[gandavadi]

My first car was Maruti Esteem, bought in 2003. Loved it. As you read this post, you will see a lot of comparison between the Verna my Esteem. This post has the hunting, TD, booking, delivery experience and review. This is my first post on the forum, so pardon me for its quality.

I got the Esteem on a 7 year loan! Once the loan got over, I wanted to buy a new one. I was not in a hurry. Before the hunt, I listed my priorities. You will find them below (in no particular order). Few of them were compromised; I will elaborate them later in my write-up. Sometimes you follow your heart, so you will find that there are conflicts and no logic with my priorities or the final decision or in some comparisons or with my perspective of things.

1. I wanted an upgrade, not just a replacement.
2. Must be a latest model. I loved my Esteem, but even in 2003 when I bought it, it was more than a decade old model. Interiors and the exteriors were all looked dated. I bought it simply because it is more reliable than its peers and for its affordable price tag.
3. A diesel for sure. When I bought Esteem, the price of the petrol was around Rs. 35. Hmm...now? I commute at least 60 KMs a day, so a diesel is wiser.
4. A ‘safe’ car. Our highways have become better; speeds on these highways have increased. But not much discipline, and not to forget, I have kids now. So the car must have good safety features.
5. Budget around 10 Lakhs
6. I wanted a European branded car. You know why…do I need to elaborate??
7. A decent OEM music system & Bluetooth connectivity for my mobile phone with steering controls.

Cars considered:

1. Fiat Linea: Most of my priorities are met here. It got the looks, good interiors and great handling. It has its own niggles and issues, but the deal breaker was its engine. My Esteem had a 1.3 litre petrol; this one had a 1.25 litre diesel. That’s no upgrade. If they had a 1.6 litre, I would have bought this ignoring the other short comings on the car. I waited for a 1.6 litre way too long from the beginning of 2010. There were some rumours that it will be released during 2011 Deepavali. I wrote an email to Fiat India…no response. But one good thing about this wait was there were few new cars in this category getting released. More choice then.
2. Chevy Cruze: During my wait for 1.6 Linea, I tried Cruze. Excellent car. It had a sun roof and the best sounding OEM music system on a car that I have TDed. The clutch was really hard. This car is little out of reach for me, but I could still have managed stretching my budget. Somehow I was unable to finalize on this. I still thought its worth waiting for 1.6 Linea.
3. VW Vento: Again most of my priorities met. Before TD, I thought that I am going to buy this one dumping 1.6 Linea. It got decent looks. But, no gizmos…no serious additions to what I had in Esteem!!! Again no real upgrade for me in this area. Seriously VW, what were you thinking? How much more it would cost if you have added some basic gizmos? The engine is very noisy and it damps all the good things it had. This car did not connect with me well. Again thought that I will wait for the Fiat.
4. Ford Fiesta: Bad pricing. It has excellent looks though. But as a package, it did not impress me. BTW, the voice command thingy never really worked for me during test drive.
5. Maruti SX4: Already looked dated. Same engine as Linea – no real upgrade. This one too did not connect with me.
6. Toyota Etios, Nissan Sunny & Skoda Rapid: Etios & Sunny did not interest me at all. Rapid is more a copy-paste of Vento, any ways it got released just when I booked Verna! Did not do the TD.
7. Verna: Before the test drive, I never really gave a chance for a Hyundai. It was its looks that brought me to a Hyundai showroom for a test drive. What a makeover from the previous generation Verna. When I sat on the driver’s seat and started the engine, the clatter was comparatively lesser than the cars that I TDed. When the car started moving, it felt as if I was driving a petrol head. It got everything that I wanted. But, this is not a European branded car. Forget it!!…I loved it very much. Did lot of research on the net and on Team-BHP. There were 3 major complaints. 1. High speed handling & Suspension issues, 2. Lifeless steering and 3. Headlight is not bright enough. Did TD again. This time reached 120 km/hour. I did not feel anything scary, may be because I was driving Esteem before and I have done 135 km/hour quite a few times on it. Anyways, I will not reach those speeds regularly. The other two were also fine for me. Again coming from Esteem; these were not a real issue for me. Decided to ‘earn’ it! But wanted to make sure that I am not making a wrong choice. Again lot of research, did TD again all the cars that I shortlisted and then finally decided to go for SX(O).

Booking Experience:

Before I made the decision, the car became a huge hit. The waiting period for SX(O) CRDI is 6 months now. I wanted to book at DSC Hyundai as it was closer to home. But one of my friends said that he can help me getting the car earlier if I make the booking at Hyundai Motor Plaza (HMP) – this is a company owned showroom. I had done a TD at this showroom as well! I went ahead and did the booking here. Venkat was my relationship manager. He had a good knowledge of the vehicle, not usually found in any of the dealerships that I TDed (including the other cars). As mentioned before, I did two more TDs at HMP before finalizing. My Esteem is black, so thought of going for a different colour this time. Initially wanted to buy a White, but 90% of the Vernas that I saw on road was White. So I thought of going for Carbon Grey. The day before I booked my car, I saw a black Verna. Wow…I am sold. Decided to go for black again!

During my booking, I asked detailed break-up of all the charges involved with registration & life tax. Venkat provided that. All the charges were reasonable. Paid 50K advance for my SX(O) to HMP on Sep 10, 2011 using my credit card. They charged me 2% additional for using my card. I did not take the loan from the dealership. Even though they had SBI, when I checked directly with SBI, they gave me better rates. Same with the insurance, HMP quoted 40K for bumper-to-bumper insurance. I wanted to go with TATA AIG since they have the add-ons that I wanted (Zero Depreciation, Return to invoice, NCB protection, Key replacement). HMP does not have a tie-up with TATA AIG, so decided to do it by myself. Also found that there was also a difference of 10K on the bumper-to-bumper cover!! And with add-ons it came to 37.5K. I will get my 50% NCB transferred from my Esteem and get around 12K refund later.

I also had good experience with SBI; I got the contact of Naga Subramaniam (SBI, Park Town branch) from DSC Hyundai (the place where I did the first Verna TD). I processed my loan with him. As far as I know, SBI is the only bank which gives loan on on-road price. But a maximum of 85% loan on on-road price. They also offer 7 year loan and I opted for it. Naga came to my place for the filling the applications and I had to visit the branch a couple of times to complete the documentation. The loan was approved in a week’s time. I think it is worth the effort considering the interest rate and the processing fee they charge, when you go through the dealership.

Delivery Experience:

My friend unfortunately was unable to advance my delivery. He had few contacts at the factory, but still unable to do so. I don’t want to elaborate this and deviate from the purpose of this post. Anyways, I was happy to book the car at HMP. My experience with these guys was great. I made up my mind for the delivery in March 2012.

November 2nd, a call from HMP…the person was Karthik. He checked whether I am ready with the remaining money for taking the delivery. Although he did not promise me a delivery date, he indicated that the delivery might happen during the last week of November. I told him if he confirms the date of the delivery, I will get the money dispersed from SBI immediately. He mentioned that he will call me back the following week and confirm the date. He never called back. I checked with Venkat a few times, he sounded positive that the delivery will happen in the last week of November, but did not commit a date. Later Venkat called and mentioned that the delivery will happen only in December as there were some delays at the factory. Later I came to know through my friend, that some highly placed guys in the TN government pushed Hyundai and got the cars delivered to them immediately. One of these cars was allotted for me! That is the reason I did not get the car delivered in November. I am not sure whether HMP was aware of this.

Venkat called me during 1st week of December. This time, there was commitment. He said that I will get the car around 20th and asked me to get the money dispersed from the bank. Money from the SBI and the remaining initial amount was paid on 7th. I gave my address proof and other documentations for registration on 17th. I had told Venkat, that I wanted to see the car in a broad daylight and would like to do a PDI before it is sent to the RTO.

Venkat called me on 19th and said that I can check out the car the next day and the car will be delivered on 21st. On 20th, went to TATA AIG, paid the premium and got the cover note done. Then, took Team-BHP checklist and was on the way to HMP for the PDI, Venkat called me and informed that the vehicle is not yet arrived as there was delay in transportation from the factory and the truck which was carrying the car did not reach the city on time. So it was stopped at outskirts of the city. (In Chennai the trucks are not allowed inside the city during daytime.) So went to office in disappointment. The next day everything went fine. Reached HMP at about 10:30 AM and there she was…waiting for me. I did all the checks and gave a green signal to Venkat. I also gave him the insurance cover note to get the registration done. The same evening Venkat called me and informed that there will be a delay in getting the registration number, but I can still take the delivery as promised on 22nd. The RTO found some issue with the car’s value mentioned in some form which I am unable to recollect. Venkat mentioned that this form comes from the factory and those guys messed up.

On 22nd, I went to HMP at 3:30 PM to take the delivery. Again I had Team-BHP checklist to do the PDI. Venkat saw the checklist and asked whether it is from Team-BHP. I was surprised that he was aware of Team-BHP's checklist. And it was not just that... HMP, as part for their delivery process has this checklist customized and printed. They also get the signature from the customer after checking! I was really glad about this. Let me know if any of you had a similar experience with your dealer.

I requested Venkat to remove all the plastic covers from the car and also not to stick any dealer stickers. They promptly obliged. Venkat gave me a detailed demo on various features of the car and explained about the service cycle and gave the service contact numbers. Everything was fine and all set. I had to wait for another half hour as my dad wanted to take the delivery at 5:30 PM…auspicious time. At 5:30, the HMP’s Principal Manager gave me the keys and wished me luck. After this, we came to our car, a small pooja and a photo session was done. Before we took the car out, the photograph was printed and Venkat gave it to me along with a small gift (a table top). My dad took the car and we went straight home and then to temple.

Price Paid:



Review:

I don’t want to do an elaborate review on the points which were already covered in detail by others and in the official review. But, I will give my take on the important ones.

1. Engine: Sounds well refined. When compared to its peers, it feels more like petrol.
2. Suspension: I have done close to 450 KMs. I heard a thunk sound (not a good one on a brand new car) twice when I hit a bad patch at around 35-40 KMPH. I checked the tire pressure, it was 35 PSI. The recommended is 32 PSI. After reducing to 32 PSI, I did not hear the same thunk sound again. Does 3 PSI make so much difference? Hit 120 KMPH on OMR twice, I had no issues.
3. Breaks: Coming from Esteem, this is a ‘wow’ for me.
4. Dashboard & Console: Very neat. Instant mileage does not make sense.
5. Seats: Leather seats are good. The front ones are great. At back, few people have mentioned that it feels claustrophobic. Personally, I felt the rear is ok.
6. Reversing: Reverse camera is a necessity in this car. Very limited view from inside rear view mirror. Good view from the camera even at night. But not tried when its pitch dark. Parking sensors are not as sensitive as you can find on a Chevy Cruze. The warning beep is not audible when you are playing music.
7. Inside rear view mirror: It has auto chrome function. I get migraine when exposed to bright lights for long durations. So this is great feature to have. Esteem had a lever that I need to flip, but this one checks the light intensity and darks the mirror accordingly.
8. Outside rear-view mirrors: They are adequate, way better than the Esteem. And it is electrically foldable. Super. I would have liked it better had it auto fold when you switch off the engine. The other missing one here is while reversing; the mirror does not tilt downwards as in the Cruze.
9. Steering controls: They are great, except…this one key, when accidently pressed, it calls the last dialled number on my connected phone. Once I get used to it, this should not be an issue.
10. Ticket Holder: It is placed on the driver’s visor. Great for the people like me, who pays for toll every day.
    
11. Floor mats: The floor has hooks and the mats have holes that fit in to them. It sits firmly and does not move. Don’t remember noticing it on other cars. I would have like it in beige colour.
    
12. Stereo: I had an excellent system in my Esteem. I had Alpine HU with a 6 CD Changer in my trunk. Front had 4 inch MTX components, Alpine 6 inch ovals at rear. I also had a JL Audio subwoofer with an Alpine mono amp powering it. I loved this setup. I am more of a ‘CD’ person; I don’t listen to MP3s. (On a good system, MP3s sound flat, this is my observation. Don’t want to debate on this. So guys, let us save it for another day.) I don’t think I can add a CD changer to the OEM stereo. But it makes up for it by fully supporting iPod connectivity. I mean, normally the OEM stereo which can connect to an iPod, consider it just like any other hard drive or a thumb drive. All the DSP processing is done on the HU. Let me know if I am wrong here. But here the processing is done on the iPod. (I think ANHC does this as well) The big benefit for me is…you can have ALAC (Apple lossless) played. I bought iPod Classic 160 GB just for this. I have a good collection of original CDs waiting to be ripped in ALAC. I have already ripped close to 100. More to go. I found that there is a very slight delay when you control the HU using the steering controls, but it is not an irritant. The speakers need replacement immediately. The rear speakers are really bad. Not sure whether the front and rear speakers are of different size. When you start the car, the stereo plays iPod even if the last played was a CD. This is irritating. The “P.Bass” setting does not make any difference in the sound. Need to do some more research on the stereo. Does anyone know what the RMS rating of this OEM stereo is? Another complaint here, there is no adequate space to place my iPod near the port.
    
13. Smart Key: This is too good. If you have the key in your pocket, you are good to go. You don’t need to take it off your pocket. You can open the driver side door or front passenger side door by pressing the tiny square black button. If you stand next to the driver’s door with the keys, you cannot unlock the front passenger side door. You can unlock the door which is closer to the keys. I don’t think anyone covered this in their reviews. You also have a soft button on the trunk for opening.
    
    Venkat mentioned that even if the key runs out of battery, you can still start the car. You have to use the concealed door key from the fob and open the door. Once you are inside, press the start button using the key fob as shown in the picture below. Strangely this is not covered in the owner’s manual. Disclaimer: I did not try this myself to confirm this feature.
    
14. ACC: This is good. But need to understand the system better. Sometimes it switches off the re-circulation mode, don’t know why. Will check the owner’s manual again later.
15. Missing ones (Why Hyundai…why??)
    1. Window glass – No one touch auto up and illumination. My 8 year old Esteem had this!
    2. Bottle holders – The holders in the front door are very small. It can hold only 500 ML bottles. The rear ones do not have any!
    3. Seat Height adjuster – Verna does not have a real height adjuster; it is just a kind of thigh support adjuster. Again my Esteem had this one.
    4. Steering reach adjustment
    5. Rain sensing wipers
    6. Sun roof

Next steps:

1. Get a pouch for my iPod.
2. Replace the OEM speakers. I will not cut the panels. I will go with whatever that can be fixed as is. Any suggestions?
3. Fix the sub and the mono amp that I removed from my Esteem. Need to find a reliable guy who can do this. On my Esteem I did it from Serious Sound. As far as I know, they have moved to Bangalore. I am from Chennai (in case if you have not yet realised). Any suggestions?
4. I was able to survive without fixing a sun film on my Esteem. I don’t want to compromise on my view of the road during my night time driving. I might decide to fix 3M’s CR70 or CR50. It costs a bomb though (23K), but will wait until summer.

Few Pictures:

[Vid6639]

Thread moved to reviews section. Thanks for sharing.

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Hey gandavadi, let me be the first one to congratulate you for you new car. Nice colour IMO, looks very good on Verna. Well I am in a similar situation as yours, I own a 2004 esteem vxi, have loved it all these 7 years. Amazing reliability. I will also be looking for a change next year, lets see what I settle for. Congrats once again for your new drive.

[drmohitg]

Hey congratulations on your new car. The new fluidic Verna is such a huge positive step from hyundai in the right direction specially whenever you see the old generation Verna. As you rightly said most people don't mind the few shortcomings of the car just because it looks so gorgoeus. How did you find the back seat space? Thats the only sore point I have with the new fluidic design theme of hyundai.
Also you did the right thing with the Sunfilms. It makes a huge difference specially in the peak summers. Did you check Vkool too? I think the price you paid for the 3M is a little steep (not sure though).

Do post some more pics.

[autopilot]

Congratulations on your new car. The Verna is a really reliable car, the earlier one stood the test of time and this one is selling hot in numbers. Also does 3M sunfilms really cost that much, and is it worth the price? Regarding the place for the ipod, I think that the space is slightly narrow at the end so you could place something, so as to risen up the ipod so that it would get more space. And waiting eagerly to see any further modifications you do to the music system and your amp addition thing. Happy Revving buddy.

[arvi86]

That's a honest and very detailed buying experience that you have posted there gandavadi. Thanks for that. The Hyundai Verna is a stunner and with each car that I get to see, I am falling more and more in love with this machine. Thumbs up to Hyundai for hitting the sweet spot in styling, interior fit and finish and features. I am sure the Verna will give you miles and miles of trouble-free ownership.

Meanwhile, how much did your Esteem fetch you? I am asking this because my cousins are looking out for a pre-owned Esteem and I want to get an idea of the current market prices.

[Utopian]

The Verna does look handsome/beautiful in Black. I personally like the design of the Fogs very appealing.
Though it is a bit pricey, the features offered are definitely irresistible.
Congrats for the ownership.

[bala80]

Congratulations on your new car and have a pleasant ownership experience. By the way, the review and the pictures didn't fit in the screen and hence had to scroll left to right to read the complete review, not sure what the issue is though.

- ACC in auto mode will automatically decide between recirculation on/off - you can manually override this and put it in the re-circ mode. All climate control units work this way.
- That's too high a pricing that you have quoted for sun-films. I'm not too familiar with the series, but I have 3M films on my vento only for windows & rear and cost me around 5k if I'm not mistaken. I'm not a fan of sun film for the front windshield and hence didnt go for one. You can get good sun films done for less than 1/3rd of the cost you have mentioned.
- ICE installers - Browse the t-bhp directory for chennai, you will get lot of recommendations. Verna HU has 2 pre-outs and hence you can connect the amp and woofer directly to the existing HU.

[gandavadi]

Originally Posted by Shreyas Aterkar

Hey gandavadi, let me be the first one to congratulate you for you new car. Nice colour IMO, looks very good on Verna. Well I am in a similar situation as yours, I own a 2004 esteem vxi, have loved it all these 7 years. Amazing reliability. I will also be looking for a change next year, lets see what I settle for. Congrats once again for your new drive.

Thanks Shreyas. Esteem is an reliable car. It did not had any major problems in the 8.5 years I owned it.

[gandavadi]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Hey congratulations on your new car. The new fluidic Verna is such a huge positive step from hyundai in the right direction specially whenever you see the old generation Verna. As you rightly said most people don't mind the few shortcomings of the car just because it looks so gorgoeus. How did you find the back seat space? Thats the only sore point I have with the new fluidic design theme of hyundai.
Also you did the right thing with the Sunfilms. It makes a huge difference specially in the peak summers. Did you check Vkool too? I think the price you paid for the 3M is a little steep (not sure though).

Do post some more pics.

Thanks drmohitg. I did not find any issue in the back seat space. But few of my folks feel it is claustrophobic.

I have not yet fixed the sun film. If I go for it, I will go for 3M CR 70. Yes, its one of the expensive ones in the market. This is the most transparent and also helps reducing the heat.

[swiftnfurious]

The black Verna looks HOT! Lovely design too.

Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring.

Originally Posted by gandavadi

I was able to survive without fixing a sun film on my Esteem. I don’t want to compromise on my view of the road during my night time driving. I might decide to fix 3M’s CR70 or CR50. It costs a bomb though (23K), but will wait until summer.

Did you say 23K ?? That's some never heard before price. I don't think even V-Kool will be this expensive. I have heard of 3M prices around 5-6K for sides & rear and the front windshield one will cost around 5.5K.

You might want to check about this once again. If you have budget, I would suggest 3M for the sides & rear & V-Kool for the front one [12K or so]. Though V-Kool is expensive, it's completely worth it.

[mayankjha1806]

Congratulations, may you have many happy miles with it.

The color looks real good. Its got the shine and glare that make it impressive. Did you do teflon coating or is it naturally like that?

[gandavadi]

Originally Posted by autopilot

Congratulations on your new car. The Verna is a really reliable car, the earlier one stood the test of time and this one is selling hot in numbers. Also does 3M sunfilms really cost that much, and is it worth the price? Regarding the place for the ipod, I think that the space is slightly narrow at the end so you could place something, so as to risen up the ipod so that it would get more space. And waiting eagerly to see any further modifications you do to the music system and your amp addition thing. Happy Revving buddy.

3M CR 70 is very expensive. Not sure whether it is worth and also not sure whether I really require them! as the ACC seems to be effective. But will wait until summer to decide on this.

This weekend, I will most probably upgrade the speakers and add my old Sub and amp which I removed from my Esteem.

[gandavadi]

Originally Posted by arvi86

That's a honest and very detailed buying experience that you have posted there gandavadi. Thanks for that. The Hyundai Verna is a stunner and with each car that I get to see, I am falling more and more in love with this machine. Thumbs up to Hyundai for hitting the sweet spot in styling, interior fit and finish and features. I am sure the Verna will give you miles and miles of trouble-free ownership.

Meanwhile, how much did your Esteem fetch you? I am asking this because my cousins are looking out for a pre-owned Esteem and I want to get an idea of the current market prices.

Thanks arvi86.

Esteem fetched me 1.2 lakhs. Mine was a 2003 model. Sold it to a Maruti True Value dealer.

[gandavadi]

Originally Posted by bala80

Congratulations on your new car and have a pleasant ownership experience. By the way, the review and the pictures didn't fit in the screen and hence had to scroll left to right to read the complete review, not sure what the issue is though.

- ACC in auto mode will automatically decide between recirculation on/off - you can manually override this and put it in the re-circ mode. All climate control units work this way.
- That's too high a pricing that you have quoted for sun-films. I'm not too familiar with the series, but I have 3M films on my vento only for windows & rear and cost me around 5k if I'm not mistaken. I'm not a fan of sun film for the front windshield and hence didnt go for one. You can get good sun films done for less than 1/3rd of the cost you have mentioned.
- ICE installers - Browse the t-bhp directory for chennai, you will get lot of recommendations. Verna HU has 2 pre-outs and hence you can connect the amp and woofer directly to the existing HU.

Thanks bala80. I checked with the latest versions of Chrome, IE and Firefox. Was able to view this post fine. Does anyone else facing the same problem?

The 3M CR 70 seems to be expensive. I checked the same with the 3M authorised showroom and with my Hyundai dealer. The quoted the same for CR70. What type of 3M sun film did you fix?

On ICE, thanks, sure will do that.