[Ramchi]

I am going to cancel my Seltos HTX and planning to go after either SCross Alpha AT or (most likely) Nissan Kicks XV Premium. HTX liking HSA, traction control, stability Management, no tinted glasses(only GTX has them which is considerably very expensive at ₹ 21 + lakhs) , no auto on off. Kia guys seems to be very easy going on the cancellation which tells about it's popularity. Too bad, I can't go after GTX Automatic simply unaffordable and I felt these features are important than other gizmos and very attractive looking Seltos.

[TB16]

My brother needed a compact sub 4m SUV on immediate basis. Considering the availability, he booked a WRV on 1st March and got the delivery on 3rd.

Make : Honda
Model : WRV
Variant : SV
Fuel : Petrol
Booking Date : 1st Mar 2021
Color : Golden Brown (looks more like black)
Delivery Date : 3rd Mar 21
Dealer & City : Ace Honda, Noida
Exchange Car : 2015 Honda Amaze E (Petrol + CNG). Was offered 3L including 25k exchange bonus
Discounts : 42k including cash, loyalty & corporate

On Road - 6.28 after exchange and discounts.

[Rajpr]

Originally Posted by TB16

My brother needed a compact sub 4m SUV on immediate basis. Considering the availability, he booked a WRV on 1st March and got the delivery on 3rd.
=====
On Road - 6.28 after exchange and discounts.

Congratulations to your Brother. Please share Initial car review and driving experience if possible.

[TB16]

Initial driving experience has been a little unimpressive. I'll definitely recommend the diesel over the petrol. But if you're in Delhi NCR or you are not clocking too many miles, then only go for a petrol.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Finally getting to post in this thread !

Make : Ford
Model : Ecosport
Variant : Titanium
Fuel : Diesel
Booking Date : 23/01/2021
Booking Amount : ₹5000
Color : Absolute Black
Expected Delivery Date : Unknown due to ongoing semiconductor issue, 90 Days waiting period.
Dealer & City : Dhruvan Ford, Chennai
Discount : As applicable during invoice date.
Final On-Road-Price: ₹11.61 Lakhs (includes Registration/Insurance(1+2)/4&5 extended warranty/Basic Accessories kit)

UPDATE after 53 days

Literally rushed to the showroom yesterday as soon as my Sales executive informed me that my car has been unloaded. Did a quick PDI everything seems fine, ODO read 12.2kms. All payments completed in the next 30 minutes and the dealership also completed the new car insurance, fastag, etc., Only registration and delivery is pending which is scheduled for Saturday. Leaving below a few pictures, car was very dusty as it was just unloaded. VIN says she is February 2021 manufactured.

Originally Posted by Shiftlock

They are worth it only if you are getting them for free, not worth paying money for it.

Thank you for the feedback on the ambient lighting. I remembered your post and checked it out in a couple of S variants parked in the showroom. It was not as bright as I would have liked and also the ones installed as accessory needs to have 2 holes drilled in the interior plastic trim for mounting. So dropped it from the list, going with only seat covers, sill plates and neck pillows. Got 7500 off on the accessories and paid 2832 for the above.

[car_guy1998]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

UPDATE after 53 days

Literally rushed to the showroom yesterday as soon as my Sales executive informed me that my car has been unloaded. Did a quick PDI everything seems fine, ODO read 12.2kms. All payments completed in the next 30 minutes and the dealership also completed the new car insurance, fastag, etc., Only registration and delivery is pending which is scheduled for Saturday. Leaving below a few pictures, car was very dusty as it was just unloaded. VIN says she is February 2021 manufactured.

Its raining Ecosports in Team-BHP. Anyways, congrats for purchasing the Ecosport and hope you maintain this one like your 11-year-old Innova.

[KPR]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

UPDATE after 53 days
Did a quick PDI everything seems fine,e.

Many congratulations. I think you've done the right thing by chosing black colour esp in titanium trim. Even I would've done the same.

[Shiftlock]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

UPDATE after 53 days

Literally rushed to the showroom yesterday as soon as my Sales executive informed me that my car has been unloaded.


Thank you for the feedback on the ambient lighting, going with only seat covers, sill plates and neck pillows. Got 7500 off on the accessories and paid 2832 for the above.

Many congratulations sir!
Wish you a wonderful ownership experience of minimum 1 lakh Kms. Good decision on skipping the Ambient lights, they are not worth the price. That black colour is going to look stunning when cleaned and washed well

[reddyboi]

Originally Posted by reddyboi

Choose and booked a Seltos for our family

Make: Kia
Model: Setlos
Trim: GTX+
Transmission: DCT
Color: Gravity Gray
Dealer: Car Kia, Hyderabad
Date of Booking: 27th December, 2020
Expected Date of Delivery: Two weeks every time from the day I check

Finally, after a long anxious wait, took delivery of the car on the morning of 15th March

Eagerly waiting for the first service to be completed

[procrj]

Did not expect to be posting here in 2021

Make: Maruti Suzuki
Model: XL6
Variant: Alpha MT
Fuel: Petrol
Color: Auburn Red
Expected Delivery Date: Sometime in April, Hopefully!
Dealer & City: Varun Nexa, Bangalore
Freebies: Negotiations underway

Cost Breakup
1. Ex Show room: 10,41,189/-
2. TCS: 7,809/-
3. Road Tax: 1,96,472/-
4. Reg. Charges:1,811/-
5. Insurance (1yr OD/3 yrs TP): 36,201/- [Negotiating with dealer as I have received quotes for ~27K for Zero Dep + 3 Years of Third party damage]
6. Extended Warranty: 17,700/-
7. Std Accessories: 11,185/- [Dont plan on taking this from the dealer]
8. My Nexa Program: 885/-
9. Fastag: 600/- [Dont plan on taking this from the dealer]
10: Suzuki Connect: 9,999/- [Said no to this]

Expected OTR: 12.93L

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by procrj

Did not expect to be posting here in 2021

Make: Maruti Suzuki
Model: XL6
Variant: Alpha MT

Congratulations, and yes that looks a little unexpected though you had mentioned about it elsewhere. I read in your TUV thread that you would be keeping the Tank for longer since you had mentioned it was a contentment.

But I believe the XL6 is a great choice and in many aspects a big upgrade over the TUV. And its ownership experience would definitely be a delight. If not for the lack of diesel and automatic, we would have given it a strong consideration instead of going for the Crysta. While the two cars are of different segments altogether, the XL6 with a powerful diesel automatic combination would have suited our needs sufficiently with a good amount of money left. But either car wouldnt make me regret buying.

Didnt you give any other M&M or Tata products a chance? I believe the XUVs are of a different league when compared to the other M&M products in many aspects. But yes, the XL6 sits in a niche category with currently no other competitor apart from the Ertiga itself.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Congratulations, and yes that looks a little unexpected though you had mentioned about it elsewhere. I read in your TUV thread that you would be keeping the Tank for longer since you had mentioned it was a contentment.

Till the end of Jan, I was very content and happy with the TUV. In feb, things to a turn for the worse and it made me take a long hard look at the TUV as well as the quality of service provided by M&M.

I realized that a) M&M will continue to treat its non XUV car owners like second hand citizens b) with increased volumes from the new Thar, Scoprio & XUV(when launched), TUV and other M&M car owners will only slide further down the priority chain. Also realized that increased sales volumes has not resulted in increased service capacity (new service centers) or upgrading of existing service capacity (new bays, more trained personnel). In fact, everything has been moving the other way around wherein M.A.S.S continues to lose tenured & trained personal and more service bays have been used to just park the huge backlog of cars which need to be serviced.

My car was at 83.5K Odo and I was contemplating the next few years, where the number of visits to M.A.S.S is only going to increase to replace worn parts and fix niggles. The service and car maintenance experience had steadily declined from acceptable (2016-2019) to bad (2020-2021), and I was not willing to live through worse. Made the decision to cut my losses and move to a brand that has a) better mechanical reliability and b) decent service network and trained workshop techs.

But I believe the XL6 is a great choice and in many aspects a big upgrade over the TUV. And its ownership experience would definitely be a delight.

It definitely feels like an upgrade when it comes to refinement, comfort, service tech and reliablity but will miss that road presence and go anywhere confidence that that TUV delivers. Big surprise for me was the 1.5 engine + ISG SHVS combo that delivers almost diesel like torque in low RPMs and a rev friendly engine if you are in the mood for some redlining

If not for the lack of diesel and automatic, we would have given it a strong consideration instead of going for the Crysta. While the two cars are of different segments altogether, the XL6 with a powerful diesel automatic combination would have suited our needs sufficiently with a good amount of money left. But either car wouldnt make me regret buying.

Diesel automatic XL6 will surely set the charts on fire for Maruti. Hopefuly they do mangage to quickly get their 1.5D BS6 ready and launch it.

Didnt you give any other M&M or Tata products a chance? I believe the XUVs are of a different league when compared to the other M&M products in many aspects.

Primarily interested in a 6 seater that is comfortable for long rides and fits the budget of about 12-13L OTR. The XUV is a class of its own but definetly not in my budget and Tata doesnt have a 6 seater UV. Did not drive the Safari as its a new product and will definitely have its own share of niggles that would need to be fixed.

But yes, the XL6 sits in a niche category with currently no other competitor apart from the Ertiga itself.

IMO, Its a very underrated, VFM product and over time, it should start seeing a lot more traction in the market, especialy if they decide to launch a diesel automatic (hopefuly not a 4 speed TC).

[sen2693]

Originally Posted by ankitsharma

Posting late.

Make : Skoda
Model : Rapid 1.0
Variant : Ambition
Fuel : Petrol
Booking Date : 8th Feb 2021
Color : White
Delivery Date : 16th Feb 2021
Dealer & City : Tafe Access, St. Marks Road , Bangalore
Freebies : None
Others : Purchased extended warranty and Maintenance Package.

Congratulations. How would you rate your experience with TAFE?

[r.joshi]

Make: Volkswagen
Model: Polo TSI
Variant: Highline Plus
Fuel: Petrol
Booking Date: 16th Mar 2021
Color: Carbon Steel
Delivery Date: ~30-40 days from now.
Dealer & City: Volkswagen Gurgaon - Frontier
Exchange Car: 2010 i10 Magna 1.1 (Petrol). Will get around 1.1-1.3L + 20k exchange bonus(or I will sell it somewhere else in upcoming month).
On-road Price: 8.96L (Including extended warranty) (Car will be registered in Delhi)


Will be posting price break-up soon.

[mav3r1ckblu3]

What happens when some German, Japanese and French automotive engineers decide to get together and build an engine?

They make me choose a Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo MT variant in 2021!

A little background as to why I chose this Genghis Khan of SUV's (in a way, the one who started it all, founder of CSUV segment in India, you get the drift?). Anyways, back to the story, Our first family car was a Hyundai Eon Sportz variant (Blue) which was bought 8 years ago by my Dad, and came with a driver side airbag only. I myself bought a Tata Tigor Revotron XZ(O) 3 years ago. It was decided we'd part with the Eon, and I'd give my trusty and reliable Tigor to my Dad, which is an upgrade from Eon in terms of safety and performance. Then started my search for a Car/CSUV. I went into all the car showrooms of various brands (except Maruti-Suzuki), took test drives of various sedans/CSUV's, but came out impressed with the professionalism of 2 out of the many I visited, VW and Renault. I had my heart set aflutter first by Vento TSI, but they didn't have the affordable Vento Turbo Limited Edition with them (maybe due to semiconductor shortage), which would have cost me approx INR 10.1 Lakhs on-road. The other option was the Highline variant, but I was a bit unsure about buying a sedan which cost over 11 Lakhs on-road. Plus better half also kind of stated, why go from sedan to sedan again, lets look at CSUV's as well! So with that, Vento was dropped. I had always given a thought about what CSUV's I would keep as options to mull over.

These are just my views, and are not meant to offend owners of these particular models.

Ecosport: Brilliant, affordable, safe, but is a little too compact for my liking especially for a family of 5. Dropped it.

Nexon: I went with the high hopes being a Tata customer (Tigor), but the Sales Rep (SR) seemed distant and disinterested. No loyalty bonus, less exchange value. Left me with a bittersweet feeling, bitter coz I expected more being a loyal Tata owner but was left high and dry, sweet coz their Altroz and Nexon are selling like hot cakes. Dropped it too.

XUV300: The petrol engine really deserves praise and the diesel engine more so, however, why did they design the rear of this CSUV like it is? It ends even before it starts. It's like they were building it over 4 m but then suddenly decided to cut the rear to keep it within 4 m segment. Wife was okay, but I just couldn't bear the rear looks, so convinced her by saying that boot space isn't adequate. Thank God, it worked (phew!). Dropped this one too.

Magnite: I know this is a make or break model for Nissan in India, but the less I talk about it the better. The most disinterested SR I've met. They didn't even have the top variant on display in showroom, let alone a Test drive vehicle. Dropped the idea of Kicks as well due to this (plus unaffordable). And with the not so pleasant stories of after sales doing the rounds on the internet, we quickly made an exit.

Sonet/Venue: All the bells and whistles aside, I found the ride quality not that great/assuring and the steering felt disconnected (a little soft for my liking). Dropped these too.

Seltos/Creta: As is the case with the expensive cousins, apart from the points given above, the view of the outside is a little restricted from inside, because of the way the windows, rear windshield etc. are designed. I know there are gizmos designed to help you with these, but I don't want my car to be smarter than I'm, I'm a little oldschool that way. And the turbo variant was way over my budget. Dropped these as well.

which brings me finally to (drumroll..)


Make : Renault
Model : Duster 1.3L Turbo
Variant : RXZ MT
Fuel : Petrol
Booking Date : 15/03/2021
Booking Amount : ₹10000
Color : Mahogany Brown
Expected Delivery Date : Within a week possibly
Dealer & City : Renault Pathanamthitta (Kerala)
Price (INR)

Ex-Showroom - 12,33,500
TCS - 9,251
B2B Insurance - 50914

RTO - 161985
Basic Accessories Kit - 15500

Extended Warranty - 15062
Fastag - 600
On-Road - 14,86,812
Less
Exchange Eon - 1,70,000
RIPL Exchange bonus - 30,000
Insurance discount
after haggling - 10,000
Corporate discount - 15,000

Final On-road Price - 12,61,812


Loan assistance ICICI @ 7.6% for 7 years (I intend to pay off early though, godwilling)

So, the Renault SR was eager, he first let us test drive (TD) the Kiger. Although the top variant had all the techno wizardry, I felt the build quality was a little iffy, especially since you could feel the potholed roads inside the cabin. Plus the door thud wasn't reassuring to me personally (coming from a Tigor owner). Then he wanted us to TD the Duster, and had a CVT model for TD. This was it for me. As soon as I got into the cabin, it felt different. The view from inside is so commanding, the cabin felt roomy and big, because of the size of those rear seat passenger windows, rear and front windshield and those rear quarter glass windows. Yes, the interiors are dated and unchanged almost since its debut, but it offered almost everything that I needed. Sometimes we have to understand that need and desire are two different things! Then comes the Engine, boy o boy, as soon I put the pedal to the metal, I started grinning from ear to ear. The punch in the mid-range is unbelievable, it just pulls and keeps on pulling. And the ride quality is unmatched at this price point, you guys have already read the review here, so you know already what I'm talking about. Although I liked the CVT, I preferred the manual because of the price difference and the fact that I'd like to be in control of the gear shifter myself. Plus as you can see above, the deal looks great IMHO. I'm not a great stickler for gadgetry and gizmos, and drive-ability and passenger ride comfort are paramount for me. So although the head keeps telling me to choose something else, I'm relying on my heart and going with this one. Hope it is a wise decision in the longer run (fingers crossed). Can't wait to lay my hands on this elegant and time tested piece of fine machinery...

(Mods: apologies for any grammatical or spelling error, wrote this quickly within the hour of allocated dinner break of my work from home)