[anu_romil]

After a lot of test drives,calculations, I chose the Ritz zxi for myself and my family. Here's a summary of the entire process and the pros/cons of each model( my views) that I chose and other details:

1. Daily running - (Mostly office) - varies between 900 to 1300 kms per month, as sometimes when my parents come down to Hyderabad, I need to make some trips to take them to my relatives' places here.On the rest of the occasions its used to take me and my wife to office with weekend shopping trips.

2. Having driven an ESTEEM for the last 3.5 years, I was a bit hesitant to go for a hatchback, owing to the enormous leg space( am 6'1") and visibility available in it. Still, used to face parking issues when we used to go out for shopping and hence decided for a small car.

3. Petrol vs Diesel dilemma - Will come later to it.

[quadmaniac]

Congrats -- please put more details with pics. How much was it OTR?

[driving_smartly]

Congratulations Anu

1. Please do Post pictures of your car
2. What is the Final OTR ?
3. Since you were driving an Esteem earlier, how do you feel k series engine ?
4. How was your experience regarding delivery process from the dealer ?
5. Was any PDI done on your behalf

I know to many questions for asking but could not resist.
Drive Safely and enjoy your Ride and keep your thread updated regularly.

[anu_romil]

Here's one taken at the dealer's place :

[anu_romil]

some othersoor lights at my parking area,though:

[anu_romil]

another one:from the side angle

[anu_romil]

another:

would post some good ones taken in daylight soon

detailed booking and decison making process details coming up

[buddha]

Originally Posted by anu_romil

some othersoor lights at my parking area,though:

heheun unintended i guess

[anu_romil]

@ Buddha - Tou are correct about the smiley.

Now to the decision making process:

My budget - 5- 6 Lakhs
My requirements :

1. Good car for 2 people( me and wife) to carry us from home to office and for weekend trips within the city.

2. I live besides a highway(close to office),so actual B2B city driving would only be on weekends when we go to the main city at Hyderabad.Approximate - 900 to 1200 kms per month depending on how many trips we make to our friends and relatives during weekends.

3. I needed decent leg space as I am 6'1" and also practical things like a rear wiper as I hate to drive a car during rains.

Now to the cars considered:

1. i10 -

Pluses:

• Excellent interiors
• Decent mileage
• Decent power
• Good option for anti-maruti people
• Excellent option for families for whom ladies also do a lot of driving

Minuses:

• Not enough legspace
• Steering feedback very light ( feels like a video game,as someone pointed out in another thread)
• Need to downshift a lot during slow traffic

2. Punto - Petrol and diesel

Oh, how many test rides I have taken of this beauty,just to convince myself that its a good car.But if the salesman during a test drive of a relatively new car ( Oct 2009) ( co-passenger's seat), gets stuck in the car and is unable to open his door - the 'mind' tells the heart to shut up and face the reality.

3. Beat

Too - sluggish.
Design - not upto my taste. Had I been 4-5 years younger( Am 29 in a Middle Management role), I would have fallen for this design.
(Ya I know Ritz design is no less funkier but then, its ok)

4. i20 -Petrol

Pluses:

• Good looks
• Good interiors

Minuses

• Feels underpowered
• Feels overpriced

5. FIGO - Petrol and Diesel

Petrol one first :

Pluses

• New Brand - freshness
• Amazing visisbility - both front and back
• Lots of goodies thrown in - VFM : ZXI petrol has bluetooth,rear wiper,defogger etc etc in just 4.84 L and airbags,abs in 5.33 L on road at Hyderabad.
• Space,space and space

Minuses:

• No bumper - Just check the damage Figo owners have already inflicted on their wallet during colissions at ridiculously low speeds
• Power : The vehicle is very sluggish with 4 people onm board on steep inclines. The sales guy gave me 10-12 rounds on a steep incline at whisper valley area,Hyderabad but failed to convince me that the engine was pulling well.He floored the accelarator and the vehicle pulles us up at around 40kmh but the sound it made sacred me...
• Incosistent FE being reported by owners
• Suspect sales service and high maintenance cost

Diesel:

Power was good
Almost no turbo lag

But again - same disadvantages as above.

Will continue about Ritz ldi vs Swift lxi vs Swift vxi vs Ritz zxi ( the available maruti cars - when I wanted to buy) in my next post.:

The OTR for Ritz zxi was 5.63 L for me including 4th year warranty after around 25k discounts( 21 k from Maruti and ( 18k + 3k corporate) and 4k from the dealer)

Actual price was 5.88 L including extended 4th year warranty.

Freebies: mudflaps,floormats,steering cover,reverse gear horn,teflon coating,4th service free coupon.

Plan to do anti rust during first service.Bargained a lot for it to come as a freebie, but failed.

[anu_romil]

Now to the question - why Ritz zxi?

1. On the day of my planned purchase, a swift lxi and swift vxi became available all of a sudden.

2.I had always liked the swift and so I raced off to take a test drive of the new swift with k series engine. While I still liked the drive, I found the thrill factor of a 1.3 L swift had come down. The engine was more refined and had heard that it would give a better FE than its older version.Still, went for the Ritz as, in a 30k more investment on swift vxi ( on road - 5.35 L- no discounts except 3k corporate discount), I would get a fully loaded Ritz zxi( 5.6 L After 25k discounts). Engine being the same now, the focus shifted on features.( if you disregard the ritz shape,that is)

3. Ritz ldi vs Ritz zxi : Now this one was tough because fuel prices had shot up the day before I was to make a decision and hence I was tempted towards diesel.But then I would have lost on many practical goodies that zxi came with and given my monthly running of 900 -1200 kms max, I decided to go for a petrol.

Never a big diesel fan, when I test drove the swift diesel for the first time, I realised this was a drive I had never ever experienced(the floating feeling when the turbo kicks in).

Had the swift diesel been available, I would have been in a real tough situation.

Booking and delivery experience:

Varun Motors,Banjara Hills,Hyderabad: Real smooth process.

Bargained for better colours that were available,paid the amount the next day and everything went fine. PDI,paper work - everything completed at super fast speed.Presented the salesman with a gift and drove back home.Odo read 24km when I took the delivery( distance travelled from yard to dealer showroom)

My experience so far: Driven around 70 Kms

1. Visibility : Have to get adjusted to the limited visibility,especially after having driven an esteem all these years. Specially reversing is a bit difficult. Might need to install parking sensors.This was an area where FIGO was miles ahead !

2. Headlights : Not upto the mark. With fog lamps, its good.

3. Internal Rear View mirror : The brochure says its a day/night automatic mirror. Not sure if it really is.There is no adjustment knob for the night, and maybe there's an antiglare coating and thats why,but not sure.

4. Reverse gear slotting : Gets stuck sometimes but so did my esteems' and so am used to it. Hope it improves with time

5. Audio quality - OK types. Have noticed that the volume increases/decreases marginally on its own sometimes when playing the FM radio while driving. Have to keep monitoring it to see whats happening.The steering mounted thumb audio controls are a delight .
Miss the bluetooth feature of Figo/Punto and the phone call accept/decline feature in Punto.

6. AC is reasonably good even at 1 and 2 positions of the knob, given that its still hot during afternoons in Hyderabad and also that the colour of the car is black. Dont know why Swift zxi has an auto climate whereas Ritz has a normal one.

7. Leg space and head space - Lots of leg and head space available,at least for the driver.

8. FE - will update.

9. Ride quality - A bit bumpy. Need to check the tyre pressure too. Rear passengers were ok with the ride quality too.

10. Unique Gear position : This is a novelty for me. Found it good though.Didnt think that I would get used to it so quickly.

11. Power : Absolute delight. When I go through the same steep inclines, where I test drove FIGO so many times with the same passengers, I know in my heart that I made a wise decision by choosing Ritzy.

12. Engine noise : None whatsoever.

[Utopian]

Congrats anu for the Ritz. The Kseries drive is truly delightful. Happy mile crunching.
PS-Get rid of those ribbons asap.

[keith]

Would be interesting to check out your observations on over all rear room comfort - specially with for your parents. Boot space for your weekly shopping spree. Do post pictures and post on the car feel with 4 on board.

--Ritzy driving till then.

[anu_romil]

Thanks Utopian

Yah already removed the ribbons after the puja. Wifey wanted the ribbons to remain for at least a week.

[anu_romil]

@ Keith:

1. Ride quality for rear passengers - OK types. Not as good as a Figo,Punto

2. Boot space - again ok types. Enough for weekend shopping trips. Might be a bit less for those who plan frequent long trips.

Will update FE figures soon.

[agm]

Congrats mate for the new ride .

How much did you pay OTR?

Kindly upload some more snaps .

Drive safe