I have been contemplating getting a second car since last few weeks for my wife and after some discussions with her, she was adamant on SwiftD and had also made up her mind on the color she wanted.
She is a newbie driver and drove my Viva a few times on open roads/grounds and felt that diesel engine does not stop in stop and go traffic and Swift's radical looks were the only 2 reasons for her deciding on a SwiftD.
However, since her drive to work would be approximately 10-12kms both ways i talked her out of a diesel vehicle and finally we shortlisted
i10/Spark/A-Star.
I didnt recommend Spark as it was too small as i am a big guy and i may use the car sometimes so wanted it to be comfortable for us both. Also, the interiors of Spark very cramped but the engine was nice and peppy. Also, i didnt like the instrument cluster in the middle. IMO, it felt quite cheap ( almost like a Nano)
A-Star was only discussed, pictures reviewed and read in detail some reviews of A-Star test drives and i was completely against its looks. It looked to me like a re-hash of a few maruti vehicles. From the side angle, the rear window line is so high, i could almost feel it will be claustrophobic for people sitting in the backseat. So, it didn't take too much effort or debate before we chuck "A-star" out of the window.
Finally, it just took my wife a short test drive of an i10 for an instant decision, she fell in love with the car and felt it perfectly suits her personality.
She set her mind on the Sportz variant but, i felt it wasn't value for the additional money except for the rear headrests which is a good feature.
So, we decided to go for the Magna version and she was clear that she wanted no other color except white. As we have a Red Viva CRDi, obviously the choice of colors within i10 was less and i also thought white looked hot. I am already visualizing them with hot black alloys
After a lot of discussion on this subject here on tbhp, We decided to pick up a car which is Aug'08 manafactured model as surprisingly it seems that White i10 is not much in demand and there are currently 207 vehicles available in their chennai factory which are of the same period. So, after a thorough check and noticing that the odometer is displaying "only 28kms" when i took the delivery i negotiated with them for an extended year of warranty. So it was a genuine reason for this issue.
So the following items have been given free as part of my deal. Hope this information will help fellow tbhp'ians who have an i10 on their buy list :-
Dealer : Lakshmi Hyundai, Hyderabad
Car : Hyundai i10
Variant : 1.2 Kappa ( Manual) Magna
Color : White
Manafactured Month : Aug'08
Stock Tyres: Bridgestone
Delivery Date: November 27, 2008
Freebies List
1) 1st Year Free Insurance
2) Autocop Remote Locking
3) Pioneer HU and 4 Sony Speakers
4) Teflon Coating
5) Fabric Seating Upholstery ( Beautiful looking, they are ! )
6) Mud Flaps & Floor Mats
7) Fog Lamps ( It is available only in top end model-ASTA)
8) Art/Foam Leather Steering Cover
9) 2 Litres Petrol Coupon
10) Poppy Perfume Bottle
11) Ganesh Idol
12) 1 Year Extended Warranty
13) Anti-Rust
Does anyone think, i missed squeezing out more freebies from the dealer?
My entire experience of dealing and negotiating with them has been out of this world. People were falling all over themselves to provide service and it felt great to be treated that way. This happens to be my 3rd New Hyundai car and each time the service levels have been exemplary and i am proud to say that i am a loyal Hyundai fan.
I love the buying experience from them, their cars and most importantly their A.S.S is super-duper.
When i told Shalini ( Sales Exec) that i want the car ready at 6:00pm, she did something more than that. She calls me at 5:30pm and tells me its ready. So when we reach the showroom at 6:45pm it was nice, shiny and ready to be driven home.
Quickly complete the paper work and then they hand over the keys and a box of sweets from 'Almond House" to my wife and mom and after the mandatory pictures are taken and saying adieu to them, i started the car and slowly drove home where our family pujari was waiting to conduct pooja.
Pooja was completed in about 30 minutes and after that we had to attend a party so we drove to the venue and back and the distance of which was about 15kms and here are some very pre-liminary observations that i made about this car :-
Power : 80BHP for such a small car, nice, really nice. My cousin who test drove that at the party venue was zapped, he was like,
its just taking off !! I can surely sympathize with him since he drives a Zen.
Interiors : There has been a lot said about the interiors and mine feedback won't be any different. It's simply wow and gives you a feeling of a much up-market car.
Steering: Felt well weighted and was a delight to turn. Need to see how it responds on high speeds
Gears: The gearing ratios aren't that great is my initial impression. At slow speeds it is struggling to take off but as soon as the 2K RPM is crossed, its a different animal, not like the Zipplus i had before. It rockets forward and is a pleasure to see such power coming out of this small package. Slotting the gears like all hyundai cars are a pleasure and is absolutely "
Makkan" Ride: This was slightly disappointing as the pot hole bumps were coming through. Maybe the pressure ain't right but, it was not as smooth as i thought it to be. But, not that bad it will be noticed by others. We tbhpian's are a bit more finnicy arent we?
Space: Lots and Lots of space and for me ( 6.1ft), i was pleasantly suprised and the seating position felt so differnt from my Viva, like i was sitting on a mountain and staring down at the ants..hehehe. Jokes apart, it felt nice to sit in the driving seat. Still have to try out the features like tilt steering and i dont even know where the heck is the button to switch on the fog lamps.
Handling: This is something that i cannot comment precisly as my drive was quite passive last night and did try a couple of fast corners and i didnt flinch ( which is a good sign). Will update more as we drive more
Build-quality: Top-Class, even if you dont try the classic-open & shut door routine, looking at the body itself gives a clear indication of the built quality. Very good, no rattles and a lovely nice thump when you close.
I noticed a peculiar thing last night. When i open the front door, the cabin light comes on.But,when the rear door is opened, it does not. What's the point of such pointless feature fails to go through my brain!
FE Hopes:
When we filled the tank last night, it took in 33.65Litres of Petrol which means the showroom guys keep the car near to empty. Grrr!
And, it was a shock to see the total amount paid for petrol we filled. Need to get used to petrol now since i was in the diesel comfort zone till now. Hoping it gives us atleast 12-13kmpl in city and 15+ on highway drives. That's all we ask
Thanks for reading up! And, here are a few pictures and sorry for the quality as took them in a bloody hurry.
Will keep updating this thread as time passes with more pictures and updates of our journey of using our
WHITE ANGEL