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i20 N Line N8 iMT ownership update with mileage & service experience

4th January 2024, 12:42 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The fuel efficiency figures are somewhat steady after 8000 km and I feel cars like the Skoda Rapid & Tata Altroz have fewer rattles when going over bad roads.

BHPian Sportigo recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

2 Years of Ownership Experience with the Hyundai i20 N-Line N8 IMT

My previous 1-Year Ownership Experience Post

The White Pearl completed 2 years with me on December 10th, 2023. If you ask me how the experience with it was. I would say “Nothing short of bliss”. I have clocked a little over 15,000 kms on it. 3 free services completed till date and a few repairs here and there. A few more issues are still pending to be sorted. I will divide this post into a series of sub-sections for better readability and understanding.

Overall Experience

Like I said above, the experience of owning this beauty for me was nothing short of bliss. As my own first car, it had everything I could ask for. The power for my driving style, the tech gigs, the features, the comfort and more. It has been reliable beauty through these 2 years without major issues and niggles to worry about. I hope it stays the same in the long run.

Engine, Transmission & Dynamics

Engine and the IMT transmission have served me well. The engine has retained the same smoothness as when I brought it home. I regularly clean the AC filter and the Air Filter to keep the performance of both the engine and AC in almost optimal condition and recently changed both in the 3rd Service.
I had done a trip to Ooty this year and the engine performed well with 4 people and a boot full of luggage. There was no major lag if the engine was engaged in the correct gear. It had left me with a grin on my face throughout the trip (maybe a separate travelogue post for that).
The transmission has given me no major issues as such. It is smooth and well-gated and no erratic behaviour from the IMT Intent sensor when engaging the clutch to change gears. In my last update, I mentioned about a glitch in the IMT in 3rd gear about sudden rev drop when shifting from 2nd gear to 3rd, that issue continues but then again it happens like 1 – 2 in 100 times. Overall the IMT has kept me happy, it's not fast-shifting like an actual manual but the real time need for it is less in everyday driving. Spirited driving, yes I do miss it sometimes but that’s just it.
The stock Ceat SecuraDrive tyres are also ageing well. The grip of the tyres has been holding well till date. There has been no air leakage, sidewall bulging or unnecessary punctures (actually there has been no puncture till date – touch wood for that). The tyre pressure I maintain is around 33 – 35 psi Nitrogen in cold tyres. The TPMS is working well and accurately.

Build Quality, Fit & Finish

In continuation to last year's update, the experience has remained the same. Nothing major to complain about here. The car has been holding up nicely in terms of ageing in these 2 years. Not many rattles or squeaks from anything except the dashboard which I had mentioned in last year's update. It’s not as great built as the Skoda Rapid or Tata Altroz which I felt has far fewer rattles when going over bad roads, stone-paved roads (like the ones we find on some driveways to malls/offices) or somewhat bigger rumble strips when driven around the same speed.

Fuel Efficiency/Mileage

After clocking 8,000 kms, the mileage figures have been remaining somewhat steady now at a constant 10 – 12 kmpl in the city with occasionally shooting to 14 kmpl when I throw in a bit of highway driving in it. 90% of the time, the AC was ON. I did try XP95 petrol twice or thrice but no major difference in the mileage figures but the acceleration in the first 3 gears was a bit smoother, and after that, I switched back to normal 91 Octane Regular Petrol.
This year I did one long trip from Hyderabad – Mysore – Ooty and back clocking a little over 2000 kms, that trip the car returned an average mileage of 16.5 kmpl measured with tank-to-tank methods. That involved city, highway and hill driving also.

Here are some fuel efficiency figures that I logged a few months with tank-to-tank methods along with the estimated tank range for each if continued with the same efficiency figures. Ignore the first reading as that is the reference point at which I started to calculate the mileage, so no mileage figures for that.)

Hyundai ASC Experience

3 Free Services gone through. 3rd recent service witnessed Engine Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter & AC Filter change. I also opted for Wheel Balancing and alignment/Tyre Rotation as it's 2 years now and the car has run above 10k kms. The total invoice came to 4500 INR approx. inclusive of everything with no labour charge. During the start of the service only, I had instructed the supervisor to stick to these and no other changes except general inspection.
My go-to ASS is Kun Hyundai Gachibowli in Hyderabad. I feel that is one of the better ones out there when it comes to attending to issues. But it's not perfect also. Some of the supervisors are always in a hurry to deliver the vehicles. For example, I reported an issue of my right-side headlight fogging, he had noted the issue but did not attend to it till delivery time, I had to remind him and then he looked into it.

Issues/Niggles

Right side headlight fogging which might require a dust cap replacement and if that doesn’t work out will have the whole assembly replaced under warranty.
The AC Mode actuator is making a jam kind of noise every time I switch the modes or while turning off the engine. I spoke with the service supervisor, and he has agreed to replace it under warranty.

Damages

One RE Classic dashed from the rear while waiting at a signal, there was no immediate visible physical damage as such. But after some time once I drove the car for an hour or so, I noticed there was a rattling from the left rear side of the car, I checked the bumper, and it was sort of loose from the left side. I went to ASC to check; he said the clip of the bumper is broken and it would require a complete replacement of the bumper. What intrigued me is that due to this small clip from which the bumper is hanging, broke and the whole bumper needs replacement which if I have to shell out will cost me some 14k INR. I now feel the design of the bumper for fitting could have been better against small damages like this. But that would be just me then I feel.
Another incident involved my front windshield cracking due to a flying stone from a construction truck. The small crack soon developed into a big one and I had to replace the windshield. The insurance took care of it but the cost was around 7.5k INR.