[kiranravi]

This is my first ever post in Team-Bhp.
I got my new Hyundai i20 Asta (Petrol) delivered on Aug 21,2009. Odo standing at 2400 Km in 1 month, I guess I am matured to share my experience with this car now. I have some photographs too to share.

Decision
I needed a premium hatch back for daily city commuting and occasional but inevitable highways trips. Also something that brings convenience to a small family.

I decided on a petrol car, as probable travel will be less than 1000Km per month in an average.
I considered following options

-Swift ZXI,Swift DZire ZXI, i20,Punto,Used Honda City,Linea.

-Soon I could remove City and Linea from the list as I needed something new and features within a budget of 6.5.
-DZire was removed then for it 1.poor interior, 2.Cramped rear space, 3.waiting period (I was impressed by i20 by the time as well).
-Swift and i20-I felt i20's interior much better than swift ,space is more and i loved Electrically folding ORVMs kinda features(I was a fan of swift and I still believe that swift is a VFM car but I could extend my budget a bit and go for i20).Beauty of Swift's exterior design is highly subjective. Some people love it so much, Some are neutral, some hate it. I for the one love it. I did not find one who hate i20's design.
-Punto:I still doubt whether I made a wrong decision omitting Punto 1.4 Emotion Pack. I really liked the car. Fiat's *** and mileage pulled me back though.

i20-feature rich, spacious, nice to see, effortless to drive, adequate FE and largest boot in the class. I was demotivated by some auto magazines that they say i20 is underpowered and steering wheel is disconnected; I did not feel this to be reasons so serious to move away from buying it though.
So I decided on i20.
Colour: I felt i20 is nice in all its colours but fixed myself to the standard sleek silver, which is easy to maintain and has greater visibility in low light scenarios.

Buying Experience
In Chennai there are three dealers.
I went to company owned HMP(Hyundai Motor Plaza) on a Sunday and the sales person looked highly inexperienced and irritating. He was the only one present being it a Sunday. So decided not to buy from there sighting probable mishaps in ***.

KUN was so good but it was far away from where I reside
DSC was Closer and I decided with them partially and then asked KUN if they can give me any discounts. They were not able to and I decided on DSC.
None of them offered discounts-Offered only basic accessories like mud flaps, mats etc only.
At the time of booking DSC offered me sun film to my surprise-Quite good.

Loan was initially processed with SBI and it was a horrible experience in waiting opposed their initial promise of 1-week approval. 15 days over and no response! I moved to HDFC at 10.25% fixed interest rate and no processing fee.

I had to personally visit, follow up over telephone to get a date on delivery. In fact they delayed-earlier promise of 2 weeks extended to 40 days. I had to change the tone a bit and then things started to roll. Lessons I learned in this is to never give the full amount before delivery as it may lessen ones power to negotiate.

Overall it was a decent experience and I got the car on 21 August 2009.I insisted but could not proceed to Pre Registration Inspection as it required to travel to their yard located far away and me being busy. The car was delivered in good condition anyhow .

Total Cost: 632000 INR
I just installed a parking sensor (Rear View Mirror Type) for 3800 INR

Feedback:

Driving: For city use, i20 is superb. When it comes to steering, the light steering wheel helps a lot in city congestions and parking. Down shifting from third gear was seldom required even in traffic snarls. I did not feel 1.2 kappa at i20’s heart underpowered for most purposes. When I went to Kerala and was forced to drive in extreme hilly roads with the car fully loaded with 5 persons and boot full of luggage weighing around 500Kg, I felt the need for a bit more power (only when I have to stop and start in an upwardly inclined road). The car effortlessly attains 80+kmph and it continues to be well balanced up to 110. Highway overtaking too needed a bit more power when I dared to overtake Innovas and Scorpios. I did not feel the light steering wheel as a problem but found it convenient. Gear shifting is not great but of good quality. The car felt stable at most speeds. Engine is smooth but road noise enters into the cabin. Ground clearance could be more, though it is not a problem in cities but does matter in Kerala’s village roads.

Comfort: very comfortable with height adjustable seats, steering adjusted for pan and tilt, steering mounted controls refrigerated glove box, cup holders,Electrically folding ORVMs etc. Boot space is a boon-I could take my entire luggage for the vacation trip to Kerala for 10 days. Seats are supportive.

I traveled from Chennai to Thiruvanathapuram and the journey was quite pleasing.It took 11 hrs of driving to reach Chennai from Thrissur. GPS Navigation helped a lot during the trip.

Overall I am happy with i20
Let me share some of the photos here.

[AbhiJ]

Congratulations..

btw.. your car is a 1.2 L, not a 1.3L

[Gilead]

Kiran, congrats!! That's a great looking car and a fantastic all round performer. I am surprised that you had a sour experience at HMP considering that it's Hyundai owned. HMP should be setting the standards for other dealers to follow and they seem to be setting the wrong kind of standard. Wishing you loads of happy miles.

PS: You may want to ask the Mods to edit the title to 1.2.

[kiranravi]

btw.. your car is a 1.2 L, not a 1.3L

oh sad! it is a typo :(,Thanks for pointing out. I should contact moderators to get it changed to 1.2 L

[kiranravi]

HMP should be setting the standards for other dealers to follow and they seem to be setting the wrong kind of standard

I agree with you, they should have been more professional. May be mine is case of being with a wrong guy and can not generalize for the entire dealership.but I could get an idea that HMP is brittle and adamant. this guy made me to think of their After Sale Service attitude and kept me away.Also salesperson demanded a booking amount of 1 lakh rupees (which was just 10K to DSC), He was not comfortable speaking in English,attempted to demotivate me saying that i will not get a loan unless i have a ration card kinda permanent residency proof(which i knew wrong) and denied the probability of sending a quote to my email id. he in fact called me up more than any other salespersons asking when I am buying the car from them so he needed my money but did not know how to deal with a customer. I and my brother really got irritated and moved away from him.

In metros like Chennai/Bangalore they do have their customers and customers does not seems to have much bargaining power.This reflect in their infrastructure too. I went to KTC Hyundai, Calicut,Kerala and wondered that their showroom is much like an MNC unlike the less refined one in Chennai.
May be I am wrong in this part but I could see people queuing up for i20 deliver and I had to wait for hours to get mine delivered.

[niv26]

Can you share some photos of boot space and other cup holders.

thanks.

[anekho]

wow, she looks great!

I recommend debadging the rear and getting some neat alloys

Also, how do you find the factory fitted ICE? It comes with a usb connection right?

cheers

[kiranravi]

niv26, I am posting some more photos including that of the boot.
anekho,Yes I feel the same that the alloys are not pretty enough..I amy be changing them in future.
ICE is good but not the best(something good for a car of this quality and price,i mean).
Yes USB provision is there..I have a photo of it added below.
cheers
Kiran













USB Port

headlamp beam leveler

replaced the factory fitted RV Mirror with parking sensor display


Finally, a dragon fly landed on my i20's antenna

[kiranravi]

driver side controls


Forgot to mention on ABS/EBD..I loved it.breaking is so efficient. was useful in my long trips.
some photos from our vacation trip.


boot full of luggages

I did not have enough fuel and almost all the petrol bunks on the way dried out of supply..worried a lot..but at last this bunk in the suburban saved us.
humble suggestion/lesson learned: always have excess fuel in long journeys..not just the quantity to run next 100 km.

[kiranravi]

Originally Posted by kiranravi

I agree with you, they should have been more professional. May be mine is case of being with a wrong guy and can not generalize for the entire dealership.but I could get an idea that HMP is brittle and adamant. this guy made me to think of their After Sale Service attitude and kept me away.Also salesperson demanded a booking amount of 1 lakh rupees (which was just 10K to DSC), He was not comfortable speaking in English,attempted to demotivate me saying that i will not get a loan unless i have a ration card kinda permanent residency proof(which i knew wrong) and denied the probability of sending a quote to my email id. he in fact called me up more than any other salespersons asking when I am buying the car from them so he needed my money but did not know how to deal with a customer. I and my brother really got irritated and moved away from him.

In metros like Chennai/Bangalore they do have their customers and customers does not seems to have much bargaining power.This reflect in their infrastructure too. I went to KTC Hyundai, Calicut,Kerala and wondered that their showroom is much like an MNC unlike the less refined one in Chennai.
May be I am wrong in this part but I could see people queuing up for i20 deliver and I had to wait for hours to get mine delivered.

TBians, something curious happened regarding my opinion on HMP.
They did noticed this.I got a couple of calls from HMP and they apologized if I have encountered any difficulty with one of their employees. This is a good gesture that there are sensible minds within HMP and they are serious to customers. It is interesting to know that they observe these forums carefully to have this quick response,that they managed to get my mobile no from enquiry list!

my concern is different now as things evolved upto this.
I never mentioned the salespersons name on humanitarian grounds (I just though if it is not HMP, its another dealer...why should i bother to crucify someone) but HMP knows it; I hope this incident is not going to have adverse effects on his career. I never wanted to be the cause for someones misery.
I guess the guy will change his attitude as he gathers experience.

let me give a summary of the conversation as i try to recollect
-----------------------------------------------------
salesperson: do u both know [LocalLanguage].
me:i can understand but am not fluent to speak.
my bro:yes..i can

{I try to speak in localLanguage mixed with a few English words..watching my difficulty SP switched to English...casual conversation follows}

me:any discounts on this price?
SP:NO
me:ok,free accessories?
SP:NO,Only basic things{adamant}

me:if i opt for extended warranty for this addl XXXX rupees, can i avail it if i move to another city..for example bangalore? i mean is it dealer centric?

{SP shocked Shockked:}are you going to another city!!?? {SP Suspicious}
me:u know, am a professional...i may have to move to another city ; it is quite natural...not that am moving sooner.
SP:oh i see (consoled)
{Loan discussion follows..}

SP:do you have a ration card?
me:no, but i have lease agreement, or Telephone bills kinda supporting document
SP:Not of any use!
me:even I can get an HR letter stating this
SP:of no value {SP is bossy now}
me:(i could understand he knew little about this) do you have a finance personnel around?
SP:{casual expression of excuse} being a Sunday..we don't have sir.
me: ok, u know i have obtained credit cards, two wheeler loan..
SP:{interrupting}{counter argument}:how much ...
wheeler loan is just a few thousands but who is going to give out 'lakhs and lakhs' of rupees to {someone without identity??(did he mean it)}
me:{irritated- this petty soul is questioning my integrity in an obnoxious manner}: fine, u dont bother about it. I will just manage to get one.am confident.
{infact I was seeking a loan of less 40% of total cost and sbi was willing to extend it to 80+%}

{door to the deal is still open, i feel}
me: delivery time?
SP:1month [STUBBORN]

me: please send me your quote to my email id so that we will further discuss.{I moved the sheet of paper with emailID to his side of table}
SP: {BOSSY}{Pushes the sheet away in a not so gentle manner} I DONT NEED 'EMAIL ID GMAILID'...THIS IS THE PRICE {sound like "you fools get it or go to - "}

{There it ends: instant stand up}me:[calm]bye, we will consider your case.Thanks
{my brother walks to the door}
SP:{equally aggressive}BYE {angry?}
{Extends his arm for shake hand}
------------------------------------------
The above was the summary. we were irritated for an our or so further. then discarded it.we just had a discussion on their probable post sale attitude considering curren incident and concluded(humorously) that if we really need to get the real treatment of premium customers, may have to buy a Merc/BMW top variant (who knows!!) :>)

But things were good at KUN/DSC/Tata Motors...So I preferred them.
also they just demanded 10K booking amount opposed to 1 lakh by HMP salesperson.

As I stated earlier, instance of a single inexperienced(?) sales person can't be generalized to assess the attitude of dealership for HMP proved that they do care about the customer base by calling me up.And I have the responsibility now to share it in this forum.
thanks
Kiran

[Ram_NP]

Nice pictures. Enjoy the rdie.

My brother has a i20 and as you mentioned, i20 is really good City car.

Wish Hyundai had given separate control (open/close) for left and right foldable mirrors.

[Mustang29]

I could see that you have put sunfilm on the rear windscreen and Asta has defogger there. Is it recommended to put the sumfilm there as I had a 10 mins discussion with my dealer, and he was telling me about the side effects of putting the sunflim there, mainly the damages it might do to the defogger lines. Your views please.

[kiranravi]

@Ram_NP,thanks.
mirror adjustments can be done individually for left and right.there is a button to select L/R.
but folding is a single button press and both ORVMs fold/unfold simeltaneously .

[blackasta]

Nice car, and even better pictures.

I have questions similar to Mustang29 about applying sunfilm on rear windscreen having defogger lines.

And oh, I absolutely love that dragonfly pic! Keep driving ,keep shooting and keep posting!

Wishing you many happy free revving miles with your beauty - i20.

[Ramsagar]

congrats on the buy.Guess its too early to ask abt the mileage,since you have done a long trip,how much did you get it?