Well, in the past 1 month, I missed informing the group here that I’ve got the delivery of my MT Diesel Creta, anniversary edition on 5th Nov.
Just like a lot of others here, I had the considered the usual choices before finalising on the creta
Following options considered but rejected due to reasons mentioned:
Alternatives / Options
i20 active – Was tempted due to the features offered which were more than what creta had plus the ‘at par’ SUVish ground clearance but was dropped since I already have the 2012 Igen i20
Verna - End of its lifespan & I was more keen on buying a SUV
City – Proven car, Sunroof was tempting due to my sons liking for it but dropped due to ‘not so refined’ iDTEC. Also ground clearance was a concern.
Ecosport – Rear space inadequate & it’s almost at the end of its lifespan, plus it’s a ford - just not to my comfort
Brezza – Was ruled out for the long waiting period & absence of finesse / quality. For eg. Look at the way the silencer can is almost completely dangling outside when you are following the car. Just gives a feeling of bad design / cutting corners.
Duster – Quite an impressive ride & good looks but internally it’s just not up there. Plus doubts on servicing & spares.
BRV – Honda what are you upto? Its just a mobilio in a little different clothing. Although got to give them marks on space management & also on the ‘front design’, but the car just fails to get classified as a SUV. It still looks like a MUV hence rejected. Most importantly, where is the HRV? Looks like the product strategy desks at Honda seem to be occupied by morons.
After a lot of analysis and views read here eventually bought the Diesel MT Creta
Within the variants anniversary edition was finalised due to its EVOQUEish looks. I would have anyways got the after-market dual tone done in the normal creta. So this version saved me from those expenses / effort.
Comprehensive reviews are already covered in this thread so I will restrict to what according to me are the pros & cons of this vehicle
Lets me start with the positives first
What I liked
Smooth Power delivery – just love the torque & overall power
FE is quite good – Got almost 17 kmpl in a NH 4 travel. In city FE atleast as of now looks like 14 kmpl. It’s as good as my i20 with a larger engine
Riding position – quite a good view of the road & gives a proper overall SUV feel
Ride quality – very good considering the boaty ride of i20. Now I don’t have to think twice before approaching the infamous Mumbai potholes. The "thud" sound in the i20 was quite disturbing.
Audio quality – Although some members have complained on the audio quality, I’ve found it to be good. I am not an audiophile but you can get an idea on my fondness for music considering I’ve had a woofer, amplifier in my previous cars. Although I will upgrade the ICE (amp + woofer + ovals) over a period of time but the current setup seems to be good for the time being.
Large flat boot – Had a travel to my village & used the boot to its fullest capacity. The loading lip level & shape of the boot is quite an ease for moving stuff in & out.
Comfort at rear – Although I am yet to travel on the rear bench but my family has praised the ride & space comfort
Cornering head lamps – extremely useful especially at my village where there are numerous dark spots.
Quality construct – Everything internally & externally oozes finesse.
Tyres & mags – Love the way they look. Few OEM mags look this good. I’ve got bridgestone dueler sport factory fitted & I’ve found them to be quite good.
12v ports – Helps to have that extra port in front of the rear bench. Keeps the family happy in these times of power hungry smartphones.
NVH – A very quiet cabin & very well managed damping ensures a pleasurable ride.
Horn – Well a small thing but right out of the factory it has a European feel to it. Loud & sweet sounding.
What I hated
No lights in buttons on armrests – Hyundai, does this incur so much cost to include it in a vehicle upwards of 15 lacs?? It’s extremely inconvenient at night / in dark.
Poor screen legibility in sunlight – Extremely bad visibility in sunlight. If you are reversing and there’s sunlight on your screen its almost impossible to see what’s there on the screen. Cars costing much lesser have better screen legibility.
Absence of internal dimming mirror – Height of cost saving by Hyundai. I had got used to this useful feature in my i20
No speed lock – One more stupid cost saving measure by Hyundai. This is a security hazard. When I am paying upwards of 15 lacs, absence of this is least expected.
Absence of rain sensing wipers – Its an extremely useful feature & coming from an i20 this was expected in creta.
What I did not like
Date missing in display – Even my 4 year old i20 has it.
Hour and minute easily editable – Editing does not require long press. This leads accidental time changes if a kid fiddles with the buttons.
Stop button stopping all functions – At times when I switch off the car I want my music to continue without any break but that’s not possible here.
Android auto – The factory navigation is useless if it doeant provide traffic data. Google maps is way ahead in terms of navigation & traffic updates. It almost makes the in-car navigation redundant. Android auto would have solved this but its absent. I hear that HMIL has introduced it in Tucson.
Auto headlamp / Auto mirror fold – Well not a must-have but expected in car costing this much
Ingress / egress due to height – Benefit of ground clearance & SUV stance has impacted the convenience of stepping in & out of the vehicle. Not a big problem but mom complains of the discomfort due to height.
FE / DTE – Dont know when Hyundai is going to introduce this feature in their fleet of cars. Its even there in sub 10 lacs cars.
Absence of CD player / internal storage – The lower variants of creta have this. HMIL, why is this missing in the higher variants
Headlights – Dont knos if other members have faced this but I find the headlights to be average considering they are projectors. I20 again scores better here with the conventional headlamps. Would like to know alternatives to improve the overall brightness without drilling holes & doing extreme mods.
Attaching some pics