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Old 20th December 2008, 00:58   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shantyrocks View Post
a new car is any day a better bet dude.
the maruti swift vxi will also fall in your budget.its a fun to drive car .
the palio 1.6 comes with a lot of goodies ,alloys included and looks hot in red.its damn fun to drive as well at a finger lickin price.
you could also look at a 2003/2002 end corolla which should fall in your budget.
even the NHC 2004-2005 model will fall in your budget.its a highly practical and a great city sedan and with its light controls is fun to drive as well and fuel efficient too.
in your budget you have a lot of options.explore all of them before you decide
bro he said fun to drive. the nhc is far from that. unless its a vtec which still isnt much better.


i suggest you get the baleno and spend the rest of the money on doing it up.
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Old 20th December 2008, 02:15   #17
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I own an Accent GVS 2003 and wifey owns a GLE 2004 and going by personal experience I can say that its a decent car. Its not very high on maintenance and drives reasonably well. The drive has been labelled as plain and flat by some auto magazines but then it varies with individual taste. I also own a Scorpio (2007) and no doubt its torquey but I quite like Accent's smoothness and refinement too.

A new car is anyday better than a used one. Another factor to look for is that Baleno has already been discontinued.

Ikon D is also decent as far as the engine goes but I know some Ikon owners (Petrol) who hate it because of the maintenance.

Since you have already stretched your budget, don't stretch it further by going for a second hand Corolla / Elantra etc. It will be your first car and the accidental damage expenses (god forbid!) are much higher for these cars.

So IMO go for an Accent. But do look at Swift Vxi too.
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Old 20th December 2008, 09:21   #18
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Baleno it is. But True Value ppl are no saints, so don,t take their word about the health of car, get it checked yourself. Also true value price will be 30-40 K above the market price so if u can get a known used Baleno nothing like it.
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Old 20th December 2008, 13:13   #19
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Based only on your one parameter about fun to drive, i'l say baleno compared to the accent anyday.
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Old 20th December 2008, 13:47   #20
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I will suggest that you should go for Baleno only.

I own a baleno and am very much satisfied with its performance and FE figures. Baleno returns 11 to 11.5 consistently in Mumbai's stop and go traffic and with AC working with automatic climate control set at 25 degrees. On expressway the FE will increase to 16 with the same climate set.

My friend has been crying with his accent, his accent has never gone above 10 in city and 13 in highways.

Also Baleno is a class above Accent. Accent is placed at the start of the sedan class where as Baleno was in comparison with Honda City which is again a class above it.

As far as A.S.S is concerned - Maruti can be serviced any where compared to accent.
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Old 20th December 2008, 13:51   #21
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The comparison is between a used Baleno and a new Accent. Moreover Baleno was never a hit and is discontinued now.
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Old 20th December 2008, 23:04   #22
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Umm, yeah.

In India, a great car need not sell well at all (c.f. Baleno, vRS) and a bad car will sell millions.

Ask any serious petrolhead which car he'll choose between an Accent and a Baleno and the answer will be quite obvious.
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Old 21st December 2008, 11:52   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lynx
But since it is coming from a TrueValue showroom, wouldn't they have checked the history completely before taking the car in?
Boss, everyone (Maruti, dealer) are here to do business and to make money. TruValue does do an extensive check of the used vehicles they buy, but it is very much possible that they missed identifying some issues with the car or even when they know, they would not tell buyers. End of the day, their model is "Buy cheap, sell high". So, instead of trusting them blindly, I would suggest get car checked by your own trusted mechanic also.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lynx
Me and my parents are also leaning more towards the new Accent but I want to know if it really has a better engine (on road) than the Baleno, or at least similar.
As others confirmed, it surely is a more FTD car than the Accent. And if it matters to you, the FE is also better. So, if you can be sure that the Baleno in question is in good condition, go for it. Else, I would say stick to a new Accent - it ain't that bad either.

Last edited by supremeBaleno : 21st December 2008 at 11:53.
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Old 21st December 2008, 12:22   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
As others confirmed, it surely is a more FTD car than the Accent. And if it matters to you, the FE is also better. So, if you can be sure that the Baleno in question is in good condition, go for it. Else, I would say stick to a new Accent - it ain't that bad either.
Thanks a lot. Thanks everyone who helped me arrive at the decision too. I think I will just go ahead and put an advance this week for the Accent Executive 2009 model. Will post pics once I receive the vehicle mid-end next month. :-)
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Old 21st December 2008, 22:46   #25
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U've probably made up your mind;still i thought i'd let you know i bought my baleno altura from true value(bargained & they agreed because no one wanted to buy it, we had our own reasons). Have had no major problem, you get a warranty etc & they're pretty willing to help you out, Maruti's service is brilliant.
Did i mention it's a brilliant car?
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Old 21st December 2008, 23:09   #26
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Reg. Accent Executive vs Ford Ikon TDCi

Thanks sukrit, yes, I have decided to get the new accent against the used vehicle, but thanks a lot anyway. :-)

After that decision I had trouble deciding between the accent and the new ford ikon tdci. Thankfully, quick help arrived in the form of d_himan. Let me quote the very helpful PM here if somebody would need it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by d_himan
Hi lynx,

We had an Accent 1.5 GLS in 2001-2003 followed by an Ikon 1.6 Sxi (mid 2003 onwards) - shall base my recommendations on both these ownership experiences.

On-Road price: around the same post discounts?

a. Ride Quality/NVH
The Accent is the winner. Very comfortable ride in the city. 'Smooth' is how I'd term it - no vibrations in the gear lever, pedals, steering, whisper quiet... It'll impress.

Ikon D, on the other hand offers a good ride, but not as compliant as the Accent. NVH could be a deal breaker. There's a cabin resonance at 40-50kmph in 5th. 80kmph noise levels are a bit irritating. Test drive and see if you're ok with the same.

b. Gear Shifts: The Ikon petrol is more involving. The diesel is ok, but the stick vibrates too much. However, nothing against the Accent. Does its job well without fuss. Accent wins compared to Ikon D.

c. Power
Accent - There used to be this irritating lag in power in the Accent GLS at about 1200rpm in 2nd gear. So, in a signal, if you shift to 2nd quickly and press the accelerator, the car waits and waits for a few seconds before taking off. I heard they solved this problem now. So please do a test drive in bumper to bumper low speed 2nd gear conditions to verify. That said, the 3rd gear is sweet. The car was happiest at 120-130kmph cruising. Not a sound from the engine. Lovely stress free driving.

Ikon D - Super responsive in bumper to bumper traffic. Haven't taken it beyond 100kmph - was quite noisy.

d. Handling

The Ikon Chassis wins hands down, even though the Diesel felt heavier when I TDed it. Throw it into a corner, and it'll go around it like its on rails. The Accent doesn't feel as confident and the steering feels a bit vague and mushy.

Again, decide if handling is what you're looking for. The Accent is perfectly adequate for sane driving. If you're very aggressive, the Accent won't suit you.

e. Suspension Check

Load the Accent with 5 people + 1 or 2 kids and go over a speed breaker. The rear suspension used to bottom out and make a thunk. Heard they made suspension geometry revisions, but do check
this. The Ikon 1.6 never had such issues. Didn't check this in the TD.

f. Interiors, Seating & build quality

Both are a bit dated, but I think the Accent has aged more gracefully. Power window switch placement in the Accent is normal and sensible. The Ikon D has a very nice, thick steering wheel.

Rear leg room is noticeably better in the Ikon. Also, the seats sit higher, and its easier for older people to get in and out of the car than the Accent. However, the Accent is wider and seating 3 is easier. If you're over 6, the roof is uncomfortably close in the Ikon.

Both cars are built to last, expect no rattles from them for 5 years at least.

g. Mileage

Expect the Accent to give you anywhere between 9 - 11 kmpl in the city. The Ikon D might return anywhere between 14 - 18 kmpl if the Fiesta D's figures are anything to go by.

h. Boot Space: Both are good - maybe the Ikon is slightly bigger.

i. Servicing/Spare Parts: Routine servicing for the Ikon 1.6 costs us around 2.5k to 3.5k. Hyundai servicing was also decent. Maybe Hyundai has a slight edge - however, if you have a Ford workshop/Good pvt. garage nearby, nothing to worry about.

Ok, my ending lines - if you're using the car for 20K-30K km per year, you might save a bomb in fuel costs with the Ikon D. However, the Accent would be a much quieter, comfortable and a cocooning drive. Also, check if Accent's problems like suspension bottoming out/2nd gear low rpm responsiveness have been sorted out.
Thank you so much Himan. Ride quality and good highway cruising speeds are definitely higher priorities for me than good handling during fast cornering. Mileage really doesn't rank that high either. So, we will be definitely booking the accent executive next week. Thanks again for taking so much time to write that PM! :-)
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Old 22nd December 2008, 02:15   #27
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So Accent comes as the winner. Cool! Have two of them and never had a complaint.

Best of luck for your new car, take good care of it and it will serve you well for years to come.
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Old 22nd December 2008, 13:58   #28
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Based entirely on the options listed by you, go for the Baleno at 3.5L. Its a great VFM car, fun to drive and great handling. Should easily last you for the 3-4 years that you're aiming for, and still give you a reasonable resale.

Also, with the slowdown in sales for new cars, you should probably be able to get a better price on the Baleno as well, especially considering its a discontinued model.
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Old 22nd December 2008, 15:30   #29
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My suggestion would be the New car rather than the used one. Just my suggestion ultimately it's your decision.
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Old 22nd December 2008, 16:32   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mclaren1885 View Post
On a pure FTD factor the baleno wins hands down. If you are looking at going slightly over 5L why not look at a 2nd hand elantra? Should be able to get good ones at around 5-6L. Comes bundled with loads of safety features, bolt on a Pete's box and you get one hell of a quick car that returns incredible FE and the fuel you put in comes at a way cheaper price too.

I wouldn't recommend an used elantra to anyone. The question over the hyundai CRDi engines still remain.

Between the new Accent & a True Value Baleno, the new Accent wins hands down. I would not trust True Value with my nagging aunt's hairpin.
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