My White Toyota Etios Liva GD got delivered today, exactly 19 days after I paid an initial booking amount to Topsel Toyota, the only dealer in Kolkata. Given two days of public holidays in between (Independence Day and Eid) and two days of Bank strike, which stalled RTO functioning in this region, would say it was quite okay. This also included a loan from SBI, who took just five working days to complete the formalities.
Would be posting my ownership review as I get a hang of this car more, but before that, would like to explain why I chose this car.
I had been running on my 2001 VX 1.1 Alto, which is showing 85K on the odo and for the last couple of years my running around has increased to about 1500 kilometers a month. Had to change this car anyway and obviously I was looking for diesel. One reason was the running cost factor. Secondly, I always had a fancy towards diesel cars (I used to own a diesel Premier Padmini in the early nineties, when diesel cars were quite unrefined, but still the noise of diesel got me hooked from those days.
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I was postponing the decision for the purchase of new car for the last one and half year or so, basically because I wanted to be sure about what I was going for. I knew a few things though:
It would be a hatch. I don't like sedans. Also, since I drive myself and parking space was at a premium in Kolkata, I cannot look beyond the B-segment. And I decided to keep my budget to between 6 and 7 lakh. And, in the Indian scenario I had a few choice. Some cars I know, others needed to be test driven.
Here I go one by one:
Beat Diesel To me Beat diesel seemed a reasonable car from the reports that I read. I knew it wasn't that spacious, but didn't quite bother as most of my commuting is within the city. My last two consecutive cars being Maruti 800 and Alto, I am also not quite used to space. I am 5'7'' and my wife being 5'0'', a small car doesn't make much of a difference to us. So Beat Diesel was called for on a Saturday. I called them in the morning and within two hours a new Beat was standing in front of my house for a test drive. It came from Chevrolete OSL and the car has done only 200 kilometers. I was excited by the look of the car. Almost thought that this was the car I wanted to buy -- well, till I took the TD. I hated driving the car. Nothing wrong per se, but just the low seating position (or high dashboard was it?) made me unconfident. I was not sure that I would love driving this car. My wife had a problem with the back seat. She being quite short had to literally peep out from the rear window. This made her uncomfortable and claustrophobic. Beat was out.
Figo Diesel Once Beat was out, I was eyeing the Ford Figo ZXi. Had read great reviews about the car, the car looked good and classy and is loaded with features--more than what I wanted. So I decided to go for a TD. So, the following Saturday came a Ford Figo VXi model equipped with everything from Ganges Ford. Ford people were also very fast and prompt in providing me with the TD. Again, it took just two hours to arrange for a TD after I called them. I loved the TD. Figo, to me, is a fabulous car. The steering has the right feel. Only changing the gears was not too smooth, but that could be because of the Test Drive car, which was showing 55,000 km on its odo. The best feature of Figo was it had absolutely no engine noise inside (well almost no noise) and the car seemed to drive like a petrol car. I almost made up my mind that Figo is the car that I would go for.
But still, before coming to a conclusion, like any sane person, other options should be considered. So decided to wait for a while and check with other cars.
Nissan Micra was within our budget but was ignored as neither me nor my wife was comfortable about its looks.
Polo was in our consideration as it was slightly over our budget.
Ritz was out again because of it's looks. Its ugly from the rear as per our taste. Wouldn't like to be seen driving Ritz.
Well Swift is there. Maruti service, which I was so used to and happy with. Why not Swift then? Quite possible. Looks? Acceptable. Though, according to me the old Swift looked like an ugly dog (like the Bull Dog or pug) whom you don't like at the first instance but gradually fall in love with. The new Swift, well, is weird to look at. It's a cross between a dog and a cat and is something which is strange. I preferred the looks of the old Swift more than what it is now. But yes, the look of Swift is not unacceptable and Maruti being a Maruti should be checked. I didn't need a TD for this car as I have driven this car off and on (three of my friends own this car) so decided to check on the on-road price of Swift Vdi. My phone goes to a dealer and here is the conversation:
Me: I wanted to know the actual on-road price of Swift Vdi.
Sales Rep: Sir, we have a wait-list period of about 180 days. Why don't you try the Ritz, we can arrange delivery within 15 days.
So Swift was out.
That left me with two cars in my budget. Renault Pulse and Toyota Etios Liva. Theoretically Pulse is fine, but Renault being a late entrant, I was not too sure how the *** would work in Kolkata. That left me with Liva.
So, the following Saturday my call goes to Toyota in the morning. And like Chevvy and Ford, the car arrived for a TD within two hours. Before letting me do the test drive, the Toyota sales rep asked for my driving license and put down the license number on a sheet of paper he was carrying. I was pleasantly surprised by this. Ford and Chevvy people didn't check whether I had a valid license, they should have, right?
Liva GD test drive The car drives smooth. At par with Figo. Gear shifts are smoother than Figo. Lots of engine noise inside the cabin, feels like I am driving a tractor. Good in a way, reminds me that I am on diesel and saving money
. No tacho, Figo has it. But again Figo has power windows only in
the front. ABS and EBD, Figo lacks them but trades in a music system in ZXi model. My first impression with Liva was that, it was aimed at the taxi market probably, while Figo aimed at private ownership. Being made for taxi market was good in a way, as it has to be reliable in the long run. And I am bound to lose the refinements.
Frankly speaking, Liva and Figo are at par. Test driving the cars gave me the impression that Figo and Liva had a tie. No knockout. Difficult to judge which one is better. So the title has to be decided on technical points. Also some personal preferences, maybe. It was a tough choice, specially when Ford sensing my dilemma started offering me more and more freebies and even promised to give hefty discounts while Toyota stood firm at its pricing and declared solemnly, "Sir, we cannot give you a single rupee discount on the diesel model. Not even one free accessory."
So I had to take a decision, which I finally took. First, Figo had a ground clearance problem. I checked with five owners of Figo (to be honest, the dealer provided their phone numbers) and all of them were happy with the car excepting on one count: yes, while crossing bumps the car underbelly scrapes the speed breaker. I know the Kolkata roads, and this is scary. Certain parts of Kolkata (specially the western sides, near the port) have no roads after the monsoons where you need to drive a tractor instead of a refined car. Well, Liva sounded like a tractor and hopefully will behave like one too! My call goes to Liva owners now. They are happy with their cars too and, no, their cars don't have a problem when crossing huge speed breakers. Clinched. Liva wins on technical point.
Here I have a question for the experts. Theoretically the difference in ground clearance between the two cars is just 2 mm. How come every Figo owner feels that the car is low and the Liva owners don't?
Well, I have decided to live with Liva. I know it doesn't have a tacho, makes the diesel car like sound, not quite refined interior. But well, my first diesel car was a Padmini Diesel, which didn't have a tacho, was noisier than this and won't comment about the interiors. I have upgraded, haven't I?
I booked my Liva on 9th August and just two days after that, when my SBI loan was being processed, Figo started the August discount of Rs 28,000/- And Toyota stood firm with no discount policy. Finally after much pleading, they agreed to give the floor mats and the mud flaps free. Great achievement, I got about Rs 1100/- worth accessories. I know, how much I have lost.
Will be posting about my experience with the dealer, the pros and cons of owning a Toyota in Kolkata and other things soon. Also, will be posting my ownership experience after a few days of driving the car.