[satheesh1909]

I’ve been meaning to write my initial ownership report for some time now, So here comes the long story of how I got my i10 sportz

My experience with cars

A 2005 Hyundai Getz GLS (bought as a used car in Nov 2008). Since the car was almost 5years old, for the past two months I was in a dilemma, either to sell the car or to service the car well and run her for couple more years.

How it happened?

In November 09 my uncle wanted to buy a hatch and asked me to look for the one which suits him, his requirements were,

1. They are a family of 4
2. He is yet to learn driving,
3. It will be chauffeur driven, primarily to pick up/drop his children to school.
4. Budget around 5Lac,
5. His monthly running would be not more than 1000K a month.
6. He said a strict no to Diesel.

I started reading Team-BHP just after buying my Getz, so I’ve had already covered the comparisons between the hatches. So I suggested him to look for Swift/i10/Getz/Punto. The Next day went to test drive at the Hyundai’s. Drove an i10 iRDE, must say I was really pleased with interiors and engine (felt underpowered comparing to Getz). Saw the i20 as well but it was out of the budget. Finally, got quotes for i10s ranging between 4lac and 4.7lac (excluding asta). The sales guy said he could give some discounts.

The next day went to the ABT Maruti, there was no Swift to test drive, but since I’ve already driven my friends swift, I know the car well. They offered us to drive the Ritz but we said a big no to its awkward back shape. After a while, the sales guy gave me the estimates and the car which we settled were for a Swift Vxi ABS, which came around 5.13lac on road.

Told my uncle about the pros and cons of both the cars and he insisted on booking Swift for its looks and power (basically his 10yr old son’s compulsion played the major role here). Then we finalized it on swift and booked a Swift (Red Vxi ABS) on Nov 22nd 09'. The sales guy said we have to wait for 3months for the car and we were okay with it.

Later, by Dec 10th I went to drop my Getz for service at the HMP, the estimate given to me totaled to 12k (for some clutch parts and timing chain), we were not sure if the belts needs to be replacement, so the service guy said he will check which parts were changed earlier so that we could change only the parts which needs replacements and to both of our shock, while checking we noticed the mileage of the was reset from 90k to 40k on 08’. (I had earlier serviced the car at KUN about 2 months ago (got a bill for 23k) and they never noticed or said about the change in mileage).I was shattered, while buying I failed to check the service record (was naive then) and I paid the price for that. In fact the car was suggested by a friend of mine and even got the car tested by a mechanic; I believe the mechanic would have got bribed.

Then, we thought for a while and said no to service that day and came back home. Had a discussion with my family (mostly my brother), later convinced ourselves to service the car next week and to postpone buying the new car by a year and half.

The next day while driving, the car stopped suddenly, my attempts to start the car failed, finally called the Hyundai emergency. After inspecting the car, they said the fuel pump failed and needs to be replaced. With a hard heart sent the car to service.

By this time, my mind almost sold the Getz. Then I started calculating the expenses I have to sustain if I wish to keep Getz.
It went like,

• Service (excluding Fuel pump (6.5k)): 12k
• The rubbers were almost flat (13k for that)
• Considering the tampered mileage, the car should have run at least a lac (40k (while buying) + ~50k (tampered) + had run 15 k since owning her)
• The reliability of the car.
• Resale value of the car after a year, the car showed its age, both exterior and interior. Even if sell the car by 2010 it will have an impact in the value since it adds up one more year

Considering the above factors, we finally decided to go for the new car.

Deciding the New Car,

Initially we thought of buying a decent 1 or 2 yr old sedan, perhaps an Ikon or even esteem. Having experienced the consequence of my poor judgment on used cars, we decided to go for a new one

My requirements were;

• The car should accommodate four comfortably, fifth one is very rare
• The car is not for daily commute, I would be using the car mostly during weekends
• Driving is 90% city and 10% highway (considering OMR as city). I would drive about 1000-1500 Kms every month
• Should have a decent F.E

We loved the Getz very much for its power, space and ride quality. We feared that Getz would be eventually out of production soon (may be in a year if not months). But if we were to buy a Getz then it would definitely be one with Crdi engine. I knew it not produced anymore but I felt its worth trying. Went to the HMP next day and as expected the sales guy said it’s not at all possible to get a Getz Crdi but insisted on buying a 1.3 GLS instead. We were not ready to buy that one, so we looked for the i10 and i20.

By then it was already Dec 17th, the sales guy said that the productions were already stopped and so they have very limited stock of the 09 vehicles, we can buy one among them or else we have to wait till Jan end or even Feb. for the 10’ cars. (I should say he had called me a couple of times to follow up, since I had already enquired for my uncle and even evaded his calls as my uncle chose swift). So I had not much of a choice left, so we test drove i20 magna and i10 Kappa this time.

Basic version of i20 was priced at 5.4Lac. This time we were a bit concerned over the F.E since we had spent a lot on fuel while using Getz. Since the i10 Kappas were equipped with the same engine as in i20 (entry level model), it made into top of our list. Swifts were ruled out due to its long waiting period, and anyways there will be another swift in the family. I don’t want to wait up for the Beat so it never made into the list. My brother test drove Punto and he was a bit interested in it, but I said no and convinced him explaining about the Fiat’s service and Palio’s history

So we finally settled for i10 Kappa. Went to HMP by 19th Dec to book the car, we were planning for i10 Magna, but for our luck there were no Magna in Stock. The sales guy said that he has i10 Sportz in stock, which comes with a spoiler and built-in audio unit. Then came choosing the colour, only Whites were available!!!! But fortunately whites were second in our list next to black. So white it is. Made the booking the same day for an i10 Sportz white. The Hyundai were giving some offers that December, which included an exchange bonus of 10k for exchanging Hyundai cars. Anyways we would not be able to find a buyer for the Getz by ourselves before Jan. so we decided to give it under exchange.

The next day called up the HDFC bank for car loan, he said the loan would be ready by 23rd max, but it took him 26th so we decided to take the delivery by 30th Dec. since 28th was a holiday and 29th became Tuesday (My birthday was 29th Dec ).

Went to check the car for PDI on 27th, the ODO was clocked at 25kms. Had with me all the inspection tips from Team-BHP.

In the meantime, Getz was sold for just 1.7Lac (had bought the car for 2.6lac and spent almost 35k in it). We decided to put fog lamps and remote for the i10 and asked the sales guy to do the same. We also planned for alloy wheels and considered new tyres for her. But the stock tyres were asked for just 800~1000rs each, so we decided to just buy alloys and deferred the tyres to another 20k Kms. Searched for alloys over Chennai and finalized on a matt black SSW 13’ alloy quoted at 13k for 4.

Finally on 30th took the delivery of the car, drove her directly to the alloy wheel shop (Lal, Royapettah). Fixed the new alloys, the car looked great. I will upload the pictures soon.

And for the price of the car, got the car for about 449000 /- after discounts excluding fog lamp and remote(Before discount it was 4.78lac)

Freebies - just 3M sun film and mats

Upgrades in mind

1. A decent muffler, just to change the sound ( Help me out
2. AK&N filter
3. 175/70/R13 tyres after 20000Kms

About the car

The car is currently clocked at 1900kms (did the first service at 1500kms). Following are my observations about the car

Pros

• Very easy to drive in traffic
• Interiors are best in its class
• Stock Audio in decent
• Easy to park
• Decent power for its size

Cons

• The ride is bumpy, I’m maintaining a pressure of 31~32 PS
• The brake is not much effective, even bumped an auto in the first week
• I feel that steering gets hard at speeds over 70kmph; however at lower speeds it is smooth
• USB in audio unit would have been better
• Tyres are very thin

And finally, My uncle is expecting the switt some where around mid march! LOL!

Would be driving about 500kms for this weekend, will update my experience along with pictures.

[vigsom]

Sateesh,enjoy your ride.

you could have introduced the i10 to us in stages - phew,that was a loooooong post

[Vibhanshu]

Congrats on your new car Satheesh.

Welcome to Team-Bhp!

[recshenoy]

congratulations Satheesh! White i10 seems to be a rare bread. Even though i have seen white i20s cant recall seeing a white i10 in Bangalore!

So kindly post pics

wish you happy miles ahead!

[bharti22shresth]

Heartiest congratulation on the buy satheesh.

" But the stock tyres were asked for just 800~1000rs each"

Surprised to read this. I sold my 10k run stock tires of i10 for Rs.4500 for 4 tires. Considering the fact that 2 of my tires had there wires sticking out from one side each (quite a bit of enthusiastic driving on my side ), you should atleast get 1300 per tire. Did you try different tyre dealers?

[nickatnite]

I'm curious to see what the "sportz" version looks like. Post some pics if you can. Also, for a better ride maintain 30 psi in your tires. Enjoy your new car!.

[blackasta]

Congrats satheesh - enjoy your new drive.
Put in some pictures fast!

[satheesh1909]

@all - Thank you.

@vigsom - sorry couldn't help, just went with the flow, hereafter I'll surely post in stages.

@bharti22shresth - I asked a couple of dealers for trading my exiting tyres, 1000rs was the max they offered me, but i didn't press them much.

Here are some pictures of the car, please bear with the poor quality and background, its because of my N5130. will post HQ pics soon.

[ariendj]

congrats on the i10..awesome car specially the kappa engine.white looks awesome!!
whats the FE?
do post in some interior pics,is it same fabric design as other i10 models?
from the cost of work that you said for the getz,i believe the 1.7L you got in exchange wasnt that bad.

OT:its ok for the long post,was interesting as the story unfolded

[satheesh1909]

@ariendj - Thanks man, Will post the interior pics in a day or two. I guess all the i10s come in same fabric, I covered mine with some leather-like seat covers, black ones.
I'm glad that 1.7lac turned out to be a decent deal. my friends were saying that i could have sold much higher, anyways I'm getting that 10k exchange bonus in a couple of months if not weeks.

and for the F.E, I'm getting around 12Kmpl in city and 14~15kmpl in highway with 80%~90% ac.

[satheesh1909]

Here's a picture taken by the HMP on the day of delivery,



From left to right, Mr.Nainar(HMP), ME , my brother and his friend.

[para_7k]

Sateesh,

Congrats on your car. Nice choice of Alloys.

What is the size of your alloys ? Are they 5j ?

TN-22 seems you are bit close. Keep an eye out for a grey i10 with TN-22

[ikoneer]

@Sateesh:
Congrats on your i10.
Alloys looks cool but i feel a White Alloy would have been wonderful for the white car.

same pinch, me too got an i10 Auto last month at HMP and silver SSW alloys at Lal.

If your budget permits, please upgrade to michelin xm1+ tyres, the drive is wonderful. btw, I got Rs.1750 for my stock tyres.

@para: its' 5.5j

[satheesh1909]

@para_7k - thanks man, Sure thing, watch out for me as well...

@ikoneer - Thanks and Congrats for the car!

I saw a white in the same shape, but that white mismatched with my body colour, it was a bit yellowish. so went with the black ones.

and, u mean 1750 each? at Lals?
how much did you pay for 4 michelin xm1+ tyres? last time i enquired it was 3300 each, let me know, the ride is a bit bumpy now, will have to upgrade sooner that i imagined.

[ikoneer]

Originally Posted by satheesh1909

u mean 1750 each? at Lals?

how much did you pay for 4 michelin xm1+ tyres?

Tyres transaction was done with Tyrestore, Greams Road. Contact person: Deepak.
Yes, 1750 each tyre exchange price.
Rs 3150 / tyre for xm1+. Tyre

I got the alloys from Lal's