[aseem]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

I cannot comment on ride/handling or speed since I have not driven the car yet. That would be thanks to the horrid dealers in Bangalore. So I guess the *** can be judged by the BSS. And I can imagine, once they have sold a car, just how much they would care about the bakra.

I am an owner of the Swift. Before buying a Swift, I had to wait for several days before I got a vehicle available for test drive. Pasco Motors Gurgaon had made me wait for 3 hours for a test drive and later refused a test drive stating the car had gone for wash etc. Now just because I had a bad experience with Pasco, doesnt mean that Swift is a bad car or Maruti *** sucks. Making such sweeping statements based on a single experience can be misleading. I suggest you drive the car first, and than rate it based on its merits and demerits and dont let the dealership experience effect your opinion.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

It would be an inidividual's prerogative but I think a test drive for a vehicle that has been in the market for a few years would always be available quicker than a vehicle that has just been launched. No offence meant, but this would be the LAST reason for me not to buy a car.

Depends on (1) the person's mindset, (2) his interest in the product and (3) the presence or lack of competition for that product.
(1) Today, we expect good Customer Service to be a given and thus when faced with shoddy C.S. most of us would rather go to the competition.
(2) If a person without any bias for or against the product is denied a test drive, he would just tell the company to take a hike and go try out other brands. But if he is already hooked, he might tolerate the poor service.
(3) Finally, the car market today is mostly a buyer's market with lots of options available for the user. Why bear poor customer service when there are other avenues available ?

[suman]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If the majority felt like you do about the Baleno, then we would not be seeing the kind of voting results that we see on this thread, with 56 people of 99 saying that "Today, given a choice of Baleno or Fiesta, they would go for a Baleno".

And you know what?!! Of the 56, I'm reasonably sure the majority HAVE NOT EVEN DRIVEN the Fiesta and have not even taken a ride in it.... and they keep praising the Baleno's stability, road holding and interiors!

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

That is your individual opinion is it not? As far as I'm concerned, put a 1.6sxi with a spoiler next to a Baleno of the same color and the Fiesta beats it by MILES in terms of character, looks and personality! Silver to silver, Black to Black.....and, of course, a number of more unusual colors that the Baleno does not even have.........
But, as I said, its MY OPINION....and we all have our own! I wouldn't be noticed ANYWHERE at this point in time in a Baleno

Having heard so much about the so-called good looks of the Fiesta, I just had to go have a look. And they seem to be rarer than Balenos on Chennai roads. But, the fact that they had a stall in my office complex helped. Did not test drive as all I wanted to evaluate were the looks.
My observations :
Exteriors :
Front view - it looks different. But nothing that would make me say, "Wow".
Back view - nothing to write home about. Looks like a much smaller car than the Baleno from behind.
Side profile - higher at the mid section like the NHC. No looker there too.
Interiors : Now this was good and better than the Baleno.

The OTR price for the display car (fully loaded) was 7.7L. Would I pay that kind of money for these kind of looks ? No, Thanks. I would rather pay the same dough or a little more and go for the elegant looking Optra.

[suman]

Originally Posted by prince85

But atleast the baleno vxi has climate control. As far as i know none of the fiestas irrespective of the models have it(correct me if i am wrong). And with or without climate control, the balenos a/c is far far superior than that of a fiesta

The Fiesta does not have climate control but has one of the best a/cs in its category today; only gripe I have is that the blower is a little noisy at position 3 but not enough to be an irritant.

(And I've been enough in my friend's Baleno VXI to make the comparison if I'm asked)

[aseem]

Without getting in to an argument, I feel though our car market is light years ahead than what it used to be 10 years ago, however we are still far from being a buyers market. We pay a premium for our cars compared to other countries, we get car releases in our country whent they have already become old, new models introduced world wide at the same price as old, come here as new cars sold parallel to the old model at a premium price. We dont get new engines, we get cars with older engines or reduced power, MUL has still not introduced VVT technology, the safety features of our cars SUCK, in Europe even Atos (Santro) comes with airbags. There is so much lack of cars in the 6 lakh range, that we are forced to buy cars that are 10 years old. This market is still far from being a buyers market.

[suman]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

The OTR price for the display car (fully loaded) was 7.7L. Would I pay that kind of money for these kind of looks ? No, Thanks. I would rather pay the same dough or a little more and go for the elegant looking Optra.

If you wanted the Optra that was reasonably loaded (not the base one that has no goodies), it would cost you 2 lacs more and would not be much point would it...? Unless you had so much more money to spend.....I didn't!

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

If you wanted the Optra that was reasonably loaded (not the base one that has no goodies), it would cost you 2 lacs more and would not be much point would it...? Unless you had so much more money to spend.....I didn't!

If I am right, the Fiesta across all variants (fully loaded or otherwise) has the same looks. And your point was about looks and whether you would be seen in a particular car or not, which is also about exteriors. If so, all a person who is bothered about looks needs to look at is the base version of Optra.

[suman]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

If I am right, the Fiesta across all variants (fully loaded or otherwise) has the same looks. And your point was about looks and whether you would be seen in a particular car or not, which is also about exteriors. If so, all a person who is bothered about looks needs to look at is the base version of Optra.

I don't know what gave you the idea I went for the Fiesta only based on the looks. I went for the overall package.....including the features offered in the SXI vs (for example) the NHC VTEC; you were talking about the fully loaded SXI vis a vis the Optra so should you not be looking at the "loaded" part as well?

And I'm sure you didn't go for the Baleno just for the looks part of it did you?

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

I don't know what gave you the idea I went for the Fiesta only based on the looks.

I did not say you bought the Fiesta only for looks. I was replying to the following post of yours comparing the exteriors of Fiesta and Baleno. All the post is ONLY about exterior looks.

Originally Posted by suman

That is your individual opinion is it not? As far as I'm concerned, put a 1.6sxi with a spoiler next to a Baleno of the same color and the Fiesta beats it by MILES in terms of character, looks and personality!
Silver to silver, Black to Black.....and, of course, a number of more unusual colors that the Baleno does not even have.........
But, as I said, its MY OPINION....and we all have our own! I wouldn't be noticed ANYWHERE at this point in time in a Baleno

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

The Fiesta does not have climate control but has one of the best a/cs in its category today;

Maybe one of the best a/cs in its category. But then, the Baleno's a/c has been rated better than that of a car which is many times further up, as far as categories go. Does not look like a fair comparison.

Originally Posted by suman

only gripe I have is that the blower is a little noisy at position 3 but not enough to be an irritant.

I am not sure how noisy the Baleno blower is at position 3 because frankly, I never had to go more than level 2 in the Baleno in even peak Chennai summer.

[amit]

Fun-to-drive should include good braking.

I agree that the Ikon's brakes are not as sharp as they should be. That was not the point of my disagreement. I was talking about the handling part. This is what I said:

Ikon Didn't Handle great?. The Ikon still is one of the best handling and most fun to drive cars in the country. It can easily teach a few things to the Baleno in driving dynamics.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by suman

That is your individual opinion is it not? As far as I'm concerned, put a 1.6sxi with a spoiler next to a Baleno of the same color and the Fiesta beats it by MILES in terms of character, looks and personality!

Silver to silver, Black to Black.....and, of course, a number of more unusual colors that the Baleno does not even have.........

But, as I said, its MY OPINION....and we all have our own! I wouldn't be noticed ANYWHERE at this point in time in a Baleno

It isnt my individual opinion , but a collective opinion of all my friends , relatives , heck even my mom says the same .. Yesterday i showed her a fiesta thats parked a few houses next to mine and i asked her to count how many she would spot since .. And trust me there were plenty of fiestas that she missed out on and they werent significantly noticeble in the crowd .. Dont blame her even i have missed seeing a few.. And when i pointed out that to her , she said she was sorry for not noticing .. Today , my parents have been so turned on with me talking about cars day in day out that my mom actually knows whats a VTEC and can differentiate a VTEC from a 1.5 or a 1.3 by looking at it.. So i guess she should qualify to spot any other car which is as brand new as a fiesta .. But wondering why all this rambling anyways .. We have accepted the fact that a baleno doesnt look good ( looks being subjective ) but is better when looked at as a whole package .. But all that u fiesta lovers can point at is looks , looks , looks and more of looks ..

IF u wouldnt want to be noticed anywhere close to a baleno at this point of time , good for you .. We arent forcing you to are we ???

I guess its enough of these arguments , we can see what the poll numbers are showing and where the priority of most bhpians are ...

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

Of the 56, I'm reasonably sure the majority HAVE NOT EVEN DRIVEN the Fiesta and have not even taken a ride in it.... and they keep praising the Baleno's stability, road holding and interiors!

And what makes you so sure that the remaining 43 who voted for the Fiesta have driven or even been in a Baleno ? The poll does not impose any requirement on the voter to have actually testdriven the 2 cars. All it says is "Which car would you choose to buy NOW of the two ?" based on the voter's perception and any info that he has on both the cars.

[prince85]

Suman, i agree totally with supremebaleno, there is no competition between the a/c of the baleno and the fiesta. The fiesta's a/c is quite good but not good enough to be compared to the brilliant a/c unit in the baleno.

Bottom Line is Baleno is a more loved car on T-BHP and IMHO its a much better overall package in every respect, its all that matters.

BTW, i booked a Baleno VXI in pearl silver shade today, am waiting to take delivery on the 31st of this month which incidently is the date of my last TYBCOM examination.I am happy with my decision. I test drove the NHC VTEC, Fiesta 1.6 (warm service offerred by Shakti Ford) and the Baleno. I agree guys, Baleno is a breed apart. Its just a matter of days before a baleno joins my 2006 esteem vxi and finally i shall have 2 cars which dominate the INRC .



Cheers