[caffeineAM]

Booked the Astor Savvy this Saturday. Dealer says 2-3 months. Manual transmission variants are readily available.

[BrokenHW]

MG Motor India to offer freebies to customers awaiting delivery of Astor compact SUV.

Source: Rushlane

[sanjogpanda]

Finally got a call from the showroom that my car has been in dispatch plan. Hoping that it will reach Bangalore in a week time and get delivered within 10 days.

[TheHummerGuy]

Just received call from the dealer that the car is shipped and reach Chennai in 10days, he asked me to make payment. I dont understand the 86000 Rs insurance that he has provided under elite scheme. Not yet decided on the insurance and accessories. Going to make some partial payment today

Originally Posted by anti21

Hopefully the waiting ends for you and you get the car soon!

[caffeineAM]

I just got a call that vehicle is on the way. That makes at least 3 of us here that got the delivery call in the past few days.

[TheHummerGuy]

Fellow BHPians, need your suggestion. The dealer in chennai where I am getting my vehicle delivered is asking me to do both ceramic coating and on top of it PPF. I asked him what about the badging, his reply was they will remove the badges, apply first ceramic 6 coats and then on top of it, PPF and then fix the badge over the PPF (may be they stencil the badge) the total cost he mentioned was 100K or 1 lakh. I dont personally wish to go for any of them if need to protect the paint alone was planning just ceramic. So let me know your thoughts
Thanks in advance

[caffeineAM]

Originally Posted by TheHummerGuy

I dont personally wish to go for any of them if need to protect the paint alone was planning just ceramic.

There's your answer. PPF is supposed to be a plastic film on top of paint. Personally I don't like it. Ceramic is too much maintenance from what I have heard. Look up as many YT videos as you can before you decide if either is worth it.

[Transmission]

Originally Posted by TheHummerGuy

Fellow BHPians, need your suggestion. The dealer in chennai where I am getting my vehicle delivered is asking me to do both ceramic coating and on top of it PPF. I asked him what about the badging, his reply was they will remove the badges, apply first ceramic 6 coats and then on top of it, PPF and then fix the badge over the PPF (may be they stencil the badge) the total cost he mentioned was 100K or 1 lakh. I dont personally wish to go for any of them if need to protect the paint alone was planning just ceramic. So let me know your thoughts
Thanks in advance

You're being taken for a ride and its not your car

Unless you care a lot about having a lot of paint protection either of them are better avoided. Neither will really help you in maybe half the cases of scratches - ceramic is nearly useless for most scratches (except protection from dust and better water beading) while ppf will protect you a bit from stone chips and small scratches.

While its a personal opinion - and so each person has to think for themselves, I feel both of them are quite worthless in terms of value.

And a PPF on top of a ceramic coat? That's almost a scam. Steer clear.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by Transmission

You're being taken for a ride and its not your car

Unless you care a lot about having a lot of paint protection either of them are better avoided. Neither will really help you in maybe half the cases of scratches - ceramic is nearly useless for most scratches (except protection from dust and better water beading) while ppf will protect you a bit from stone chips and small scratches.

While its a personal opinion - and so each person has to think for themselves, I feel both of them are quite worthless in terms of value.

And a PPF on top of a ceramic coat? That's almost a scam. Steer clear.

And we can get the whole car repainted multiple times for 1Lac

Another thing to consider before putting money on coating is that in case of any denting /painting work due to accident repair, the money invested on coating is gone.

[thebengalee]

Visited MG Motors Lavelle Road yesterday to take a look at the Astor. I'm in the marked for a CSUV so spent the entire day visiting showrooms and taking TDs.

Compared to the Toyota Hyryder, MS Grand Vitara, and VW Taigun, the Astor definitely looks the classiest and has the best interior quality by a mile! The TD Astor (1.3 Turbo Savvy) with 8K KMs on the odo had slight rattling on the pedals, no idea if that's due to maintenance (or lack thereof). Also, throttle response was noticeably worse than the Hyryder with its electric torque; this may have been due to the Astor not being in S mode though, please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Lavelle Road showroom claimed to have made >15 deliveries for the Astor yesterday, so I'll be waiting for the Car Sales thread for October for confirmation. Looks like long waiting periods for the Astor may be behind us. Also, due to multiple cancellations, certain colour variants (read: not black) are available for immediate delivery as well!

Not really worried about the car's FE, but when it's certainly difficult to ignore when the Hyryder/GV Hybrid returns ~25 KPL in the city!

Other than my concerns about the long-term reliability of car overall as well as its interiors, the Astor definitely seems to be the pick of the bunch in the INR ~20L segment.

[immortalmechano]

Originally Posted by thebengalee

Compared to the Toyota Hyryder, MS Grand Vitara, and VW Taigun, the Astor definitely looks the classiest and has the best interior quality by a mile! The TD Astor (1.3 Turbo Savvy) with 8K KMs on the odo had slight rattling on the pedals, no idea if that's due to maintenance (or lack thereof). Also, throttle response was noticeably worse than the Hyryder with its electric torque; this may have been due to the Astor not being in S mode though, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Not really worried about the car's FE, but when it's certainly difficult to ignore when the Hyryder/GV Hybrid returns ~25 KPL in the city!

Other than my concerns about the long-term reliability of car overall as well as its interiors, the Astor definitely seems to be the pick of the bunch in the INR ~20L segment.

It definitely is the best looking car in this segment. Mine has just completed 11k on the odo. Car feels as brand new as day one so far. Fingers crossed for long term, but so far everything I've experienced it's positive. The throttle is slow initially compared to everything else. I have to plan a ahead for overtakes. But once that first downshift happens, it songs and shifts smoothly and quickly. Definitely feels like some minions inside the GB keep falling asleep and take a second to be woken up everytime i stomp the accelerator. If FE is a major concern don't come this side. Tank to tank my average has been around 12 (mix of 60%highway and 40% city).

[thebengalee]

Originally Posted by immortalmechano

It definitely is the best looking car in this segment. Mine has just completed 11k on the odo. Car feels as brand new as day one so far. Fingers crossed for long term, but so far everything I've experienced it's positive.

That great to hear. Do you mind sharing if you're doing anything particular to take care of the upholstery? I've heard that regular car cleaning stuff is generally designed for hard plastics and may damage the soft stuff.

Originally Posted by immortalmechano

The throttle is slow initially compared to everything else. I have to plan a ahead for overtakes. But once that first downshift happens, it songs and shifts smoothly and quickly. Definitely feels like some minions inside the GB keep falling asleep and take a second to be woken up everytime i stomp the accelerator.

This is surprising, I would've thought that the 1.3 Turbo + TC combination wouldn't be laggy. I'm considering the CVT variant for it's supposed better efficiency and responsiveness in the city where the majority of my usage is going to be. I mostly drive defensively and sedately, so it's not going to be too much of a bother for me.

Originally Posted by immortalmechano

If FE is a major concern don't come this side. Tank to tank my average has been around 12 (mix of 60%highway and 40% city).

That's quite good for the turbo. I was prepared for FE ranging from 10-15 until the Hyryder Hybrid showed up, so I'll just pretend that car doesn't exist!

[immortalmechano]

Originally Posted by thebengalee

That great to hear. Do you mind sharing if you're doing anything particular to take care of the upholstery? I've heard that regular car cleaning stuff is generally designed for hard plastics and may damage the soft stuff.

In all honest nothing new. Just regular cleaning so far. Will plan for an annual interior shampoo perhaps.

Originally Posted by thebengalee

This is surprising, I would've thought that the 1.3 Turbo + TC combination wouldn't be laggy. I'm considering the CVT variant for it's supposed better efficiency and responsiveness in the city where the majority of my usage is going to be. I mostly drive defensively and sedately, so it's not going to be too much of a bother for me.

MG has clearly tuned this for a relaxed drive so it doesn't respond well to that first throttle input. Post that the combination works well in building speed really really fast.

Originally Posted by thebengalee

That's quite good for the turbo. I was prepared for FE ranging from 10-15 until the Hyryder Hybrid showed up, so I'll just pretend that car doesn't exist!

I have seen 6 on the tripmeter in Bangalore City going to 18 on the highway. So it can get worse and better also. I've seen CVT and MT owners quote just slightly more decent numbers. If space is not a constraint, the hyrider does make sense. Alternatively the 5 star Taigun does make a case for itself if you can live with its interior quality and perceived ASS. Definitely more fun to drive.

[thebengalee]

Originally Posted by immortalmechano

I have seen 6 on the tripmeter in Bangalore City going to 18 on the highway. So it can get worse and better also. I've seen CVT and MT owners quote just slightly more decent numbers. If space is not a constraint, the hyrider does make sense. Alternatively the 5 star Taigun does make a case for itself if you can live with its interior quality and perceived ASS. Definitely more fun to drive.

Test driving both the Hyryder and the Astor on the same day was quite revealing. I liked the responsiveness of the Hyryder and Toyota is generally synonymous with reliability and great ASS. However, you only buy your first car once, and if I'm spending 20 lakhs on a car, I want to feel like I've spent my money well every time I get inside. The Astor's interiors truly feel very premium and I've always been a fan of the traditionally styled front fascias, something that is getting rarer every day with the DRLs as "eyebrows" style becoming the norm.

The Taigun is definitely a great package but the interiors are a noticeable step down from the Astor's and it remains to be seen whether its 90% localisation actually translates to better ASS for its owners. And the MG ZS EV got a 5 star in the Euro NCAP so it's not too unreasonable to say that the Astor is probably safe enough.

I haven't much of anything about MG's ASS which is probably a good thing I guess. There are way fewer MGs on the road than VAG cars, so that's a contributing factor. Is there any consensus among Astor or other MG owners about the ASS, availability of spares, etc.? What has been your experience so far?

[lionheart_mm]

I have driven the car multiple times here in the UAE as it was a part of the fleet of Ekar pay-per-min rental service. The car is okay to drive in the city, but pretty bad in the highway with poor performance and not so great steering feedback (maybe because I'm used to better cars). I would not spend 20lac on this car, only reason people buy it here is because it is like the cheapest SUV by a big margin.