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Old 2nd July 2020, 13:36   #1
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My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Hello all.
This is going to be a really long review about how I migrated from a 17 year old Hyundai Santro Xing and brought home a brand new Hyundai Venue SX-optional 1.5 CRDI BS6.
As i mentioned, it is going to be a really long post, so i request to be patient while reading. The car had been booked in month of February but because of Corona and the subsequent lock down meant that the car could be delivered only in the end of May.

The Venue being prepped for the delivery on D-Day

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img_20200529_111543__01.jpg

Before I start the review, i would like to mention that this is my first upgrade from a small car to a bigger one. So, while comparing Venue with its competitors, I will desist from saying anything wrong about its rivals. Cars and everything connected to them, is a matter of personal choice and one car may not be up-to liking of others. I shall be mentioning its rivals only in section meant for vehicle selection.

Before I begin, i would like to enlist the positives & negatives which I have observed in the short duration of two months.

Positives.

1. A gem of an engine. The 1.5 CRDi engine is shared among the Hyundai family as well as Kia cousins. The engine is super silent and smooth. One of my cousin had a short ride and he could not even accept that it's a diesel. The previous 1.4 diesel engine which lower variants of Creta shared in the past, was a smooth operator with high fuel efficiency. This new 1.5L unit takes it to another high level .In fact, the 1.5 CRDi is even more refines and silent in comparison to the other two engines offered. Adequately powered at 100ps and almost 230 Nm torque will be more than sufficient for most of users.
2. As is the norm with Hyundai vehicles in other class of vehicles as well, the interiors are extremely top notch. The quality of materials used is satisfactory.
3. The top variant is loaded to the gills with all sort of features including connected car tech, safety equipment list, proper sized tires, gorgeous alloys. You mention the feature, most likely Venue SX-O has it.
4. Blue-Link. You will find Blue link both in positives as well as negatives. This is because, it has its own pros and cons which I have tried to mention in review.
5. Loads of storage space. Hyundai knows very well how we Indians love to keep our stuff. A bottle holder for every door, storage space above glove box, under the arm rest for driver. Just behind the gear lever, is a small cubby hole in which the smart key can be placed.
6. The boot space is more than adequate for a family of four or five.


Negatives.

1. Cost cuttings at several places. A smaller sized spare tire, non illuminated window switches, manual day night rear view mirror.
2. Blue Link. The service was good in the initial months. However as new launches like Creta & Verna got it, the servers are not able to match the load. All the three, Venue, Creta and Verna to some extent are among high demand vehicles. As number of cars with Blue Link is increasing, the servers are going down day by day. The monthly Vehicle Health Report which is updated by first or second, has not been given for month of June as of today on 17\07\2020.
3. As is the norm, high demand vehicles command a high waiting period. I am not aware of waiting period in cities, but residing in hills and living in a Tier three or four town means waiting of minimum 1 or two months.
4. The curse of sub four meter cars means the front and rear bumpers are literally non existent. Any dash from front or rear will damage the bonnet or the rear hatch for sure.
5. The black cladding running around the car, especially around the running boards is prone to damage either while negotiating tight parking spaces or by accidental stepping by children.

Prologue.

My previous daily drive was a Hyundai Santro Xing bought way back in 2003. For these seventeen years, the Xing had been a dependable work horse. In these seventeen years, the Xing did not had a single mechanical breakdown. It was maintained like a baby. Infact, it was not even washed by anyone else in its complete lifetime except me and the service center people at the time of its yearly service.
However, its a saying that what has a start, has an end as well. Despite all efforts the Xing has started to show off its old age. It had become very difficult to keep up with traffic on opens roads.Having a 63Bhp engine meant, only cars like Alto 800 and Kwid 800 among others were having lesser output than Xing.
During its last service, the service advisor had warned that the clutch was about to pack off and wont last more than a year or so depending upon my driving patterns. I took his advice with a pinch of salt but the reality was something different. Deep within, I knew that clutch was really on its last legs.
To make the matters worse, the recent guidelines of Government that the registration renewals will not be allowed for cars older than 15 years. The decision was not yet decided by Government of Himachal Pradesh. But with government regulations, you can never take a chance. No registration renewals meant death bells for the car. Finally discussed with the family as it was decided to sell the Xing to my collegue who had been after me from atleast three years.
Finally after serving our family with an undeterred devotion and reliability, the Xing was finally sent to its new home some 50 odd kilometers from my home. The day it went, almost every single member of family was literally in tears.


This particular picture suits aptly for the Xing and it's tagline, "The Sunshine Car"
My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-fb_img_1593677675446.jpg


Selection of the New Car.

After driving a small hatch for almost seventeen years, the itch to go bigger was present not only in my mind, but in entire family's mind. The car was to be driven entirely by me only as the only other driver in family, my dad left driving almost three years back due slowing reflexes. The car was to be driven for 90% of its life in single lane narrow roads in the high hills of Himachal Pradesh. Driving a sedan or a burly SUV on these roads is hectic because of lack of space even to give pass to oncoming vehicles. So getting a Honda City class sedan or Mahindra XUV500 class SUV was out of question. Also, the urge to have a bigger car with safety equipment was the first thing on mind. The premium hatch segment was also ruled out due to lesser ground clearance which causes lot of problems on the non existent roads in high hills. The only segment which was looking ideal was the compact SUV segment which was ruled by MS Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, Honda WRV and Ford Ecosport ( in no particular order). So the segment was finalized as cSUV from which my new set of wheels was to come.

I belong to the doctor's community and currently posted at a small village around 35 kilometers away from my home. Daily to & fro movement means a daily commute of 70 kilometers. Also, the drive consists of almost entire single lane road of hills where shifting to fourth gear is also a big thing. Most of the drive was going to consist of third gear or at the maximum fourth one. With a confirmed daily run of 70 km meant that monthly run was definitely above one thousand plus. With such a high running, getting a petrol cSUV was also out of question. So, I was to get a Diesel Compact SUV.

I am enlisting all the cars which were looked and reasons for their removal from the list of probables. All these are my personal observations with no grudge or anything personal with their respective owners.

1. Maruti Suzuki Brezza.
The Brezza was at the topmost spot when i started looking for a new cSUV. Brezza is adequately sized and decently equipped along with the Maruti Suzuki brand name. However, it was also the first one to be removed to be removed due to lack of a Diesel variant. Driving a petrol Brezza with 1.5 liter engine in hills would have meant a fuel economy of 10 or 12 to the maximum. Brezza disqualified.

2. Honda WRV.
The WRV is also a nice looking car with sufficient gizmos and safety equipment and Honda brand name. God only knows the strange ways at Honda, the BS-6 WRV was delayed for unknown reasons by Honda as it was launched in July. I had been looking for new car in month of February and March and even the dealer did not had any idea about launch of BS-6 variants. I had spoken to dealer of Honda at Mandi as well as Chandigarh. it was same reply from both, it is coming but don't know when. WRV disqualified.

3. Ford Ecosport.
The lone warrior from Ford is a nice well built car but was vetoed by Dad on the very first moment as he had read news that Ford might leave India and leave all vehicles at the mercy of Mahindra. In his words, buying good car is not single decision. You have to look for future as well. What will happen if Ford left and Mahindra is unable to provide spares at later date. Ecosport Vetoed.

4. Mahindra XUV300.
I had lot of expectations from the home grown car from Mahindra. In the month of February, Corona had gripped China and lockdown had been enforced. Here also, the dealer did not made any commitments regarding availability of BS-6 Diesel variant since some components were being imported from China. At the same time, extremely light ( almost white) interiors were also going to be problematic.There are lot of times where driving with windows closed is not possible and with white interiors, it was always going to be a disaster. XUV-300 removed.

5. Tata Nexon.
The five star NCAP rating was high on my mind when I had visited Tata dealer. Within 10 minutes, the dealer had lost the deal owing to almost nil excitement, typical 'sarkari babu" attitude and what not. In my opinion, if Tata could change the attitude of it dealers, its sales would at least increase by minimum 10-15%. A customer who is paying more than ten big lakhs does deserves some courtesy. A dealership with staff which doesn't even come rises to receive potential customer, no sales advisor comes in 15 minutes, deserves to be kicked out of business. Customer may be king for others, but definitely not at a Tata dealer.

6. Hyundai Venue.
Now to the last and major threat for Brezza's crown. Venue in fact seemed to be ticking all my boxes. Fully loaded top end variant with 6 airbags and host of electronic gadgetry like Electronic Stability Program, traction control , Hill Assist, Connected car tech, almost bursting with other creature comforts were enough to tilt the balance in favor of Venue. Plus being an extremely satisfied Hyundai customer since 17 years without even a single hitch, meant Hyundai always had an undue advantage over the rest of others.

Variant Selection.
There were no second thoughts on this. This was to be the top most variant, The SX-optional variant with maximum number of airbags and other safety equipment.
So, Hyundai Venue SX-Optional, in its BS-6 Diesel avatar was finalized.

Last edited by Aditya : 25th July 2020 at 22:00. Reason: Typos
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Old 20th July 2020, 10:57   #2
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re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Dealer selection

I live in a small town called Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, which comes enroute to Manali. It's situated some 100 kilometres before Manali. I can't even say it's a Tier-3 city. Infact I can simply call it as a small district headquarter town.
Living in small towns has its own perils when it comes to car buying. There is a single dealership usually at district level and it's has its small and rural outlets in rural areas. You simply can't visit multiple dealers hoping to find a good deal. Whatever the sole dealer offers, you have to accept it with minor ups and downs. Same was the case here as well. There is a single Hyundai dealership in entire district, M/S Devbhoomi Hyundai at Mandi.They are literally the big ones for Hyundai in Himachal Pradesh as they have major showrooms in four major districts along with multiple rural outlets. The Mandi showroom, for a small recall is the same Dealership whose CCTV footage had gone viral some time back when a newbie female driver drove a display Hyundai I20 car staight out breaking the display glass and in turn damaging more cars parked outside.
Having a single dealership in district with corona threat imminent, it would had been a foolish decision to look elsewhere. Buying a car from a place where you don't reside has its own perils like for HSRP fixation have to again visit a dealer away from home.
Anyways, this is the same Dealership from whom I was getting my previous car serviced since a long time. The dealership is situated on the main highway to Manali. It's a quite big showroom when I consider the small town. A big bright showroom with cars on display at touching distance. The service centre is in the basement of same building so there is no hassle as well. There are usually cases where sales and service wings are located at different places leading to problems sometimes. Nothing here.
An extremely supportive staff with always a smile on face. It's something which is entirely opposite from what I had experienced at the Tata showroom. And as for the service wing, I had literally blind faith on them as they were the ones who had kept my 17 year old Xing running without a single hitch or extra charges after my original dealership had downed the shutters. In my opinion, its the service wing which decides whether the customer will retain the brand for his next car or not. Keep a customer happy at service, he wont even look elsewhere when he changes his set of wheels.

The showroom, M/S Devbhoomi Hyundai, Mandi

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img20200718wa0006.jpg

The interiors
My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img20200718wa0005.jpg

The cars on Display

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img20200718wa0007.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img20200718wa0008.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img20200718wa0009.jpg


Car booking

Finally, the car and it's variant decided, dealer decided. It was time to visit the showroom. One fine Sunday, I along with better half, mother visited the showroom some time in the first week of February. It was a Sunday and frankly speaking being a holiday, I was not expecting much. The moment we entered the showroom, we were greeted and welcomed at reception by a lady with a wide smile. Getting straight to the point and not wasting any time, I told I am there to have a look at Venue. Almost immediately, the Sales Advisor was called for and within no time he was present with us. The lady at reception introduced him as Mr Vishal and told he will take over from there onwards.

Vishal took us to the display car parked alongside and explained almost everything about the car. Unfortunately, no test drives was available as I was looking for a 1.5 BS-6 version which had not even been launched at that time. He told straightforward that they were accepting bookings for the desired version but it will take a minimum of one month as car was yet to launched. He gave a full quotation of the car along with a brochure of Venue.

The first quotation

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img_20200220_202617__01__01.jpg

The insurance quote seemed to be quite high. Without asking, Vishal himself told that I was free to get the insurance on my own, if I wanted.

Anyhow, I bid him farewell and told I'll get back to him soon regarding the booking. So far, so good .


Color selection & Booking

There was a lot of confusion regarding the color to be finalized. I was told at dealership that there nothing like different price for metallic color or non metallic color. Only the dual tone variants had price difference of around ten thousand bucks or so. Initially i was looking for Star dust variant but when i saw it in real life, it looked a sort of depressing shade. I finalized the Deep forest shade and finally on the 19\02\2020, I booked the Venue in 1.5 BS-6 Deep Forest shade after paying 21000/- via card swipe.

The final Deal.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img_20200220_202622__01__01.jpg

I had opted for getting Insurance done from outside on my own as dealer had quoted almost 65k while my insurance agent had told that after all essential and optional riders, it should not cost more than 42k. A straight saving of almost 21k.
To make the deal sweeter, Vishal added couple of items like sun visors, divinity, car perfume, and most important complimentary 4th & 5th year extended warranty with RSA. Since I was getting two year warranty and RSA for free, I too did not pressed for removal of handling charges.
On the booking day, again I was reminded that car will take a month as official launch was expected anytime but being a hot selling model it will be having a waiting period.
But again in a day or two, while browsing the web, i came to know that the Deep Forest shade has a green dashboard instead of a Black one. TBHP came to my rescue and thanks a lot to a fellow BHPian ChiragM, who gave the clear pictures of the dashboard or else i would have regretted it later on. I then finalized the Denim Blue shade for my color. On visiting the showroom, the shade was almost immediately changed to Denim Blue while me sipping coffee at Vishal's table.

A word of cation.
I don't know if its dealer specific or its a Hyundai policy to accept bookings. I came to know from Vishal that, they keep accepting orders throughout the week and on Monday morning the orders are send to the company. I had paid my booking amount on 19th which was Wednesday. It simply meant that for five days at least, the order was not received by company. In my opinion, anyone who wishes to buy a Hyundai car, should book the car online. If you book online via web or via Hyundai Care app, the company directly receives the order directly from the customer. It doesn't matters much as after the payment you will be given an acknowledgement letter and after that you will be visiting the dealer only for further processing. It helps to save couple of days for those who are too eager to get their cars.


ENTER THE DRAGON ( CORONA & LOCK-DOWN)

The car had been booked on 19th February and the tentative date of delivery was given as some time around 28th or 30 March. I was happily waiting for ride to come and passing time reading the official preview and review again and again. I had literally been drooling when will I ride this beauty to my home.
Meanwhile, somewhere up in the sky, Gods had some other plans.The corona and the associated threat was looming large on the horizon. The first case of corona in India had been reported in January end and frankly speaking neither me nor anyone else would have hoped that something called Lock down was to enter out lives. Almost every week i used to pay a cursory visit or give a ring to Vishal enquiring about the status of car. The car had not been allotted as on 20th March. I had been told by dealer that it takes somewhere around 8-9 days for the car car to reach Mandi from Chennai. It was already 20th and not having any allocation yet meant that the timeline of delivery around 28th march would be able to be met.
Then came the dreaded speech from the Prime Minister on 23\03\2020 that w.e.f. the very next day, the entire country was to be placed in lock-down. With all factories shut, no movement of trailers indicated only one thing, that waiting period was going to be lot lot more than one month. And being a health professional meant even worse. With no personal car, No public transport my sole mode of transportation was shifted to my nine year old Karizma ZMR. Daily driving 70 kms in hills, meant I would be dead tired by the time I reached home. Things were going so bad that even my six year old daughter told one day sheepishly that I have no time for her and i came home only for sleeping. The hostile environment and constant threat & stress of getting Corona positive, had started taking a toll on my family life as well. This was the most hurting sensation I ever felt. Getting an accommodation was simply out of question. The village being interior and small, the accommodations were already scarce. And, whatever health professionals were living as tenants were asked by landlords to vacate fearing that the health workers will bring corona to their homes. Strange are the ways in this country. The same people were beating vessels one fine day to support and encourage the Corona warriors.

Me and a colleague on way to hospital on two wheels.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-herohondakarizmazmrreviewbymanishsharmabikeadvice35__01.jpg

Meanwhile, at least of four occasions, i got drenched to bone while returning home on bike. At one instance I even caught fever and had be bedridden for two days. Since health staff were required to report for duty except under extreme emergency, I had no option but to get a loaner car from Father in law.
Finally came the end of April when the lock down was finally given relaxations and factories started opening albeit on a smaller scale. The Hyundai factory also became functional on May fifth if I remember correct. Slowly the showrooms were also given permission to start functioning. One fine day I rang up visited showroom to inquire about my car as I literally needed a car at all costs at the earliest. In frustration, i even shot a mail to Hyundai but things did not appear to moving. That day, Vishal was unavailable as the showroom had apparently made rotation shifts so as to keep the staff to a bare minimum. But I was told that all previous booking had been cancelled and they have to be redone again. I did not had any option but to request them to expedite delivery but somewhere I also knew, things were not in there hands as well.
Finally, on a yet another rainy afternoon, on 16\05\2020 , as i waited at hospital waiting for my shift to get over, I got the call whichj seemed to be God send. It was Vishal and finally he gave the good news that after almost three months of my booking, the chassis number or the VIN had been allocated and the car will be dispatched from the factory sometime around 20/05/2020 This was the best call I had ever reciedved in past four months. Finally I was to have a car again. I thanked him and requested to send the VIN via message which was promptly given. I also requested that please inform me whenever the car is roughly three or four days to arrive at showroom. It was requested so that i could begin bank formalities. It was useless to get loan sanctioned and release payment in advance as the sanction letter expires if vehicle is not bought in seven days.


Loan process and sanction

On 24/05/2020, Vishal called and told that the trailor has reached outskirts of Delhi and the car should arrive in two or three day. He said that usually after Delhi its takes only two days for trailor to arrive but due to corona restrictions, it may take more time than usual. Meanwhile he also requested for payment so that car could be delivered as soon as possible. He too was aware of my situation very well but in the current scenario, he too could not do anything.

As for loan process, having a high CIBIL score of 800+ meant loan sanction should not be problematic. On checking NetBanking, I had offers from SBI which had my salary account, as well as pre-approved offers from ICICI and HDFC. However, SBI was my first choice.

Loan clearance process

1. SBI
My salary account is with SBI and being a government backed entity, It was my obvious choice. I visited bank and after proper sanitisation, I was allowed into the branch. The person handling the case almost immediately handed a list of 5 documents which were required which included Adhar,Pan, Salary statment, Past three month statement of my account, and ITR from past three years. The rate offered was 8.9% which could be brought down to 8.4% if I applied via SBI YONO app. Took the document list and headed to ICICI.

2. ICICI
I had a pre-approved offer from ICICI and the rate offered was 8.6% which appeared quite decent. Being a pre-approved offer meant minimum documents and the only thing which stuck me was they needed a blank stamp paper signed at the bottom. Upon asking why was this blank paper required, they told bank will use it if I don't repay the loan. Also, they were quite pushy with the loan insurance costing 21k. Rest everything was ok but handing over a bank blank signed stamp paper seemed somewhat out of place and also seemed to be digging own financial grave. Took a leave from there also.

3 HDFC
The final destination was HDFC. I have been a preferred customer at HDFC and upon inquiry, they simply took my customer ID and checked it online. He told that I was having a pre-approved loan offer at 8.1% called HDFC ZipDrive. This was the lowest among all. Then I asked about documents. I was told only a stamp paper worth Rs 200 on which bank will make a deed regarding car loan. For the rest I was told, for a pre-approved offer nothing else is needed as bank already had almost everything which they need. I handed over the stamp papers to bank. They kept the stamp paper with them and almost immediately brought out a printed deed from his drawer. Nice work to cut short the time period. I was told that most likely the payment will be released to dealer within two or three hours, flat. He asked me to login to NetBanking and step by step he guided me with the entire loan process. Great.
I then myself asked about loan insurance. I was told that it was completely optional and after few clicks he told that it will cost somewhere around 6000 plus taxes. I was literally shocked as only few minutes back, the similar policy was being shoved towards me at 21k.
I opted for the insurance almost immediately the messages started coming regarding loan sanction and policy details.
I thanked him and headed home. And before I reached home, I had message from bank regarding release of payment to dealer. And within half an hour, I got call from Vishal that they have received the bank amount. And also requested me to complete the balance payment as soon as possible. He also told that there had been some mistake and the insurance will not be costing 64k but 43k at the dealership. This matched the quote which my insurance provider has given. So I told him that I'll be getting insurance at the dealership itself. He too happily accepted. By the 27/05/2020, I had completed the payment via NetBanking and then began the wait for trailer.

Finally the arrival

On 28th evening at 6pm, I was on my way back home in the loaner car from my father in law as it had been raining since two days. When I was about to cross the dealership, I saw a trailer standing right outside the showroom. I literally jumped on the seat. Immediately I pulled over the car and immediately called Vishal. He too picked up the call almost immediately and he himself told that he is about to get my car unloaded from the trailer that very moment. I told him that I was nearby only and asked if I could join. He happily agreed. I jumped out of the car and joined him. Vishal said that usually they unloaded cars in morning but since the driver of trailor was adamant to drop cars and return immediately, they had no option but to unload cars in heavy rain. All cars had been unloaded and only one was left. It's was mine. The sweetest moment after a long wait. My car was loaded in uppermost deck and was the last one to be unloaded. The dealership staff unload tha car and I could only click few pictures and immediately the car was taken to the underground basement where service station and yard of dealer existed.
Vishal asked when should he arrange for delivery. I told him jokingly, you won't give it to me now otherwise I would have taken it home right now. I asked for a delivery the very next day. He accepted and asked if I had any specific time request for delivery. I told I didn't had any issues and I could take anytime. I asked for delivery time of 11am. But also requested not to start paper work till I see and check the car myself. He agreed and accepted almost everything. The weather was getting worse and it was also turning dark. I took his leave and left for home. Meanwhile I also returned the loaner car at my in-laws home.
I was also requested to keep family members away from delivery at showroom and bring two or three members at the most for delivery due to corona guidelines at that time.

The first glimpse and arrival of Blue moon
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Last edited by MSC : 21st July 2020 at 14:03.
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Old 21st July 2020, 14:29   #3
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re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

The D-Day

Being truthful, I was unable to sleep the previous night. I had been eagerly waiting for this day since three months and now I was as eager as a small child who is due to receive his latest toy.
Finally as agreed, only me and dad were to go the delivery. I had asked a cousin to drop us at the showroom as the public transport and taxis were yet to hit the road. We arrived at the showroom at 11am sharp. On reaching showroom, I called Vishal who too was waiting for my car's delivery as well. It's seemed to be a Venue day at the dealer as three other Venues were scheduled for delivery that very day.
We were taken to the yard where the car had been kept overnight. They had got the car washed and polished and were only waiting for clearance from my side to start paperwork. I had not taken the print out of PDI list from TBHP. Actually, I didn't needed it because, in previous three months, I had read that list so much times repeatedly that I had remembered almost every single step in mind. PDI was over and finally I gave the go-ahead for paperwork.
They had kept almost every single thing ready. The entire paperwork was over by 12:30pm and we were taken to the new car delivery bay. The shiny Denim Blue 1.5 CRDI, BS-6 SX-optional stood right in front of me to be taken home. It was a moment which I had been waiting since a long time.
Finally, the keys and all documents were handed over in a short simple ceremony. Because of the corona scare, almost everything was kept low key. The dummy key handover was not done as this key would have been used again and again by multiple people which might cause complications in the current scenario. I agree, that sanitsing the key is possible but why take chances. If spread of infection can be contained by a small step, there's no harm in accepting it.

An ever smiling, always helpful, always patient listener, handing over the keys to yours truly.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-screenshot_20200721142025.jpg

Few words about S.A.

I have been driving from 17-18 years and as such, I am usually taken by other family members for the delivery for their cars. I have taken delivery of atleast 5-6 cars from other manufacturers as well while accompanying the relatives. But for me, Vishal had been most helpful and accomodating. Always smiling, never fretting on repeat calls or messages or queries. He was even quite helpful when the car went for its 1500 km first service/ checkup. Very helpful and accomodating. There were times when I used to loose my cool due to prolonged delay in delivery. But never for an occasion he lost his cool. Always calm and we'll composed.
If you are reading this, God bless you buddy. Keep up the good work and you'll always succeeed in you all ventures. Thanks once again.

P.S.
The masks & face covers were used throughout the process of delivery and whatever time was spent at dealership. They had only been slightly lowered for the customary photo shoot.

Some more pictures on the delivery day

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-screenshot_20200721142537__01.jpg

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My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-screenshot_20200721142630__01.jpg


Total price breakage.

1. Ex-showroom - Rs 11,39,800.
2. RTO plus HSRP - Rs 33,264.
3. Choice number - Rs 5,000.
4. Insurance - Rs 44,785 for one year own damage plus three year third party along with zero depreciation, key protection, Consumable protection and Loss of personal belongings riders.
5. TCS @1% - Rs 11,398.
6. Handling- Rs 4,720.
7. Fastag from HDFC - Rs 500.
8. Essential car kit- Rs 7000. The basic car kit was worth 4000 and had car cover basic mats etc. I upgraded the mats to better quality autoform noodle grass mats and also included non illuminated scuff plates.

Total damage - Rs 12,45,467.

Accessories opted at dealer - Nothing except upgraded car mats and scuff plates.
Freebies - Door visors, Car perfume, 4 & 5 year extended warranty and RSA, 5 litre diesel coupon.
Discount- Absolutely nil.



First drive to home.

It was the first time I was driving a big car. When I sat in it for first time, I was surprised that in my old Santro, my head never touched the roof but in Venue, my head was rubbing against the roof. Then came to my mind that it has seat height adjustment. Then lowered the seat to my comfort level and then was the perfect sitting position. The steering was set to highest level and was fully comfortable for me.
The first thing which stuck my mind was the extremely light or rather super light clutch. I had heard that diesel cars have heavy clutch but it was proved wrong in the first very step. Then the next thing observed was en extremely light steering. It seemed to be even lighter than my old Santro. Literally with two fingers I could complete one turn if the steering.
When we were about to leave the showroom, I had seen delivery mishaps on TBHP as well as other social media where cars were banged at the showroom exit by new owners. Cautiously I manuvered the car out from the delivery area and on to the main road. Then bid Vishal farewell and left for home.
The reverse gear placed on the opposite led to small traffic jam at a tight spot. There was little space on road for two cars to pass. Taking extra caution, I started backing up the car. My body and mind was driving the Venue but the driving mind had been wired to the reverse gear opposite to the fifth one. I kept slotting the sixth gear and it kept stalling again and again. Then it came to mind that I am doing it wrong. Then lifted the button and slotted the reverse gear at correct place. It then backed off as it should have been originally.
After a short ride to temple, the car was covered with the car cover of the essential kit and called it the day. The next day was going to be a big day when I was to take the car all alone on the roads where it would be spending more than 90% of its life. Not wanting to take any chances, and be extra cautious, I left two and half hours ahead instead if the usual one and half hour which I usually take.
I could immediately feel connected to the car. The steering and clutch were superlight for the hills. Coming from a petrol car and driving a diesel car meant it was useless pushing a gear too long. At the same time just to break-in the new engine, I was extra cautious while driving on hills. The usual idle speed is 850-900 rpm. There is a short band from 900-1100 rpm where the car does seems to having a sluggish response to the throttle input. Once past this 1100 rpm mark, the car and the engine come into its own. The rapid acceleration required while passing in narrow single lane roads doesn't needs much preparation. The third gear has got sufficient juice for my drive. It can pull easily from 25-30 kmph with a burst of acceleration. The turbo push which comes around 1100 rpm can take you by surprise in heavy bumper to bumper traffic. It's needed to be cautious when car starts giving this push. If you are not used to this, you might end up banging the person ahead of you. This push is most experienced in the third,fourth and fifth ratios. It's present in others as well but it's well controlled. During a highway ride car feels safely well planted on roads and stable. No uneven bounces or undulations. Till now the car has been driven almost 1500 kms and is due for its first checkup in couple of days. I had called the service centre for booking a service slot, they only told that I can drive for 200-400 kms more without any trouble. Still the service slot has been booked and the car will be going for its first checkup service soon. Further details shall be added by as and when they are ready.

Approximate fuel efficiency

I had gone for a diesel car only because of my high running per month and higher fuel efficiency when compared to petrol. The overall price difference between the top end petrol and diesel cars was roughly 46k. With my high daily run and better fuel economy I should be able to break even in two or three years at the maximum.

Fuel efficiency as per MID- The MID has a mind of its own and it would be really idiotic to trust it. It sometimes reaches beyond 26-28kmpl at other times it refused to even touch 15 kmpl. One thing I have noted that the fuel efficiency of MID sees a big jump after you refuel. Once you refuel, the mileage is always above 20-24kmpl. As you drive the car and fuel level goes down, the efficiency on MID also starts reducing and finally settles around 18-19kmpl.

As per tank full method - Using the tank to tank method, the efficiency is varying between 14-18kmpl. This is more than sufficient on the types of roads I drive on, and constant long uphill drives the car takes. It has been driven on a National Highway only once or twice and there it has surprised with a fuel efficiency of almost 20kmpl with full load of 4 adults, one child and luggage in boot with the climate control always on.

These narrow single lanes are my Venue's home.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-front-incline.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-full-rear.jpg


The driver's view from the cockpit


My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-driver-view.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-dash.jpg

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Old 22nd July 2020, 12:14   #4
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re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Exteriors

The car does seems smaller in company of bigger cars and it's competition. But it does have a nice good looking stance

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-full2.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-rear-half.jpg


The curse of sub four meter segment. The front and rear bumpers are literally non existent. Even a small hit from either end will surely damage the body work.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-front-4m.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-rear-4m.jpg.

The rear.

The rear of the car is dominated by the big Hyundai logo and Venue badging. Even the top end SX-OPTIONAL has the SX badge at the left hand side corner. The only way to differentiate between SX and SX-OPTIONAL is the presence or the absence of the rear viper .There is no Hyundai badging at the rear except logo.
The rear has got only two parking sensors to that too mounted in middle. For the corners, you have to rely on the big rear view mirrors and the camera.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-rear-bumper.jpg.

The tail lights give a brilliant effect when lit. However the entire tail light cluster looks tiny and Venue should have got the split tail lamps just like the Elite i20 has.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tails.jpg

Front.

The front portion is completely dominated by the big size dark chrome grill and yet another over sized Hyundai logo.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-grill.jpg

The tow hook cover is not a separate and detachable piece. It's tied to the bumper by a small plastic attachment.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tow-cover__01.jpg

The other main attraction of the front end is the almost square headlamp unit which has a projector halogen lamp and a cornering lamp. The entire unit has a white DRL running in periphery. The DRL are super bright and help a lot to increase the visibility of car in foggy and rainy weather which is quite common in hills. The DRLs are illuminated only when engine is running and the parking brake is released. They do not illuminate with the parking brake applied.
Having a big size grill and headlamp unit meant that the tiny fog lamps are pushed way down in the bumper. They look small but the illumination they give in fog is something which has to be experienced. The road shoulders are easily visible in the fog when they are lit.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-lights.jpg

The small area below the bonnet and where the washer nozzles are hidden, is a sort of dustbin. All sort of rubbish like dry leaves, dust etc get collected in this space and is a pain to keep clean. Also, if you use climate control always, you need this space neat and clean as anything which covers the vents will lead to reduced efficiency of the climate control.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-viper-cowl.jpg


Interiors

The first thing which the driver notices on entering the cabin is the nice perfect sized and leather wrapped steering wheel. The leather stitching with white thread looks good. The steering has the usual control of user settings in MID, cruise control, and the controls for the AVN unit. The user settings can not be accessed when the vehicle is in motion. You need to park the vehicle with hand brake applied. Then only you can access the user settings.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-steering.jpg

Towards the right side of driver, are the controls for switching traction control on or off, instrument cluster brightness level adjustment and the headlamp levellers. The engine start switch does not gets any silver or metallic surround on it. All the buttons glow white when the lights are switched on.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-start-switch.jpg

The instrument console of the SX-OPTIONAL has two separate dials for speed and tachometer with a MID in between the two. The speedometer has a tiny fuel gauge at the bottom while the tachometer has the temperature gauge. Sweet.
The top and bottom area of the instrument cluster is lined by a plethora of tell tale lights which come on when the vehicle is started. One by one all of them go off if everything is alright with the car.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-instrument-cosole.jpg

The armrests are covered with leather sticked in white thread which looks quite good. There is a small cubby hole on the door pads which can be used to store small articles but since it's base does not has soft covering, anything which is kept in it will keep rattling.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-driver-leather.jpg

The driver side door has the usual control for all the four power windows, rear window disabling switch, the outer rear view mirror adjustment knobs. Only the driver's window has one touch up and down facility.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-master-control.jpg

The Venue diesel SX-OPTIONAL gets only the manual gearbox. No problem for me as I belong to the old school manual lovers club. New drivers have to keep in mind the irregular placement of the reverse gear. Also, the reverse gear can not be slotted until and unless you lift the small button below the gear knob.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-gear.jpg

The 8 inch touch screen HD screen has been provided which has the capability to play videos. However the video playback is nothing but a gimmick. To prevent the diversion of driver's attention, the video can not be played until you apply the handbrake. In that scenario, if you still play videos, you are either wasting fuel on idling or else draining the battery. The same display also has the capability to act as a rear view camera even when the car is in forward motion. The rear camera can be opted either via the menu or else you can customise the physical button to directly switch on the camera.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-rear-view-minitor.jpg


The AVN system has got tactile controls or the physical buttons as well as touch screen capability. The middle button with the star mark, can be customised to couple of settings. I have kept it to switch on the rear camera view. This particular features helps a lot while driving in hills. It's should also be a lot helpful in bumper to bumper traffic as well.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-avnt-control.jpg

The dashboard area in front of the passenger has a wide area which can be used to place the cellphone or other small Nick nacks. However this area is not made of anti slip material and as the result you phone will keep moving here and there on bends. The margins of this area are slightly raised which also prevents the phone from falling down.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-front-storages.jpg

The Auto climate control has probably one of the best chilling in the category. The cooling is more than enough at fan speed of 3 or 4 at the maximum. The brightness of the display of climate control is also linked to the instrument cluster dimming switch on the right side of steering and any reduction of brightness of instrument cluster also reduces the brightness of climate control. It is very helpful to reduce the glare while driving at night.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-acc.jpg

The top end SX-OPTIONAL has been provided with a air purifier which is useful to keep the cabin air healthy. However it gets switched on whenever the engine is started. It doesn't matters if the unit was on or off at the time when the engine was last switched off. It might be of great help for metros but it's useless for me. The area where I live and work is already have a nice crisp healthy air for most of the time of year. It gets a bit dusty only when tourists start flocking the hills in summers. The only grudge is that though the unit can be removed, the docking port can not be removed at all.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-purifier.jpg

The front passenger door as well as the driver's door have a tweeter and a speaker. The sound quality is pure economy grade and if you increase the bass level from the equaliser, the door pads start rattling. Hyundai has a long way to go in terms of sound output in comparison to the competition. For a casual listener, it won't matter much but it will be overkill asking for better sound quality from the speakers provided.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tweeter.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-cidriver-armrest.jpg

The cabin of Venue gets cabin lights at two places. The front seats gets push to on & off map lamps. The second cabin light is placed between the front and rear seat rows. As is the norm, both lights get the usual three point switch. Off, on and related to doors. When the lights are set to doors, the cabin lights keep glowing for almost 15-20 seconds which seems to be too much. A duration of 10-15 seconds should be enough in my opinion.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-front-cabin-light.jpg

The temperature sensor which aids in proper functioning of the climate control.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-temperature-sensor.jpg

The boot is one among the biggest in the competition. The 60-40 versatility helps a lot. The boot has no protruding points and it's easy to adjust and place the luggage in the boot. The high loading lip does gives troubles when keeping heavy loads in the boot.
The boot is covered by a big parcel tray which is attached to the rear hatch door via threads. Whenever you open the rear hatch, the parcel tray also lifts up making life a bit easier when your hands are preoccupied with shopping bags of different sizes.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-boot.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-parcel-tray.jpg

The three pedal of A-B-C are well placed and despite having a 9 shoe size, I have never caught my feet or shoes out of place.
A small observation. The dead pedal has been provided however, it's not covered by anything. You keep your left foot directly on the carpet. It leads to soiling of the carpet directly. If you are a cleanliness freak, most likely you will keep you foot on the mat away from dead pedal, rendering the dead pedal useless.
P.S.
My 17 year old, 2003 manufactured Santro Xing had a well built and solid plastic dead pedal. And here, a car costing upwards of 12L does not has a proper dead pedal.


My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-pedals.jpg

Last edited by MSC : 24th July 2020 at 10:29.
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Old 23rd July 2020, 11:34   #5
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re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Some additional accessories bought

1. The original smart key of Venue is finished in a weird chocolate brown shade. Brown might look good elsewhere but definitely not on the keys. Have got a black silicon smart key cover from Amazon. The size is almost a perfect fit and comes in set of two for Rs 350.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-key-bokeh.jpg

2. The second purchase from Amazon. It's a myTVS brand heavy duty tire inflator. It costs Rs 1950 and has got a long length of cable attached to it. Though Venue has got rear charging port in the rear AC tower, the cable length is such that even if you connect to the front port, the inflator will reach all the four tires easily. It also has a small led torch on the side which helps in inflation in dark.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tvs-pump.jpg

3. The third purchase, again from Amazon. A front car windscreen sun visor for Rs 450. I had a smaller sunshield with me from my previous car but it proved to be very small for Venue. It does its job of keeping the cabin at slightly lower temperature when compared to the outside temperature. However, don't expect wonders. It's marginal difference of two or three degrees. But it also helps to keep the leather covered steering wheel at lower temperature. Otherwise the steering gets too hot if the car has been bright sunshine for couple of hours.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-amazon-shield.jpg

4. For the fourth purchase, again Amazon. I got a Jopasu car duster combo which has a regular duster and a smaller unit which can be worn like a glove to clean the dashboard and door panels from inside.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-accessories.jpg


Features which I am loving

1. Comfortable ride in hills.
2. The rear seat passengers i.e. mother and six year old daughter love the rear seat ac vents. They used to sweat out in the previous Santro. It had AC but as the rear seat cooling left a lot to be desired.
3. At times when the AC is off and sunroof open, the rear seat passengers love the view. Nice clean blue skys and greens everywhere. It's something which has to be experienced while sitting in rear seat.
4. If you leave the small band between 900 to 1100 rpms, there is next to nil turbo lag. If unfortunately fall in this band while negotiating tight hairpin bends on inclines, most likely you have to shift down or else you have to wait for couple of seconds till the engine speed rises and then after that the car zooms off.
5. Interior quality is a huge jump for a person like me who has migrated from a 17 year old car.


Features which are absent but would have loved to have

1. The car comes with seats made of leatherette at the margins and has fabric at the center. It would have been much better had Hyundai provided it with full leatherette seats. Being equipped with 6 airbags means the seat covers will not be feasible for it. The fabric is likely gather dust and will also show its age after 5-6 years. Like Ford, Hyundai does not provides seat covers for variants with 6 airbags. The seats are going to catch a lot of dust and will need a lot of hard work to keep clean.
2. The car should have got the twin horn system like the one present in Creta. Thought the horn is quite loud, still it would have sounded better with a twin unit.
3. Backlit controls for all the power windows.
4. A proper full size 16 inch tire for top variant.
5. A customisable e-sim option for Bluelink. The present e-sim works on Vodafone-Idea network. And the working of Bluelink is completely dependent on e-sim signal. The customer should have a option to switch to network of his choice. In my hospital area, then signal is weak and hence the functionality of Bluelink is highly curtailed.


Special mention for Bluelink
The Hyundai Venue was the first car to get the much hyped feature called Bluelink. It has its own merits and demerits as well.
If you consider the merits, you can always have a watch on the cars status, it's position, the condition not doors or boot or trunk. While sitting in comfort of you home, you can find the range of car depending upon the quantity of fuel in car. You can check the odometer reading. In case of Venue, the car gives a loud warning if you try to lock the car with smart key in the vehicle. If you don't pay attention, the system will not let you lock the car with keys inside. The car be unlocked and locked sitting at a distance as long as you phone and the car both have signal.
Now coming to demerits. The biggest demerit is that quality of service of Bluelink is going down day by day. May be it's just that, earlier only Venue had it, so the servers response was top notch. However as more cars like Creta and Verna get the Bluelink, the servers are unable to bear the increased load. The problem is that car come with an e-sim from Vodafone-Idea. In hills it's signal is highly erratic. In absence of signal, the Bluelink functions won't work. The voice commands also don't work in the absence of signal.
Also, the features like remote engine start/stop, remote climate control operation do not work for manual gearbox owners. If these functions can work for Creta, I don't understand the logic why they can't work for Venue. The cost of the service is also unknown after three years. In case more features are not unlocked for manual gearbox owners, I don't see many manual owners renewing the subscription.

This is the interface wherein you can control the car remotely. Since I have a manual variant, I have ability only to lock and unlock and make horn and light indication to locate the car in a big parking lot or else for as a panic notification.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-functions-bl.jpg

This is the page in Bluelink app where you can see whether the car has been properly locked or not, status of climate control, whether car engine is running or not. If any door or the boot is not locked, you can get notification as well in the app.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-stany.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-door-open.jpg.

There is also a page which gives you an idea about the mechanical aspect where in you can set the changing period of different car essentials like engine oil, coolant etc.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-maintenance.jpg.

There is a section called My Trips in the app. In that, you can see the number of days where your car has been moved. An average run of around half a kilometre is necessary to register it as a trip. If you simply start the car, move back and forth and then shut down the engine, it won't be registered as a trip. The tiny dot below the date indicates the day where your car had moved more than half a kilometre.
This month has brought some much needed respite. I have been required to go to hospital for less number of days and had been on deputation at headquarter. That is the reason why car has moved out for only eleven days. But in those eleven days, car has logged 700 kilometres.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-trips__01.jpg

Bluelink gives you an option wherein you can setup speed alerts, valet alerts, excessive idle alerts. These are pretty useful when you handover your car to someone else or a driver.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-valet-idle-alert.jpg

The location of your car is marked by a red pointer in the app.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-car-location.jpg

This is a common site in the app these days. The servers refuse to respond. If you are trying to access during peak hours, it's most likely you effort will go futile.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-vhr.jpg


Additional features in comparison to the BS-4 version.

1. The first and the most important additional component of the BS-6 version is the addition of Diesel Particulate Filter in the exhaust system. As you drive and car burns fuel, the burnt soot is collected in the exhaust. Whenever the car is driven at highway speeds for a long time, the exhaust components burn off the soot accumulated as the temperature of exhaust increases. This is however not possible if your car is driven only for short distances in heavy traffic conditions. In that case, the DPF malfunction indicator lamp illuminates on the console and warns the driver of imminent clogging of exhaust.
The manual explicitly advises that in case if DPF warning comes on, drive the car for high speeds in excess of 60 kmph with the engine rpms between 1500-2500 rpm in second and above gears for a specific duration of 25 minutes or more.
In case the malfunction indicator does not goes off, it advised to take car to service station immediately to prevent damage to exhaust.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-dpf__01.jpg

2. The second additional component in BS-6 version is the lowline TPMS. It only gives you a warning of low tire pressure when the level goes below 30 psi. If the tire pressure is above that level, you won't even know that car has TPMS. You can not check the individual presure in tire.
There is a small hitch. In case your tire goes flat, and you use the spare tire after replacing the original tire, you need get the TPMS sensor of punctured tire deactivated and get the sensor of spare tire activated. Or else the TPMS warning will keep on showing in the instrument console. And the biggest disadvantage is that you cannot disable the sensor on your own. You have to take car to service station for that. This is the real headache. This small little feature could have been incorporated in Bluelink to make life easier. It's going to look stupid going to a service station only to get the sensor deactivated.
The manual states that the tires, tire stem and sensors are lined with some sort sealant which is likely to be damaged in situations where you need to remove tire from the rim.
First Hyundai made a mechanism where in it would be difficult for an FNG to do wheel balancing and alignment. Now they want to get tires also changed at Hyundai only. Sheer greed.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tire-stalk.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tpms1__01.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tpms2__01.jpg

3. The third additional component is the AMS or the alternator management system. To be truthful, I am not aware regarding this and infact it's the first time when I heard about this system. It is claimed to be enhancing the battery life by reducing overcharging of battery. It remains to be seen whether it will really enhance ita a gimmick only.

Last edited by MSC : 24th July 2020 at 19:07.
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Old 24th July 2020, 12:06   #6
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re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Something from here and there.

The tool kit consists of a scissor type jack, a jack handle, towing hook. The entire kit is wrapped in a soft feel bag which feels good to hold.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-tool-kit__01.jpg

The gorgeous looking 16 inch alloys look excellent. The 16 inch size of wheel looks great and gives the car an excellent stance. For the lower variants with 15 inch tires, you won't feel the difference. I had gone for the first service some days back, and my car was parked next to an S variant. When both cars are parked together, you can immediately feel the difference.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-alloy__01__01.jpg

As is the norm with majority of Hyundai cars, the spare is kept in wheel well with its outer side downwards and us held in place with a plastic lug nut. The inner cavity of the wheel becomes a nice place to park the tool kit.
The spare tire is the one among the ones which has been the target of almost every manufacturer. Now, with the latest regulations which don't make spare tire mandatory, it's most likely that most car manufacturers will label the spare tire as an optional extra. This is something similar to Maruti as till some time back, Maruti used to offer the left side rear view mirror as an optional extra on lower variants of Maruti 800 and Alto.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-spare-tire.jpg

The tiny boot light is placed towards the right side and it would have been better if the other side also had a similar arrangement. The light is tiny and the opposite corners do not receive much light if the boot is loaded.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-bot-light.jpg

Genuine Hyundai mobis non illuminated scuff plates. The front plate is longer than the one on rear.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-rear-scuff__01.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-black-panel__01.jpg

Gorgeous rear mirror with integrated turn indicators.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-orvm.jpg

The rear AC tower unit is big in size and intrudes into the space for the middle passenger. He has no option but to keep his feet on either side of the unit. This AC tower is also prone to get scratch marks by the shoes of rear seat occupants. It's also has a 12V charging port in the bottom.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-ac-tower.jpg

Alongwith the usual car manual, you also get a separate user manual for the air purifier unit, car AVN unit and the wireless charging pad as well. There is also a CD-ROM which has the digital copy of the manual for car as well as a separate manual for the AVN unit.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-cd-rom__01.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-accessories-manual.jpg

Last edited by MSC : 24th July 2020 at 12:16.
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Old 24th July 2020, 13:12   #7
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re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Couple of observations

1. This particular black plastic strip which runs along the running board is one among the weak spots. It has high chances of getting damaged either when you cut a corner short in tight parking lot or else by an accidental step by kid or adult. This is attached to the body via some clips. It won't take much weight and once the clips break, their is no option but to replace. And it costs almost two thousand rupees plus labour extra. Be very cautious when cutting corners.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-front-scuff__01__01.jpg

2. When I first saw the underside of bonnet I was literally shocked for a moment. The shade of bonnet from underside and the inner body panels and front fenders was entirely different from rest of paint. Immediately thoughts of getting a previously damaged car came to my mind. I immediately ran through the official Venue review. The bad thoughts were increased manifold. The cars in offical review had almost similar paint all across the body. Then I saw the Venue DCT review from fellow BHPian. I breathed a sigh of relief as in that car as well, the outer margins of the underside of bonnet were similar to my car.
Seems Hyundai is hell bent on saving whatever it can and from wherever it can.

Have a look on the margins of underside of bonnet.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-bonnet-underside.jpg

Also see the color difference between out fender and inner fender.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-fender__01.jpg

I am being highly critical in this because my 17 year old Santro Xing manufactured in 2003 had a uniform paint throughout.

3. The top surface of by indicator which is in contact with the bonnet, is covered with a flap of thick rubber. This flap helps in protecting the indicator from shocks when the bonnet is closed. At the same time, it also helps in damping the rattles and vibrations a bit.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-indicator-flap.jpg

4. The last but not the least, highly efficient, reliable and refined 1.5L CRDi .
p.s. apologies for the dirty engine cover.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-engine-vay.jpg



First checkup experience

The vehicle recently crossed 1500 kilometres and was due for its first service or rather checkup. I had the service done at the same service centre where I had been servicing my old Xing.
I had booked prior appointment and was at the service centre at sharp 2pm which was the time slot alloted to me.
There was a long queue of vehicles due to be serviced and having a prior appointment meant jumping straight out of the queue for the first available vacant lift.
The first checkup only encompasses a routine check of the fluids and if any specific problem with the car. I had been having a trouble free run from the past two months so I had none of the problems.
The car fluids were checked. All found to be in perfect shape and amount. Only the engine oil level was a slightly low. Around 400 ml of engine oil was topped up ( no charges). Then after a thorough vaccum and wash the car was good to go. In and out of the service within 2 hours flat.
I was charged only for the sachets of screen washers worth Rs 40.
The bill was send on whatsapp as well.
Overall a good satisfactory experience.

Only one grudge.
God only knows when will Hyundai dealerships will leave this obsession with 10/10 service feedback. This needs to be stopped. It's irritating like hell.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-img20200724wa0007__01__01.jpg


Few parting shots.

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-pose.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-full.jpg

My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review-car-boleh.jpg

In short, summing the experience till now .

1. Dealer satisfaction 4.5/5.
2. Sales Advisor satisfaction 5/5.
3. Service satisfaction level 4/5.
4. Car satisfaction level 4.5/5.
5. Engine performance and fuel efficiency 4.5/5.
6. Ride quality and comfort level 4/5.
7. Steering response 4/5.
8. Equipment list 5/5.
9. Gearbox smoothness 4/5.
10. Vehicle stability on sharp corners and heavy braking 4/5.

In short, based upon the 1630 kilometres in which the car has been with me, there has never been a moment wherein I would have regretted my purchase. I could have shifted from the top end Venue to to lower variants in Seltos or Creta which are better equipped to some extent and have got more oomph factor. But buying a lower variant would have meant skipping safety equipment like 4 extra airbags, Electronic Stability Control, Hill assist, Traction control, etc which would have meant skipping the safety in lieu of style but lesser safety.
So in my opinion, Venue has been a perfect into my requirements and has adequate devices to keep my as well as loved ones safe. And that's the first and foremost thing which we all desire.

Thank you all for a patient reading.
Thank you TBHP for guiding me to a safe and good set of wheels.

Last edited by MSC : 24th July 2020 at 19:12.
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Old 25th July 2020, 07:23   #8
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

Your car is going to our homepage today .
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Old 25th July 2020, 11:09   #9
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Congrats on the new ride.
Wow, your RTO charges were just 33k? Here in Goa, I would have to pay about 1.2 lakh!
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Old 25th July 2020, 11:09   #10
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Nice car but the place where you live is nicer

Last edited by CarNerd : 25th July 2020 at 11:11.
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Old 25th July 2020, 11:27   #11
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Thank you for writing such a wonderful review. Also, thank you for being a doctor and serving the people at such a tough time. I could feel the love and warmth you have for your cars and am glad you are enjoying your car in the hills. Drive safely brother especially during monsoon.
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Old 25th July 2020, 11:36   #12
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Congrats on the Venue! Such a well-written review, the personal aspect of it makes it even better.
Also really appreciate the work all the medical community have done and are currently doing relentlessly fighting against the virus. Can't appreciate you guys enough.
Wishing you many more happy miles with the car. The place you live really makes me envious. Beautiful to say the least.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSC View Post
There is a small hitch. In case your tire goes flat, and you use the spare tire after replacing the original tire, you need get the TPMS sensor of punctured tire deactivated and get the sensor of spare tire activated. Or else the TPMS warning will keep on showing in the instrument console. And the biggest disadvantage is that you cannot disable the sensor on your own. You have to take car to service station for that. This is the real headache. This small little feature could have been incorporated in Bluelink to make life easier. It's going to look stupid going to a service station only to get the sensor deactivated.

First Hyundai made a mechanism where in it would be difficult for an FNG to do wheel balancing and alignment. Now they want to get tires also changed at Hyundai only. Sheer greed.
Woah, this seems very predatory type approach by Hyundai. I mean it's not like the TPMS solution cannot be done without doing any of these steps. The resetting of the TPMS error message to be done only at svc seems nothing sort of foolish and counter intutive. I hope they bring out that feature in the app in recent updates. BTW the spare wheel looks like a spacesaveer, do they have the TPMS sensor attached at all ?

This makes me wonder, I am not sure if the spare wheel on my ecosport has the tpms in it either. Haven't had to use it yet. Interesting.

Cheers
Krishna
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Old 25th July 2020, 12:07   #13
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

What a sight for sore eyes. Both the car and the place you live. Superb review.

17 years with a car is awesome. Not many would live with one that long and it looks good for Hyundai as well to have retained such a customer in their fold with their current lineup of cars.


Wishing you many happy miles in your new steed, sir. Congrats!
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Old 25th July 2020, 12:37   #14
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

Lovely, detailed review and don't ever apologize for long reviews, we BHP'ians love these.

Your place though was the true highlight, stunning is not the word and I can only picture it on rainy Sundays at home with a book and a hot cup of cocoa.

Back to the car, not planning on getting any ppf coatings done?
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Old 25th July 2020, 13:16   #15
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Re: My Denim Blue Hyundai Venue 1.5L Diesel Review

That was a really great review sir. Also very grateful for all the work you and your fellow colleagues are doing in these days of the pandemic.
Quite the opposite happened to us while choosing the colour. We had booked originally the Denim Blue as it looked quite good and kept the Deep forest as a backup option. But due to to high demand, the Denim Blue had a waiting period of around 1 month extra ( this was 3 months after car launched). So went ahead with the Deep forest and when it arrived, looked quite good and even the dealership was seeing it for the first time and the dark green on the dashboard also looked unique as compared to the drab all black of the other colours.
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