[Aroy]

You can upgrade Lxi to most of the features of Vxi, except the Tachometer and display icons, and that in my opinion is worth the extra for Vxi (apart from power windows, rear tray, fog lamps and the wheel covers). Actually the price difference is much less than all the items added up, hence the brisk sales of Vxi.

Unless you get an extremely good deal for 2011 Lxi, go and get the Vxi.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by GenuineOptimist

I am getting a 2011 November manufactured Etios-Diesel VD variant at the ex-showroom price of 2011. It is 13 kms run and tyres, seats, plastics appear unused. I'm convinced that it is not a test drive car or a showroom piece.

Considering the fact Etios-D prices were increased twice, once in January '12 and once in March '12 after budget, the 2011 prices are about 28,000 lower. There is an additional offer of 10,000 worth of free accessories.

On 2012 models, there are no cash discounts and minimal offer of accessories (about 3k).

My question is - is it a good deal?

To make matters complex (or less complex) -

Pros with the 2011 model (in my opinion)
- It has light grey dashboard compared to darker ones in 2012
- No waiting period (car is in the yard)
- I'm planning to hold the car for atleast 4 years, so +/- 1 year models hopefully wont affect resale so much for a diesel car?

Cons with 2011
- obviously it is 1 year older and hence depreciated in paper although not used in reality
- the roof antenna is not foldable, it protrudes really tall and I shall most probably remove it
- the risk of the car being used for Test Drives and this fact or history getting 'intelligently hidden' from my layman's eyes

Given that you are going to keep the car for about 5 years and you will get at least 25,000 off on the car the depreciation is not so much of an issue. This removes one of the cons in the long run, not short run obviously.

Provided you are not going to use the radio in your car, removing the roof antenna is fine. If you intend to, that is a pain, because your reception will suffer or you will have to put in another antenna. One option to consider though is putting in a stubby antenna in place of the antenna you are removing.

The biggest problem of course is that the car may have been used for test drives or has some problems that you may not diagnose now. With regards to it having been used, check the wheels carefully. They are the best indicators of having been run. Also check the dashboard and interiors though I agree it is easy to fool someone who is not specifically looking for something like this.

Also check for accident damage and the car having been repaired after that. Mismatch of colour in panels is probably the best way of looking for this.

[veyron_head]

Originally Posted by Aroy

You can upgrade Lxi to most of the features of Vxi, except the Tachometer and display icons, and that in my opinion is worth the extra for Vxi (apart from power windows, rear tray, fog lamps and the wheel covers). Actually the price difference is much less than all the items added up, hence the brisk sales of Vxi.

Unless you get an extremely good deal for 2011 Lxi, go and get the Vxi.

Thanks Aroy. I see from your signature that you own the K10. Does the power drop considerably when you switch on the AC? Any other feedback from you about the vehicle would also be very useful.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by veyron_head

Thanks Aroy. I see from your signature that you own the K10. Does the power drop considerably when you switch on the AC? Any other feedback from you about the vehicle would also be very useful.

The drop off in power is not too much actually. Unlike the Alto 800 which feels dead with the A/C on, the K10 lets you drive more or less normally in the city with the A/C on.

[GenuineOptimist]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

The biggest problem of course is that the car may have been used for test drives or has some problems that you may not diagnose now. With regards to it having been used, check the wheels carefully. They are the best indicators of having been run. Also check the dashboard and interiors though I agree it is easy to fool someone who is not specifically looking for something like this.

Also check for accident damage and the car having been repaired after that. Mismatch of colour in panels is probably the best way of looking for this.

Hi Ganapathy - thank u for your help. I've already checked tyres, dash and interiors. It looks brand new. The dealer is the biggest in Bangalore and I'm taking a company car with the corporate relationship. If they give me a lemon or used car, I'll make sure I get a replacement 2012 model and also make them pay thro nose since my company buys nearly 1 vehicle a day from them.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by GenuineOptimist

Hi Ganapathy - thank u for your help. I've already checked tyres, dash and interiors. It looks brand new. The dealer is the biggest in Bangalore and I'm taking a company car with the corporate relationship. If they give me a lemon or used car, I'll make sure I get a replacement 2012 model and also make them pay thro nose since my company buys nearly 1 vehicle a day from them.

In that case I can't see you having too many problems with them or this car. Go ahead and purchase it.

Am sure they will give you a better discount too because of your corporate relationship.

Enjoy the vehicle and we look forward to a user review with lots of photos soon.

[rajeev k]

Almost all dealership has the uncanny knack of making a Vxi customer believe that a LXi could be made Vxi for a lesser amount than the margin between the two variants where as the truth is the other way round.

@Veyron head. Try to negotiate for the 1% hike in the VAT also.
LXi doesn't have manual central locking too.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by veyron_head

Thanks Aroy. I see from your signature that you own the K10. Does the power drop considerably when you switch on the AC? Any other feedback from you about the vehicle would also be very useful.

The drop off is much less than in M800 or the Alto 800. But with AC on you will have to shift to first if you are going less than 20 km/h. The AC is excellent one of the best in small cars.

It has an excellent engine, which can out race a lot of other cars. In my case I use the high revving characteristics to the hilt, hitting 6000 RPM while accelerating hard. You can do
1st - 40
2nd - 80+ (taken to 100)
3rd - 120+
extremely useful if you want to sprint ahead while overtaking.

The Vxi has power locks on all the four doors (a sort of manual central locking), though they are activated through the drivers door only, that is the driver's side controls the actuation of all the four (both the key and the manual stub). The key on the front passenger opens only that door. This is a provision for the remote operated lock, which is an add on. No idea if the Lxi has this provision.

[veyron_head]

I went to the stockyard today with the PDI checklist. The first thing I did is to decode the VIN no and I realized it is a Sep 2011 model and not Dec 2011 as told by the salesman. I guess they did not expect to come with such a detailed checklist. Anyway, but for this, the car is in excellent condition and is new. The speedometer readin was 18kms. The upholstery was brand new and clean and there was no evidence of abuse. Below are a couple of pictures of the front tire. Pl let meknow what u guys think:

[veyron_head]

Just bumping up this thread to see if anyone has any thoughts on buying the Sep 2011 alto k10. I am almost decided on the car but wanted hear your thoughts as well.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by veyron_head

Just bumping up this thread to see if anyone has any thoughts on buying the Sep 2011 alto k10. I am almost decided on the car but wanted hear your thoughts as well.

The only apprehension is how come a hot selling hatch has a Sep'11 - 6 month old piece lying unclaimed by dealers. If every thing checks out, then negotiate a good deal, say 30k-50k off, else go for a new car.

[mpksuhas]

Same thoughts as Aroy, would have made sense if it was a Dec model, it doesnt make much sense for a Sep make Alto to be not sold by a biggest dealer in Bangalore.

[veyron_head]

Thank you all for your thoughts and inputs. I finally booked the car after negotiating for a few more discounts and accessories.

The car should be delivered in about 4 - 5 days. I will come back with an initial ownership review.

Thanks a ton for your help again.

[Ranjimso]

Congrats Veyron, for the benefit of others - are you at liberty to reveal the discount and the accessories you got..

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by GenuineOptimist

I am now offered a 50k cash discount on ex-showroom of 2011 SX4, petrol.

For comparison, a 2012 SX4 gets a discount of 30K.

Is this a decent deal? The dealer keeps insisting that Maruti doesn't let dealers be independent in their discounts and pricing. So it seems 20k more for the older model is maximum they can muster?

In 2012 March end, I took delivery of a beige color 2011 SX4-VXi. I got a discount of nearly 40K over and above whatever discounts I was getting on a 2012 model.

When I first visited the showroom in mid-March, upon my request, the salesman also showed me the car in the stock yard (very dirty there, since it was lying there for nearly 5 mths I presume, but they cleaned it before delivery of course). I made him open the hood and noted down the VIN#. The VIN# implied a manufacture date of Nov 2011, thats almost 2012.

Resale is not a main consideration for me. Then, considering that it was mfd in the fag end of 2011 (almost 2012), I decided to buy it, since I was getting a discount of nearly 40K over and above whatever discounts I was getting on a 2012 model.

My on-road price came to Rs 8.07 lakhs, which included sunfilm (on rear 3 windows; he had put on 5 windows but I made him remove in the 2 front side-windows, bcoz that hampers visibility esp at night) and underbody coating. Plus I added alloy wheels which set me back by Rs 25K.

Why I went for the SX4:
-----------------------
I had considered Verna, City, Vento, Etios and Accent (even though the last two are one segment down). Looks and equipment level of Verna impressed me. But during my test drive of the Verna, I scraped a speed breaker. Besides, when I sat in the rear seat (I drive myself, dont have a driver; but I need to ensure that car is suitable for rest of family also), I found it very claustrophobic due to the high window/low roof. That ruled out Verna.

Honda guys never got back to me after I visited the dealer for a testdrive. But anyway, its GC and WB data (wheel base) positioned it as bad as the Verna when it comes to clearing speed breakers. (For the uninitiated, GC alone is not a factor. WB is also a factor. Simplistically put, the smaller the WB, the more easily it will clear speedbreakers, bcoz by the time the front wheels finish the end of the speeadbreaker, the rear wheels may start climbing it. Thus from a avoid-speedbreaker-scraping perspective, it is desirable to have a big GC and small WB)

Volkswagon guys never got back to me after I visited the dealer for a testdrive. But anyway, its dealer network is very limited. So I ruled it out.

I test drove the Etios. It has a very mediocre handling and is very noisy. Interiors suck and is very poorly equipped. I didnt feel like paying for a bad car just for the Toyota brand.

Hyundai Accent would have been an excellent VFM for me. But it didnt have power mirrors. Also, the chrome and the inside wood-like finish looks awful to me. That ruled it out.

Why I went for the VXi trim:
--------------------------
Petrol was it for me bcoz I dont drive very long distances. So diesel ruled out.

That narrowed it down to VXi or ZXi. I hardly see any VXi models on road, so I was considering ZXi (herd mentality). ZXi has airbags, ABS and EBD (if I recall right). But I realized that at the speeds that I drive (I never go above 110 kmph and am a very defensive driver), I feel seat belts should be enough. Didnt feel like paying the premium that the ZXi demands.

But ironically, the most crucial factor was not this. Rather it was the fact that ZXi has steering mounted audio controls, which I didnt like. I test drive the ZXi and noticed that it comes in the way of pressing the horn, which is absolutely required in India. I need to lift my hand off the steering to press the horn, which I feel is dangerous. If there are no steering mounted controls (eg. VXi), then I can continue to stay grabbed to the steering wheel, and keep just the thumb on the horn. So I can press the horn instantly using my thumb.