[fusionbang]

Welcome to the long term review of my sweetheart who has a smile on her face every single day . I will try to keep it as short as possible.
Back in June 2010, it all started when I was pursuing my MBA and was doing an internship with very less vitamin M. But I was in a perception that the vitamin M I am getting was more than sufficient to bring home a car.
I always listened to the words my mom used to say “Do some savings, build a house and then buy car”, but I was like I don’t know the meaning of savings and how to do it.



The Requirement:

Then the hunt started as to which car to buy, since the budget was less I was considering Alto, Wagon R, Swift, and Santro Xing.

My initial search began considering the budget we had more than the test drives or the best car in the segment. I was not part of this community and was not much into going through the reviews posted here by fellow bhpians. Even though I was very much interested in Maruti Swift, my dad was totally against it because of the rear look which he dint like. So I had to finalize on the Santro Xing GLS Audio model with power windows, spoilers, body colored bumpers and so on.

Even though my parents were against buying a car at that moment, I went ahead and contacted the Hyundai dealerships to check the OTR price, freebies, accessories and service.

Dealership Experience:

Blue Hyundai – Called up the showroom to enquire about the car. Also raised a request for a test drive, for which they responded promptly and a sales rep visited my place with the demo car. He explained every aspect of the quote which they had bought it in detail and I was really happy with the details. Unfortunately, I had not learnt driving and was not able to test drive the car. My dad knew driving, but he did not show interest in the TD. Hence told the sales rep we will get in touch and he left. After that it was history that the sales rep did not bother to follow up on the sales and we also stopped the car buying process for a couple of months.

Advaith Hyundai – I called them once and did not like the attitude of the sales rep or the attendant of my call. Just asked them the price and decided I will not deal with them anymore.

Trident Hyundai – Probably one of the best dealers of Hyundai I can say, from the day I called the dealer till my purchase it was smooth and the sales rep Syed was very helpful and was in touch till the deal was closed. We faced couple of issues for finance and we had to decide on an Alto K10 but he helped us by convincing the finance guy to do something and get the loan approved. Finally there we go, everything was set and my sweetheart was very close to get committed to me.

D-Day (August 15th, 2010):

After all the ups and downs, we had booked a Santro Xing GLS Audio- Sleek Silver from Trident Hyundai and the Sweetheart was finally going to get a chance to celebrate Independence Day with our family.

OTR – 4, 50,631/-
Discounts – 25,000/- (Discount for Govt. Employees)
Invoice Value – 4,25,631/-
Freebies – Rubber mats, Ganesh Idol, Perfume, Sony GT490U with 4 speakers

The overall buying experience was satisfactory and everyone was happy that we have finally bought a car home. So I started to practice in the new car every morning along with my dad and very soon became familiar in driving and my driving skills reached to a level which I was satisfied with.

Initially after the first service till now, got some upgrades on to the car and the list goes like this:
- Flooring mat
- Seat Covers (Art leather)
- DRL’s (worst quality and removed as of now)
- 100/90 W head lamp upgrade
- Fog lights
- Door Visors, Door Guards
- Rear Parking Sensors
- Root Horns
- IND embossed number plates ( earlier it was showroom plates with stickers)
- Some decals and vinyl’s
- Triangular brake lamps
- Last but not the least Team BHP stickers and keychain

Details:

Exterior:

As mentioned earlier, it is a sleek silver peppy ride with some decals and vinyls (very moderately done) along with T-Bhp stickers and triangular brake lamps to add to the looks. It has been maintained with utmost care to make it look new even now, but still it has some small negligible scratches here and there.

It came with the standard wheel caps with Good year tires – which was replaced recently with Yokohama A-drive as the good year tires wear out very soon then expected due to bad alignment and balancing.













Build:
As we all know, Santro is known for its rigid and tall body it was a perfect car for a small family like us. It has taken all kinds of hit right from minor scratches to a major one where the driver side door was replaced completely due to a metro barricade falling on it while driving next to it. Even though there are some minor rattles, I can certify that it is still good going without any major rattles which would eat away the peace of mind.

Interiors & Comfort:
Hyundai launched a facelift of the Santro in the year 2010, with making the front grill body colored along with interior changes like dark brown and beige interiors all over along with the front seat with integrated headrests. I would like to mention it is a perfect 4 seater rather than saying it as a 5 seater, which would be occasionally affordable. But I am sure the person sitting in the middle of the back seat would curse a lot.

Since I am 5.11” I would always take the driver seat and I hate sitting in the back row at any point of time. Also the rear leg space behind the driver would be close to nil since I push the seat way backward. Also I am facing stress to my knees due to very less legroom.

The dashboard is convectional with slider controls and there’s not much storage space other than a small glove box and a couple of knick-knack spaces on the right side of the stereo console. The gear console has 2 small sized half-a-litre bottle holders and one holder which is under the hand brakes which cannot be used at all while driving as the hand brakes will be down and it would hold it from using it.

Boot space is quite sufficient for holding luggage of 4 people.

Engine and Performance:
With a 1.1 litre engine displacement, the santro does its job perfectly and best suited for Bangalore traffic with the initial pickup and peppy engine. I think the 63hp does it job perfectly without any hassles. Acceleration is one of the amazing features with the engine which holds up its mark at any given point of time without any lags and as I said earlier it is fun to ride in city traffic. And once it hits the highways it feel planted at some good speeds and makes you feel confident even in the curves. But I think it has some body roll due to its high stance.

Servicing at right intervals with regular oil changes and alignment of wheels, this vehicle is a perfect car for city. And till now I have not faced any breakdown at any place nor I have faced issues with engine (touchwood), trust me till now from the last 4 years she has started in the first attempt and not let me down in any aspect. Till now all my service has been in a Hyundai showroom and I am pretty happy with the service.

Ride & Handling:
I have observed that the ride is at a stiffer side with the hard suspensions (I think it is common across all Hyundai cars where you can feel that thud when you go over a pothole), even a slight hump or even road can make you feel that. But compared to my old good year tires the Yokohama is serving the purpose well which has made the noise comparatively less and improved the ride quality.

Fuel Efficiency:
These are my observations on the fuel efficiency recorded by my sweetheart (please note this is in Bangalore traffic)
- City driving under normal conditions – 13-14kmpl
- City driving with full AC – 12-13kmpl
- Highway driving under normal conditions – 16-17kmpl
- Highway driving with full AC – 15kmpl – which I rarely do because my native is a hill station and I don’t feel to switch on AC once I reach half way of my journey)

I always fill up in Shell petrol pumps and only when I have to travel for couple of days I fill up in a HP or IOL petrol pumps.

Summary:
Overall to sum up I am happy with this beauty and she has served the purpose whenever I take her out. Also as I said earlier, she has never let me down at any situation. I would recommend Santro for every individual who is looking out for a small family car with some adventure as well and also excellent car for city drives with easy maneuverability.

Hope I have not bored anybody out here with my long boring review.

[girishglg]

We have a 16 year old M800 that needs replacement. Everything was going fine but a few events in sudden succession that made me think of buying another hatchback replacing my old warrior. The reasons are as follows-

1. My wife has taken to serious and regular driving since the last six months which requires a reliable small car for nearby errands etc
2. The M800 has started giving a series of issues and has visited the garage near half a dozen times in as many months hence the need for a reliable replacement.

Me and my wife are both big fans of the Santro Zing and this is the first thing on our minds as the replacement car. The reasons are-

1. It is a tall boy (prefer) and a compact one at that. It is also decently powerful and yes a 4 cylinder which I prefer over a 3 pot. However not averse to an 800cc car as well.
2. Our budget is strictly 2 lakhs (factoring in the sale of M800 which would fetch around 50k max or lesser) due to financial constraints and would be a full cash purchase (no loans since have 2 loans already – car and housing).
3. On quick enquiry a pre-owned Zing over 5 years is available at around 2 lakhs and newer GL variants (about 5 years) around 2.5 lakhs (in Bangalore). We would like the car to be less than 5 year old preferably but if it exceeds the budget then could go for a low run car above 5 years (5-7 years).
4. We would like to have all basic creature comforts such as power steering, power windows and air-conditioner without any compromise hence top/mid variant preferred and we would keep the car for at least another 5-6 years.
5. The car has to be a compact hatch only and will mainly be used for local runs not exceeding 10kms in total each time or in a day hence mileage is not a very big concern (for the long runs we have a EcoSport Diesel)

Please suggest if this is the right choice or if there is any other alternative car model that we can consider for our requirement and budget.

[VW2010]

I would suggest an AT model from say a Nano or the Alto (used). May be slightly above 2L but considering that your wife has also started driving and your driving needs are local and less than 10kms, you should look at Auto models available for that price point.

Alternatively for 2L the santro is like an old wine. It gets better with age and is one of the most reliable of Hyundais as far as i know. My friend has one for his life time now (just saying).

You can actually even pick an i10 for around 2-3L used and it will serve some life time. Remember you are not a frequent car changer considering the age of that 800. 16 years can make people even consider changing spouses let alone cars

Joke apart, you should consider something that will give you life as well.

[IshaanIan]

For 2L my suggestions would be either an Alto K10 (fun) or a WagonR with the F10D engine (much better performance, handling and mileage than the Santro). If you are willing to stretch your budget by a bit but what I think would be worth it, then go for a low run 1st gen G13B Swift

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by VW2010

I would suggest an AT model from say a Nano or the Alto (used). May be slightly above 2L but considering that your wife has also started driving and your driving needs are local and less than 10kms, you should look at Auto models available for that price point.

Automatics are an option but the problem is that in Bangalore market everything is inflated in the used car market hence would be difficult to get one which is around 5 years old.

Nano AMTs are pretty new in the market, not sure how many would be around in the used car market.

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

For 2L my suggestions would be either an Alto K10 (fun) or a WagonR with the F10D engine (much better performance, handling and mileage than the Santro).

The problem with Marutis are that they have a high resale value and both the above models would not fit into the budget.

Swift is out of the race as it is a bigger car and we are looking at only the entry or a entry plus segment specifically for compact dimensions.