| Intorducing my horses. 3-in-1 ownership experience- ZenVXi, Civic 1.8V, i10, Sportz
Folks, after being a member for 4 years, I posted my introduction last week and have been participating this forum. As mentioned I currently have 3 horses in my stable and here is a brief write up on them. Also attached some photo's.
Please note I am not attempting to review the cars here, it’s a brief ownership experience and an introduction of my cars to the forum’s audienceMods I am not sure if this is the right thread to post this one here
My 2001 Zen VXi
This baby will always remain special to me. This was my first car which was funded by me. Previously have been driving my dad Maruti 800 (Learned how to drive in it and then his Alto VX 1.1). I got this baby home on 27th September
Ownership
The good: The car has now clocked close to 68,000km and I am extremely satisfied with it service for the over these years and still love it. I have used it extensively on the highways and it has traveled Hyd-Vizag-H.A.L Sunabeda (Orissa) and back, Hyd-Bangalore-Hyd a couple of times. Blr-Goa-Blr (involved close to 16 hrs of non stop driving), Hyd-Basar-Hyd. Never once did I have any problems with its engine. It is still extremely smooth and I just love the gear box. The gear shift is very smooth.
The mileage was never below 14 kmpl in the city with AC.
The NOT so good: Actually had no major problems for about 7 years. Some niggling problems have been surfacing now and then. The last major problem was that the AC failed and it needed a thermostat change.
The car came with JK tyres and I had to replace them at 28K km even though there was enough life left in them. 2 of the tyres were defective, a bulge on the tyre walls and frequent punctures. Replaced all 5 with Bridgestone’s and 40K kms later they still have a lot of life left. And 2 puncture since they started their duty.
Had to down grade from alloys to normal rims after 8 years. I had a flat tyre one night and I just could not loosen two of the nuts. Maruti on road assistance had to be called and they did some hard hitting and banging to replace the tyre. The next day I took it to the service center and asked them to check the state of the nut and bolts. There it was discovered that during the last wheel balancing and alignment one of the screws was mis-aligned and tightened. They service folks had to break one of the nuts to get the wheel out and thereby doing enough damage to the rim, so decided to just go in for the normal rims with full wheel covers.
The rear parcel tray holder has cracked and I still not able to get it replaced. Apparently they don’t make the part any more.
Modifications: Replaced the stock ICE (cassette player) with a Blaupankt system with steering mounted audio controls. Installed a Blaupunkt 10 CD changer under the front passenger seat.
Exchanged the stock rims for alloys.
Replaced the AC panels with wood look alike.
Well after serving me for almost 7.5 years, the car is now mostly driven by the driver. I have mixed feeling towards my Zen, sometimes I think I should keep it as long as it lasts and sometimes I think I should replace it. Most probably I will replace it in the near future. I want to go in for a SUV this time. The newly launched Toyota Fortuner and upcoming face-lifted Ford endeavor excite me. Plan to test drive them shortly
My 2008- Honda Civic 1.8V MT
I bought a Toyota Corolla after deliberating a lot over the Skoda Octavia in 2005. I just loved the Skoda’s road manners and wanted to buy one ever since after the test drive. However when I finally could afford one, I zeroed in on the corolla simply for its reliability and VFM.
When the Civic was launched I went to the showroom a week after its launch, test drove both the AT and MT, and I was floored. The car was fun to drive and I found its road manners much better than the Corolla.
The Corolla was less than a year old and made no sense then to change the car
3 years later and some lot of thinking and calculations, finally decided to go get the car that I wanted badly. I had made up my mind that it had to be a black civic.
Booked the car at Pride Honda at Jubliee hills, Hyderabad. Dealer experience was smooth and satisfactory. Initially decided to book the 1.8v AT but my cousin warned me that if you get used to AT you will find driving non-AT cars extremely difficult. So keeping that in mind booked the MT transmission.
I verified the car at PDI as per the check list. The car was delivered as planned on July 5, 2008.
Ownership
The good: I just love it on the highways with this one. It has clocked around 12,000 Km and I have enjoyed every KM of it. Have done Hyd-Blr-Hyd a couple of times and found it much more fun to drive than the Corolla on the highways. The last long distance drive was a day trip to Basar i.e. Hyd-Basar-Hyd.
The car has been serviced at the specified intervals, no issues no problems as of date. I get an average mileage of 10.5 to 11.5 kmpl in the city with AC on 100%. I use only Shell normal petrol.
The NOT so good: The often complained ground clearance. At high speeds the tyres gets noisy. My family always complains that the rear seat comfort was excellent in in the Toyota.
An auto driver banged into the back, fortunately no significant damages by visible scratches and very minor bumper damage. The service center guy told me either to replace the entire bumper or repaint the whole thing. For now I have left it as it is.
Modifications: Installed the silver colored dash board panel around the steering and AC console. No other modifications.
My 2009-Huyndai i10 Sportz
Initially I thought of exchanging the Zen to another city car. However, we recently hired a driver to chauffer my parents, especially my mom around. So instead of giving a brand new car to the driver I decided to keep the Zen and just get a new car, mainly for my wife's commute. Since the car was meant purely for city limits, I was never wanted the top end of a available hatches.
Looked around and zeroed upon the Ritz VXi vs i10. I was told that the Ritz has a waiting period of 2 months; there was only the Ritz VDi available for test drive. Test drove Ritz VDi knowing that the performance of the petrol won’t be any where close to the diesel, was not impressed with the interiors also. Then test drove the i10. Everybody in the family liked the i10 in comparison to the Ritz and so decided to go for the i10.
So, booked the i10 sportz at Talwar Hyundai Jubilee hills. The sales person was courteous and nice. In the showroom I noticed that some i10’s had MRF’s while some had Bridgestone’s. I insisted on a car with Bridgestone tyres and the sales person said he will take care of it. Also I told him that I will also inspect the car for the PDI. I went to the stockyard and inspected the car. It was all cleaned up and in mint condition. Did all the checks and gave the green signal to the sales person.
We arrived at 3:30 pm (July 17) at the showroom and was told that the it would take an hour for the final formalities. But we had to spend 2 hours extra showroom as there was some delay in the temporary registration. Finally left the showroom at 5:30 pm and headed straight to the Shell petrol bunk in Somajiguda to top up the fuel tank. Overall, a very pleasant experience of booking and delivery process.
Ownership
The good: Nice city car. Initially I was a little prejudiced about Korean makes and always considered Japanese makes to be superior. However I am very impressed with the i10. The front seating comfort is good, especially after driving the Zen with that low stance I have clocked more than 1000 km in the city and the first service is also done. The mileage has been varying between 13.5 to 14.8 kmpl, again the fuel is has been Shell since delivery.
The Not So Good: None as of now.
Modifications: Put in fog lamps just for looks, felt that with out the fog lamps, the bumper seemed to have just two empty holes out there. I want to get a Stanley steering cover for it; planning to place an order for it at the Stanley showroom.
Overall, I have enjoyed owning each one of my cars and hope it continues to be this way. At home, family thinks I am very fussy and obsessed when it comes to cars, but it’s been fun all the way along. Here are some points that I try to adhere to most of the time.
- I ensure that the cars are serviced at regular intervals as mentioned in the manuals.
- I like cleaning and polishing my cars personally, I some how feel that when I ask some one else to clean it, he/she won’t do it with a sense of ownership. If ever have to get to get it cleaned by somebody else, I pay a close watch.
- I polish my cars regularly. I stick to Turtle Wax series. Ensure that it is polished at least once in 2months. But generally it is at least 3-4 times in 2 months
- I drive with AC on 100% always. Even in winter the AC is ON with the temperature set to a higher level. This ensures driving comfort and keeps the car interiors clean.
- Check the air pressure once in 2-3 weeks and keep it 1 point more than the what is mentioned in the manual
- I don’t like putting any stickers on the cars anywhere unless mandatory. Team-Bhp stickers have been an exception though.
- Try to stick to only one petrol bunk in the city. These days I have been using only Shell.
- Find it very difficult to sit in the passenger seat unless I am very tired. I become an excellent back seat driver when my wife is at the wheels.
- Believe in driving safe and reaching safe. | 
27th August 2009, 14:30
May be it's bulbous design makes me feel so.
