4th December 2009, 21:11
| #1 |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pune
Posts: 52
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| My Magnum Opus: First Car: Berry Red i20 Magna Mods: I created a similar thread but it did not appear anywhere hence reposting it.In case of duplicate pls delete/merge the posts. Folks, Count me in i20 club, I’m the latest addition with a purchase of Berry Red i20 Magna Petrol. Firstly let me thank T-BHP team to the core. The reviews,comments,comparisons by different team members helped a lot in my proud purchase. To start with ,the decision to buy a car: Well it was there since last 2-3 months, was looking out for a hatch which would mostly be driven by me & wifey.Whether petrol or diesel ,my monthly running was going to be around 1000 Km with occasional drives to my home town Indore, hence decided to go with petrol. Choice of the cars: I'm a total rookie when it comes to car knowledge & driving skills.Ride,handling,steering,braking,clutch all these sounded alien to me hence I would not be able to gauge these in my TDs.Before purchase I had a total driving experience of ~75 Kms with the driving school on a diesel & petrol Swift.Hence my initial short listing was purely based on the reviews from friends/family circle. With a overall budget of 5L Cars considered: 1. Swift Petrol (No TD) 2. Indica Vista Petrol 3. Swift Diesel (No TD) 4. Fiat Grande Punto (No TD) 5. i10 (No TD) 6. i20 Magna 7.Honda Jazz : Went out of the window as I felt 8L is too much price to pay for a hatch. From the very first day of my car hunt I was pretty much inclined towards Swift, not that I had driven it but because of its sheer number on roads (6 cars out of 10 are Swifts).Since so many people driving it hence I thought this is the best product available in hatch market. Moreover it is backed by Maruti's stellar *** Better half also liked the sporty looks hence Swift carved out a niche in our hearts before we were about to take a full fledged plunge. Test Drives: Indica Vista Petrol: With little confidence I took a test drive (just 2 Km that too on a straight road) of Indica Vista Petrol. Nice car, since haven’t driven any other car so could not benchmark it. At the same day asked for a TD of Punto at Pandit auto, the sales person over there did not showed much interest said that no TD car is available currently. Hence just had a look at the grey model available at showroom. It looked very beautiful from exteriors. Sat in it to have a feel of interiors,sapce etc.The plastic quality didn’t impressed much, was equable to Vista. Overall nice feeling though. Could not comment on ride, handling and braking part for obvious reasons stated above Swift Petrol: Had a very homely feeling when I took the TD.Nice peppy engine, good ride & I was sure to make a booking for it. i10 : Had driven one of friends i10 for 4-5 Kms,dint liked much felt a bit compact for my likings (purely my view).Also by that time we were almost decided with Swift VXI hence did not take it seriously. i20: Just another day out of sheer curiosity we went to Sanjay Hyundai to check i20.First glance & our jaws dropped. The car looked smashing in Sparkle Blue color (Asta Model) ,plush interiors, very contemporary design easily one of the best looking hatch. Checked the on road price, was over our budget that too with no discounts. Took a TD at Kundan Hyundai for 3 Km,the sales person says "Saar itna he kya" I said ya thats fine with me !!! Dint wanted to 'expose' myself. Hehehehe Came home & High Command read Wifey issues a "Fatwa" its going to be i20 .I sincerely obliged as it was also to my likings which was also backed with equable A** provided by Maruti.Decided to go with Magna version (although it made me stretch by 50K but then heart ruled over the head) Dealer Experience: Went to Garve Hyundai, would have preferred it any day as it is relatively closer to my home. Sales staff not at all responsive, laidback attitude to say the least. Firstly the sales lady dint asked for TD,then she didnt allowed to take insurance from outside (They had tieup with HDFC for which they were quoting 16.5K,wayyy above the market price).We asked for some discounts she said no discounts available. We tried to play multi dealer game by telling that some other dealer is giving seat cover, cash discount as free stuff to which she says " I would suggest you to book with them, its good offer”. That was it I said to my wife & we left the place. She dint even noted down our cell nos for future communication.  I'm just guessing that this could have happened due to the modest profile we maintained (We reached the showroom on my wife's Activa & during the whole conversation were not very assertive) Anyways they lost a genuine customer. Kundan Hyundai :Called Kundan Hyundai,asked them about discounts, they were ready to give seat covers, anti rust coating and delivery in 2 weeks. Kept them on hold & visited Sanjay Hyundai. Sanjay Hyundai :Since we made up our mind to purchase i20,we before handed carried chequebook. Took all details, bargained for discount sales person agreed for filming, seat covers, mud flaps & door mats. Booked on the same day,28th Oct. Delivery date in 3 weeks maximum which was ok to me (I was actually looking for 21st Nov as its my Marriage Anniversary).Also I could use this time to hone my driving skills.Color choice : With some discussions we agreed on Berry Red (My favorite,wife insisting on Black) To be continued in next post... |
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5th December 2009, 08:10
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pune
Posts: 52
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| Continued... Did not considered Kothari Hyundai & Kundan Hyundai as the feedback about them was a bit on lower side as compared to Sanjay Hyundai. This I feel totally depends on individual experiences. Still asked my office collegues & they unanimously chose Sanjay Hyundai so Sanjay Hyundai it was. Car Loan: My wife had applied for car loan in SBI,HDFC & Axis Bank. The SBI car loan could not be approved as my wife switched job during this period. They called her old office & the enquiry failed. Dint wanted to again waste 2 weeks by reapplying hence looked for other options. HDFC got approved in 2 days with 10 % for 3 years hence decided to go with it (No plans for fore closure).This was also quite comparable to what SBI offering me . No response from Axis bank for 4 days hence case closed. During the booking & delivery period there were no calls from the dealer. After 2 weeks I called them & asked about the status & came to know that the sales person who was handling my case has resigned, others not aware if the car is still in order state or transit. Called HDFC representative to know about the disbursement & came to know he too resigned and my case was assigned to some other person  & I thought only IT industry suffered from heavy attrition.Again called the dealer in mid of third week & reply is the car is still in order state. It was already 19th Nov.I got restless & visited the dealer showroom, literally shouted at their sales leader for taking things casually, threatened them to cancel booking if its not delivered in coming 7 days. Next day got a call at 10:30 that the car is in transit & would reach stockyard in 4-5 days. But by that time the car lost some of its initial charm as my Marriage Annivarsary had already passed. PDI: Went to the stockyard at Bhosari with T-BHP PDI list,mp3 CD & my sony mp3 player and camera. Completed PDI, was satisfied with it, ODO read 12,noted down the VIN no & handed over the remaining amount cheque. The car looked awesome in flesh, the smell, the feel. I was feeling so much proud (This being our very first car in me & my in-laws families) Delivery: On the D-Day both of us bunked our offices(Felt so good about it).Reached showroom at Wakdewadi office.The salesperson then took me to their other office located near stockyard where "She" was waiting for us.We got the seat covers removed as they were not complimenting the interiors, asked if there were any other available the ans was no. Filming was done properly (garware Classic this is what the dealer told me, don’t know how to check it). Again did a small PDI,ODO reading 16,there was some dust on body so asked to clean it once again. Number plate was to be fixed during which we completed all other formalities. The dealer arranged for a small pooja, wife performed it (I consider her lucky). The salesperson then did a small demo for us in which I was not too much interested but still paid attention as I'm very new to all car controls. He then handed over the insurance policy, the documents, small gift & the keys to us. Also made us fill the feedback form which wifey did religiously. Distributed sweets around, tipped the gatekeeper, handed over the gift which I bought for the sales person & we were all ready to zoom  Pics,first impressions in next post which will also have " Confessions of a First Time Driver" |
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5th December 2009, 13:34
| #3 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 45
Thanked: 9 Times
| Congrats on acquiring the definitive premium hatchback.! The i20 bandwagon has started rolling here and how.! I can count atleast 3 more members here who have booked their i20s and are awaiting delivery. Pics are eagerly awaited. |
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5th December 2009, 14:57
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Congrats on your i20 kratos. Update the thread with your experiences regularly. Post some pics fast - or you'll be jailed  |
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5th December 2009, 15:02
| #5 |
| Senior - BHPian  | congratulations on your berry red uber cool acquisition.One of the best running hatchbacks in our country.Nice writeup as well.Sometimes dealers go by the casual looks and looses out on customers like you.Wishing you many happy miles ahead and do post pictures of your berry.  |
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5th December 2009, 22:38
| #6 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 57
Thanked: Once
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6th December 2009, 11:54
| #7 |
| BHPian  | Congratulations, and dont be so over protective, share this beauty with everyone  I am waiting for some good pics |
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6th December 2009, 12:49
| #8 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Durgapur,West Bengal
Posts: 64
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| Give us the pics .We want to see how it looks and posting an ownership report without pics is a sin at t-bhp |
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6th December 2009, 16:01
| #9 |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pune
Posts: 52
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6th December 2009, 17:20
| #10 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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6th December 2009, 17:55
| #11 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 373
Thanked: 241 Times
| Nice car and nice colour choice. The pots at the back remind me of my own predicament of having to use my car to furnish my garden.  |
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7th December 2009, 12:22
| #12 |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pune
Posts: 52
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| Some Confessions Here's some update: Have driven around 150 Km,75% on straight roads with low traffic & 25 % in peak traffic. Too early to comment on FE part.But here are some confessions from a *new* driver. 1.The very first drive I took on berry was to the nearest petrol station.The salesperson was sitting by my side with wife at back.I had asked my trainer to come along with me but that fellow got late.I feel bit confident in his presence.But since he was late the salesperson insisted me to atleast get the fuelling done.Took the holy dip of confidence & started engine,turned right & slowly moved off.This had to be my first independent ride that too in Peak Pune traffic.The salesperson was saying something to which I paid least attention.I was totally focussed on driving,was sweating inspite of AC blowing full pace.Managed to reach there,tanked fulled & back to showroom.On a couple of occassions got my gear engagement wrong (4th instead of 2nd). 2.At night while reversing got judgement wrong & scraped front left bumper against the parking pillar.Its quite bad,bumper has to be repainted  .Hurted a lot.Was thinking about it all day in office.3.The next two days drove very very cautiously, needless to say my confidence was dented by the scratch. It was more of a stressful drive then. 4.Not thinking about the scratch much,I'm prepared for these scratches and the others which are inevitable while I hone my driving in coming 1 month.Would get the bumper painted in first service. Coming two days were pretty good, confident of taking U turns,parking & reversing. 5.Some of my car driving skills seem to be percolated in bike driving as well.Never was I so much careful read slow driver (relatively). 6.Sitting at drivers seat in car makes me understand the agony of Pune car drivers (for that matter all the cities) who are scared of bikers trying to squeeze in the minutest gaps.  That’s it for now,will post some queries in next post |
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7th December 2009, 13:54
| #13 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pune
Posts: 52
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| Quote:
Running tight on cash hence no plans for alloys or fog lamps for next couple of months. | |
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7th December 2009, 15:10
| #14 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Nasik
Posts: 393
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7th December 2009, 15:25
| #15 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Construction Capital
Posts: 370
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