[SantoshPV]

Posting my experience of using my car over the past 5 years & covering 50,000+ kms & a pleasant experience at Trident Hyundai the weekend of June 8th.

Buying Experience:
Read about it here: My Verna CRDI ABS buying experience & What was your 'Tipping Point'?

Ownership Experience:
The car has now completed 50,000 kms, the first 3 years, I used the car sparingly on the weekdays & mostly on weekends since I had company transport & then I had to rely on public transport (Volvos - Vajra), my office was 30 kms away from home & driving to & fro from one end of Bangalore to the other end was just not feasible. Still use company transport now since the distance to office has increased to about 40 kms. Now, the car is pretty much used by my wife in the last 2 years to drive to work (40 kms back & forth) & the weekends by me.

Overall, am pretty satisfied with the car in terms of performance, fuel efficiency, comfort & after sales servicing.

Performance:
Nothing to beat it! Off late, there is a huge cloud of smoke when I accelerate in the 2nd gear, the service technician said it was due to the fuel being adulterated with kerosene & that they have received many such complaints from other Verna owners. Guess this is a problem that I have to live with. I read in one of the forums that you need to frequently clear out the carbon deposits in the exhaust by accelerating hard which I do, but of no consequence. So I don’t really accelerate that hard nowadays as I don’t want the folks behind me cursing me. Otherwise, it’s quite a blast in all gears on empty roads. The engine is a smooth rockstar! Have heard that the power delivery of the Fluidic Verna is quite linear & that there is no turbo lag. Well, wouldn’t want to trade in my Verna for the new one as the turbo boost is addictive & one of the USP of the old Verna.

Driveability:
Took some time to get used to driving a diesel from petrol, now I don’t want to go back to a petrol car. In heavy traffic, I just have to use the 2nd gear & clutch which is enough to move slowly if I’m driving alone. At low speeds, it’s just not advisable to shift to the 4th gear, the 3rd is quite ideal. The gear ratios are fine, but the 1st gear is quite tall, the 2nd is the killer & 3rd could have been a blend of 3rd & 4th. The 5th is the ideal cruiser. On highways, I could put it in the 5th gear & cruise all day long, at times do I have to downshift to 4th for a quick overtake. The gear shifts are not smooth initially, but once the engine heats up, it’s much better. In the city, it drives quite smoothly absorbing all potholes & humps without any issues. You have to downshift to the 2nd gear to go over a hump, it would have been great if the 3rd itself could tackle it.

Fuel Efficiency:
Am getting an average of 15 kmpl in the city & guess around 20 kmpl during long drives (See my post in - What is your Actual Fuel Efficiency?).

Interiors & Comfort:
Quite a comfortable car, seats 5 adults & my daughter as well. The seats are supportive in the right places & I get the right position to stretch my legs with still sufficient space for the person sitting behind me. The art leather seatcovers have served me well for the past 5 years & only now the driver seat cover is showing signs of aging.

Strange rattles from the dashboard & steering judder when taking off in the 1st gear were quite a nuisance. Got the steering judder fixed last July which was a problem due to the steering column getting loose from the fixture, it just had to be tightened again: Strange vibration in my Verna CRDI. This issue has been fixed, though certain small rattles still do exist, but just cannot pin-point them.

The AC works very well & I don’t have to put it beyond the first blower speed. Definitely feel the interiors could have been a lot better, what with the lower priced i20 doing better on that front. I even checked if I could have the steering wheel replaced with that of the i20, but was told that the steering hub diameter was different in both & that it would not fit. More about a cracked center console & dashboard noise in the post down below.

The boot is big & has space for enough luggage when travelling out of station.

Over a period of time, have started liking the looks of the car since my buying decision was primarily influenced by its engine.

High speed stability issues which has been spoken of in many forums is something which I haven't experienced since I don't go more than 120 kph (for very short stretches) & maintain an average of about 90-100 kph on highways.

After Sales Service & Upkeep:

• For the first 3-3.5 years, I serviced the car every 6 months even though it would have run only 4,000-5,000 kms & since then have been servicing every 8,000-10,000 kms at Trident (Yeshwanthpur) only. Each service would set me back by around Rs. 6000 or so with all filters being replaced & the oil changes
• Power steering oil seal replaced in the 3rd year - this was under the extended warranty, read it here
• Had to replace the battery last year, got an Exide (68A) for about Rs 3,900 in exchange for the old one, the stock replacement was quoted at around Rs 9000+ which didn't quite make economic sense to me
• Still running on the stock brake pads, last when I gave it for service in Feb 2013, the service advisor said it was good for some more kms & that we could look at replacing it during the next service
• Changed the front 2 tyres in Dec 2011 to Bridgestone 195 since the existing 2 tyres had punctures as a result of weird metal pieces on the road which were fixed at the puncture shop & I was not too confident the seal would hold on, the tears were quite big. Both tyres cost me around Rs. 11,000
• From the last 1 year or so, a squeaking noise was heard when the clutch pedal was pressed, this was from the engine bay where there is a lever which is actuated. Spraying RustOff solved the issue, but it crops up in a few months again. Spraying RustOff again solved this issue recently.

Likes:

• Performance – VGT at work
• 2nd & 3rd Gear – Can overtake most of the cars
• Engine – Smooth & refined, quite silent
• ABS – Stopping power
• Fuel Efficiency – Easy on the pocket till such time diesel is subsidized
• Air conditioning – Chill maadi (a popular Kannada phrase)
• Driving position – quite comfortable
• Good all round visibility – can see all the cows, autos or jaywalkers creeping towards the car
• Good after sales service (Trident – Yeshwanthpur) – Competent & nearby to my house
• Big boot – Swallows the entire luggage you throw in

Could have been better:

• Headlamps – Changed over to 95/100W in the first year itself
• Fog lamps – purely cosmetic, have adjusted to the max distance
• Interiors – Cheaper i20 has better interiors
• Exterior – Nothing exciting
• Service intervals – Currently a service is required every 10,000kms or 6 months whichever is earlier
• Service costs – Guess it’s on par with other diesels, but could be lower

A pleasant experience at Trident Hyundai the weekend of June 8th:
Last July when I gave the car for service, I was advised to get the air condition vents & ducts cleaned, which they would do by spraying some sort of liquid into the vents & switching on the blower. After getting the car back, I noticed that the central plastic section containing the AC vents surrounding the music player was cracked in 2-3 places which I brought to the prompt notice of the then Service Manager by sending him an email & even went to the SC. My point was that the part was in perfect shape before I gave the car for service & when cleaning the AC ducts, it could be possible that the technician may have tried to open the vents & the part cracked, but the Service Manager had a counter point that it could have cracked when it had to be removed to fix the music system. By the way, the music system had been fixed 3 years back. There was nothing that I could do to convince him or pursue the matter at that time.

Around 2 weeks back I had given the car for a small repair job & I had indicated the squeaking noise from clutch which had become too apparent, but wasn't fixed. I went back last weekend & spoke to Mr Niranjan (the Service Manager now) who promptly attended to the problem. I pointed out the clutch noise, various rattle noise from the dashboard & a new crack on the AC vent, this time to the vent near the driver side door . I apprised him of the discussion that I had with the previous service manager about the AC vent cracks in the centre console & the new crack which I had no role (quite obviously since I didn't have to remove it for any reason). I told him that I was very upset with the quality of Hyundai. He said he would take care of the problems.
Most of the rattles were removed & the clutch noise was not there (RustOff at work) & I found that the centre console (containing the 2 AC vents) & the AC vent near the driver side door were replaced & Mr Niranjan did not charge me for these replacements. Must commend Mr Niranjan for his customer focus & gaining me back as a Trident Hyundai customer (since I had lost complete faith in them). Hats off Mr. Niranjan! Am a happy customer now.

On a short note, I had replaced the cells in the remote key fob (paying Rs 130 for 2) because the distance from which it had to be pressed for the doors to lock/unlock was too less. I had to point the fob above the bonnet for the remote to work which I pointed out to the same service technician, who promptly called for an Autocop technician. He simply adjusted a small knob inside the remote & presto, it started working as before. Guess since the remote key fob had fallen a few times from my hand, it affected the knob position. For those who have the same issue with their key fob, please mention it to the service advisor next time you give the car for service (or if you're able to drop in to the service station without the need for a service), they should be able to fix it up fast. A warning though, the Autocop technician advised me not to adjust the knob myself for it could lead to the key becoming dead due to frequency mismatch.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Long-Term Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!