[thinkanddrive]

Part 1 of 3 : Selecting the car

1.1. Wants vs Needs

I have been a biker all along. I have ridden several regular ‘Indian’ bikes with 150 cc being the max. I really wanted to purchase an entry level enthusiast bike namely the Kawasaki Ninja 250R. As I was looking forward to it I realized several needs creeping up; needs such as going to office comfortably without getting affected by the elements, ferrying my parents, carrying shopping bags etc. For someone with back pain biking on Indian roads felt impractical. And eventually my needs took precedence over my wants. With my Ninja 250R dream put on hold, I first had to learn how to drive as I had never bothered to learn driving due to my love for biking.

1.2. Prior in car experience

Of all the cars I have had the opportunity to take a ride in; only a few were comfortable as my height is 6’ 3”. The following is a list from a passenger’s perspective.

• Honda City – My head hit the roof
• I20 – Not hype worthy
• Wagon R – Very spacious comfortable
• Innova – very comfortable
• Scorpio – very comfortable
• M800 – It’s a joke sitting inside
• Indica – Not bad
• Indigo – Not bad at all
• Figo – Comfortable
• Eon – felt premium for a small car

1.3. Learning to drive (Maruti Driving School)

You can read in detail about my experience at MDS here.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2960411

My experience as a driver in the cars at MDS

• Wagon R – Felt upright, spacious and comfortable
• Estilo – Body roll and a lot of it
• Swift – Felt wide and sturdy
• Alto – Felt like sitting in the basement

1.4. Confirmation Bias Alert

Although I was most comfortable in a Wagon R because of its tall boy design I wanted to go through a proper process of research and selection as I did not want any confirmation bias to lead me to a wrong decision. I did not want my decision to be an emotional one but a rational one.

1.5. The Research

As I was pretty ignorant on the entire subject of cars , my research included reading magazines, forums & blogs; watching tons of YouTube videos and talking to colleagues and friends.

Magazines

• What Car
• Overdrive
• Autocar

Youtube

• Odmag
• Autocarindia
• C & B show
• Car buyer UK
• Cartoq
• Motorbeam

Websites

• Gaadi
• Carazoo
• Carzy

And of course Team-Bhp forum

1.6. New vs Used

This was a major decision and I was getting confused due to conflicting advice. Some said that I should get a used car as I was a beginner driver and it’s better to practice in a used car as the car is at risk of getting touched around. But I understood that most people sell their cars only after they have “used” it. But occasionally, there are cars which still are in pristine condition if they are sold prematurely. But the deciding factor for me was the factor of time. To me time is equally valuable as money and I wanted a solution to my issues and not yet another issue with a vehicle that had the probability of breaking down or giving me trouble when I am too busy doing my everyday chores.
So to eliminate the factor of luck, I chose the new car route ironically with me being a beginner as one of the key reasons.

1.7. The budget

4+ lacs with 50% as downpayment.

1.8. Visit to car dealerships and Test Drives

After coming up with a list of cars based on my budget, I visited the following manufacturers.

Round One
Chevy: Test drove the Spark. Felt very compact and easy to drive but also a bit cramped and toy like. Plus I was not a fan of the instrument cluster being the middle of the dash and not in front of the driver seat.
Hyundai: Test drove the Eon. Felt cramped for sure but was very much impressed by the looks of the car.
Maruti (Cars India): Test drove the Wagon R. Felt very spacious but very quickly identified the lack of low end torque.
Maruti (ABT): Only enquiry. A TD car was not available when I went so did not do any TD.

Round Two
Chevy: Test drove the beat. The car felt planted and stable. Ride was good. Felt like a premium & a well-built car.
Huyndai: Test drove the i10. Felt nearly as spacious as the Wagon R compared to the other cars.
Maruti (Khivraj): Test drove the wagon R. This TD felt better than the one I did at CarsIndia as I drove in a relatively traffic free road. The executive was very friendly too.

As far as Dealership behavior goes, the Chevy guy was calling me a lot of times in search of a sale. At Hyundai I felt as if I was there to buy narcotics from the mafia because the executive was telling me that he will try and do something over and beyond the usual to get me a good deal when I had enquired about the best deal he could provide me. I felt most comfortable at Maruti as the executives were both relaxed and calm. I was able to sense a level of method to the whole car selling madness. Also, I ended up getting a few pamphlets and brochures though some dealerships had none. But unlike Chevy and Hyundai, Maruti gave their quotations on proper formats at all 3 dealerships that I went to.

As a long-time fan of the Tata Nano, I always wanted to TD it and so went to Concorde Motors (TATA/FIAT) dealership to check the Nano out. I was disappointed to notice that it was a bit cramped compared to the Waggy and the vibration levels and finishing also disappointed me. So I dropped the idea of going for a Nano (though IMHO it is the cutest car in India) and chose to go for something with an actual hatchback and 5 gears.
Final 3 – It came down to the Beat, the i10 and the Wagon R.
When I TD’e the Figo, I experienced difficulty in viewing the traffic to my left diagonal (i.e. left side of the bonnet) as the IRVM was blocking my view (thanks to me being a tall freak of nature). I felt it may not be an issue while on the highway since one would look far ahead in front in a highway but it will be a problem in the city where bumper to bumper traffic is the daily affair. I wanted to check this issue out in the i10 too and so went for another TD. To my dismay, the beautiful i10 also had this issue but to a lesser extent compared to the Figo. I didn’t bother checking this with the Beat as I knew it is definitely shorter than the i10. So at last, the choice narrowed down to the Wagon R; not an emotional decision but a rational one.

1.9. Crazy Variants

A major gripe that bugged me in the entire car selection process was the way car companies have fixed the variants. They differ by the silliest degrees such as wheel caps, cigarette lighter, etc. The Waggy came in 2 fuel options in Chennai; petrol only and petrol+LPG. I didn’t feel the need for LPG from what I have heard from my friends plus I wanted simplicity as a beginner driver.
The petrol only Waggy came in the following 4 variants

1. Lx – without power steering
2. LXi – standard
3. Vxi – top end with music system(without B/T) and option for ABS and Airbags and other goodies
4. Pro – Lxi with accessories such as music system(with B/T) , spoiler, wheel caps etc

From what I learnt from Team-BHP, Maruti uses Nippon HU + speakers and they sound horrible. Music quality is definitely important to me and I wanted to put in an ICE of better brand. Something like mapmyindia for GPS SatNav was also on the cards. So the variants with integrated music system were dropped (along with a few other features they provided).

1.10. The Safety features

ABS & airbags although very important and useful safety features, came with an additional price tag of 40K+ . I felt that as a beginner, the presence of airbags and ABS would give me false confidence of security and would tempt me to floor it. Also I doubt the use of them both in everyday bumper to bumper city traffic and my highway travel would probably be about 1% of my total travel.So I gave a pass on the ABS and airbags for my first car and at the end of the day, the Lxi variant was the one that fit the bill.
Btw, I do NOT recommend you to skip the ABS and airbags. I have taken a calculated risk and my mitigation plan is to prevent myself from situations where an ABS would be needed by driving sedately within speed limits.

1.11. Final Choice

Things such as movable headrest, Bluetooth connectivity, USB slot etc. and the price for those things played a factor for me not just between Wagon R variants but among 3 different car choices as well. A key aspect that Wagon R shines is the width of the car or the lack of it. Due to its narrowness, the Waggy seemed a bit easier to drive in city traffic. So after almost a month of analysis and research, I chose the Wagon R Lxi.

Next:
Part 2 of 3: The Purchase Process

[thinkanddrive]

Part 2 of 3: The Purchase Process

2.1. Cost

All 3 Maruti Suzuki dealers (Cars India, ABT and Khivraj) quoted almost the same prices. Following is Khivraj’s.

• Ex-Showroom price (Incl Tax) : 3,88,853
• Insurance : 12,437
• Registration+ : 53,457
• On Road Price : 4,54,747
• Discount (festive offer) : 37,500
• Final Price : 4,17,247

The discount (along with 9.99% interest rate) was a seasonal discount which would expire at the end of the month.

2.2. The Booking

As Cars India was closest to my home I decided to book the car there. But when I was about to book I was told that only red colour is available. Wagon R’s red is actually maroon and does not suit the Waggy at all. I did not want to go for the all too common white, silver and grey. Chocolate colour did not complement the Waggy’s SUV like posture. So, blue (i.e. Breeze blue to be precise) was the colour for me. I was also told that even if I wait for a blue one at Cars India I might not get the 37.5K festive offer as things change month on month.
Found out that blue was available and ‘in transit’ at Khivraj. So my dad and I went straight to Khivraj to book the car ASAP. As it was almost the end of September and nearing Half-Yearly closing time in banks, we were skeptical of timely loan processing by the banks. So we went ahead with Khivraj’s finance executive’s suggestion to go with State Bank of Hyderabad (for faster loan processing in half a day) and its 10.75% (floating interest rate) loan with zero prepayment and processing charges instead of the 9.99% offered by a private bank as part of that festive offer.

My finance strategy was as follows.

• Booking – 10K (by Credit Card)
• Down payment – 1.9 lacs (by Cheque)
• Total down payment – 2 lacs
• Loan amount – 2.17 lacs

2.3. The Loan

After my down payment at Khivraj (and getting the receipts of course), the finance executive took us to the bank and also mentioned that the process would take just half an hour although we did not believe him. The bank seemed deserted when we went and the loan processing started right away. I was asked to submit the following (which I knew in advance and had them ready)

• 6 months’ bank statements (took printouts from online)
• 3 months’ salary/pay slips
• 2 years’ Form 16 (proof of TDS from employer)
• Couple of passport sized photos

2.3.1.Family Tragedy (my aunt had died that morning)

As I began checking through the umpteen documents I was asked to sign, I got a phone call. It was a relative of mine informing us the sudden demise of my aunt who was recovering from cancer. This threw my emotional state out of balance and after this I could barely concentrate on the proceedings. I mustered the strength and presence of mind to continue and finish the already begun loan processing and then leave to attend to the family of the deceased.

2.3.2.Documents galore

The following is the list of documents I was asked to sign.

1. Loan cum hypothecation agreement
2. Loan arrangement letter (2 nos)
3. Borrower’s consent for disclosure to CIBIL (Oh CIBIL!!!)
4. Delivery note (2 nos)
5. Sale receipt (Note below)
6. Insurance transfer form
7. Notice of transfer of ownership of motor vehicle
8. Application of intimation and transfer of ownership
9. ECS mandate form (I had to obtain signature on this at the bank in which the ECS is getting activated and provide it to the loan provider)

I asked the bank officer as to why so many and what each is for . Though I was given some vague explanation, the common answer was “Sir, if in case you default the loan, we need these papers to retrieve the vehicle”. Even though I knew one has to confirm the collateral and take precautions before lending money to someone, I was definitely overwhelmed by the sheer number of documents I had to sign. Not sure if it is the same list in private banks too? I felt like I was signing my life away. Midway, my dad stepped in and asked the banker as to why a receipt has to be signed for money that I’ve not received yet. First, he said that it is essential but after my dad resisted a little bit, he went to the branch manager, came back, gave me the paper I had just signed and said that it was not needed. And, did I know the scope and purpose of every document I signed? Well, it was all very new to me. So it is definitely good to have someone who is knowledgeable to help you with. In about 2 hours the loan processing was finished and the bank officer told me that payment has been made to Khivraj via RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement). I sure did not expect such a quick turnaround.

2.3.3. CIBIL Score report fiasco

As the loan proceedings were going on, I asked the bank officer to show me my CIBIL score report as I have never seen one before and was also curious to know how I fared. To my horror, I found all of my dad’s data mixed with my data in the report. It was listing my dad’s closed loans as my currently open loans. The name was a mash up of mine and my dad’s. I immediately informed him about this fiasco and also that I have a very good credit record (heck, this was my very first loan, damn it!!). I was told it’s not an issue as my CIBIL score (or my dad’s and my mashed up and screwed up CIBIL score) was good enough as the loan has already been approved and completed. He also suggested that I obtain a report from CIBIL’s website and apply for corrections myself.

CIBIL - Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited

2.4. Pre-Registration Inspection (usually known as Pre-Delivery Inspection)

A week later, the car having arrived after transit I went to Khivraj to do the Pre-Registration Inspection. Even though I was pestered a bit by the dealer to sign the Form 20 (Application for registration of a motor vehicle) & the application for Insurance I told them that I am not signing anything till I complete the PRI. Please remember it is a PRI and not a PDI. There is no point in doing just a Pre-Delivery Inspection after registration of the vehicle. Once registered, I guess not much can be done. Before my inspection, I requested for a document from the dealer mentioning the vehicle that has been allocated to me. I wanted it so that I don’t accidentally inspect the wrong car. But they gave me the Form 20 again. Upon asking further that I wanted something signed by Khivraj I was given the invoice which had the Chassis & Engine no of the allocated vehicle. And to find out the date of manufacture (DoM), I asked them for Form 22 (Initial Certificate of compliance with Pollution Standards, Safety Standards of Components and Road Worthiness). Though at first they said it cannot be provided, they did give me a copy of it later after I mentioned the logic that I would need it if I plan to register the car on my own at the RTO. To my disappointment the DoM was not present in the Form 22. So my only way to check the DoM would be from the full Chassis no.
So I noted down the Chassis no from the engine bay and manually figured out the DoM from the code list (thanks to Team-Bhp). Additionally I also confirmed it at the website http://www.myvehicledetails.com on my smartphone.

I used the PDI checklists available on Team-Bhp and made a custom PRI checklist for myself. The PRI took about little over an hour. One difficulty I had was that it was hot and humid that day and I was sweating it out when I was inside the car. It helps to have a couple of hankies (practical issues). The executive was patient enough in helping me through my inspection. I found only one issue in the PRI; the front passenger power window rose up with a little tilt. Nothing major but I still mentioned it to the executive to get it fixed but forgot to verify it during delivery.

Here is my sample PRI checklist for your customization and use.
Pre-Registration Inspection.xls

After the PRI, I finally signed the Form 20. Guess what, the Form 20 (it was printed not hand filled) mentioned my Wagon R as a Sedan. Naturally I was blown away by this and asked about it. The dealer’s reply, “Sir, they mention like this only in the RTO and we can’t do anything about it”. Also, the Form 20 had the number of the insurance policy (from ICICI Lombard btw) that is yet to be taken for the car. When asked I got a reply similar to the earlier one. Sadly, this was yet another reminder of the situation in our country. I was then asked to sign a declaration for not possessing a PAN card. Upon telling them that I do have one, I was asked to give a copy of it for the registration purposes. As address proof (ration card in my case) is also needed to be shown at the RTO; instead of giving my ration card to Khivraj I decided to go to the RTO on the day of registration to show it myself and also get an idea of the whole car registration process.

2.5. The Registration

The whole registration process took just a couple of minutes. My car was brought and handled by the Khivraj driver himself. But I did encounter 2 more people in the chain and again am overwhelmed by the no of people getting involved for such a simple thing. I was told to give my ration card to the driver and so I did. The driver drove in the queue, opened the hood and presented my address proof and other documents to the inspector’s assistant. The inspector didn’t even look at the car. In 2 mins it was all over. My dad had told me to get a number that adds to 9 or 7 but I could care less about stupid numerology. Also, PAN card copy was never asked during registration.

2.6. Registration+ charges (this is where they get ya!!)

During the day of my PRI, I had taken with me printouts of the actual rates for the registration, road tax, road safety tax yada yada yada from the Tamil Nadu Govt Transport Department’s website (http://www.tn.gov.in/sta/) . Upon my request for a split of the registration+ charges, the executive gave me highly inconsistent numbers. Upon showing him my printouts and proving that the actual government rates don’t match with his numbers, he replied saying that some of the money is for the RTO agents and that this is “usual” practice at all dealerships of all manufacturers. He also added he will not be able to give the correct split as no dealer does that. I requested for some kind of a receipt for the fee paid at the RTO to which he replied that he would try. When I took delivery of the car, surprisingly enough I was indeed given a printout of the e-challan of the dealer’s payment of Road Tax, Road Safety Tax and Registration charges to the RTO. As I had suspected the figures on the e-challan perfectly matched with my printouts and were not close to the dealer’s split except for the main element of lifetime road tax. So this process ensures the dealer gets his share of ‘whatever you wanna call it’ in addition to the amount that goes to the RTO officials other than the actual fees. This is a dirty little trick that most car buyers are unaware of. This amount is proportionate to the car cost as well. If you can spend your time at the RTO for one or two days in getting your paperwork pushed legally, then I say register your car yourself. I could have saved at least 5K (after subtracting the approximate incidental, handling charges for the dealer) if not more but then again, I would have had to spend the time which I didn’t.
FYI, please make sure to check your particular state govt’s transport dept’s website for current applicable rates for the taxes and registration charges. (Registration charge was just Rs.200 and not Rs.5000+ as mentioned to me by the dealer)

2.7. Insurance

That week, I received a call from ‘Maruti Car Insurance’ for finalizing the insurance. When I asked about the difference between the offers by the 6 companies that they have tie-ups with, I was told that there is absolutely no difference in the premium. So I accepted their choice of ICICI Lombard (as printed in the Form 20). I then got 2 (yes 2!!) more phone calls to confirm the premium amount and other details to finalize the insurance.

2.8. Delivery

I took delivery of the car on the 13th of that month despite few of the people I know telling me not to do so because of the supposedly unlucky date. I was least bothered about unlucky dates and bad timings.

We had a major discussion with the executive at the showroom on the wrong date being printed for the extended warranty for the third year (standard warranty is for two years and this one year extended warranty is included in the car cost) . It was printed as the date of booking. When asked, I got an idiotic explanation that standard warranty begins from delivery date but extended warranty starts from the booking date (after the two years) not the delivery date. I burst out laughing at this and told him to correct it. After a small argument, the executive finally corrected the date, signed on top of it and gave me the document.

Finally, the delivery went as follows

• Insurance Certificate (not cover note) was provided. Btw, the IDV [Insured's declared value] was a little more than the ex-showroom price and the type of body is mentioned ‘Saloon’.
• I signed a ‘Vehicle Registration Process & Undertaking’ document that mentions that I will receive my RC in approx. 45 days from the dealer
• A really short and quick Pre-Delivery Inspection by me
• A quick demo of the car by the delivery person
• The guys at dealership then took a photo of my dad and I standing in front of the car (now with a garland hanging from the bonnet) with the dealer’s poster as the background. (I was then given a copy of the photo).
• They wanted to do a puja for the car. I said that I am not interested but if they felt necessary they can go ahead. They then started applying kumkum and turmeric on the windscreen and headlights. I was petrified at my car being dirtied and asked them to stop the puja and clean the car. I forgot that pujas involved these horrible graffiti. As a logical thinker, I could care less about pujas.
• 5 litres of petrol was filled. (…incidental charges…)
• I was requested feedback on the delivery process on a scale of 1 to 10 with 9 as acceptable. This is a clear way of skewing their feedback process to manipulate actual customer feedback to suit their needs and an 8 means unacceptable as per their scale but to me personally 80% is a good score. I gave an 8.5 as I did not feel like giving a 9.
• I got a few accessories fitted: steering wheel cover (stitched), bumper protectors, side skirts/beeding and car cover totally costing around 4K. Btw, the freebies that I got with the car were mudguards, floor mats & boot mat
• As usual the dealer had thrown in car perfume (Diax brand) , a small box of chocolates and an idol
• They filled a delivery checklist (looked like a pamphlet) and I was asked to sign it and a copy of it was given to me
• I bought a couple of Cadbury’s chocolate bars from the nearby store and handed them to the sales executive and the showroom supervisor and conveyed my thanks
• Just before I left, the supervisor came running and apologized for providing me a Ganesha idol instead of a Jesus idol since he realized I am most probably a Christian from my name. I thanked him for the Ganesha idol saying “Your warranty would be more useful to me than any idol but you did give some idol. So, thanks for that”. To this he replied, “Yes Sir, but there is a force taking care of us from up above”. I replied to him, “Well, maybe!!” (Thinking to myself that there is no such thing as ‘up above’ since our planet Earth is an oblate spheroid) and left the dealership
• I then did a couple of rounds in the streets nearby to get some practice and then headed off into Chennai traffic to wiggle my way to my home in my brand new 'Blue Eyed Boy'

Next:
Part 3 of 3: Review of the car

[thinkanddrive]

Part 3 of 3: Review of the car

Disclaimer:I am a rookie driver and car buyer. So be forewarned that my review may be amateurish.

3.1. Looks

Exteriors

The WagonR is not that great of a looker but it does not look bad either. It looks narrower & taller than most cars and gives the posture of a narrow SUV. Blue suits it best than any other colour. It has a mature and masculine look to it.


Front view

Rear view


Side view

Interiors

Interiors are good but not great. But the Waggy does have a very functional no nonsense look to it. But the Eon beats the Waggy in the looks department hands down.


Interior view

3.2. Build quality

Build quality is good in certain areas but not good in other areas. Things such as the door panels and gear level base can be moved around with a bit of force. This does not give a very sturdy feeling but the doors close fairly well.

3.3. Dynamics and Handling

As the waggy is a tall boy with high centre of gravity, it is definitely not a contender for good dynamics and handling. It is not a car to be driven at high speeds. It is primarily a city car. It fulfils its purpose as a practical city car and anyone trying to use it as a highway car is setting up a recipe for disaster. I experienced only a little bit of body roll as I haven’t gone above 50 kmph yet. More body roll would surely be experienced at high speed turning which this car is not meant to do. Most importantly it is not feasible to test every nuance of handling when one drives within the city. And so it may not be even that important for a user like myself.

3.4. Instrument Panel

Other than the tachometer, it does have most of the necessary gauges. A tachometer would have definitely helped in better driving but I have to make my gear shifting judgements mostly from the sound of the engine and the speed of the car.


Glowing

3.5. Driveability

This car is easy to drive with good visibility all around. Since it is narrower compared to other hatchbacks, it is easy and quicker to drive it in cramped areas in city traffic without worrying too much about the car’s edge hitting anything. The clutch and gear does seem a bit hard as of now and I am hoping it will get smoother as days progress. Even though this car is meant for tall people there are few issues. The controls are well laid out ergonomically and very easy to reach. But I have difficulty in seeing the entire instrument panel as the top half of it gets blocked by the steering wheel. And I plan to remove the steering wheel cover that I had put on to reduce the thickness of the steering wheel so that I can see more of the instrument panel.


A picture showing the view that I get when I drive

3.6. Functionality

This car is definitely very functional. Getting in and out of the car is very easy even for a tall guy like me. After getting in and out of an Eon, I started experiencing bit of a neck pain. None of that is present in the WagonR. Split folding seats at the rear is very useful. Glove box is big and usable. I am yet to figure out a good place to keep my smartphone though. As of now I keep my phone in the door pocket as it is fairly deep. The space is definitely plenty both in the front and at the back and one would never get that cramped feeling that one might experience even in costlier cars.

Pickup in 2nd gear is very slow but i guess this might not be such a bad thing for a beginner driver like myself. I'm not sure.


The 1 litre engine

3.7. Summary

Pros

• Good for tall people with good leg room and head room
• Easy ingress and egress
• 60:40 split rear seats
• Its narrower dimensions ease drive-ability
• Good visibility
• Good ground clearance

Cons

• Top half of the instrument panel gets blocked from my view by the top half of the steering wheel
• Mid variant lacks rear wiper, defogger, electric windows, larger wheels etc
• Higher center of gravity

Verdict
A practical value for money city car meant to be driven within city in a sedate manner .


Driven by 'Team-Bhp'.

[thinkanddrive]

Addendum:

My 2 paisa for the new driver and the new car buyer

1. Prioritizing needs over wants is a mature way to go about while purchasing anything not just a car
2. Consider a car as a tool. Accomplishing your purpose and goals in life using the right tools is more important than getting obsessed over the tools
3. Thinking logically is of prime importance for everything in life including owning and driving a vehicle. If you are new to the subject of ‘Freethought’, a nice place to start would be http://nirmukta.com
4. Consider 'driving' as a privilege and not a right
5. Always wear seat-belts no matter how slow you drive.

[thinkanddrive]

Next steps for my car:

I plan to fix the following additions.

• Anti-Theft device/alarm
• Reversing alarm
• Reversing camera
• Fire extinguisher
• In-Car-Entertainment (too many brands and so confused !!)
• GPS SatNav (maymyindia vs Goggle maps on my android smartphone vs any other option?)
• Day & Night IRVM
• Any other accessories (if important)

Any suggestions are most welcome.

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing the excellent report

[tacho9000]

Let me be the very first person to congratulate you on your new acquisition. Wishing you many happy miles in your new blue eyed boy. Regarding accessories I think it is better if you go in for Autocop anti-theft alarm as well reverse parking sensors or get them MGP if you like to go the genuine retrofitments way.

1. Anti-theft alarm: Autocop

2. Parking sensors: Xenos

3. Reverse camera: Xenos

4. Fire extinguisher: Didn't the dealer provide you with this?? No idea regarding this.

5. ICE: Basic: JVC/Pioneer/Kenwood head unit with 3 way speakers from JBL/Kenwood for
the front half and for the rear JBL/Kenwood 6"x9" should do fine.

6. GPS: Mapmyindia is always the best atleast what I have seen felt.

7. Day/Night IRVM: No idea about the quality of products maybe other members can
comment on this one.
Lastly get some good quality anti-slip underside based floor mats.

Cheers.

[Accius]

Buddy, I loved your point of view and your very practical decision of buying a WagonR. The tall boy design must be very comfortable for your height. I also like the points you have mentioned in Addendum.

I think you must not spend on reverse camera and parking sensors as Wagon R has a good overall visibility and you would be not paying much attention to these features in future. Instead spend on a good quality ICE setup (I noticed that you want your ICE setup to be worthy of your investment which the stock system in VXI won't provide). Of course, its your choice in the end. Its just a thought though.

[GTO]

I must compliment your attention to detail; it's evident in the way that you researched, and also how you have organised your ownership report

Congrats on the WagonR! It really is an amazingly practical car to own. Maruti's evolutionary approach with the WagonR resulted in a car that retains all of the previous-generation's advantages, but also improvements in critical areas such as rear bench space & ride quality.

Drive safe.

[TaureanBull]

A very interesting ownership report. I dont agree with some of your point of views but does that matter?

I did find surprising that inspite of being so meticulous you went for the registration through dealer and probably did not explore enough insurance options.

Happy driving and ownership!

[carzone]

Congratulations for the new car,

One of the most detailed ownership reviews I have read. All the points have been clearly covered in here, and I, as a WagonR owner, do agree with the above mentioned points.

Originally Posted by thinkanddrive

Next steps for my car:

I plan to fix the following additions.

• Anti-Theft device/alarm
• Reversing alarm
• Reversing camera
• Fire extinguisher
• In-Car-Entertainment (too many brands and so confused !!)
• GPS SatNav (maymyindia vs Goggle maps on my android smartphone vs any other option?)
• Day & Night IRVM
• Any other accessories (if important)

Any suggestions are most welcome.

• Anti-Theft device/alarm: Autocop
• Fire extinguisher: Do you really need it?
• In-Car-Entertainment (too many brands and so confused !!): Have been using Pioneer. Not a audiophile, hence satisfied. But, after a drive in my friends car, which had some good speakers, feel the need to upgrade.
• Day & Night IRVM: Let me know if you manage to source them(the original ones). I had asked in the dealership, they told it is not available for WagonR.

Keep us updated on the car and the Kitna deti hai factor!
Drive safe.
Cheers

[nkrishnap]

Nicely documented there. The Wagon R is a good city car, the tall body design does really help when you have elderly people frequently traveling in it.

The light blue color seems to suit the Wagon R best followed by Silver and white.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the tall boy.

[thinkanddrive]

Mod team note: Back to back posts, please use Multi Quote (Quote +) instead. Thanks

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

A very interesting ownership report. I dont agree with some of your point of views but does that matter?

I did find surprising that inspite of being so meticulous you went for the registration through dealer and probably did not explore enough insurance options.

Happy driving and ownership!

I would love to hear your thoughts of disagreement as I am very open-minded and willing to learn to eliminate my ignorance.

Yes, I did not do the registration myself. But my gains would not have been great either. But I would suggest anyone with experience to get their car registered themselves to eliminate the middlemen and the daylight robbery that is part of that process.

Thank you all for your wonderful wishes.



Now a quick and short update on the First Service.

Though the recommended mileage for the first service is 1000KMs, I could complete only 608 KMs as I was a bit busy to drive much; mostly office and back with short weekend trips within the city.
Khivraj had called me a few times reminding me of the service date and I got the service done on time as well. The service executive took the car for a quick test drive with me sitting beside and told me that there are no issues with the car which gave me a relief. When asked about any issues I told him that the only issue I face is the stiffness of the gearbox which may not be an issue to begin with as it might be common for a new car. I got the vehicle the next working day. The clutch has now been made a bit smoother and the force with which I have to press down the clutch has decreased and is more pleasant now. Before delivery we went for a test drive to let me know how the car behaved. Overall, I noticed that the car looked clean and the wiper liquid had been filled up. I might have more to write about after the 2nd service.


I just wonder how long should the run-in period be.

[thinkanddrive]

I gave my new Waggy the '3M Car Care' treatment and the following is my experience.

Car Wash

Cost = Rs.295 (for a hatchback)

Things included in the car wash package

• Interior vacuum cleaning [Using vacuum cleaner]
• Dashboard cleaning [Using branded cleaning foams and liquids]
• Engine bay cleaning [using water spray and not water jet]
• Foam/Soap bath (the actual car wash part) [Using water jet, air jet, soap dispenser etc]
• Finally drying the car exterior surface [Using micro fiber cloth]

Pros

• Lot of people get involved to reduce time (it takes approx. 2 hours for a hatchback)
• Very professional. The cleaners wear masks and all
• Usage of professional branded car care products
• Specific zone for wash in the car care center
• Job cards with details of car written down and this gets signed by customer before work begins
• Very good customer waiting lounge with TVs
• Very polite, patient and respectful staff
• Was offered coffee/tea
• Price varies depending on car size and type

Cons

Can’t think of any.

Verdict

Excellent in quality and service. Will surely get my car washed there instead of self-cleaning.


3M Scotchgard Paint Protection Film

I came to know about this film from '3M Car Care' when I had gone for the wash earlier. When I did some research on the internet I found out that this is actually better than the ‘Paint Sealant Treatment’ they offer. The treatment affects the outermost clear coat of the paint to a small extent (few microns) and I did not want that on my new car. The film however will be an extra layer on top of the clear coat and is supposed to be elastic enough to protect the surface from small flying debris.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j111UcDvvBk

Added to the fact that bird droppings react with the paint, an extra layer made more sense.

Cost for a hatch back bonnet

• For front half of bonnet only: Rs.3890
• For full bonnet: Rs.7490

I went for the full bonnet.

Yes, it is very expensive when the cost of the bonnet itself is only approx. 3K to 4K rupees. But I decided to go for the film as I would probably not want to replace my bonnet every time I get small scratches and bird droppings on the bonnet. With this layer on top all I need to do is clean the surface using water and micro fiber cloth and not worry about the paint underneath.

Steps involved

1. The film was cut as per the bonnet’s dimensions
2. The bonnet was polished using 3M Perfect It machine polish (

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbpMZPw17o0

   ) and a rotary polishing machine
3. Soap water was sprayed on bonnet
4. The film’s back-lining was removed and the film was placed on the bonnet and positioned appropriately
5. Diluted alcohol (I think) was sprayed beneath the film and the film was pressed down using a yellow plastic squeegee

Time taken = 30 to 45 minutes






Note: After it was done I was called to check out the work and to my horror I found a tiny hole in the film on the front side of the bonnet. When I expressed my displeasure about the hole, the supervisor came and told me that sometimes when they can’t remove the air bubbles using the squeegee they use small syringe needles to vacuum out the air and he also showed me the syringe.

I told him that when I am paying Rs.7K+ I want a spotless and excellent job and that they should not have used a needle but only the squeegee even if it takes more time. The supervisor then apologized and told me that they could replace the entire film with a new one if I desired at no extra charge or I could wait for a couple of days whether that tiny hole becomes un-noticeable due to the elasticity of the film. I told him that it is a nice gesture on their part to offer new film and it would be harsh on my part to demand a new film to be applied for this one tiny hole. I offered a better solution to him. For the not so perfect job I wanted him to reduce Rs.490 and charge me only Rs.7K as an amicable solution. He agreed and I paid only Rs.7K. As far as the hole is concerned, yes it is visible but only if we go looking for it. And to me a saving of Rs.490 means more than elimination of the imperfection.

Verdict:

The 3M Scotchgard Paint Protection Film, in my opinion is a better alternative for new cars. Since the cost of film for the whole car is around Rs.17K to Rs.20K, it might be a good idea to get it applied just for the bonnet and other leading edges. The bumpers may not need this as they get ‘bumped’ anyway and might need replacement after a few years. Just tell them beforehand not to use any syringes and only the squeegee and you will be a happy customer. I got mine done after a month after purchasing my car. Ideally it is better to get it done soon after you purchase your car.

'3M Car Care' =

[Sommos]

@thinkanddrive : Many congratulations for your "Blue eyed boy".
Wish you many happy and troble free miles with the Waggy.

Loved the details and your practicality in the opening thread.
Though the Wagon R does not have the killer looks but still it is absolutely a no-nonsense car. The ingress and exgress is really comfortable for tall guys and it also offers an excellent view of the road ahead.

Enjoy your car and drive safe.