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Booked a Kia Seltos; bought a Hyundai Tucson diesel

6th January 2022, 09:04 by Dev Shah

It was then that I noticed the 2020 Tucson in the dealer's parking bay. The stance and design was quite subtle and that impressed me.

BHPian Koolkalmadi78 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

HI friends,

I am Sandeep from Chennai. This is my first post on Team BHP so apologies if there are any mistakes. I have been an ardent fan of Team BHP for the last 10+ years. I started my car ownership back in 98 with a used Maruti 800 and post that, I have owned a pre-worshipped Ford Ikon ZXI , Maruti Swift VXI , Honda City 2009 EMT and my last ride was a 2014 Honda City. My hunt for my next car began back in Oct 2020, and I was looking at the Korean twins for my next ride, as I had not owned any SUV. I had zeroed in on the Kia Seltos and had booked the petrol DCT variant (impressed with the performance as well gadgetry), unfortunately there was a long waiting period and I was given a number of delivery commitments, none of which could be fulfilled by the dealer. Finally in Feb 2021 after a wait of 4 months, I had cancelled my booking. By then I had also started seeing the new gen Creta on roads and while I was a big fan of the outgoing variant in terms of design , I had got the itch of owning a new car and decided to take a TD of the new Creta. I test drove the petrol turbo automatic and was quite satisfied with the road behavior, but the front design was a bit too radical for my liking. It was then that I noticed the 2020 Tucson in the dealer's parking bay. The stance and design was quite subtle and that impressed me. I wanted to take a test drive, but unfortunately the dealers were not able to organize the test drive and promised to arrange for a test drive the next day. As soon as I reached home, I started to look for reviews on Team BHP and came across the detailed thread from Quadratic Amoeba. After going through his review, I was totally impressed with the Tucson and was eager to experience the car and waiting for the test drive. A big thanks to Quadratic Amoeba for his detailed review , I have seen it has helped so many people in making the right decision.

I had called for the petrol variant, as I had always driven only petrol cars. The next day as promised, the dealer brought the car for test drive. After the test drive, I was convinced about the build quality, the space and the safety features of the car. While the car did not have all the bells and whistles that the Korean twins had, I was quite happy with the features available as it met my requirements. The panoramic sun roof was a big plus point for the family (especially the kids). However in terms of power , the car felt little under powered . Also the FE on the TD car was mere 6 kmpl and coming from driving cars like the Swift and Honda City, that was a shock for me.

I had shared my apprehensions with the sales rep and he suggested I take a TD of the diesel car . As I had already read the review I readily agreed, and the next day the sales rep got a diesel car for TD. The moment I drove the car, I was completely convinced that this is going to be my next car. The power and the gear shifts were just amazing, and I was also impressed with the overall NVH levels and the ride quality. There were however 2 issues, one was that I did not have the running to justify a diesel car ,and 2nd was that the price was 10L more than what I had initially planned. It was a mind vs heart decision and finally the heart won and went ahead and booked the car in April. I booked the diesel 2WD GL (O) variant Starry Night (felt more value for money) and took delivery by end of April. I bought the car from FPL Hyundai and the whole delivery process was completely seamless. The dealership was very sweet to deliver the car with full tank of diesel. Over the last 7 month,s we have done a number of trips to Pondy and in October we did a trip from Chennai to Goa. I am thoroughly enjoying the car and cannot stop wondering why such a good car is not selling in big numbers. In terms of accessories, I have purchased a TPH body cover , trunk organiser , Bergmann Typhoon digital metal tyre inflator and Resqtech 25L bucket car wash. I am a relatively sedate driver, and hence have been getting good FE (12 kmpl in city conditions and 18 to 20 kmpl on highways).

I am looking to keep this car for 10 years and looking forward to more road trips in the coming months. Sharing below a picture of my Tucson.