear fogger with timer.

[Pancham]

Congrats on the car. Even I love the alloys. Can you post a few close up pics of the wheels. And yes some interior pics would be great.

[jaspal singh]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Congratulations on your uber cool ride Jaspal. The alloys looks great. They just blend with the overall looks of the car .



Are these present by default in Magna? How about rear camera?

Try adjusting the balance in the Setup menu which you can view in the display on the dashboard.

This is how the door locking mechanism works in the previous gen i20. If you lock/unlock the driver side door from inside, all the doors gets locked/unlocked including the boot. However the front passenger can override it. Similar behavior can be observed when the front passenger locks/unlocks his door. Rear passengers cannot unlock if the driver has already locked. The doors get locked automatically once the speed crosses 40 kmph. I have read somewhere that this feature is available only in the new gen Asta variants whereas it was present across the previous gen variants. You can long press the boot symbol on your key from outside if you want to unlock only the boot.

Hyundai has introduced many new techs but why have they gone miserly on this? Last week a new gen i20 was taking reverse in a mall. My mom said "Look at that new i20. It still has the ribbon on the bonnet but one of the reverse light has already stopped working" .

Can you please tell me the difference between Magna and Magna(O)?

Thanks a lot guyfrmblr..

as pointed by you alloys have really made a big difference.

Hyundai has started offering reverse parking sensors on both magna and magna(o) variants.
Higher variants, spotrz, asta come with reverse parking camera with display on insider rear view mirror.

Thanks for explaining the door lock/unlock mechanism. will experiment with it tommorow.

The magna(o) gets the following features above magna variant.

1) Auto Climate Control with clean air filter, magna has manual AC
2) Integrated CD-Mp3 player with 4 speakers and two tweeters.
3) AUX-USB Ports
4) Electric folding/Adjusting OSRVMs
5) Turn indictors on OSRVMs.
6) Multi information Display. MID
7)Rear fogger with timer

just before the launch earlier magna was priced at around Rs 5,09,000 ex showroom delhi. but it had Auto AC and stereo system too.

Hyundai has reduced the price of magna variant by around 12k, now priced at around Rs 4,97,000 ex showroom delhi, at the same time removing auto Ac and stereo from it.

They introduced this new magna(o) variant , with added features as discussed above and raised the price to approx Rs 5,27,000.

The sportz variant has also become pricier though it now gets ABS as standard. but the spare wheel is of steel instead of 5 alloys offered earlier!

Please let me know how to multiquote while replying..

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by jaspal singh

The magna(o) gets the following features above magna variant.

1) Auto Climate Control with clean air filter, magna has manual AC
2) Integrated CD-Mp3 player with 4 speakers and two tweeters.
3) AUX-USB Ports
4) Electric folding/Adjusting OSRVMs
5) Turn indictors on OSRVMs.
6) Multi information Display. MID
7)Rear fogger with timer

It makes sense to go for Magna(O) as the features that are stated above are very useful. The electric folding ORVMs and ACC are a boon in city driving.

Originally Posted by jaspal singh

Please let me know how to multiquote while replying.

Use quote+ button to multiquote posts of different users. If you want to multiquote within a single post, place the text in between the start and end tag of the "quote" and repeat this for each chunk of text you want to reply seperately.

[arup.misra]

Many congratulations Jaspal for your i-20.

The white does look nice especially with the well-matched alloys.

Do post some interior snapshots and keep updating your thread.

Wish you many miles of trouble free ownership

[Alive2Drive]

Congrats on your new ride Jaspal !

You have surely chosen the right vehicle for city conditions. I own the old version Hyundai i20 CRDI and its worth every penny spend.

Happy Mile crunching.

[W.A.G.7]

Congrats, a neat looking i20 with really neat looking alloys!! The colour of the alloys suits the white colour well !! Wish you many happy kilometers with it. Please do post some pics of the interior as well.