Why I replaced my 2019 Nexon MT with a 2023 Nexon AT

My recent drive up to Khalapur toll gave a very satisfactory fuel efficiency figure of 21.4 km/l.

BHPian bhp4putuval recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Outgoing Car

• Nice, cool car, never let me down. Some of the features of its journey with me.
• Done 15K thanks to COVID. 40 km Daily Ride for 5 days a week.
• Used 'economy' for highway rides & 'city' for city drives. Gave 18 km/l easily.
• On the highway from home to the office on an early morning with minimal breaking and signals, it gave 22 km/l.
• Never went below 16 km/l.
• Altogether, 2 Minor collisions resulting in damage to another car, with scratches on Nexon, very good build.

Why change then?

• Mumbai traffic is becoming unbearable. Left leg pain after long traffic. This is the same for long-distance drives too.
• Getting a decent price for Nexon XE (No autocop, no central locking)
• The salesperson, Mr Mark Naidu, had changed dealership. My previous experience with him was good, and he was on my contact list, so WhatsApp him to check out new cars. Got an immediate response.

Present Car

Since my past experience was good, I did not bother to do a test drive or PDI. I went straight to the point about exchanging the car. Safari was in mind, but the cost was outside my budget.

The waiting period was a concern, so I asked for cars that are available. There were two colours: Foliage green & Daytona Grey. My favourite colour was Grey, all my past cars were grey too for a reason. The colour never fades. My Indica Vista still looked new after 9 years of ridership.

Booked seat covers for a discount. Got the standard free accessories. Thanks to Ram Navami's holiday and a goof-up in the passport scanning, the RTO portal upload got delayed. But finally, got the car in hand on Saturday, in precisely one week (Went to the showroom on a Saturday at 5 PM, and got the delivery of the vehicle the following Saturday at 5 PM).

Mark as well as his seniors were extremely helpful throughout the journey. I would recommend Trident Motors, Vikhroli, Mumbai if you want a good dealership experience.

Ride

This is my first automatic drive. So the occasional urge to go for the stick when changing speed was a concern. Almost got hit by an auto from the back for pressing the break mistaking it for the clutch. Took me ages to reach home because of my lack of experience.

In heavy traffic, had trouble keeping the car in check because of its urge to rush even without touching the accelerator, almost colliding with a car in the front. I had to keep the car on neutral even if waiting for a second. But I was feeling the adrenaline and loving it. But the car bonnet blew a very strong hot wind when I opened it for the pooja ceremony (The poojari drawing the swastika and applying sandalwood paste on various engine components, and tying the garland). So need to ensure that I do not overheat the car in traffic conditions.

Reversal is a little concerning for me. There is too much power that it looked the car had a mind of its own. It just wants to drive full speed in reverse, so have to keep your foot on the brake pedal to ensure the car stays within limits.

The next day Sunday, took it out on a ride to get myself comfortable with the car's mechanics and managed to get control of the car. So decided to go out of the city because I was on leave for a week. Decided to go to Lonavala with my father, my family was on vacation to their native place.

The long ride from my place to Lonavala was easy, comfortable and entertaining. My ride up to Khalapur Toll and its food plaza gave a very satisfactory mileage figure.

The mileage after climbing the ghats and reaching the hotel was 21.4 km/l.

The drive inside the city was on 'city', while on the highway, the car was in 'economy' mode. Since it was early morning, I did not put on the AC because it was very cool. So the above mileage is without AC.

I did not use the sports mode, never felt the need for it. Even while climbing the ghat, the car was moving slowly but never showed any sign of more power. Of course, I did not want to push it because it was a new car. I will wait for the first service to test the sports mode.

The occasional shifting of gear inside was pulling the car back during the transition. And it is very visible. There is no smooth transition. We have to get used to the fact that there will be a transition pull in the opposite direction during the speed of 30-35 km (3rd gear), 45-50 km (4th gear), 58-62 km (5th gear) and 71-73 km (6th gear). While overtaking, will keep an eye on the speed of the car because it could happen that you are overtaking the car at the transition speed, and you are being pulled back during the transition, and you could get stuck in no-man land if there is a car coming from the opposite side.

During the drive, if the car is going over speed, pulling your leg away from the accelerator is enough, the car drives as if it is on cruise mode. I looked at the instant fuel indicator, and it was showing full bars. It is as good as driving in neutral in a manual car (though not recommended unless you are an expert driver).

So that is an update for now. Will be going back from Lonavala today, hoping to reach home by 2 pm after a detour. Will provide an update on the return mileage.

Happy Reading! Enjoy your day!

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