[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Its like deciding which came first, the chicken or the egg On a serious note if you have decided to go for AT, look for AT cars, if you don't have issues buying used, then there might be a lot of used ATs in the market. Or you can also try the Celerio AMT, being an AMT it will definitely give your more mileage. I was also looking for the Celerio but the the long waiting period and the interiors of the i10 made me decide against the Celerio.

My suggestion, check the Zest out, AMT is a known technology and coming from Magneto Marelli directly there should not be issues. I know I am offering Tata but its somehow managed to steal the show in the Diesel AT budget price bracket. The car is already available for test drives, check it out.

No used cars anymore. Our first purchase was a used car, and living with it for so many years has taught us never to go the used car way ever again. It's just that there are certain caveats that are available only with a new car. Stuff like 2+2 years warranty, RSA, the new car smell

No Maruti for us. Period. Just don't like the brand. Tata is another brand that I wouldn't approach. Hyundai's are tried & tested, and IMO they've become the benchmark when it comes to being an all rounder.

And that's the thing for me. While considering a car that I can drive & take care, I'd pick something European in a heartbeat. I'm even prepared to live with the sloppy dealer experience and the possibility of stuff breaking down every now and then. But I won't expect my wife to live with the same attitude when it comes to cars. She is not a petrol head. She is not an enthusiast. All she needs is a car to take her to the office in good comfort, with maximum reliability while not sacrificing too much on the feel good factor & safety aspect. Putting all that together, the outcome is pretty simple. Hyundai is the clear choice for now.

PS: No offence meant to anyone who drives a Maruti/Tata. As you all know, to each his own. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by Rajain

Hi Motomaverick



Guess what, today I am taking the delivery of our Xcent AT from Trident at Hosur Road. This would be an upgrade for the home ministry who had A Star AT.

I understand that both Xcent and Grand i10 AT are built from the same foundation. In fact Xcent is actually built off the Grand i10. So I would be closely following your thread on the Grand i10 AT.

Good ownership thread and happy miles with smiles.

Congratulations again.

Cheers

Rajain

Two congratulations in order here 1) For completing the road trip to the roof of the world 2) For getting the Xcent AT

Yes both are built on the same platform and share a lot of parts, this car has surprised me in the last few weeks so stay tuned.

Originally Posted by sourav9385

She is not a petrol head. She is not an enthusiast. All she needs is a car to take her to the office in good comfort, with maximum reliability while not sacrificing too much on the feel good factor & safety aspect. Putting all that together, the outcome is pretty simple. Hyundai is the clear choice for now.

PS: No offence meant to anyone who drives a Maruti/Tata. As you all know, to each his own. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

In that case Hyundai would suite your needs to the "T". Then the case is closed, verdict is Hyundai AT

[motomaverick]

Update: 30th July

This is a short and brief update on a quick fire trip we did with the Oranje on 29th July. This was an impromptu trip and since we only had 12 hours at our disposal, we decided to dash to Kabini for a quick lunch at “The Serai”

Yeah, I know some people might think its crazy to just go for lunch spending on petrol etc etc, but then that’s the reason for the tag “Live to Drive”



I will not bore you with a travelogue but will highlight points on how the car performed. Please note that 1st service is still due but the car has crossed the run-in period.

POSITIVES

1. If I have to sum it up in one word about the performance of this AT in one word, it will be “Good”. In fact we were surprised that we crossed NICE road from Mysore road junction to Hosur road in 10 mins. The car at that time was purely driven in manual mode.
2. The car is a very good handler, especially on the SH 33 towards HD Kote, it showed its true colors around the corners, reminded me of the Zen days. Steering is sharp with a very slight hint of under steering is what I observed. But sharp corners at speed it does not rattle the car.
3. The performance on open straight roads of SH17 was very good if driven in manual mode, in AT mode the car suddenly decides to go down a gear or it takes 5 seconds to wake up when asked to change gear.
4. Bad and uneven roads are dismissed without an issue
5. After the trip I was still fresh and felt the same kind of fatigue as it was with the Manza, so this car can definitely be a all-day cruiser
6. The car is happiest when prodded smoothly and lightly, can maintain triple digit speeds upto 110 with ease, inside the cabin the passengers will not feel the speed.
7. Overtaking is fine if calculated well, its not a car to plonk your foot suddenly on the accelerator
8. AC is pretty good and we drove almost 90% of the times with AC, no power issues felt at all.
9. Having a bright color is a boon as the car can be seen from a long way away, so any people crossing the highway are aware and that something is approaching
10. Mileage was good, overall it gave 14 kpl that included smooth driving, 1 lane highway, and aggressive.

NEGATIVES

1. The car is missing 1 more gear, if there was a 5th cog it would have been perfect as with the current tranny it felt out of breath after going 30% over 100.
2. Though car is a good handler the Goodyear tires were a little circumspect as I heard small squeals twice. Plus the thin width does effect it further.
3. As mentioned above, AT mode should be employed purely on a expressway or 4 lane open road, on single carriageway the car did struggle when driven in AT, it was not able to understand when to shift down or up.
4. Hyundai if only you could have given a dual sharp horn, the current one was woefully meek especially on the highway.

So to round it off, here are some pictures from the trip.

Beautiful stretch of SH33



View of the backwaters


If SH33 was better then this stretch after the deviation towards Serai is awesome


Wants to take a bath with the cows


Entering the Serai


The Wildgrass Restaurant inside the Serai. Food was good and costed Rs. 750 + taxes


The main building of the resort, you can see bonfire place as well


A Panoramic of the view of Kabini Backwaters


Dark clouds looping over the waters


Tried my hands at some abstract after a heavy lunch, could not bend down all the way


Yes you can almost touch the waters


Wish I could splash the car to show that it has emerged from the backwaters


The trip details


So the Oranje was fun on the highway and totally surprised me with its performance, next up is the 1st service this weekend.

[sourav9385]

Cool review mate! 14 kmpl on the highway! That's pretty good for a 4 speed torque converter. Please do keep us updated on the service costs.

Excellent pictures, and I totally understand the need to drive 500 kms for lunch .

Been there myself many a times, when we've had impromptu drives to Pondicherry just so we could grab a bite from Villa Shanti. Sometimes the best trips are the unplanned ones

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Cool review mate! 14 kmpl on the highway! That's pretty good for a 4 speed torque converter. Please do keep us updated on the service costs.

Thanks, 14 kpl I got after a lot of jostling and fooling the AT. Even in manual mode it used to drop the gear down to 1 at certain speed humps, I just flicked to 2nd & 3rd quickly as soon as I crossed the hump. Also driving in manual mode most of the times helped i guess.

[motomaverick]

SERVICE UPDATE: 2nd Aug

Just completed the first service of the car at 1920 kms. The bill amount was Rs. 0.0 Yeah I was shocked as well as happy since during my Manza 1st service I had to shell out money for the fluid top ups as well as spend 1 more day at the service station to get the clutch master cylinder changed.

Positives:

1. Prompt attendance by the SA as soon as I arrived at the station
2. Patiently noting all the complaints I had.
3. Did not try to up sell any product apart from under body coating, which I felt was genuine enough considering the monsoons
4. Car promptly taken away from the waiting list to the service queue
5. Washing and cleaning was good, no dirty marks
6. No money spent as engine oil change is only in 2nd service at 10,000 kms

Negative

1. The only negative I can think of is the SA not noting down Horn upgrade in the job card and I received the car ready sms before the horn was fixed.

I also got the horn upgraded to a dual tone, they added a high tone piece to the original low tone present in the car. Part Nos: 9662005000. Total damage 480 including wiring and labor. Relay is already present it seems.

Now the horn is loud enough for the highways, tested on a Sunday morning breakfast drive to Krishnagiri.

[motomaverick]

Non Service Update

I had a surprise yesterday, I noticed that when you push the fader to extreme rear there is hardly any sound coming out of the rear speakers for the same volume level. I thought its because of the speakers but a local auto accesories guy informed that its a system issue and changing to better speakers will not help. Next I tried to confirm the same with Hyundai but its like , they had no clue and directed me to the service center.

Question to anyone who can answer. Is the above a system issue or speaker issue? My plan was to replace the front with a good one and push the current front speakers to the rear.

[motomaverick]

Cosmetic Update

Did a small update to the car by making all four door window frames in black. Got it done at 3M with matte black sticker. Here are the pictures.




I checked with Advaith Hyundai on the speaker volume issue and we were able to nail it down to different wattage issue between the front and rear speakers and not a system issue.

[Rajain]

Hey

Lovely drive out for a 'well earned' lunch I guess. All of us here can guess the need for a lunch 500 kms away. Years ago, once in Delhi, my wife and I had the urge to go on a drive only to listen to gazals. So a drive from Delhi to Jaipur and back - just listening to gazals and a lovely lunch in Jaipur.

In a tankful to tankful method - what was the fuel consumed and efficiency thus gained?

Cheers

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by Rajain

Hey

Lovely drive out for a 'well earned' lunch I guess. All of us here can guess the need for a lunch 500 kms away. Years ago, once in Delhi, my wife and I had the urge to go on a drive only to listen to gazals. So a drive from Delhi to Jaipur and back - just listening to gazals and a lovely lunch in Jaipur.

In a tankful to tankful method - what was the fuel consumed and efficiency thus gained?

Cheers

On that trip got a mileage of 14kpl with return taking more than 5 hours due to traffic.

Update: 21st Aug 2014

The car had a misfortune of having to visit the Hyundai Service center unscheduled. The previous evening I noticed while driving that the "Check Engine" light was glowing, got a little worried and checked for all the fluids as well as disconnecting the -ve terminal and checking but the check light was still there even after starting the engine. So decided to call Hyundai and inform them, what followed next was surprising for me.




1st Call to Hyundai Toll Free Thought will call their general call center since the vehicle wasn't actually broken down. They cooly informed me to check with service center.

2nd Call to Advaith Service Center The guy informed the center is currently closed (7:30PM) and asks me to drive down the next day. I asked him if I can drive down since the check light is on, he said please come tomorrow.

3rd Call to Hyundai roadside assistance Finally called up the roadside assistance to see if those blokes will be better, but sadly I was on call for 25 mins just for a service ticket to be raised. No troubleshooting done just the fellow was following the script and raising a ticket. While conversing with the roadside assistance agent I had a hilarious moment, something like this

Agent: Sir, you have a Grand i10 Sportz automatic, in golden orange color
Me: Yes, correct
Agent: Sir, so does the car have a gear or clutch
Me: (what he asked?) I am sorry what do you mean?
Agent: I mean does it have a gear system?
Me: Its an automatic there is no clutch and no gear stick, are you really from Hyundai?
Agent: Sir, we need to ask these questions before arranging for the tow truck.
Me: Thats fine but you should be knowing about your own car.

So after the hilarious moment, he finally raised the ticket and I had to wait till the next day for the tow truck

Thankfully the tow truck fellow was much more efficient and swiftly took the car away on a flat bed.




Diagnosis The service center ran their scanner for fault codes but surprisingly the check light was off when they were running their scan plus no error codes observed. After coaxing them to check the spark plugs, fuses and any other electrical connectors, they finally found out that he grounding wire was cut.

How did the wire get cut? Their answer was it was due to him




Yes, rat menace hit the Grand and I can blame it on the parking space which I had changed recently to near a bush. Currently the car is running just fine and no issues, I have changed the parking place but looking at something permanent apart from using tobacco in the engine bay.

[raksrules]

motomaverick

We are considering an AT Hatchback and Grand i10 is on the list. We have never seen the Grand i10 in flesh (except when we see some people driving on roads). Not in showroom.
Can you please answer a few queries..

1. We have sat once in Xcent SX(O) (Manual). Is the inside space of Grand i10 same or less than Xcent ?
2. For strictly city runs (and western express highway in Mumbai , which is sort of city road only due to traffic, just that no signals there) do you think Grand i10 AT is a good buy ?
3. Did you consider the Asta version in AT and if yes then why you chose Sportz instead ?
4. What Mileage can I expect in city traffic ?
5. How do you think is the gearbox and shiftings and all ? If I am someone who is looking for a functional car and do not care about FTD and such things then would you recommend a Grand i10 AT ?

Please answer at your own convenience.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by raksrules

motomaverick

We are considering an AT Hatchback and Grand i10 is on the list. We have never seen the Grand i10 in flesh (except when we see some people driving on roads). Not in showroom.
Can you please answer a few queries..



Please answer at your own convenience.

Let me try to answer your queries to the best of my abilities and experience with the car as of now.

1. We have sat once in Xcent SX(O) (Manual). Is the inside space of Grand i10 same or less than Xcent ? Yes, the interior space is similar, in fact we have taken 3 well fed adults at the back seat multiple times and they have never complained.

2. For strictly city runs (and western express highway in Mumbai , which is sort of city road only due to traffic, just that no signals there) do you think Grand i10 AT is a good buy ? I would not say best buy but it certainly is a good buy, even though there are no signals on that road but if there is traffic then the AT is a boon.

3. Did you consider the Asta version in AT and if yes then why you chose Sportz instead ? We did check the Asta version but it only gave us alloy wheels, seat height, rear wiper but nothing substantial such as ABS or Air bag so we saved some bucks and went for Sportz

4. What Mileage can I expect in city traffic ? Honestly not more than 11kpl if driven with light foot but I have been getting 10 kpl on an average

5. How do you think is the gearbox and shiftings and all ? If I am someone who is looking for a functional car and do not care about FTD and such things then would you recommend a Grand i10 AT ? Yes, I would recommend to anyone who is not very particular about FE. The gear changes are smooth if driven with light foot plus the added advantage of having semi-manual shifting does help.

[santhosh_lv]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

On that trip got a mileage of 14kpl with return taking more than 5 hours due to traffic.

Update: 21st Aug 2014

The car had a misfortune of having to visit the Hyundai Service center unscheduled. The previous evening I noticed while driving that the "Check Engine" light was glowing, got a little worried and checked for all the fluids as well as disconnecting the -ve terminal and checking but the check light was still there even after starting the engine. So decided to call Hyundai and inform them, what followed next was surprising for me.

Attachment 1278106


1st Call to Hyundai Toll Free Thought will call their general call center since the vehicle wasn't actually broken down. They cooly informed me to check with service center.

2nd Call to Advaith Service Center The guy informed the center is currently closed (7:30PM) and asks me to drive down the next day. I asked him if I can drive down since the check light is on, he said please come tomorrow.

3rd Call to Hyundai roadside assistance Finally called up the roadside assistance to see if those blokes will be better, but sadly I was on call for 25 mins just for a service ticket to be raised. No troubleshooting done just the fellow was following the script and raising a ticket. While conversing with the roadside assistance agent I had a hilarious moment, something like this

Agent: Sir, you have a Grand i10 Sportz automatic, in golden orange color
Me: Yes, correct
Agent: Sir, so does the car have a gear or clutch
Me: (what he asked?) I am sorry what do you mean?
Agent: I mean does it have a gear system?
Me: Its an automatic there is no clutch and no gear stick, are you really from Hyundai?
Agent: Sir, we need to ask these questions before arranging for the tow truck.
Me: Thats fine but you should be knowing about your own car.

Clean description of the incident, found this very informative. Where did you manage to park the vehicle until the towing truck arrived. Is road side assistance free of cost if the insurance covers it?

My dad had a similar incident. The mighty rat ate up the battery connection on his santro which was found 150 kms away from bangalore on a late evening drive. He got to know when the car simply stalled in the middle of no where.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by santhosh_lv

Clean description of the incident, found this very informative. Where did you manage to park the vehicle until the towing truck arrived. Is road side assistance free of cost if the insurance covers it?

My dad had a similar incident. The mighty rat ate up the battery connection on his santro which was found 150 kms away from bangalore on a late evening drive. He got to know when the car simply stalled in the middle of no where.

I parked the vehicle with the front facing the main road so it was easier for the towing fellow to load the car as can be seen in the picture. The towing is free of charge, not sure if its within city limits. Will check with them if its free on the highway as well.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

[*] Hyundai if only you could have given a dual sharp horn, the current one was woefully meek especially on the highway.

Requested our dealership to upgrade the horn - and we were met with weird looks and reminders of the warranty policy. The current horn is just too meek for a car!