[Jakku]

This is the review of a long drive I undertook from 18th Dec till 31st Dec 2018. I started from Bangalore to Kerala for the year end vacation and in Kerala, went to multiple temples along with my parents.

Drive to Kerala on 18th Dec was a solo one. Plan was to start from Yelahanka at 5:00AM or max 5:30AM. On 17th, I had to stay back at office till 12:30AM and finally could hit bed only by 1:30AM, would have slept somewhere at 2:00AM. I had my alarm set at 4:30AM which means the plan was moved to start by 5:30AM or max by 6:00AM. I woke up properly, had bath and came down to car, but it was too cold and there was fog kind. My plan was to reach Salem by 9:00/ 9:30AM and sleep for an hour and then start from there again. However, I didn't want to take a chance and went back to sleep and started by 7:30AM only. Tanked up at Yelahanka HP Petrol pump and topped up air in all wheels. On the way, went to the Ayyappa Temple at Vasant Nagar (near Cantonment station) and started from there by around 8:15AM. Set up the navigation (google maps) to take me to Palakkad, but after a while realised that I am been guided via Mysore/ Guntelpet/ Nilamboor/ Perinthalmanna which I didn't want to take. My bad, I didn't check it while setting. Realised it while I was asked to take a right turn at Lalbaugh Road. I took left and got onto the dairy circle road. It was jam-packed and I reached the E-City toll gate (the one after elevated way) at 10:30. Stopped immediately after that and had breakfast. Then started from there and reached Salem by 1:30PM; delay of 4.5 hours. Had lunch from Saravana Bhavan there just before the toll booth. Had a quick nap till 3:00 and started from there exactly at 3:00. I had a conference call scheduled at 4:30 PM and my aim was to cross L&T bypass before that, luckily it was cancelled and I was free; no more needed to look at watch and drive; I hate that. Reached Palakkad by 6:00 PM at my wife's place and called off for the day. This was with a delay of 4.5 hours. Total of 444.4 KM (what a number) from my gate till her home.

19th went to my home at Thrissur. From then till 30th, it was all roaming around within Thrissur dist. to different temples, to my ancestral home, to my wife's ancestral home. 30th Dec was festival at the temple adjacent to my home at Thrissur (we call it vela - Sankarankulangara Vela - which means vela at Sankarankulangara Temple). 30th, unfortunately there was a death in my Sister's husband's family and had to go to Kalady (Ernakulam dist.) and came back - else this day, I was supposed to be completely at the temple. I meet my school/ childhood friends during this festival time and it is a kind of re-bonding/ re-counting/ gossipping our good old days. This was sorely missed during this year.

31st Dec morning started from Thrissur to Bangalore by around 7:00AM. After reaching Palakkad (my wife's home), we had breakfast and then a lot of re-packing. Her mother was also joining us and father came by train (he can't sit in car for this long). My daughter was not keeping well, so had to go doctor and needed to seek advice if we can continue or not. All these delayed our start and finally started by 2:00PM. We were carrying lunch and by around 2:30 somewhere at Walayar had my lunch. Then continued till Coimbatore and somewhere tanked up and then carried on. Was feeling sleepy as for few previous nights I was deprived of good sleep. Pulled aside at a restaurant, while I slept in the car, my family ahd lunch. Started from there and next pit stop was just after Salem for a coffee. I had my daughters with me and this was the first long trip for my 6 month old daughter. She started feeling irritated and was giving troubles to us. Near to Krishnagiri, pulled aside and while I slept for another 30 mins my family made my daughter comfortable, had tea/ coffee and changed her dress and cleaned her. It was too cold out there and after a coffee I was feeling totally fresh. Started from there and reached E-City toll gate by 9:00/ 9:05PM. Unfortunately, the fly-over was closed by police and we had to go via the road beneath and it was chok-a-block. It took me an hour and 30 mins to reach Silk Board. From there, crossing the next 2 signals were like another nightmare. Finally at 11:45PM, just before New Year, we reached our home at Yelahanka. Totally 2hrs 45mins from E-City to Yelahanka.

I did a mistake, I should have taken the NICE road to Nelamangala and should have come through the Nelamangala -> Jalahalli Cross -> Yelahanka which I guess would have been easier. It is not the tiredness due to driving, but the kids were feeling tired and my MIL was too tired. Had it been a manual transmission car, I would have cursed the delays. Auto is really a boon and Nexon never ever, not even for a moment disappointed me.

While on the way to Kerala, I drove in ECO mode, return was in CITY mode. Whenever I had stopped for a break and was inside the car, the engine was running and that could have reduced the mileage to a great extent. As usual on highways as well, I got good mileage in CITY mode (this is reported in 3rd service and I will come up with a separate post on that).

Statistics of this first long trip with my Nexon
Total distance covered round trip - 1748.4KM
Total fuel consumed - 113.27 L
Total fuel expense - Rs.7514
Overall mileage - 15.44 KMPL
Expense per KM - Rs.4.3
Toll expense - Rs.1265 (Rs.620 to Kerala, Rs.70 in Kerala, Rs.575 back to Bangalore)
Total Expense - Rs.8779/-
Expense Per KM - Rs.5.02

Bangalore to Kerala was totally in ECO mode and the mileage could not be calculated accurately as after the trip, I didn't do a full tank re-fuel, but did for Rs.1500/-. Approximation is like this.
After the full tank refuel at Bangalore at start of journery, DTE was 656
After travelling 444KM and reaching Palakkad, the DTE read as 321KM and ODO was reading as 23.4KMPL. Approximation is I got around 18KM.
Return trip was totally in CITY mode and the mileage was fairer, I guess. From Coimbatore to Bangalore the distance covered was 421 KM (including the office trip on 1st Jan) and the petrol consumed was 27.2L at 15.48KMPL. However, one have to note that around 1.5hours of idling during multiple breaks. Hence I guess return trip mileage was fairer than onward trip's mileage.

About the road
From Bangalore till covering Hosur, it is equivalent to a city and then till Krishnagiri, it is like a 6 lane road within city with higher speed limits. From Krishnagiri onwards, the road frees up a bit, but then it reduces to 4 lane and then the lite ghat section starts till Thoppur. Then the Thoppur ghat section comes up (even though you are climbing down) where you will have to be extra cautious about the lorries and some really carzy car drivers. To my surprise, this time even during the day the lorry traffic was heavy.
From Thoppur onwards, you will start getting more than normal two wheeler traffic and then Salem city traffic starts. There are 3 flyovers at Salem opened for traffic which really cuts down the time to cross the city. From Salem till the Saravana Bhavan on the highway, the roads still have two-wheeler traffic and Salem city traffic.
From Salem onwards the highway is 4 lane, but the traffic was moderate and can cover up a lot of lost time. I reached the starting of L&T bypass at Coimbatore in 1hr 45 mins flat. After about 100 KM (not sure how long), the 6 lane road comes up till Coimbatore and it is a really good road. I was at the max speed in this stretch of roughly 60KM - I touched 130KMPH in this stretch and maintained almost 120KMPH. Road is too good. I wish the roads were like this throughout. The toll paid is worth the money.
The L&T by-pass which by-passes the Coimbatore city till Chavadi is a 2 lane road and the traffic is heavy and have to be really careful. To add, even if you take a full toll ticket, you have to stop and each and every toll gate (6 in total) and show the toll. They take it from you, scan it and hands it back to you. This creates a pile up at each and every toll plaza in that route. The road is uneven & bumpy and with the traffic, you barely gets into 5th gear in auto mode in an AMT.
Post Chavadi, till Palakkad the road is too good. The only irritant is the frequent signals at the crossings. A new thing I noticed this time is the number of speed cameras in this road till Chandra Nagar at Palakkad. Due to this, the speed is really moderate and the traffic is comparatively disciplined. From Chandra Nagar till my wife's home at Olavakkod, it is city traffic and I took around 30 mins to cover this distance.

Performance of the car on highway
Now, let me share my experience of the car on the highway. I have to warn everyone that I am not a machine guy and I just know to drive. So, whatever performance I speak is solely subjective to my experience and knowledge. Please ignore if it is not matching with your's.

When in Nexon on a highway, one have to be very careful about the speed as you won't realise the car gaining speed. I was averaging around 100 KMPH and whenever I noticed I am beyond, I bring it down. Even in ECO mode, I didn't have to work out to gain speed. For overtaking, you release the accelerator or in case need of a quick overtake floor the pedal; this will downshift and then give accelerator input and keep increasing the RPM quickly. This will ensure the AMT will not up-shift at 1800RPM but will hold on till 2000 - 2100 RPM. So, I don't see any case to be concerned that this is an AMT and what to do for a quick overtaking maneuver. While I was on the L&T by-pass road which is a 2 lane road, I could come down to 3rd gear and I was in 100s to overtake a slow moving trailer.

You will hear a lot of tire & engine noise inside the cabin, however, the rest of the noise is properly insulated. Not sure, how this selective filtering is achieved. Vibration is nil other than while you switch off & on the engine. The gear lever is also steady and it is does not vibrate at all. When AMT upshifts the gear, we realise the action; however, when downshifting, this is not evident. Road undulations are not transferred inside, it is well taken up by the shocks.

AC is too good and chills the cabin quickly.
ICE is great, really enjoyed it during this trip.
Mileage is also great. In Accent, when I go to Kerala, the maximum I have got is 575KM in full tank. With a similar capacity tank in Nexon, I got around 620KM.
Travelling comfortness (the most important criteria for me), is wonderful. My daugther & MIL don't like road travels, even their complaint was minimal compared to my earlier travels in Accent. The issue is limited to overall visibility (have a claustrophobic effect).
Driving comfortness is beyond explanation for me. I am just loving it.

[Jakku]

It has been almost an year that I have updated this thread with my experiences, I apologies to fellow BHPians for the lax. I had lot of un-precedented incidents coming one by one as a wave; had good, bad, best things in those.


Now, let me come back to my experiences with my Nexon.

In the meantime, I have completed many milestones, like completing 10000 KMs on ODO; completing one year post purchase; 3rd service etc. etc., but the thing that has remained constant is my love for Nexon. Actually, it has grown by leap and bounds. Every time I get into the car, gives me a big smile in my face and a feeling of gratitude.


I still feel the decision to change my car from Accent to Nexon was a financial blunder but a really great idea from a car's perspective. It was a purely head v/s heart decision and a momentarily one. After more than an year of selling Accent and buying Nexon, I am not sure if I am loving my Accent more than Nexon or vice-versa, but still Accent is live in my mind.

Below are some statistics for the last 10+ months of ownership.

Distances covered and days taken for every 1000KM
25KM -> 999KM -- 32 days (on 32nd day after purchase)
1000KM -> 1999KM -- 55 days (on 86th day after purchase)
2000KM -> 2999KM -- 32 days (on 117th day after purchase)
3000KM -> 3999KM -- 42 days (on 158th day after purchase)
4000KM -> 4999KM -- 11 days (on 168th day after purchase)
5000KM -> 5999KM -- 13 days (on 180th day after purchase)
6000KM -> 6999KM -- 48 days (on 227th day after purchase)
7000KM -> 7999KM -- 25 days (on 251st day after purchase)
8000KM -> 8999KM -- 14 days (on 264th day after purchase)
9000KM -> 9999KM -- 39 days (on 302nd day after purchase)
10000KM -> 10999KM -- 18 days (on 319th day after purchase)
11000KM -> 11999KM -- 12 days (on 330thday after purchase)
12000KM -> 12999KM -- 16 days (on 345th day after purchase)
13000KM -> 13999KM -- 31 days (on 375th day after purchase)
14000KM -> 14999KM -- 50 days (on 424th day after purchase)
15000KM -> 15999KM -- 27 days (on 450th day after purchase)
16000KM -> 16999KM -- 23 days (on 479th day after purchase)


Max days taken to cover 1000KM - 55 days for 1000 -> 2000KM
Min days taken to cover 1000KM - 11 days for 4000 -> 4999KM
1st 10000 KM covered in 302 days after purchase


Tank Fill Details
Below snap is from the excel sheet I maintain.



Overall Mileage Statistics
Mileage of my Nexon (Diesel)




Had I bought a Nexon Petrol, this would have been my fuel expense and the "perceived profit" of a Diesel (only from fuel expense) is mentioned here. The mileage I have considered is 450KM in a full tank.



Getting late now, it is 2:30AM; I will update my long drive experiences and the 3rd service experiences tomorrow.

[Jakku]

In the last post in January, I explained about my long drive to Kerala, post that, I have had 3 more long drives - 1) to Kerala in April, 2) to Kerala in July, 3) to Kukke Subramanya Temple in July and 4) to Kerala in Oct/ Nov.

In these 3 drives to Kerala, I have observed one specific phenomenon - while going to Kerala, I will get a better mileage than while on return. While analysing further on the route, what I have observed is - while going to Kerala, it is more of climbing “down” from Bangalore till Salem and while returning, it is climbing “up”. This results in a significant reduction of mileage. Secondly, I mostly leave home early in the morning and cross Electronics City toll before the traffic picks-up significantly. However, during return leg, whenever I leave Kerala (other than a full night journey), I will be reaching EC during heavy traffic and this adds to the reduction in mileage.

While on to Kerala, I have tried different modes and I have seen the ECO mode does not significantly increases the mileage. What I have done is till the car goes into 5th gear, be in CITY mode and then move to ECO mode for cruising. I have tried SPORTS mode as well, but in highway it is a waste and difficult to contain speed. And mind you, NEXON will never let you know that it has picked up quite a good speed, you will never be knowing unless you look into the speedo. So, safety wise, it is better to be in ECO/ CITY mode in highways. At the same time, being in ECO mode in lower gears and if you try to catch up the speed, the average will be impacted and it is better to be in CITY mode and then go to ECO for cruising.

I have done numerous road trips to Kerala, hence that route does not enthrals me. So, the trip to Kukke Subramnya temple was a different ball game. More over, post Hassan, it is never going to be a “long” trip/ typical highway anymore. The roads were non-existent at many places and at others, road work was going on. It is a 2-lane highway and so, it is entertaining to “drive” and then the scenic beauty of the drive adds to the fun factor. In contrast, the route to Kerala is proper highway through out, so, it is cruising, rather than driving and it is mostly mundane for me.

Post Sakleshpur, we enter the ghat section and from there, the roads are fantastic concrete ones. But, WOW!!! That beauty, it is superb. I am not sure how long we can get to see such thick vegetation (given the pace of deforestation across the globe); so, it is better to have a drive down that lane as soon as possible. Somewhere in between (I guess the place is known as Kutta, not sure) we have to take a left for Subramanya temple. From there, till the temple, the road is narrow, but it was in really good condition and the forest is even more thicker.

Coming to the road behaviour of Nexon, I am not going to elaborate on the trip to Kerala as it is a typical 4/ 6 lane highway. However, the one to Kukke temple, I enjoyed to the core. From Yelahanka, till Nelamangala, it was the usual Bangalore traffic. From there till Hassan, it is beautiful 4 lane roads with some stretches of 2 lane (without median) ones in between. This route has a lot of lorry traffic, but still the roads are narrow. From Hassan the roads were non-existent to under rework to good ones to excellent ones till Kukke Subramanya.

Nexon was not at all under stress and could take me all the way till Subramanya and back with ease. It was just me and my father-in-law travelling and he have a big time issue in travelling by road for long distances. However, after the travel, he was totally fine and there was not even an iota of fatigue. Given the fact that the previous day (Friday) was totally hectic due to a Pooja (in connection with my house-warming), which started early in the morning at 4AM which continued till 10:30PM and then going to bed, speaks volumes of the comfort level. This was the reason why my parents, wife & her mother refused to travel along even if that was the initial plan (and due to commitments, I could not have postponed this travel). And the days preceding to that Friday was full of work & local running arounds in preparation for the Pooja & house-warming. Total distance covered for this trip was 550+ and the mileage I got was around 17KMPL per FT to FT and mileage as per ODO was 21kmpl.

Prior to my travel to Subramanya, I had given the car for the 3rd service at Classic Motors, Yeshwantpur, Bangalore. This is the second time I am giving to them and I would like to speak for a min about the service. It is a professionally run one with a human touch. The SA was empathetic in understanding my problems and was eager to resolve them than giving excuses. The issues I reported were - 1) steering getting locked while doing reverse 2) door window glass wobbling and making sound when half opened. Steering locking issue is resolved, but the glass wobbling is not resolved completely (it has come down). The reason why I was happy even if it is not resolved is, he upfront told me while giving the car to me that it is not fully resolved and asked me to leave it there. However, since I needed the car, I insisted on taking it back. These guys also let you stay with the car while the service is in progress and can witness whatever is going on, for which I add a point for them.

These guys only have service centre and no showroom, not sure if this is good or bad, but I feel they should be doing good in service dept. as they do not get a customer naturally. What I mean to say is, a showroom selling a car will automatically have a higher chance of that customer coming to them for service as well. Whereas Classic can only get a customer only by doing good service and via word of mouth publicity as they are not selling any cars. To add, I befriended Mr. Vikas who leads the SC and is with them since they have started their operations. He is a very thorough gentleman and have no qualms in admitting a mistake as one. If someone plans to go there, ensure you book an appointment and go (esp. during weekends) to avoid being held up in the queue.

After the 3rd service, the mileage has gone up a little by around 1KMPL as per FT to FT calculation method.

Issues I have faced with Nexon
Though I have not faced much issues with my car, there are some niggles faced, which are captured below. Nexon’s electronics is somewhat similar to windows machines, after a reboot, both the machines will come back properly if the issue is small!!!.

• Once or twice, the infotainment system’s display was constantly displaying the feed from camera, even if the car was not in reverse gear. On both the occasions, after switching off the car & starting after sometime, resolved the issue.
• Once, the inside lamp was switched ON even after I closed the door (driver side), this never went off even after multiple power off, shutdown etc. etc. I got pissed off and decided to go to office ignoring the “always lit” cabin lamp. During my lunch break, I went to the parking and it was still ON. When I started to home at night as well, the lamp was glowing. After I reached home and locking the car, I observed for a couple of mins to check if it was fading away; no, nothing was happening. Next day morning as well, it was glowing. However, after I entered the car and started the ignition, the lap faded away as normal and since then till date, it has behaved normally.
• One day I was using PEPS key, while coming back from office at mid-night, when I tried to start the car, it refused to do so. After multiple attempts and then leaving it alone for a few mins, the issue was resolved.
• The driver seat is going to the low level and to back position after a couple of days. My normal driving position is - full up in horizontal level and somewhere at 75% back in front-back movement. In a week I can see the seat has come to low level (not lowest, but around 80% - 85% down & a bit more backwards than from the level I had set. This is yet to be reported and I am still observing this.

I have a plan to upgrade my fog laps to hid ones. I have seen a bi-level (hi & low) HID coming for fog from some “blaze” brand. I have not decided, but again, analysing the same.

I have one upcoming trip to Kerala and another one to Mangalore. Second one is going to be fun as it is a longer trip covered over a couple of days. From Bangalore --> Subramanya; next day from there to Dharmatsthala --> Udupi --> Mangalore; next day from there to Kollur (Mookambika Temple); next day or the second day from there to Bangalore. This one is not completely finalised, it is under planning stage. I will keep you all updated with upcoming trips and I assure, I will add photos as well. Also, I vouch to keep this thread lively from now on.

[Jakku]

I tested the issue with my PEPS key (mentioned in my above post) again yesterday & today, it is still an issue.

Symptom

• I have my PEPS wearable key in my hand and try opening the door. It opens in first or second attempt, however, there is a lag between the key press and the door opening/ locking.
• I enter the car and press the START/ STOP button, but nothing happens and the KEY MISSING sign shows up in the MID.

After multiple attempts, it may respond, but there is definitely some issue. Can you experts help me what it could be? I am unable to make it to Classic this weekend, if possible, I will go, but not sure about.

One more issue I have noticed - when the front passenger door is opened, the cabin light is not glowing and the indicator is not showing it as opened. Any clue on what this could be?

[gururajrv]

Originally Posted by Jakku

I tested the issue with my PEPS key (mentioned in my above post) again yesterday & today, it is still an issue.

Symptom

• I have my PEPS wearable key in my hand and try opening the door. It opens in first or second attempt, however, there is a lag between the key press and the door opening/ locking.
• I enter the car and press the START/ STOP button, but nothing happens and the KEY MISSING sign shows up in the MID.

After multiple attempts, it may respond, but there is definitely some issue. Can you experts help me what it could be? I am unable to make it to Classic this weekend, if possible, I will go, but not sure about.

One more issue I have noticed - when the front passenger door is opened, the cabin light is not glowing and the indicator is not showing it as opened. Any clue on what this could be?

Have you tried changing the battery of your PEPS wearable? If you’re sure it hasn’t made any contact with water or any sort of liquid which could mess up the electrical inside, then it could be with the battery. Try checking that once and see if it’ll sort it out. Logic around this PEPS key should be as any other key fob.

[Jakku]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Have you tried changing the battery of your PEPS wearable? ....

Hello Guruaj, I guess, the PEPS wearable is a passive instrument and is not having any electronics in it. Are you sure it is having a battery?

[sriks]

Originally Posted by Jakku

Hello Guruaj, I guess, the PEPS wearable is a passive instrument and is not having any electronics in it. Are you sure it is having a battery?

Hi Jakku,

I just got a new Nexon XZA+ and i remember that there was a manual given how to change the battery of the PEPS key.

If you want i will try to upload it here once i reach home.

I don't use the PEPS key though. Prefer the FOB

[Jakku]

Originally Posted by sriks

Hi Jakku,

I just got a new Nexon XZA+ and i remember that there was a manual given how to change the battery of the PEPS key.

Even I prefer FOB, but certain days I take out the PEPS. I don't remember about a battery for PEPS, let me re-refer to the manual.