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30th May 2014, 11:30 | #1 |
Senior - BHPian | Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea I know I know even I was surprised at our decision to buy a Automatic hatch after selling a 120bhp behemoth. But life sure has ways to surprise everyone. So here I am once again penning down an ownership story of our new Korean companion. Most of you would remember my ownership thread on probably the best made car from the Tata stables “Tata Manza:: The Story Continues::” Well that story has just about been 2.5 years, unlike Ekta Kapoor serials that story has come to an end in this month of May. I really loved the Manza for what it offered at a mouth watering price of 7.65 Lakhs back then in 2011. So let me dedicate a small section as a tribute to this workhorse. Tata Manza :: Story Ends The smiley grill will look in your face and urge you to hug it but one look at those sharp twin barrel eyes and you will realize this is a sleeping giant. We just loved our Manza so much that we also had a name ranging from Toothless to White Whale. But whatever you call it, it did serve our purpose really well all these years. It has taken to places even the Manza engineers could not have imagined while making this car, it was also the car which got home our first child in sofa like environment through its soft suspensions. Even now she tends to doze off in the car. So with so many memories its been a very sad moment to let the whale go. Let me see if I can write a small story here. The Story Begins after a few initial hiccups The first trip of the Manza which takes us to Goa along with my parents who were later sold out on the car Got it self new voice It took us to Mysore during the new years eve Had a brain surgery to get it remapped to 120 horses, now the whale actualy flies instead of swim A quick fire lunch run to Yercaud It then took us to and back on the mother of all trips to LADAKH. An 8000 kms trip without a hitch In the interim it has taken us to Ooty around 3 times and Coonoor 1 time. Prologue: We were happy with our Manza or “The White Whale” as we fondly call it and there was no new car buying discussions or even a thought. However, our life started to change little by little after our baby Anika came in last year June. We built a new house for her (no more small rented spaces), we were ready to shower anything on her and her needs. But as the days went by we began to feel the strain of having to carry her everywhere for all our errands and it was tough to do that in all the situations. So my wife wanted to start driving, she tried her hands with the “Whale” but somehow it did not click and she wanted an automatic car. Well with the already soaring expenses it was not prudent for us to get a 2nd car so with a heavy heart we decided to part ways with the Manza and get an automatic hatchback. Checklist: As usual we prepared a checklist to make it easy to decide which car to buy. Below are some of the main criteria. 1. Automatic (No compromises on this) 2. A hatch (to make parking easier for wife) 3. The budget of 7Lakhs 4. Comfortable ride (to carry the baby in relative comfort) 5. Seat height wherein wife should be comfortably seated yet able to see well The Search: Well to be honest in the budget that we had decided the search was pretty easy and straight forward. There were the only two cars that fit the bill and the above checklist. a) Maruti Suzuki Celerio AMT b) Hyundai Grand AT Test Drives: Well the test drives were pretty one sided as wife still did not know how to drive to so I had to test the car and make a decision for her if she will be comfortable driving it. Maruti Celerio AMT This was a new kid in the block and being a semi manual we knew mileage would be quite good. Though mileage was never a criteria considering the very low running the car would see in a month. Still it was good to know that we could save some money. So we went to our nearest dealer for Maruti, Pratham Motors in HSR Layout. It is a small showroom but from the outside we did see that they had a Celerio displayed. However, once we went in, the display car was in fact a manual one. Still we did have a look and liked it. The boot space was a special mention as it could hold a pram and a car seat for the baby. The quality of plastics was on the lower grade side but it was not a deterrent. What really was a detterent and which ultimately led to choosing us the Hyundai was the high waiting period for the AMT Vxi. When the SA said 8 months waiting if we book today, my jaw almost dropped. I just laughed at his face and told him we are in the 21st Century where a car should be readily available. Anyhow, they did not have a test drive vehicle so we went back home dejected. In the coming week I called up various Maruti dealers in Bangalore, namely, Bimal, Mandovi, Kalyani, Sagar asking for the test drive of the Celerio, except for Kalyani the other dealers behavior was pretty lackadaisical. They would say they will call back in 30 mins or 2 hours but those callbacks have never come even to this date. I guess it stemmed from the fact that Maruti is pretty happy having such a high waiting list. So to cut the chase, I did get a test drive from Kalyani. The car that came that day was pretty dirty but the drive was good. Except for a few misses which I highlighted in the Celerio First Drive report here it was pretty good. Hyundai Grand AT Next we called up Hyundai and asked for the test drive of the AT Grand. They were pretty prompt in their response and they came home with the Asta variant in Golden Orange color. After having driven the Celerio I had some base experience to score the Hyundai, however, as soon as I sat inside the Grand, I felt like I am sitting inside the Verna. Though the interiors are different but the number of gizmos, grade of plastic, fit and finish was just too good. Now the Celerio felt like a Maruti 800 of the 20th century rather than a 21st century car. This time for the test drive even my wife along with her mother were present. This was purposefully done to see how comfortable everyone would be seated when the car is loaded. But to Hyundai’s credit the car did not bat an eyelid and was merrily pottering around HSR layout. Even with a/c there was not evident lack of power and throttle input was instant. The ride quality was above average, though not in the league of our Manza but the Grand did not have the vomit inducing rocking motion of the Manza. The Twist: After the Hyundai test drive we were now confused, we liked the Maruti but logically the Grand was offering more features that too within our budget. But the Celerio had high waiting times. So in a desperate attempt to see if a Celerio AMT can be procured fast than 8 months, we checked with a dealer in our home state i.e. Assam through a friends connection. Surprisingly, the person there said if we are ready to cough up the entire ex-showroom price of the car then he can get us the Celerio within a month. Hearing this we were overjoyed but that was pretty short lived as after a few calculations and the hassle of registering out of state new car in KA, we realized all that effort would be a headache. So after several attempts to coax Maruti dealers here in Bangalore to get us the car early, we gave up the chase and decided on buying the Grand AT in Sportz variant. Last edited by motomaverick : 17th June 2014 at 10:38. |
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17th June 2014, 10:16 | #2 | |
Senior - BHPian | Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Grand i10 AT Dealer Experience I had my doubts when it came to experience with dealers after what I had to face with Tata 3 years back. But I was pleasantly surprised right from the time they arranged for the test drive to the time I drove out with the new car, the experience was Good. It was anything Wow mainly because they at one of time when I was arranging for the funds were threatening that I make the payment fast as the prices will increase soon. Apart from that coaxing the overall experience was surprisingly good. 27th May: Made the nominal booking amount of 5000 INR so that they try to invoice it in May and I can get the vehicle by 15th of June. Another surprise was that after couple of days I got a message saying my vehicle is ready at the factory. In the meantime I was still trying to haggle to sell the Manza whose price was falling steeply than the initial amount that I was expecting. Nonetheless finally I was able to nail down on a deal and by 9th June I was able to get all the finance in place. 9th June: I opted to go with HDFC from outside the showroom and it was a blessing in disguise as I was able to get the funding for the on road pricing as well as a interest rate of 10.75%, which incidently is same as what I got 3 years back. Plus I was also able to get the zero depreciation bumper to bumper insurance quote for 18000 as against the showroom quote of 21000. Thankfully the agent handling my loan application is very good with juggads and he was able to get me all these deals. But still I could not take the delivery as I had to close my previous loan before this new one could be disbruised. 12th June: My bank agent did his magic once again and was able to get the new loan amount disbruised without needing to close the ealier loan and I could theoritically get my vehcile on Friday the 13th (incidently its an auspicious day in Hindu calendar). However, somehow 13th was not the date I could bring the car home as the RTO formalities would not be completed in time, so I opted to wait it out till 16th June. Delivery 16th June Yesterday we finally brought home the Korean Oranje, yeah I think I will call it "Oranje". The final formalities was done briskly. Though I could not do a detailed check on the car before registration but did the PDI quickly, all was well with the car, no misuse and the chassis number clearly suggested its a May 2014 manufactured. The Odo was reading 23 kms, which is fair enough since Advaiths stockyard is somewhere near Rajarajeshwari nagar. Quote:
The dealer had given a minuscule 5 liters of petrol so went to the nearest bunk to fill up the tank. Big mistake as I was haggled to take some Petro card and to fill nitrogen etc etc, all this seeing the new car. Lesson learnt for future purchases, never fill up close to the showroom. So at the time of writing this ownership, the vehicle has not been driven more than 100 kms so its just the buying experience that I have shared. Initial Impression: a. To be honest with everyone, the drive is uninspiring, and its more pronounced coming after having driven the Manza. The car takes its own sweet time to accelerate after the initial 1st gear, though it gains speed but its nothing fancy. I really miss the turbo kick of the Manza. b. Steering is light and weighs up well with speed c. Being a hatch I felt the other vehicles becoming more impatient in traffic, did not hear them honk when in the Manza d. All the Gizmo's in the Sportz variant are pretty nifty and useful. Still have to come to terms with the keyless locking part. e. Auto locking of the doors at speed is absent and I have probably forgotten to lock the doors on 3 instances. Its alarming as we also have kid riding with us. Planning to write to Hyundai to see if they can do something. I am sure its just a tweak in the ECU mapping or that auto lock feature turned off. f. No engine sump guard, not even a plastic one. Plan to write to Hyundai about the same so I can fix one in the 1st service. g. All in all the car I feel is perfect for my wife to drive around without any hassle, which actually was the sole reason to buy it. So it fits the bill to the T. Cost Breakup Ex-showroom: Rs. 5,76,000 RTO: Rs. 89,446 Insurance: Rs. 18,000 Handling: Rs. 6,000 Accessories: Rs. 3,000 =================== On Road: Rs. 6,92,446 =================== So thats about it for now from my side. Rest assured will be sharing more details with proper pictures very soon. Last edited by motomaverick : 17th June 2014 at 10:23. | |
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The following 10 BHPians Thank motomaverick for this useful post: | GTO, joethomasv, JoseVijay, Octane_Power, paragsachania, RavenAvi, Rehaan, RSR, samabhi, Vid6639 |
17th July 2014, 11:32 | #3 |
Senior - BHPian | Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Grand i10 AT So here goes a small review after a month and 600kms with the car. I will try to cover some of the features from my point of view. 600 kms over although in a very slow manner For a more generic review please check the Official Review Here. I will try to cover most of my points with pictures so that it’s not boring to read. EXTERIORS
INTERIORS
Here are some of my observations on the ride and handling of this car
PERFORMANCE The performance if this car is nothing to write home about. Even though it might have an 80 bhp Kappa 2 engine under the hood, the torque converter transmission is a big letdown. Yes, from standstill to say about 80kph you can zoom ahead without any issues but beyond that and during roll on speeds, it’s pretty bad. How bad is it, you ask? Well, take this scenario of a 2 lane highway and you are approaching a slow moving vehicle, you slow down a little and then you need to accelerate to overtake, well the car will think for 3-4 secs before realizing what is happening and move forward, in that time you might lose the opportunity to overtake. Now this happens in the “D” mode, however, even if you are in manual mode the scenario does not improve drastically, since the transmission is only 4 gears the car feels strained when pushed upwards of 4000 rpm and you are forced to change gears. Yes, I do agree I still need to know how to drive an automatic but even then, a 5th cog would have helped during those highway runs. If you ask me to sum it up in one sentence, I would say “This car is the best medium to carry people from Point A to B inside the city, don’t expect anything other than that.” SMALLER YET SIGNIFICANT THINGS FOUND OVER THE MONTH
A new always requires a new set of stickers from team-bhp and here is the Oranje with the LTD sticker MILEAGE Ok, so coming onto to the all important question especially so for a AT "Kitna Dayti Hai"? Well for me the first tankful I got was around 8kpl, whereas for the last one it has increased to 10kpl, I am not hoping for more than 11kpl at the most in city. I am trying to dig deep as to why an AT with the same engine configuration gives less, so planning to drive in manual mode in the next fill of some 500 bucks and see the mileage. One theory I have is that the AT box shifts down to 1 more often than a human would and hence the overall gear changes increases, this causes less mileage. If you ask me am I satisfied with the purchase? well Yes! I am since it ticked all boxes and serves our purpose really well. So feel free to browse this thread as I will be updating it from time to time. Till the next update annyeonghi gaseyo (goodbye) Last edited by Rehaan : 18th July 2014 at 14:24. Reason: Removing some extra space. Nice formatting :) |
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The following 16 BHPians Thank motomaverick for this useful post: | D4D, drmohitg, GTO, Jignesh, JoseVijay, narayans80, niv26, Octane_Power, RavenAvi, Rehaan, RSR, samabhi, Samba, scopriobharath, TheTeacher, Vid6639 |
18th July 2014, 14:22 | #4 |
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| re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Thread moved out from the Assembly Line section. Thanks for sharing! |
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18th July 2014, 16:45 | #5 | |
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| Re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Grand i10 AT Quote:
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18th July 2014, 23:00 | #6 |
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| re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Excellent and a very detailed thread. Honestly if anyone asks me these days for a well rounded family hatch, my answer is just go for Grand i10. It is an excellent product from Hyundai and the feature list is just mouth watering. I have always wandered what kind of profit margins does Hyundai have on each of its cars given that they generally provide a much more luxurious interior quality and the feature list is always class leading and yet they manage to price there cars quite competitively. The only grudge with the grand i10 is the lack of safety features even as an option in the lesser variants. One is forced to only consider the Asta O but then some genius decided not to offer that with an AT box. Wishing you many happy miles with your car. |
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19th July 2014, 08:46 | #7 | |
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| Re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Grand i10 AT Congratulations on your new car. I became a proud owner of a Gi10 almost 3 months ago. It's a great vfm car. I have driven a friend's 2012 i10 Auto extensively. (Same engine+ gearbox combo) The convenience it offers is superb. Enjoy your new car. Drive Safe Quote:
Well, I tried it in my car. I think this feature is exclusive to the automatic variant. | |
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19th July 2014, 10:20 | #8 |
BHPian | Congratulations motomaverick on your new buy. I used to follow your manza thread very closely esp. the remap etc. Sad that you had to part with it. Buying an automatic is a very sensible decision considering the ever increasing traffic conditions. Wishing you many miles of happy and ownership. |
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19th July 2014, 10:51 | #9 |
Senior - BHPian | re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Congrats on your new oranjee. I really like this color on the Gi10. One question - did you ask or have you received any response to the question of what happens if the start/stop switch fails for any reason? any way to manually crank start? |
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19th July 2014, 12:52 | #10 |
BHPian | re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! @ motomaverick, Congratulations on acquisition of most wonderful hatch offering good fit and finish with all the feature rich bells & whistles. You have perfectly penned down your whole experience from Leh'd White Whale to acquisition of Oranje. How much did your Manza fetched you ? Your baby Anika came in last year June so it was perfect first birthday gift to your daughter Enjoy your ride and drive safe |
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19th July 2014, 12:56 | #11 | ||||
Senior - BHPian | re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Quote:
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Very true Mohit, the AT deserved ABS not as an option but standard as there is no engine breaking with the AT and in the Grand the brakes are very sharp with very little or rather no play of the pedal. I have managed to lock the wheels on more than one occasion though at very low speeds. Quote:
At least in the AT version I have figured out how to keep the music flowing. Another discovery (not sure if its mentioned in the manual) but the doors remain locked if we kill the engine again in "N" mode. Otherwise in "P" mode the doors always unlock. Quote:
No I have not asked that question, in fact its a very good question to ask. I will shoot a mail to Hyundai immediately. By the way I still have not received any reply about my previous question from them on enabling auto locking feature. | ||||
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20th July 2014, 10:58 | #12 | |
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| Re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Grand i10 AT
Quote:
Torque converter transmission is the one on your Grand i10. It's less effecient than a manual.(97% vs 88%) So your FE will be lesser than the manual. | |
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20th July 2014, 15:57 | #13 |
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| re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Congratulations,awesome car and colour now may I suggest you to go for 15" wheels and low profile tyres,This will make your car stand out Enjoy and Drive in style. Thanks&Regards KN |
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20th July 2014, 19:04 | #14 | |||
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| re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Quote:
Like in my old car. If I wanted to switch the car off at a long red light and keep the music running, I could- by turning the key to acc without interrupting the music. And yes, the music would go off for a a few seconds when I would restart the engine just like in your Manza. In the Gi10, in the same situation thanks to the push button system- if I wish to shut the engine off, I need to press the start/stop button and the car shuts down,including all the electricals and I have to restart the car in accessory mode (without pressing clutch) to have my music play at a red light with the engine off. All this is specific to the manual version of the car. Quote:
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Ideally, 14 inch wheels and 185 section rubber would be the best upgrade. And yes, changing the wheels can really change the look of the car. Do check out bhpian's 'S2!!!' silver Gi10 running on aftermarket wheels and rubber. | |||
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20th July 2014, 22:01 | #15 |
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| re: Annyeonghaseyo or Hello from Korea - Hyundai Grand i10 AT. EDIT: Sold! Hi moto maverick. Congrats on your new baby. Short and crisp review. Just wanted to know why you did not evaluate the Brio CVT? My father was planning to go for it as he found it the best amongst the i10 Grand AT and Ritz AT. |
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