18th January 2006, 19:28
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| Senior - BHPian  | Climate control Baleno VXi ! My current ride ... ... is an Indica 2000 petrol. It's got adequate performance. But not too much of low end grunt. The pull however is pretty good in 3rd gear (mine doesn't have a tacho). 99% of my driving is within the city and it served this purpose quite well. FE was so-so. Used to get around 10 to 11 kmpl. It doesn't have power anything :( steering, windows are all manual. Had a Pio cassette deck with XPlod speakers. I don't understand the subtelities of ICE. Even then it's apparent to me that the audio installation and quality is pretty bad. The gearshift has a mind of its own - long play and rubbery. Switchgear quality is appalling (it's one of the early gen models). I spent zilch on mods.It does have its cons, quite a lot more than you would want in your car. However, having said that I love the car and love standing by it. It's got loads of space and is quite comfy. It's been very very reliable - never let me down. Minimum of maintenance. Not a single engine problem in 40K kms. Not a single electrical problem. And we are talking of a pre-V2 Indica here ! My Indica experience taught me ... ... one thing, which was foremost in my mind when I was planning for my new car - When you are on a given budget (purchase and maintenance) look for a vehicle within that price range, whose fundamentals are good. Frills should take a back seat. My shortlisting thought process ... I listed my requirements .. some driven by my head, some by my heart. I wanted a petrol sedan (and in order of priority) - which is available through my employers' leased car scheme (CLC) - within a given price point - which would drive reliably for at least 5 years (I drive around 9K kms a year) - which provides adequate driving pleasure (I like to drive myself) - which has decent power (good low end torque, good consistent performance all through the 0-80kmph range) - which doesn't feel cramped (as @hrag once said, the Indica has spoilt me !) .. I'm 6'1" - whose maintenance costs are on the lower side .. relatively speaking - that has a good AC (am not too particular about blower noise) - that may give 1 to 2 kmpl FE more than the Indica - and among the features my heart wanted were wide tyres, 14" alloys, a basic MP3 ICE system with a woofer and decent looks. I consciously did not let the following parameters influence my purchase decision, as they were either not important for me or I couldn't afford the extra dough to spend on them. - resale value, snob value, image, interior plastic/fabric/etc quality It was pretty obvious that there is something to crib about in almost every car. The point is, I was not looking for a car which was EXCELLENT in all the parameters under consideration. I was realistically looking for a car which is GOOD in all of them at the best price. The process of elimination follows ... The petrol sedans that were being provided through CLC AND met my price point (at most 7.5L OTR) were - Esteem - Accent - Viva - Ikon Flair - Ikon 1.6 EXi - City ZX EXi - Baleno Esteem : Costs within 5.3 L OTR - I find it cramped - otherwise, it was fitting the bill Ikon Flair : Around 5.2 OTR - IMO Lacks space - Only dealer workshop very far away from my place - Not as powerful as I wanted - Cost would be more with alloys and woofer Ikon 1.6 ZXi : Around 6 OTR - IMO Lacks space - Only dealer workshop very far away from my place - Perception of higher maintenance costs over a 5 year period - FE may be equal or less than Indica - Add cost of woofer Accent 1.6 : 6.6 L OTR (with extended warranty of 2 years) - Add alloys 17k, add MP3 HU 6K .. Costs 6.83 L OTR - 1.6 not as pleasurable to drive - I was unhappy with rear sear space Viva 1.6 : 6.82 L OTR (with extended warranty of 2 years) - Found this somewhat cramped too City ZX Exi - 7.37L OTR - Add alloys 17k, add MP3 HU and 2 speakers and woofer approx 13K .. Costs 7.67 L OTR - Not as powerful as I wanted - Did not want to pay the premium for the Honda badge - Still can't stand the look, even the ZX. I don't want to be seen with one - Maintenance costs on the higher side (people say Baleno fog lamps are costly @12.5K. Well, City ZX fog lamps cost 18.7K !) That left the Baleno. And it met all the criteria. I like the looks too. I prefer wedge shapes. For looks, the OHC was my favourite, followed by the Lancer and the Baleno. I took drives, searched the net, pored through all the info on Baleno's in T-BHP to try and identify the negatives of the car. The most common ones I came across were 'drab looks', 'cheap interior plastics', 'low resale value', 'old design', 'somewhat noisy engine'. It seemed to be a pretty good car - fundamentally  It boiled down to a 2 car contest between the Baleno LXi and the VXi. Now I am not much into car mods. I prefer stock features. The 'new' VXi @6.76 L OTR ; the LXi @5.93 OTR. Price difference = 83K I added the desired mod costs to the LXi 185/65 R14 tubeless tyres & 14" Alloys - 27000 Basic MP3 HU + 4 speakers (with papers) - 13000 Remote locking - 5000 That totals 45K. - So I save 38K ? But ... the demister, the climate control, the height adjuster on the drivers seat might come in handy ... and it saves me the trouble of modding (as I said earlier, I prefer stock cars) Hence .. I got myself a silky silver Baleno VXi today .. and I'm loving it ! What I Paid ... The VXi price breakup was: Ex - showroom - 6,76,173 Insurance - 25,260 Regn/Rd Tax - 39,883 Seat Cover - 2,000 Soomoku Act. Sub- 6,500 Extd Warranty - 8,000 --------------------------------- Total OTR - 7,57,816 --------------------------------- I paid - 6,76,173 Total discount - 81,643 Note 1 - Fiesta/Petra/Lancer are not covered under my company's scheme. If they were, I may have spent many sleepless nights deciding between them !! Note 2 - A very big thank you to ALL T-BHPians. Without T-BHP I would not have been able to take an informed decision. |
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18th January 2006, 19:49
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NCR
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18th January 2006, 22:49
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| BANNED Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore / Madras
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18th January 2006, 22:57
| #4 |
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19th January 2006, 00:28
| #5 | |
| BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chd
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| Quote:
You have yourself posted some very good price figures and other analysis of the Baleno. I was really wondering when you would be getting one Anyway great choice and you won't regret it. Happy driving! Keep us posted with long term reports. | |
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19th January 2006, 02:52
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19th January 2006, 05:46
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19th January 2006, 09:21
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19th January 2006, 09:56
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19th January 2006, 10:58
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19th January 2006, 11:19
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19th January 2006, 11:30
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19th January 2006, 11:39
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19th January 2006, 11:50
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19th January 2006, 12:22
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