Flashback to 2005, New Delhi
A few years into the first job, need was felt for a four wheeler for the weekend getaways, mall hopping, miscellaneous chores, etc.. Never really remembered why we chose the Wagon R, but maybe it was because of the brand 'Maruti' and a little upgrade from the universal Alto. But till date, have never regretted the buying decision and it is one of the best hatchback to drive with the best driving comfort for short and long journeys. Have several sweet memories of the Waggie where we covered many small weekend getaways in and around Delhi.
The car served me well for the last 10 years and was driven only 39000 kms, always serviced on time and maintained impeccably. During this time, priorities changed and upgrading the car was never in the agenda, mainly because our daily run was very less and the vehicle was in very good condition. We shifted back to our hometown Guwahati in 2012 and the car was also transported here. The next couple of years, got busy in setting up work and again upgrading the car took a backseat.
2014 - 2015
The urge to upgrade the car was slowly creeping in. Ford Ecosport was launched and was impressed by the looks, however was put off by the cramped rear space. We needed a car which can easily accomodate atleast 4 adults (Parents/In-laws) and a kid. Both me and my wife never considered a sedan, primarily due to the fact that after spending so much time with the tall boy Wagon R, the seating positing of sedans were not really favourable. My wife used to hate sitting in her BIL's Verna, hence sedans were out of consideration.
The Contender(s)
To be honest, there was only one contender. We had shortlisted the Ertiga and it was almost our final choice this festive season. Maruti brand, lots of space, can easily carry five to six people and the most affordable option in the MUV section. Though my wife was not very fond of the bland looks, I convinced her that it was the most practical car for our purpose. Scorpio, Safari's were too old and big, both on budget and for our practical use. Because this was going to be our primary and only car, the big SUV's would be a pain to drive around in the congested roads for small errands. Though have to admit, owning a Safari was always a dream and aspiration for me. Never considered Duster, somehow it never appealed to the heart and knew it was overpriced.
S-Cross was not considered because of the looks. We didn't want to upgrade from a 'hatchback' to a 'premium' hatchback. After spending 11.5 grand, we wanted a car which atleast looks like an 'SUV' and not a hatchback.
June 2015
Started following Team-bhp again, reading ownership reviews, new cars, general chit-chats when the ix25 thread caught my attention. The news of Hyundai preponing the launch to July got me excited and I started following all ix25/Creta threads religiously. Every scoop picture, news, bits and pieces of information, price leak was analysed and read over and over again. Showed the ix25 pics to my wife who instantly approved and liked the design. The new i20 and Fluidic designs were appealing and I have always like the Elite i20 which is one of the best looking hatchback among the current lot. Meanwhile in July, during the course of some official work, got acquainted with the owner of a local Hyundai dealership. Had a chance to speak with him about the car and also to some Hyundai officials. He said they were unofficially taking bookings and said I could pre-book if interested and he will try to allocate a vehicle in the first lot.
So after some discussion with wifey, decided to pre-book the car hoping the prices would be in the range leaked by @RavenAvi in the forum. Our budget was max 10L and the prices floating around was favourable.
On the launch day, as expected I was also shocked and disappointed in the pricing and felt Creta to be overpriced by around 1L. We deliberated if Creta was worth the price and went through each and every online review/videos/comments available on the internet. But what the heck, we don't change cars often and decided lets go for the car we want and aspire. So this was a decision purely from the heart and not from the brain.
So finally asked the dealer to book a White 1.4 S CRDI which was the only reasonable option available to us by extending our limited budget. Though I would have loved to get the 1.6L engine, I am a pretty sedate driver and thought the 1.4 should be more than enough for the city and highways. Getting a test drive of the 1.4 was out of question as my 1.4 was the first 1.4 vehicle expected in the city. The allocation of cars in this region is very less, our dealer gets around 7 Cretas in a month, the biggest dealer in Guwahati gets around 15-20 Cretas in a month. The car was expected in about a months time and thus started the waiting period.
With space for only 1 car at home, it was time to sell our trusted and faithful Wagon R. Washed, cleaned the car and listed it on Olx and Quikr with some good pictures. Was able to get a good price for the 10 year old workhorse and finally sold it off for 1.7L, though I still think that we should have retained it.
Delivery Experience
Loan was applied from SBI and it took around a weeks time to get approved. I maintain a very friendly relationship with the dealership and they were very accommodating with my status enquiries. The dealer insurance was quoted at around 31k for normal insurance. I got a quote of 28k from New India Assurance for 'bumper to bumper' insurance and I asked them to match it. They were unable to offer similar pricing and advised me to get it done outside. So got the insurance done outside at 27.5k with zero depreciation.
I asked the dealer to provide me with free mats (any available) at the time of delivery. The car arrived at the dealers stockyard by around 21st August, but as per a new rule, the car can be delivered only after registration. The registration process took a couple of days and finally the car was readied for delivery on Saturday, 29th August 2015. The delivery process took minimal time as all payments and documentation were already done before.
Final Breakup of Payment
Ex-showroom Price - Rs. 1078331
Registration - Rs. 42461 (for 5 yrs including handling charges of around 3k)
Insurance - Rs. 27500 from New India Assurance which was done outside dealership (Zero Depreciation, without cashless)
Logistics Charges - Rs. 5056
3M Underbody Coating - Rs. 2280
Total OTR Price - Rs. 11,55628
Got the Creta floor mats free as requested, installed the OEM mud flaps for around Rs. 450. Went straight to the petrol pump and it gobbled up 54 Litres!
At the dealers stockyard with stock wheels.
The front view with normal headlamps without projector.
Clean rear with no variant badging.
Most of the features have already been covered in the official review. I will try to point out some features of the 1.4 S model.
Engine bay compartment is neat with no ugly looking wires or metal.
Bonnet without sound insulation. May go for after market sound dampening material later.
Interiors with similar layout as other S/SX models. All buttons are easy to reach and thought of carefully.
The 5" display with integrated audio, bluetooth, etc.. Touch is responsive with no lag. Sound quality/clarity is more than satisfactory for the average user like me, no distortion at high volume and bass is adequate. MP3 quality used is 320kbps.
The steering wheel with integrated audio controls, call buttons, trip buttons. Please ignore the fat steering wheel cover, had to use this as a temporary solution until a leather cover is available.
The volume, mute and call buttons.
The trip and reset button, next/previous buttons.
The hazard light button and AC control unit and . AC is effective even at lower levels.
The integrated 12V socket, USB and Aux input with storage area of phones, miscellaneous items.
The instrument console. I have observed that when the re-fuel light comes on, there will be around 5L in reserve. Once you reach ~2L in reserve, it will start blinking.
Cabin lights with sunglass holder.
Power window buttons, central lock button and button to disable rear power windows.
Buttons to adjust the OVRM.
Headlight level adjustment button.
Ample boot space, even the space below the tray can be used for storing misc stuff.
Driving Experience
Please note, this is my first experience driving a diesel vehicle, not even drove a test vehicle before. Hence observations may not be technically correct.
Mostly have been driving around in the city with a weekend trip to Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya. ODO is at around 650 kms with 350 kms in city and bumper to bumper traffic, and 300 kms of hilly roads, open roads, bad roads and no roads. 5th gear utilisation around 3% and 6th gear has not been used till now. Still have around 3 bars left in the fuel indicator, mileage gurus can analyse the fuel economy.
Mileage Update:
The fuel light came on at about 700 kms after first tankful. This was about 50% city driving and 50% hills/ghat driving.
What I like - Engine is refined. NVH is good as reported, though at higher speeds a little tyre noise is noticed. Tyres provided are Goodyear Assurance.
- Steering is good and I felt it weighs nicely when speed picks up.
- Clutch is neither soft nor hard, and good for city as well as highway.
- Minimal turbo lag, pulls effortlessly after 1000-1200 rpm, but below 800-900 rpm have to downshift.
- Acceleration is quick and feels comfortable overtaking on 3rd and 4th gear from 1200-1500 rpm onwards. You do get pushed back a little when accelerating quickly and enough power is available on tap. You do have to slow down at corners, though that depends on how you like to drive. As I said, I am a pretty sedate driver and prefer driving moderately.
- Audio quality of inbuilt 5" Unit is very good. With the bass pumped up you get clear and good bass, though not heart thumping bass, but more than enough to enjoy your music. I use 320kbps MP3 on a 16GB Sony Pendrive, no issues of stuttering or skipping. More than satisfied with audio quality.
- Good space on the rear. 3 adults and 1 kid were comfortable on a short trip.
- Ride quality is decent and good. Have driven through bad roads and gravel roads, car does not bounce and rock like a boat, maintains its composure and minimal impact is felt inside the cabin. Though you do feel the bumps when moving slowly over potholes.
- You do get the premium feel when seated inside the cabin, though that may differ on your expectations. All buttons are easily located with good ergonomics.
- Horn is loud and clear, love the sound, though would have preferred the horn pad to be a little soft.
What I dislike - I think the 1.6 is more refined from my test drive experience. There is a slight diesel clatter which is felt inside the cabin in the 1.4 and the car shudders slightly when switching off.
- Engine strains after you cross 3500 rpm.
- Egress is slightly difficult for me as I like to drive with the seat pulled up and close to the steering as possible. Maybe I would have to change my seating position gradually.
- Lumbar support maybe a concern. I have driven around in my Wagon R to the same place, but never felt any strain on the back. But after driving the Creta, the back felt a little uncomfortable. Maybe I will get used to it gradually, but a little lumbar support will be necessary. Have ordered a Amron Car Backrest (Size small), but found that to be too big for comfort. But it was primarily for my wife and she loves it.
- Center console armrest should have been adjustable. First day, drove around in bumper to bumper traffic with my arm resting on the armrest and changing gears, came back home with pain in the left arm.
- Rear visibility is poor and rear camera/parking sensor is a must.
- Headlights are okay on normal conditions, but very poor visibility during rains. I was using the 90/100W on my Wagon R with relay, hence found the 60/55W to be inadequate.
- Stock steering wheel is slippery and will need a cover for firm grip.
- No sound when car is locked/unlocked.
- Non-illuminated door switches are a pain in the dark.
Overall satisfied with the performance of the vehicle and happy with the decision. Though car feels overpriced and it would have been nice if you got all the features you wanted for a 11.5L car, but there is no perfect car and as said before, this was the car with the least compromise. Maybe in current scenario, if Duster would have been launched at this point and there was no Creta, we would have gone for the Duster.
For people upgrading from smaller hatchbacks or sedans, the 1.4 will be more than adequate with enough power to thrill you. People upgrading from Swifts, Polos and other 1.3/1.5L Engines will love the 1.6L version.
Modifications / Accessories
The 1.4 S does not come with alloys. A good samaritan team-bhp forum member who was upgrading his stock alloys offered to ship the alloys from Mumbai to Guwahati. A big thanks to @Abhi99 who took the pain of packing the shipping the alloys here, so now my Creta is upgraded to the stock OEM alloys!
Rear View Camera
Ordered an auto-dimming IRVM with display and rear camera from Aliexpress which arrived in about 15 days. Installation was done at the dealers place, though at first they were reluctant to install a 3rd party device, but it was done smoothly.
Floor Mats
Wanted to wait for the 3D mats, but after reading reviews and thinking about practical usage, decided to go for the Noodle mats. The noodle mats easily absorbs the dust, dirt and water as everything settles down inside the mats. The noodle mats will prevent dust from flying around also appear less dirty. Got noodle mats installed at an accessory shop for Rs.2100 + 900 for dicky mat.
Bulbs
Ordered and received the Philips X-treme Vision
+130% H4 from powerbulbs.com, yet to install.
Will be posting pics of accessories soon.