[atluri_rkc]

Originally Posted by adv

Was just curious to get views of the Forum on whether a lightly used car say 30k km over 2-3 years would be more preferable than going for a test drive vehicle? Of course the used one would be the pre-facelift version, but speaking just in terms of mechanical condition, etc.

Among the 2 options, the lesser devil will be the 30K Kms over 2-3 years. Test drive vehicles are often subject to abuse, they miss service cycles and some accidents could also be not reported. On the contrary, a pre-worshipped vehicle will have more transparency on service and repairs done.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

I’ve had the diesel Tucson for a while now and the brakes are definitely not inadequate, either in city or highway conditions.

But, the brake “feel” is inconsistent. Meaning, the feedback from the brake pedal is not very good. So, it “feels” like you are not pressing the brake pedal enough for the car to stop and you seem to want to press it more. But, actually the car is stopping perfectly fine.

Was waiting for something more substantial to report than just a thanks, hence writing only now:

Your very well expressed elaborate explanation really helped and might have been the difference between him going for the Tucson or dropping it; also because it was happening at a crucial time of decision making. Many thanks, @lordrayden. After many ups and downs, he eventually did buy it and is a happy guy; a guy in awe of, and getting used to the 400Nm.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

I’ve had the diesel Tucson for a while now and the brakes are definitely not inadequate, either in city or highway conditions.

But, the brake “feel” is inconsistent. Meaning, the feedback from the brake pedal is not very good. So, it “feels” like you are not pressing the brake pedal enough for the car to stop and you seem to want to press it more. But, actually the car is stopping perfectly fine. I have seen that many other BHPians have also observed this in their ownership reports. It is something that you get used to after a while.

I have a 2016 model diesel Tucson, manual tranny. I can vouch for that. The feedback from the brake upon sudden braking certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes feels like dead wood! But I haven't gotten used to it yet, I still feel uncomfortable about it!

[lordrayden]

Originally Posted by Poitive

Your very well expressed elaborate explanation really helped and might have been the difference between him going for the Tucson or dropping it; also because it was happening at a crucial time of decision making. Many thanks, @lordrayden.

Happy to know I was of some help.

Originally Posted by Poitive

After many ups and downs, he eventually did buy it and is a happy guy; a guy in awe of, and getting used to the 400Nm.

Wishing him many happy miles in it. For me personally, this car's fundamentals like engine, gearbox, chassis and suspension are so strong that they more than make up for the missing bells and whistles. A firm right foot on an open road in Sport mode makes me forget about the missing 360 degree camera or ventilated seats . The joy of driving can cure a missing feature so to speak.

[rahulraag]

First real damage on my 1 year 3 months old 14k run car. Sidewall tear on the front right side tyre. Was trying to park close to the pavement on a narrow lane, I didn't notice a slab that was jutting out. Tried Bluelink, RSA as the car was in a weird position and unless I was ready to get dirty there was no way I could fit in the jack. The traditional thing worked better, walked to a near by garage and they helped me fix the donut tyre. First time driving with it and it pulls strongly to the left side. Took the car to Trident Service center, they didn't have a tyre in stock. They suggested a near by tyre shop who can source a Bridgestone Turanza in same size by evening. I am not sure if this is the ideal replacement but the thought of lugging the car on the space saver until other options become available (3-4 days) have convinced me to pay the advance and have the car running back on all fours by today evening.

[lordrayden]

Originally Posted by rahulraag

Took the car to Trident Service center, they didn't have a tyre in stock. They suggested a near by tyre shop who can source a Bridgestone Turanza in same size by evening. I am not sure if this is the ideal replacement but the thought of lugging the car on the space saver until other options become available (3-4 days) have convinced me to pay the advance and have the car running back on all fours by today evening.

225/55 R18 is a very unique tyre size here in India. As far as I know only the Tucson and higher variants of Jeep Compass have tyres of this size. The former comes with Nexen as stock and the latter Bridgestone. So unless you are willing to upsize, I think you’re stuck with these brands.

[rahulraag]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

225/55 R18 is a very unique tyre size here in India. As far as I know only the Tucson and higher variants of Jeep Compass have tyres of this size. The former comes with Nexen as stock and the latter Bridgestone. So unless you are willing to upsize, I think you’re stuck with these brands.

I considered upsizing but considering the wait period and total lack of confidence driving with the space saver, I have decided to go with Bridgestone which is readily available. I did find Vredestein in same size on Tyremarket.

On a different note, I noticed that after the puncture and replacement with the donut tyre, the TPMS have gone kaput. It shows low pressure on the tyre that went bust and other tyres are showing no value. I will see if this persists after the full-size replacement or whether TPMS need any kind of reset after the replacement.

[rahulraag]

A quick update on the tyre change, the TPMS reset by itself upon running around 50 meters after the change.

I do have a question about fuel efficiency to the owners, my first trip with the car was around 3000 kms when the car gave a healthy mileage of 17kmpl. This was a tead-shed moment coming from Skoda 1.8 TSI and Ecosport 1.5 AT before that which consistently returned 10 to max 12 on highway runs. Since then the economy has nosedived. I am a little aggressive on the throttle, but beyond that initial honeymoon my highway runs have returned me 12 kmpl and around the city it is consistently single digit. I wonder this is more to do with my driving style or whether this is consistent with what other owners are getting.

PS: filled regular deisel from shell at 121rs/l whereas the PSUs are selling around 86-87/l

[lordrayden]

Originally Posted by rahulraag

I wonder this is more to do with my driving style or whether this is consistent with what other owners are getting.

So far after around 6000 kms of running, have got an average of 9.8 kmpl in pure city drives and 15.6 kmpl on highway runs. These are the full tank to full tank numbers, not what the MID shows (which I’ve found to overstate the efficiency by 7-8%).

I too fill diesel at Shell.

[rahulraag]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

So far after around 6000 kms of running, have got an average of 9.8 kmpl in pure city drives and 15.6 kmpl on highway runs. These are the full tank to full tank numbers, not what the MID shows (which I’ve found to overstate the efficiency by 7-8%).

I too fill diesel at Shell.

Thank you for sharing. I have never tried tank-full method, but from the numbers shared by you it seems pretty consistent with what I am getting.

On a different note, I spotted four Tucsons(including first generation) and another absolute Hyundai unicorn - Santa Fe (Third generation) during a 45 minutes drive in dense Bangalore traffic. I think (or my confirmation bias) that one starry night coming from the opposite side may have flashed me.

[Surfer84]

Hello ,
Regarding FE :- 16.8kms/L is what could stretch to on highway. Cruise control with Sports mode. Use Cruise control to even manage the acceleration( when FE is priority).
If I accelerate cant get past 13Kms/L On highway.
Don't know why get higher FE on Sports mode than in Eco. I use normal HP diesel.
Get around 700-750 Kms on Full tank is what i normally get.
AdBlue:- 3.5x5L cans for 14k Kms.

TPMS :- Tire sensor syncs between 20-40Kms/hr.

Brake :- Around 14K kms and still am concerned. Cannot figure the bite point.

Engine, Gear box :- Simply love it.
Have a Question on Gearbox :- Does the CAR adjusts to the Driver profile ? Gear shifts gets changed as per the usage?

[gary]

I don't think there is a driver's profile.
As far as the mileage goes, I get 11.5 - 12 in city sometimes but closer to 10-10.5 most of the times. It has gone upto 16 per litre on the expressway.

[shady8701]

Originally Posted by rahulraag

I think (or my confirmation bias) that one starry night coming from the opposite side may have flashed me.

That may have been me in the starry night
I, too, suddenly feel like there has been a significant uptick in the number of Tucsons that I see on the road. I'm putting it down, partly, to confirmation bias, but surely it can't be completely based on that.

Originally Posted by rahulraag

wonder this is more to do with my driving style or whether this is consistent with what other owners are getting.

I'm seeing about 11.5 mostly on the Car display, haven't tried a full to empty tank method yet.
On the highways, I haven't done a long trip yet, longest I've gone is about 100kms and I saw 15.5 on the MID. This was without cruise control and not too conservative driving.

Originally Posted by Surfer84

Have a Question on Gearbox :- Does the CAR adjusts to the Driver profile ? Gear shifts gets changed as per the usage?

Originally Posted by gary

I don't think there is a driver's profile.

@gary - I think Surfer is talking about the car learning your driving style and adapting to it. In the sense of how the VW Vento does with its gearbox patterns.

@Surfer - didn't find any evidence to support this. Isn't mentioned in the literature as well. I'd be interested to find out if this is true as well.

[drhoneycake]

There is no driver profile. The gearbox adapts to your throttle input. With 14k kms in 3 months, my mileage has been hovering at 16kmpl in highways and 10-11 in the city. I drive in comfort mode in the city and sport mode on the highways. I fill anything but Shell diesel.

[desidino]

Background:

There are times in one's life, when the car you buy, doesn't only fulfill your commuting requirements, but is essential to how you foresee your life unfolding before you. While I have bought cars earlier - mainly when moving countries - this was probably the first time in my life when the car to be bought had to be just the right one and not just one among the probable options.

Having said that, one has to be practical and obviously consider the financials. This was particularly important for me as, having taken a sabbatical, I was headed to probably the most important phase of my life wherein what I do with my life would be driven not mainly by responsibilities to fulfill or bank balance to build, but by what truly speaks to my soul (or at least attempt to find something that does).

While I am not yet sure what I would do for the rest of my life, I was sure that the next few years would involve traveling extensively through my home state of Uttarakhand and the rest of the country.

So, I needed a car that could take me and my family safely and comfortably across the mountains and plains of my Bharat. Dekho apna desh / dekho apna pradesh.

PS: I had bought the Tucson in December and had prepared first draft of this post in February, but something or other kept coming up. My apologies for the delay.

Requirements from the car:

A. Budget: Since I am on a sabbatical, I did not want to break the bank and hence the initial budget was around Rs. 25 lakhs. For the right car I was willing to stretch it further till around Rs. 30 lakhs.

B. Fuel: I plan to travel quite extensively across my home state of Uttarakhand over the next few years along with occasional long tours to the rest of the country. Hence, it had to be Diesel, although I was willing to consider Petrol options in case they really stood out in terms of what they were offering and were priced cheaper than the diesel options.

C. Automatic: I have been driving automatics for the past 10 years, and so it had to be automatic transmission. I drove my father's manual Duster between Haridwar and Dehradun recently and even those few hours of driving manual transmission were stressful. The comfort of automatic transmission was non-negotiable to me. Further, my wife also would be sharing the driving duties, and she has only driven automatics.

D. Ride quality: This was important due to foreseeable long distance running across a variety of roads in the Himalayas and plains too. I don't plan any off-roading adventures presently.

E. Comfortable tourer: The car had to comfortably accommodate 4-5 people as apart from my wife and I, my parents too might join us on our travels regularly. Here, by touring I also mean 2-3 hours a day driving journeys, since for senior citizens even those can be as straining as 8 hours a day driving journeys for younger people.

F. Safety: This is critical, so reasonable safety features such as stability control and airbags was a must.

G. All wheel drive/ four wheel drive: Although, I don't plan any off-roading, to me AWD/ 4X4 isn't just an adventuring requirement, but a safety requirement since I would be extensively driving in the Himalayas and I would rather have AWD capability and not need it instead of needing it and not having it. Again, since I don't plan any off-roading, just the basic AWD/ 4X4 setup would do.

H. Hill Hold Control: This is a must for those like me who are not experts in driving in the mountains. I have had scary experiences in manual cars when one needs to stop on steep inclines on narrow mountain roads. That backward movement of the car when trying to start on steep inclines on narrow mountain roads is pure terror.

I. Panoramic sunroof: Since we would be traveling to scenic places, it does matter in terms of elevating the travel experience.

J. Size: Hill driving meant that the car should not be too big. Although, given that quite large vehicles routinely ply the Himalayan circuit, this wasn't a deal breaker. I live around Haridwar/ Dehradun and not in a proper hill station (such as Mussoorie), so small size wasn't a requirement.

K. Niggle free experience: Since I would be traveling frequently to places outside my city of residence, especially in the Himalayas, I needed a reliable car.

L. Service network: Particularly in Uttarakhand and North India, due to foreseen extensive use within Uttarakhand and occasional touring outside Uttarakhand. Although, I was willing to compromise on the extent of the service network in Uttarakhand as long as there was a service center in Dehradun or Haridwar.

M. New: I did not wish to explore the used car scene. Although, financially it makes immense sense to go the used car way, but I don't have enough technical knowledge to trust myself to go through the used car buying process. More importantly though, buying a car is also an emotional process, and my wife and I simply didn't feel like going that way.

Cars considered:

Given my requirements, I mainly considered the following vehicles:

• XUV 700 AX7 Diesel AT AWD
• Tata Safari XZA Plus Adventure
• Hyundai Tucson GLS 4WD AT Diesel
• Jeep Compass Limited (O) 2.0 Diesel 4x4 AT
• Toyota Innova 2.4 GX AT 8 STR

In addition I briefly considered waiting for Tiguan or Kodiaq, but the expected pricing would probably be significantly higher than the above and I needed the vehicle soon, as I wanted a ride of my own instead of using my father's Duster as he might need it. Thankfully the pricing of Tiguan and Kodiaq did turn out to be significantly higher than the above and over my stretched budget, so I did not miss out by not waiting for them.

Other cars that I could have considered, but were not part of my main selection list:

• Tata Harrier: The difference in pricing between Safari and Harrier isn't much, so might as well consider Safari.
• Isuzu V-Cross Z Prestige 4x4 AT: Too big and no showroom/ service center in Uttarakhand.
• Mahindra Thar LX 4-STR Hard Top Diesel AT: Lack of 4 doors means that it's not an option when carrying 4 people of which 2 are senior citizens.
• Force Gurkha 4X4: No automatic option. Lack of 4 doors means that it's not an option when carrying 4 people of which 2 are senior citizens. Also, no showroom/ service center in Uttarakhand.

A rather short selection process:

Among the 5 main options (XUV 700, Safari, Tucson, Compass, Innova), I was once seriously considering Innova given how ubiquitous they are in the mountains and the unmatched Toyota reliability. However, during the selection process, my wife and I gradually veered towards wanting AWD/ 4X4 capability as a must-have.

That meant that Innova and Safari were out of consideration. I also read about Safari's safety concerns on the forum. And the Innova doesn't have a panoramic sunroof. Although, had Rs 25 lakhs been my hard limit, I would have gladly gone with either. No car is perfect and ultimately one has to go with realistic assessment of one's budget and how much one can stretch it. I could stretch it to around Rs. 30 lakhs and so now the XUV 700, Tucson and Compass were in the fray.

XUV 700:

Even with concerns over initial niggles, I would have gone for XUV 700 if not for the waiting period of over 1 year. However, I could wait only for a maximum of 1 month or so.

It's absolutely phenomenal what Mahindra has achieved with the XUV 700. It caters for everything, even AWD. If only Tata had done better home work and equipped Safari with AWD/ 4X4.

As there was no way to get XUV 700 soon, I didn't even take a test drive.

Tucson:

Given that the Team-BHP official review and ownership reviews by LONG_TOURER and QuadraticAmoeba have done a fabulous job of enumerating the pros, cons and features of Tucson, I would not repeat the same and instead briefly cover the most critical pros and cons from my perspective during the test drive.

• Pros:
  • Looks: Yes, looks are subjective, but I feel that Tucson looks much better in person than in pictures. I found the overall exterior design very tastefully done and classy. Tucson should age very well.
    
  • Space: We were impressed by how big the Tucson feels from inside. 5 people would fit in easily. And with just the 4 of us, my parents would be very comfortable in the back, especially with the centre armrest opened.
    
  • Ride quality: Even over the potholes, Tucson managed to soften the impact very well.
    
  • Service network: Although within Uttarakhand, Tucson can be serviced only in Dehradun, Hyundai service network in Uttarakhand is much more extensive than Jeep. So, even though I won't be able to service Tucson at Hyundai's other service centers in Uttarakhand, it is comforting to know that there would be a service center not too far away to help me in case anything goes wrong.
    
  • Torque: Last but not the least, my god, that pulling power from 400 NM of torque is phenomenal !
    
• Cons:
  • New Tucson: Given that the new Tucson is expected this year, it makes sense to wait for it if you can. Not applicable in our case as we could not wait that long.
  • Interiors: Interiors do not give the over the top wow effect that one would expect from a Rs. 30 lakhs + car. However, the interiors are not shabby by any means and in fact do seem to be of good quality. We were more than fine with the interiors.

Compass:

I took the test drive of Compass after taking a test drive of the Tucson. While, interiors of the Compass are definitely better than the Tucson, we found Tucson to be as good as or better than Compass on all other requirements.

In fact, due to its smaller size, Compass felt almost a segment lower than Tucson.

Also, Jeep has only 1 service center in Uttarakhand in Dehradun.

Finally, I felt that the noise from the Diesel engine in Compass was perceptibly more than that in Tucson which took away from refinement of driving experience.

As for the gearbox, I did not find the shifts to be problematic as others have indicated on the forum. So, do take a test drive if that's the only factor preventing you from considering Compass.

Decision:

We decided to go with Tucson over Compass primarily due to the smaller size of Compass.

PS: The absolutely shambolic tweet by Hyundai Pakistan followed by Hyundai India blocking users on twitter for pointing it out happened on February 6, 2022. Had it happened before my purchase, I would have seriously considered going with Compass instead. Global brands should know better than to involve themselves in sensitive geopolitical matters.

Buying and delivery experience:

We bought the Tucson from DPM Hyundai Dehradun. They are the only dealer authorized to sell and service the Tucson in Uttarakhand.

Nothing much to complain about in terms of overall dealer experience. Although, as others have mentioned, there was no wow moment considering that this is Hyundai's flagship product in Bharat. Again, I don't mind it as long as things get done. After-all, Hyundai is in the volume game and we cannot compare it to the Big 3 Germans.

In fact, the dealership was very accommodating and let me take out the car (along with their driver) for pooja on December 19, 2021 (for auspicious reasons as the next auspicious day was after a month) even though I had not made the full payment. I had done partial payment of Rs. 8,75,000 by then though and purchased the insurance effective from December 19, 2021. I took the actual delivery on December 27, 2021 after having made all the necessary payments.

The total on road price including insurance (which covered basically everything including engine cover, return to invoice, etc.) came out to around Rs. 31 lakhs. Which amounts to a discount of around Rs. 1 lakh.

Dealer was able to provide the discount as the car was already in stock, but he was unable to promise discounts for January delivery and in fact mentioned that there might be a price hike in January. Given the current scenario in the automobile industry and worldwide semiconductor shortage and logistical bottlenecks, due to which price hikes and long delivery periods are the norm, I thought it best to book the Tucson in December itself. Since the dealer had only one 4WD model in stock, I did not have any choice regarding the color - Polar White.

I did not opt for any accessories. The dealer included car perfume, mud flaps and mats with the car.

In addition, I opted for the 5 years/ 140,000 km warranty which cost me Rs. 32,800. Do note that the Tucson comes with 3 years/ unlimited km, 4 years/ 60,000 km or 5 years/ 50,000 km warranty as standard.

Hyundai website itself mentions extended warranty information in case you wish to opt for warranty beyond the standard 3/4/5 years warranty. Link provided below:
https://www.hyundai.com/in/en/connec...ended-warranty

Hyundai also provides Shield of Trust packages (service packages) for up to 5 years. Link provided below:
https://www.hyundai.com/in/en/connec...hield-of-trust

I did not opt for it as the 5 year package cost of Rs 78,000 seemed too steep, especially given that services up to 30,000 km are complementary.

Initial impressions:

We are loving our Tucson. As I type this, the Tucson has covered 10,500 km so far.

The Good:

• The one stand out feature is that 400 NM of torque. It just pulls and pulls and pulls like a locomotive on steroids ! The torque is not only useful for the highways, but also on those steep twisty mountain roads. No more worrying about stopping mid way through a steep hairpin bend and then overcoming that backward slide and wheel-spin. No drama. No nonsense stress free mountain driving.
• The excellent ride quality is something that others who have sat in the vehicle have noticed too, so it's not just the owner's bias. Although, sadly even with the otherwise wonderful road infrastructure being built in the country, the unscientific design of approach to/ departure from flyovers and bridges means that there is a significant step up/ step down that no amount of good suspension can accommodate. So, I just slow down (sometimes as low as 60 km/hr) when encountering such bridges/ flyover sections. Even the blocks/ segments of flyovers and bridges are not joined together properly and hence are never level. So, again, I just drive slowly (around 80 km/hr maximum) when going over such flyovers and bridges.
• That panoramic sunroof is something that we use quite regularly. It really brings in another dimension to the traveling experience especially when driving in the mountains. Seeing trees and mountains through that sunroof is something else.
• Putting 4WD to use. Although we could probably manage without 4WD in this instance, I was glad that we had 4WD. It had snowed near Mussoorie in February and we had gone for a random drive towards Mussoorie. There was this area where the snow was on the road and we saw a Thar coming downhill towards us with both its front wheels sliding on the road. I had engaged the 4WD lock at the same spot and we passed through without any drama. Another instance was when we had gone to Pushkar and the car was barely a few inches off the tarmac. Due to the soft sand, the wheels were stuck. I engaged 4WD mode and the car moved forward easily.
• I wasn't a fan of White color while booking the Tucson since I have already owned a white car earlier. But, I have to say that White has grown on me. Especially with the panoramic sunroof, it provides a very nice contrast and looks pretty smashing.

The Not So Good:

• While there are no deal breakers, there are things that can be improved upon.
• Lack of a 360 degree camera even as an optional accessory is a miss. It could prove immensely useful in navigating narrow mountain roads.
• Ignition button is not visible from a normal seating position and one needs to bend sideways to have a look. There have been few instances when I pressed the ignition button with the gear lever in N thinking I had switched the car off. Then had to again switch the car on, move the gear lever to P and press the ignition button. Had the ignition button been in a more visible position I could have readily seen whether it mentions OFF or not. Although, this is not a major issue since the vehicle does prompt you with dings and message on the screen.
• At this price point, Hyundai should have provided wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto. I got a separate cable and keep it permanently in the car.
• The button for operating the sunroof can be a bit tricky. One needs to pull at it gently if one wishes to only open the sunshade and not the sunroof glass too. Pull at it firmly to open both the sunshade and sunroof glass. Hyundai should have provided separate buttons to open sunshade and sunroof glass.

10,000 km update:

I got the first 1000 km free service done in February, which is basically a check to see whether everything is working fine. There were no issues.

10,000 km free service was done a few days back. Glad to report that there are no issues still.

We had gone on a long road trip of over 3,500 km in February/ March from Haridwar to Surat (via Pushkar and Udaipur) and the car performed flawlessly. It is ridiculous how quickly the 120 km/ hr warning alert comes up as the Tucson munches those highway miles effortlessly.

Other trips undertaken include Naukuchiatal and Uttarkashi apart from regular runs to Mussoorie. The only issue during hill driving that we face is that the car sometimes doesn't pick the right gear when it slows down while driving uphill. I have started using the Sports mode now during uphill driving and it does help to a large extent, although still there are occasions when pushing on the accelerator doesn't seem to urge the car on as desired.

While the car has been more or less free of any major dents which is a miracle given the driving conditions in Uttarakhand, I did face a scary situation when a drunk motorcycle rider came from the side out of nowhere. Without getting into further details, luckily nobody was hurt, but the front left bumper was hit due to which the bumper got dislodged a bit. Upon taking the car to the service center, I found out that the fog lamp lock was broken. Apparently, there is no way to replace the lock as it is part of the bumper itself, so the entire bumper would have to be replaced. Since, it is not a major issue, I discussed with the service center executive and have left it as it is.

There are no rattles yet. In fact, every time we faced rattles, it turned out that it was due to some loose items that we had put in the car.

The only glitch we faced is due to Apple CarPlay, but even that went away on its own. When playing Amazon Music on Apple CarPlay while using Google Maps, the music would not resume after the directions voiceover. Hopefully, the glitch doesn't return.

Conclusion:

We absolutely love our Tucson. It has been a wonderful and dependable companion so far. Hoping for many more miles of niggle free experience.

I would like to leave you with some pictures of my Tucson.

Ready for pooja:




Naukuchiatal:




Towards Uttarkashi:




Barsu village in Uttarkashi: