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Old 21st August 2013, 15:29   #1
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Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Taksan
Tooksan
Tussion
And one Toofan too!

Welcome to most mangled name in the Indian car industry's history. It was discontinued after a short-ish stint, and people say it was the price.
I, for one, believe it was because Hyundai thought it to be too much trouble dealing with the parts requests for vehicles they didn't even know existed in their portfolio.

The Hyundai Tucson, grossly overpriced for a brand which is still struggling for a premium perception, but acknowledged to be a very capable vehicle.


So here's how it went this time around.

Armed with decent exposure to the used car market, and knowledge gleaned right here, I booked...................a holiday to Jaisalmer.

Yep. That's what I did.
Now, I love my fiesta to death, and somehow I didn't feel that the roads to Jaisalmer would leave her in one piece.And on top of that, the missus decided that she will want to start working full-time again, and got an opportunity in GGN. Well, the cup of tick-boxes was full right there and then for looking at the next addition.Armed with necessary approvals to make the best choice, I was pumped. And the car on the horizon was the much awaited, MUCH awaited............MUCH MUCH MUCH....(you get the drift) Ecosport.


So one, fine noon, on the first available option after the launch, I went to Ford to check out the car in person.

Strange disconnect here. I love this car, I loved it on the stage at the Auto expo, I loved it when I went past it on the road parallel to the showroom.However, this turned into a case of never-meet-your-idols-of-sorts.
I knew it was sub 4.0, but the size was ridiculous. The option I wanted was about 11L on road, and it became even more so.
EcoSport owners, don't take offense here, please, but this car is seriously small.I sat inside, and didn't feel much of a departure inside from my fiesta, as far as space is concerned.The boot either.

I was so disappointed, and my heart was torn, because, cor blimey is she a looker. Hand on my heart; I love to see this car on the road. We've always cribbed about how India is the wasteland for auto firms, bringing their outdated designs etc here, or how design philosophies demonstrated in concepts leak out while on the way to production.
Here is the most current car from one of the biggies, more or less looking the same as it was shown to be.

So the price and the size blew this away as an option.To be fairly frank, the price was the biggest point. I plopped a minor amount on the fiesta, by BIL picked up a top end innova for peanuts, and an accord for other nuts. So the VFM factor more or less eliminated the ES.


So I started to look at the used car market.
Candidates:
1.Prev Gen CRV
2.Safari

The choice was to convert a CRV to CNG, or get the diesel beast.

Unlikely contenders, and they demonstrated the same by pitching their strengths so well, that they kept cancelling each other out.
I am not a fan of CNG, but since this car would have a driver, it wasn't that big an issue. But I still wanted to go to Jaisalmer and other longer trips, so that meant at some point the dreaded 5-8 KMPL would make confetti out of currency.

The safari has been a dream car. I still find it looking contemporary, meaty, full bodied, civilized.Hell, it's like a cross between a central Delhi house and bacon!
It's always been desirable. In fact, in college, we had this thing going where 4-5 of wanted to pool in and buy a safari.Of course, the will did not have the chunkies to actually go through with it.


I put a cap of 5L, and went through about 10 CRVs, and 25 Safaris.Most of the safaris were really badly maintained, and I didn't even bother to drive them.

CRV - This is a classy motor, the interiors are amazing, and hold age extremely well.
Safari - Amazing presence, brutal when you come from ANY petrol. Good examples are available, but interiors deteriorate quite fast, I was surprised to see.

Oh, there was also a Civic auto thrown in the mix somewhere, I don't know how.


Tip: If buying a used car in Delhi, stick to central or south Delhi. Somehow, cars from other areas were in EXTREMELY bad shape.


So anyway, I was dealing with a cartrade guy in Lajpat, and after I exhausted his inventory of CRVs and Safaris, he told me, "Sir, if you want interiors, as well as diesel, why not go for a Tucson?"

Why not, indeed?

So I did.I was shown two cars. One in silver, and one in black. I drove the black one through the side streets of Lajpat nagar, and I saw belches of smoke in the rear view. Unfortunately these were white, so this one was eliminated. It refused to go above 80kmph. However, the impact was made. The interiors were way more civilized, comparable to the CRV, and it came with all working bells, whistles and sitars.ABS, Airbags, 4WD, TCS, and luscious amounts of space.
The best "trip" feature is the tailgate. Theres oodles of space to put in all the luggage for a full 10 day trip, even if all passengers are of the fairer variety.Seriously.
Now, what happens when you have to open the boot in an SUV which has 13 million bags stuffed there? Everything falls out.
Not so here, since the rear glass also open up seperately.

Also, thankfully, there are charging points in the front, the rear, and even in the boot. So no trailing wires passing around the gearknob to the rear. Fantastic.

The checkboxes were filling up fast, as far an option was concerned. I knew I was getting a Tucson, right then. Only question was from where?
I went back and checked the other one in silver.This time I took it on the ring road, and almost ran into a few cars when the turbo kicked in. This was a shocker. It was scary too, since this car is not built for quick manoeuvres, or sharp braking. Learning curve indicated ahead.

This vehicle was IMMACULATE, with slight age at some places on the plastics. It was a 2005 car, with 64k on the odo. This would have caused water to reroute itself from my mouth to my nose, if I had been drinking water. It still brought on a chuckle fest, and even more so when the dealer kept insisting that it is true.

I THINK I offended him a bit as well.

However, I shortlisted this car. I checked with Hyundai, and found that it had done 1.02L in 2012. I asked my trusted mechanic, and he said this engine has a lot of life even after 2L. This was more than enough for me.
And so the dance started.
I spoke to the owner, on the phone......I know.However, I once spoke to him on my phone as well (more on that later).
and then the dealer guy did not come down from 4.75.Well, I didn't want to pay that much, but while negotiating, I took the car over to my mechanic, and he gave an estimate for an engine mount that was to be changed, and the gearbox needed to be opened up to change a sync ring.Now I trust this guy implicitly, so I took his estimate of about 35k, and asked for it to be deducted from the cost.
No go.
However, this was from the dealer only.
In the meantime, searches on OLX found a couple more Tucsons, of which one seemed very viable.Going for 4L, owned and maintained by a "professional golfer".
Hmm, ok. Took a whole Saturday out of leisure time, and went to see the car. Unwashed car.Had a container of PS fluid in the boot (THAT I knew why immediately), and one check light on.I asked him why, and he said it's because he has removed the 4WD for "performance gains". O ha ha!
He was the 3rd owner, and wanted 4L for it. O ha double ha!

Wait, why would a professional golfer be so iffy?
Well, it turned out that Mr. Professional golfer, was actually a golf pro. Golfers here can point out the difference, no?


Anyway, I got another call from carnation this time, and I went by to jangpura to see a silver Tucson.
Déjà vu?
It was the SAME "vu"!!
The same car. It turns out white elephants travel on Tucsons. That is why they are so rare.So I told carnation, I will negotiate from 4.65.
No go.

Then I recalled that I gave the owner a call as well. So I traced out that number, called him up, and found out that he is willing to go for 4.75, minus the amount required for repair. Turned out that car had been bouncing from dealer to dealer for the past 6 months, with hardly any interest.Shook words at 4.5L. Sold.


Picked up the car and drove it home, and then onwards the mechanics shop.I told him, keep it as long as you want, but when you give it back, it should be ready to go on a thousand km journey.Days turned into weeks, as the reality of parts availability was brought to bear.Its not as if parts are not available, it's just that they are a bit hard to come by.
Anyway, there was no rush, and the mechanic exploited it fully, taking 17 days to turn the car around.I had actually envisioned spending a month with the car as a daily driver to iron out stuff, but only ended up getting about 2-3 weeks. Surprisingly, nothing came up.

The car came with 64k on the odo, 3 brand new BS insignias, 2 middle aged Duelers, no insurance, no PUC, one bad engine mount, and gearbox issue.

Cost: 4.5L
Ins: 17700
Engine and GB: 20k
Auto cop: 3500
Touch screen stereo: 12k
Camera: 1.3k


So, into the fire, from the, er, packaging.
The Tooky was called into service for a trip, doing Delhi-jaipur-jodhpur-jaisalmer-bikaner-jhunjhunu-delhi.

All in all about 1800kms.

This car has brilliant highway manners. It handles almost like a sedan. Not quite, but almost. This was punctuated when I tried to evade a bag kept in the middle of the highway, and rolled tremendously. I almost ended up in the passenger seat.Triple digits come up without you even noticing, and there is absolutely no noise inside the cabin. Zilch.
This was very surprising, because as soon as you roll the window down, the diesel clatter is quite loud, considering that the engine is more or less middle aged.

It can easily blow away anything approaching fast, or dastardly, in the rear-view.The boost is available from 1.8k, and is quite a kick in the nethers. Slightly addictive, but only for the first couple of hundred kilometres. This is the same engine that does duty in the erstwhile Verna, albeit with a different GB. I can only imagine the smiles those guys must have, and its also one of hyundai's rare handlers.Geez, double whammy!

And then, on the trip, the Tooky completely redeemed itself, not just for reliability, but also for comfort.
Because of rain, the roads till pokharan were badly pitted for about a 100kms. So on the return, we decided to take a rather scenic route, which passed through jhunjhunu, and its neighbouring villages.
There were potholes that sedans, some XUVs, and even an EcoSport at one point, were struggling to pass through, but the minimal overhang meant I was just dropping down into the troughs with nary a sound, and just cruising through.All throughout, it was more of a wave, than a knock.

Now, I am satisfied with the car, and it's received the used car certification.

This is going to be the wife's car, and will have a driver. And I am more than happy, since it is extremely comfortable, returned a healthy 10 in the city, and 13 on the highway.Which, I feel, is ok for the size and the age.
And of course, the cost of the fuel.

I'm still happy with the fiesta, and now that we have the Tucson as the family car, so to speak, I can go nuts with it.


Here are a few pics for your appetites.There's also the route I took to and from Jaisalmer, so you can figure out the atrocity committed.

Will keep you updated.
I think this is still one of the rarer cars on the forum, and on the roads, and I hope the problems are as rare too.
Keep riding.
Next stop: hopefully Leh!!

A point by point quick reference:

Alternatives considered
Safari
CRV

On-road price
18L, purchased for 4.5L

Engine type
2.0L Crdi

Equipment levels
For its time, I am sure it must have been pathbreaking, although I still dont find anything amiss. The stereo was a little old.
Who am I kidding, it was a tape unit.But that was an easy enough upgrade.
ABS,Airbags(two front), TCS, 4WD, theres more than enough acronyms to keep one satiated.

Kms covered and usage style
So far the car has done 4000 kms, and is a dialy drive for about 100kms odd.

Exterior styling & design
Except for the front, which is a little quirky, but entirely lovable ina while, it is a looker from everywhere else, still looking a bit modern.

Overall build quality and fit & finish
This was one of the deal sealers. Its perfect.
But then, it oughta be, considering it was an 18L vehicle.

Interior design & quality
One word - Fantastic.

Interior space and comfort
Seating: Oodles for 4, even 5 people. I fot 4 in the backseat once, and was able to take them for a short hop of about 5 kms without a squeak from any of them.

Engine performance & driveability in the city and on the highway
Loads of torque, and a superbly insulated cabin ensure triple digit cruising speeds are easily attained.

Fuel efficiency
City - 10
Highway - 13

Suspension & ride quality
Smileys here. Lots of them.
It tackles everything and you don't feel anything in the cabin.
This is a major departure from the fiesta, which basically interprets the road for you, telling you all the time what you're riding on.
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Last edited by GTO : 27th August 2013 at 14:16. Reason: Please avoid using acronyms when referring to cars (e.g. ES, ANHC etc.). Thanks
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Old 21st August 2013, 15:45   #2
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re: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san. Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson

Congrats on the Tucson and I really enjoyed that post, your writing skills are pretty good

Aren't you planning to replace the two ageing Duellers?
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Old 21st August 2013, 15:50   #3
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re: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san. Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson

Congratulations on the Toofan...errr Tucson!!! It sure looks like a well maintained SUV. Wishing you many miles of happy ownership!
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Old 21st August 2013, 15:58   #4
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re: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san. Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson

Nice catch. The car looks good and I am sure it would serve you for many years to come. Used car buying is indeed tricky but if one is successful in getting a good example; it is a bargain.



Do keep Updating.
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Old 21st August 2013, 17:04   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suman View Post
Congrats on the Tucson and I really enjoyed that post, your writing skills are pretty good

Aren't you planning to replace the two ageing Duellers?
Thanks. I plan to do that full time soon.
Well, yeah, the duelers have to be replaced, but insignias are impossible to come by!
I have a good deal on Apollos, but I can't make up my mind. I mean, that's 3 tyres that have seen about 5k kms only which will have to be junked. I'll still look for a pair of insignias for a month maximum, else, will have to do the other thing.
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Old 21st August 2013, 17:16   #6
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re: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san. Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson

That looks a neat Car. Curious to know if it has a 4WD.

Also, you wrote it pretty well. Congrats for the Car and wishing you many happy miles with it.
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Old 23rd August 2013, 15:12   #7
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 23rd August 2013, 16:05   #8
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Congrats on the Tucson Sir, this vehicle is very capable one but sadly it didn't received the kind treatment from the market which it must have got. Wishing you many happy miles in it and a little correction sir, its engine did duty in erstwhile Elantra not Verna.
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Old 23rd August 2013, 20:07   #9
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Congrats on the bargain mayankk!
Nice to see Tooky serving you well.

I too feel that higher segment cars age quite well. Partly because of the superior design and partly because they are generally owned and maintained by well-off families/people. Even my 2005 Elantra is now 86k+ km but still does 1000-1200 km without a fuss. On PETROL though! I have not spent any major money on it except rubber parts (Engine mounts and suspension bushes) since I got it "Used" at 55k km.

I remember reading some where that Tucson and Elantra were based on the same platform and share a few parts. From what I have seen, steering wheel, power window switches are exactly the same and so MAY BE a lot of other parts underneath as well. The Elantra also had ABS with TCS.

Another thing that might interest you, recently bhpian Anandpadhye took his 2005 Tucson with 120k+ km on odo to Leh-Ladakh from Pune! You can check his travelogue. The best thing I like about the Tucson is the way you can arrange the seats in case you plan to sleep in the car. Ofcourse he did fix a few issues before taking it on the trip.

Also to mention, I saw quite a lot of Tucsons when I was in Kazakhstan. The temp there ranges form -40 in winter to +45 in summer! This should give you a rough idea of its capabilities!

Drive Safe!
LP

Last edited by LP640 : 23rd August 2013 at 20:18. Reason: Added few more things
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Old 23rd August 2013, 22:41   #10
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiv_1984 View Post
That looks a neat Car. Curious to know if it has a 4WD.

Also, you wrote it pretty well. Congrats for the Car and wishing you many happy miles with it.
Thanks.
Yeah, it does have 4WD.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EFF-EIGHT-BEE View Post
Congrats on the Tucson Sir, this vehicle is very capable one but sadly it didn't received the kind treatment from the market which it must have got. Wishing you many happy miles in it and a little correction sir, its engine did duty in erstwhile Elantra not Verna.
Oh yes. The mind said elantra(thats why i mentioned handling), the hands typed out verna. God knows why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LP640 View Post
Congrats on the bargain mayankk!
-----------SNIP---------------
Drive Safe!
LP
Yeah, I read Anand's thread, and that was sot of a clincher as well.
So hopefully, Leh is doable once I have more confidence in the car
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Old 23rd August 2013, 22:53   #11
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Welcome to the Froggie* club @Mayankk!

Tucson is a very capable vehicle but a few upgrades are highly recommended.
  • Footwear: Switch to 235/60/16 tyres even if you have to Beg/Borrow/Steal . But I must also warn you that finding that size might be an ordeal by itself.
  • Remap: A reliable remap will be able to unleash the hidden potential of this gem of an engine. @anandpadhye might even tell you that it's a suicidal crime to drive a stock Tucson
  • Fog Light HID Upgrade The stock fog lamps are probably there for just cosmetics ;-)



* That's exactly what my Tucson reminds me of

Last edited by Digital Vampire : 23rd August 2013 at 22:55.
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Old 23rd August 2013, 23:31   #12
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Congratulations on th Tucson Mayank! Wish you many happy miles and trouble free ownership.
So how was the route, lol!
I also decided on storme after being disappointed by duster and ecosport and was thrown in a similar dilemma. Though I also considered a used Tucson but couldn't find a decent one around, and with less knowledge of used cars was a bit wary also. Another thing which made me drop out was availability of spares, as this was discontinued long ago, and very few were sold in our market. I guess that's a gamble, but it is truly a good vehicle!

Cheers
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Old 24th August 2013, 01:32   #13
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Congrats on the buy. Yes I feel it would be good to officially say it here :P

Been waiting for the write up, but considering you got back from the trip recently, it's pretty awesome that you put it up so quickly

The interiors do look good, considering the age.
Did you get an opportunity to try out the 4WD yet? Or is this a permanent 4WD?

After seeing the pictures, I'm even more excited to help with the exterior cosmetic mods! I really do like the looks from the side & rear..

I hope you enjoy the ride to fullest.

Cheers!
Sam
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Old 24th August 2013, 09:32   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Digital Vampire View Post
Welcome to the Froggie* club @Mayankk!
----------SNIP--------------there for just cosmetics ;-)


* That's exactly what my Tucson reminds me of
Froggie?
That does seem apt, though.
As for the footwear, why do you say the change is necessary? The headlights, and fogs, though, definitely need a change. Ive picked out some examples on amazon for projector headlight units for about 300USD for a pair. Maybe Ill plop for those.
Right now, planning to put on aux lamps in front, debadge the grille,etc.
Nothing too drastic, but a remap is definitely on the cards some way down the line.

Quote:
Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia View Post
Congrats on the buy. Yes I feel it would be good to officially say it here :P
----------SNIP--------------looks from the side & rear..

I hope you enjoy the ride to fullest.

Cheers!
Sam
Thanks Bhatiaji.
I did get to try the 4wd through some sludge.
Wasnt necessary, just for the heck of it. But since i was not too sure about what state it was in(basically I was ignorant), i didn't do anything else.
Also, yes, next month you gotta help me figure out the exteriors with the lights and all.

Last edited by mayankk : 24th August 2013 at 09:37.
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Old 24th August 2013, 10:17   #15
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Re: Pre-owned Hyundai Tucson: The initiation of Ms. Tooky-san

Quote:
Originally Posted by mayankk View Post
As for the footwear, why do you say the change is necessary?
235/60/R16 is a highly recommended upgrade for the overall braking, comfort and cornering improvements. The benefits it brings is IMMENSE!!! In fact this size is a factory fit on top-end "Elite Edition" of Tucsons abroad.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mayankk View Post
Ive picked out some examples on amazon for projector headlight units for about 300USD for a pair. Maybe Ill plop for those.
If you haven't picked those up yet, Desist!
I did make the blunder of purchasing those lights, but I could not stand their uselessness even for a few days. Very pathetic and poor quality optics and hence the lighting even with HIDs. You stand to lose on the headlight level adjustment as well. These lights serves only the purpose of eye candy. I've posted the pictures somewhere on Anands thread.
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