[MudMover]

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At the time of delivery the Sales Rep had also informed me that if I don't recieve the RC card from the RTO after one month, then I should go and collect it directly from the RTO in Bannerghatta road. Till now, I have just received an SMS on 22nd May, giving the Speed post tracking number of the RC card. That tracking number shows as 'invalid reference ' even now.

I have another Kerala trip coming up this weekend and I believe there is some leeway given for new vehicles upto a month or so. And the Road Tax receipt should be enough to show to cops when asked for the RC.

Being a dark coloured car... I'd been tempted to try out the fancy coatings - TC, CC, PPF and what have you. But ultimately I've decided that I'll stick with what my grandfather used to do with his FIAT back in the old times -- give a nice waxing and polishing once before EASTER and once before CHRISTMAS every year (the old colonel did it on his own, and sometimes with some forced child labour if readily available!). And I also plan to do car underbody wash once a month, since the weekly wash guys don't do that part.

[Abel_Philip]

Originally Posted by agh

Congratulations on your new Sonet! Informative read for someone who is looking to buy one

Btw isnt the diesel manual tuned to produce 99 bhp?

The cars which came with the FGT used to produce 99bhp eg i20 diesel, venue diesel(earlier),sonet diesel manual(earlier).But now the fgt models dont exist just like the i20 diesel. Now U2 crdi's are all vgt

[Rajat347]

You are paying a huge road tax!
Which state ?
Here in Jammu & Kashmir RT for a 1200 CC was flat 4200 Rs till 1 August 2019. Its 9 % of invoice value now.

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by Rajat347

You are paying a huge road tax!
Which state ?
Here in Jammu & Kashmir RT for a 1200 CC was flat 4200 Rs till 1 August 2019. Its 9 % of invoice value now.

I'm in Bangalore (Karnataka) Rajat.

[MudMover]

I liked the KIA app which comes with an expense tracker and also a fuel log.



Talking about Fuel Log, here's the kind of penny pinching which made the Sonet win over the Exter:

On 14th May I filled the tank for a third time in May (First time being on 6th May, on the day of taking delivery). Paid Rs.2,974 for 34.61 ltrs @ Rs.85.93 per litre of Diesel. Petrol on that day was @ Rs.99.84...which would have cost Rs.3455.46. So a savings of roughly Rs.480 over petrol. I will be filling up again on 31st May for my weekend trip to Kerala on 1st June. So in May 2024 alone I would have filled my tank 4 times, that means a savings of: 4 X 480 = Rs. 1920 !

Now, I am eagerly waiting to see what would be the mileage of the Sonet in the past two weeks of pure city driving.

[NT_GT]

Originally Posted by MudMover

I have another Kerala trip coming up this weekend and I believe there is some leeway given for new vehicles upto a month or so. And the Road Tax receipt should be enough to show to cops when asked for the RC.

Congratulations! Wishing you blissful ownership and many happy KMs!

Regarding RC, download the Vahan app and keep DL and RC in the phone. You only need registration number, chassis/engine number, mobile OTP, etc.. completely doable without the physical RC. Vahan app DL and RC are valid legal documents.
Nowadays I stopped carrying physical RC and DL. Crooked policemen got nothing to take away

[MudMover]

With a lot of news and videos of road rage incidents in Bangalore these days and considering that a lot of my drives are done alone or with family in the early mornings, my family members had been asking me for quite some time to install a dashcam in my car. Now that I have bought a new car, I was seriously exploring the various models to purchase one. Somehow was dilly dallying on this purchase, when my daughter was gifted a new iPhone for clearing her 10th. So her old iPhone 6 became available. Bought a phone holder and am now using the iPhone 6 as a temporary dashcam.



There's a good App on Apple Store called 'Smart Dash Cam app' from IPCamSoft. Seems to generate fairly good quality videos with also the option of overlaying a map on the video. Currently, to save memory I have set the video recording resolution at medium.



The only downside is that this phone has low memory and heats up very fast. But based on my experience with this temporary setup, I plan to go for a dedicated system soon. Would like to know if anyone can suggest a reliable dashcam they've been using -- Brand, price and if it came handy in any scenario.

[MudMover]

Quick Update

I returned from another Kerala trip last weekend. Current Odo is 2100kms. The measured mileage as of now seems to be 11.5 kmpl in city and 18.6kmpl on highway.

There seems to be an error in the TPMS, due to which it shows low tire pressure in one tire even though all tires have the same tire pressure.

Today I received a call from the showroom that my Sonet has been selected for recall due to some defective part. So I need to take it to the service centre next week to have the defective part replaced. I'll get them to check the TPMS as well, during that check up.

[MudMover]

Sharing the route on which I do most of my weekend trips. This route accounts for almost 12000kms out of the 16000kms that I do every year. On this route I have done close to 3 lakh kms, out of the 3.5 lakh kms that I have driven in 5 vehicles over the past 17 years. This route has multiple types of road surfaces and that's why I've been wanting a diesel-powered SUV with big wheels for quite some time now...and the Sonet ticks all the boxes except an Automatic Gearbox & Cruise Control. But thinking ahead, I think 10 years down the line my next vehicle might be a hybrid or an EV which should preferably do the whole to and fro 600km route in a single filling/charge.

https://youtu.be/4Te13qgDp6k

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by MudMover

[b]
Today I received a call from the showroom that my Sonet has been selected for recall due to some defective part. So I need to take it to the service centre next week to have the defective part replaced.

Do update on the recall and what exactly was the issue.

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Do update on the recall and what exactly was the issue.

Had left the Sonet in the Service Center yesterday. Nobody seem to have a clue why I had brought it in first place! But I guess they figured it out by yesterday afternoon and they returned the Sonet today. They seem to have done some removal and reinstallation of the Common rail. They also seem to have fixed the TPMS error, so no more low-tyre-pressure warning light.

[MudMover]

For the past one week I've been regularly getting the DPF warning message and light in the instrument panel.

What is regeneration in a diesel engine?
During the process of Regeneration, the soot is burned away with high temperature in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). Regeneration is normally performed automatically while driving but in certain driving conditions where required temperature cannot be achieved, it has to be initiated manually.

Last Saturday, when I got the DPF alert I took the Sonet to the ASC. But yesterday I did it myself by going through the steps in the Owner's Manual

To initiate Self Regeneration
Engage parking brake and shift lever at P state.

Turn on the engine.

Warm up the engine and check engine temperature gauge at the middle position.

Turn on the air conditioner and set the blower to the maximum.

Turn on the high beam.

Operate the rear defog function.

Hold the OK button on the LCD warning message page.

For some reason, in my case the regeneration process keeps getting cutoff when I use the REAR DEFOGGER button. And only when I use the FRONT DEFOGGER button does the process get activated. Once the regeneration process started, immediately the engine moved to a higher RPM automatically and stayed there till the end of the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXcSFlHTfmc

After the process, the 'Check Engine' light was glowing for some time. I drove around 5-6km and it went away. I think the problem might be that I don't drive a lot during the days I'm in city. Majority of my drives are to the kids' school and office -- very low speed and low rpm driving, and that might be causing this problem. Last week at the ASC, even the service advisor had told me "Try going for some long drives, Sir"! But you can't go on long drives just to keep the DPF light from coming on, can you?!

[steadfast]

Originally Posted by MudMover

But you can't go on long drives just to keep the DPF light from coming on, can you?!

But you have to
That’s the nature of BS6 diesels

[SafeDrive]

Originally Posted by MudMover

But you can't go on long drives just to keep the DPF light from coming on, can you?!

I've had the same problem with my Carens. We've done 28k km in a little over two years, so it's not just city driving. But I do a lot of short drives in bumper to bumper traffic. What's I've noticed is that the DPF doesn't come on that regularly if you drive a little heavy footed. What I mean by this is that, in ordinary times where I would be doing around 20 or 30 I do 40. This might only be for a few seconds but it helps.
Please note that this is done only where possible and not in a risky way. I normally wouldn't be doing this as I like smoother rides.
Cheers

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by MudMover

But you can't go on long drives just to keep the DPF light from coming on, can you?!

Now that you have a Diesel, start planning weekend drives.
Or else you will burn fuel in the parking lot.

The other option for manual is also to drive once a while at a higher RPM, may be one gear lower than what you would usually drive for half hour.