Just wanted to share you all my Dzire story. I wanted to buy car (small car) for some time now. Searched various cars over net as well as in real. I go through various sites like TBHP (offcourse), Mouthshut, Carwale, Zigwheels, etc. Initially i was looking at Indica xeta first as it is very good car as compared to its price. It is just 3 Lacs on road for such a big comfy car. Initially i didnt believe what salesman is telling me. Such a big car at so less price on road is really unbelievable ... Even little Alto is more costly. { I must tell you here that i am a "CHINGU" guy & dont like to spend my hard earned money so easily. } But Xeta has disadvantages as its a Tata car (Olde generation). Finishing is not good & its not that powerfull car. Also main thing about that car is it has typical CAB look. People dont give any respect if you have Indica. My wife & friends warned me that if i buy a Indica they will not come with me in it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also call me as a CAB- WALA
So with this in mind I started looking for other cars.
I didn't wanted to go beyond 5 lacs budget. I have certain criteria for my own for buying a car:
1 It should accommodate 5 persons easily. Its a MUST as i have big family. Whenever we go out for any trip its rule that it should go fully occupied so that we will get full return on what we spend in petrol
2 It should be fuel efficient & easy on repairs. Spares should be reasonable. Heard that Ford, GM, Skoda loots people in this area.
3 Of course looks !!! It should look good & feel good.
4 Driving should be a pleasure, comfortable to ride.
5 Should have good amount boot space as i like to go on trips with car too often.
6 Should have good resale value.
So my search started ....Started looking for various cars. Wagon R is good but small for 5 people & i personally don't like its shape much. Santro is also another good car but quite outdated & also they have stopped manufacturing top end model. GM cars where out of scope as i heard it has lots of service problems. I personally like Getz too. Its a very nice car. with its new price tag its a good bargain. Hyundai people told me that its production is going to be stopped. I was surprised to hear that as i can see lots of its advertsement on TV those days. Anyways my wife doesn't liked it either so no point in going for that. Had a look at Swift also. Its a very nice sporty looking car. Plus its a Maruti, But i guess space is little less on rear & boot is also small.
Meanwhile sedan car was always on my mind but was not thinking of it as it was out of my budget. Its nice feeling that you have 3 box car. In India people still respect more to 3 box car than any hatchback. (3 box means not Fiat & Ambassador) Still i started looking for sedans also. One thing to mention, all these time swift was always in my mind as its a very popular car on road. It is not one of the best looking car but still has good appeal in it. Its elder sister Dzire is also very popular on road in no time. Had a look at Ascent, but Hyundai dealers were not very keen to show the car. Suggested me the i10. Its good but somehow i didnt like it. Rear is not good looking. Ascent, they said its not popular anymore. I was surprised !!! I saw the car its good but not very impressive as its old model & seating position is on lower side. Also it has very low resale value. Looked at new Ford Ikon too. Very old model & same problems as Ascent.
Then one fine day went to Tata's. Impressed with Indica Vista very much. But still it has few problems like name same as old one, Indica. It creates taxi image. Finishing is improved but not top notch. Still areas of improvements are there. Saw Fiat linea there. Very good looks & sturdy body. Very good package but its out of my budget :( Fiat Palio is also very good but again its not very popular car in market & has resale problems. Very low resale value.
Then we (me and my dad) thought of Swift Dzire. My dad always wanted it. I went through various sites. Everyone is claiming that its a Hyped car. Basically a average car but due to hype sales a lot. I was not sure though.
So we finally called a sales executive for a test drive. He came with diesel version of Dzire :( We told him that we want to buy petrol but he said they dont have petrol model for test drive :( Not expected this from Maruti. I guess they should look into this. I told him how i can try this & buy Petrol version? He said try petrol swift. Engine is same !!!! I was speechless.
Anyways i took trial on Disel Dzire, it was cool car. Doesn't feel like its a disel car. Good pickup & power with little noise. Sales man gave us the leaflet of the car will all details. It was all nicely given in details. Then we checked with main thing, price !!! Petrol Vxi was 5.72 on road. I checked the features & got surprised as it has loads of features in it for that price. I reconfirmed from him twice as i was not sure. It comes with HVAC, Power steering & windows, central locking with remote key, fog lamps front & rear, tape with CD, MP3, radio & iPod compatibility, Icats (imobiliser, good for safety), tubeless tires, electronic watch in dash + temp meter, few warning alarms & lights, & more. I was really impressed. Also one more small feature, rear armrest !! It gives rich feeling for car & rear passengers if there are only one or two. Nice feature, Also inside is rear cabin light which is useful. Front has two separate for 2 passengers.
We immediately booked the car & been told that have to wait for a month at least. I was very eager to get the car at the earliest. At last we got the car after 5 weeks as promised by the sales guy. Its really a pleasure to drive the car. Till date i was driving old M800. So i was feeling like i am driving the Merc
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Dzire is very smooth & engine noise is almost nil. Sound system is not very great but very good. Seats are very comfortable. Boot space is very good. Now i can go for trips with lots of luggage. Pickup of the car is also good. AC is nice & chilling. Went for ride immediately on second day & ran the car for almost 300 Kms. Its very nice to drive & feels very safe.
Now it has been almost 6 months now for my car. I am really happy with my car. I get average of 17-18 on highway with AC. & 13-14 in City. Dont have any other problem except little hard reverse gear. I must appreciate that Dzire has one of the best power steering in the market. Its really effortless & feels nice to drive in city. I can surely say that its not just a hype but in fact its really a very very nice car to own.
All i can say is all my Dzire about car fulfilled !!!!!!!!!!