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Before you’ll people begin it is a bit lengthy review so if you’ll have the patience do read it you’ll might gain a few knowledge about the beauty. Apologies for writing it late. It’s a simple and sweet review not too technical and not too much story.
The search had begun exactly about 2 years back. My dad usually has this habit of changing vehicles after every 2 years hence he has never purchased a new car as the value of a pre-owned car was almost half the value of a new & the value of a new car would depreciate a lot after 2 years. So all of a sudden on my force and little support from mom we decided to go in for a new car which we could use it for a minimum of 5 years without any major issues.
The Requirements were simple we required a diesel for sure due to rising price of petrol, also the car should be able to seat 5 people comfortably and should not be heavy on maintenance and below the 10 lacks budget.
The following were the Contenders on the list
1) Maruti Suzuki SX4 ZDi
2) Swift Dzire ZDi
3) Hyundai I 20 Sport CRDi
4) Volkswagen Vento Highline TDi
5) Skoda Rapid TDi
Ford, Tata & Fiat were not considered in the list due to heavy running cost, no reliability and very poor after sales.
Took the test drive of all the cars in the list, the outcome was as follows.
1) Maruti Suzuki SX4 ZDi : We took the test drive of the ZDi version at Maruti Vittese. The car had just been launched about a month back. The interiors of the car was similar to that of the Petrol version. The SX4 diesel was using the same engine that was being used by Swift, Swift Dzire but this had been fitted with a Variable Geometry Turbo Charger which maruti liked to call the Super turbo. Now having owned a swift diesel earlier was completely aware of the turbo lag and the responsiveness of the engine. But the Variable Geometry turbo has done its charm here the 200 Nm torque is available much earlier here at 1750 RPM making the car much more peppier to drive and very minimal Turbo Lag. The car was packed with decent fittings but the quality was really not that upto the mark. Anyways loved the car and the OTR of the ZDI was 9.8 Laks Mumbai which was very much within our budget. The negatives for this car were cramped back Seats and Interiors.
2) Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire VDi: Took a test drive at the same showroom it felt exactly the same like driving the old swift diesel and with the New shape dzire around the corner it was not worth the money. Hence dropped this option of the list.
3) Hyundai I 20 Sports CRDi: We took the test drive of the Hyundai I 20 diesel. The test drive version was a white colour Asta model with 5 speed Manual transmission. We had heard of the six speed gear box but the company had discontinued at that time. The interiors of the car were chocolate brown in colour. The test drive car had done about 19k Kms and was only a year old. The moment I started the car the engine noise was really loud, on enquiring the sales exec told me that the car had not been serviced from some time. I drove the car for a stretch of 4 kms with a few open and straight roads. There is a lot of Turbo lag in the car the 210 Nm of Torque is available at almost 2000-2100 RPM which I felt was a bit more than the swift but once the turbo would spool it was a rocket but again a feature which I loved and my family didn’t. The other issue was the engine was too audible on the inside and the Climate control was somehow not able to chill out the interiors as expected. Again on enquiring the sales exec gave me the same reason that the car had not been serviced. The other few drawbacks were the rattling interiors, very uncomfortable for 5 passangers and the OTR which was almost close to a sedan. The OTR of the Sportz version which we were looking out was 8.1 Lacks. The other major issue was that there were rumours of a Fluidic I 20 to be launched which the Showroom was strictly refusing but luckily we dint go for it as the Fluidic version was launched exactly after a month. Now the Fluidic verna had been launched but the 8 month Wait for a diesel and almost 13.75 OTR for the top end was not worth at that point so never considered that option.
4) Volkswagen Vento: This was my favourite among the list as I love german vehicles due to their strong built and quality all thanks to previous ownership of a Skoda Octavia. We went to test drive the vehicle at the downtown showroom. The test drive vehicle was a silver colour highline variant which had clocked around 11k kms. The car was neat and tidy and the interiors were decent but premium quality. The engine when started is audible on the outside but completely unaudible on the inside at decent speeds. The car was the most powerful on the list. The drive was beautiful the power delivery was beautifull not too harsh and not too linear just perfect. Turbo lag was minimal. The interior was pretty tight for a car that had been used as test car and clocked 11 k Kms. There was no rattling at all the, the seats were comfortable, it had the best back seat comfort among the cars in the list. The car had all the features that were required. Me and my family loved the car the OTR price of a highline was 12 Lacks which was above our budget but the Trendline version was available at around 9.5 Lacks and the company was offering a certain give away offers such as free insurance and accessories budget of 40 k which I could use for any accessories from their company. The wait period earlier for the car which was six months had been reduced to 1 month. We had almost decided on the car but thought of test driving the Skoda Rapid which had been just launched.
5) Skoda Rapid TDi: The car was an exact replica of an Volkswagen Vento but somehow not up to that mark. The drive and ride of the car was exactly the same but the interiors somehow did not feel premium as the Vento. The top end version was much cheaper than the Vento. The OTR of the top end was 10.5 Lacks. But somehow due to Skoda after Sales service and previous experience about the Service we dropped the idea of the Skoda Rapid.
So after immense discussions we finalised the Volkswagen Vento Trendline. At the time due to rise in price of petrol and sudden demand for diesel vehicles there was no discount options available for any of the above options at the year end. As we were looking for a car around November end and with no discounts available we decided on buying the car the next year as it did not make sense to buy a 2012 car in December when you can get a 2013 car in January. So we somehow managed to convince the VW people in offering us the same offers for a 2013 manufactured car.
Now comes the turning point of the story, everything had been decided. We had to go to our native for our yearly Puja at the temple which mostly happens in the Month end of November or in December first week. My Fathers cousin had sent his personal innova for our travel within the village and in and around other villages. My family has always loved the innova and as a previous owner of a petrol version we were completely aware of how smooth our journey was going to be. And as thought our journey was really very smooth, the car took the potholes of the village roads really well without causing any discomfort to us inside, now one the thing about the potholes in the village is that they are not small like the ones in our city but here they are so big that the whole car goes inside it and comes out, it is very difficult to find a clean stretch of road within the village. Now we did a lot of journeys in the car and due to the condition of the road I thought the interiors should be rattling but it was not, the interiors were pretty tight.
Then I thought the car must be new so it might not be rattling but I was wrong again the car was 4 years old. Then again I thought that my uncle must be using it for short runs only hence the car must have not clocked much distance but again I was shocked and this time the shock was big the car had clocked 1.4 lacks kilometres. I could not believe what I was seeing and experiencing. Now came the biggest shock of my life which was really hard to digest but was true. The car had done 1.4 Lacks kilometres but was running on everything stock, From suspension to fuel pump the clutch had just been replace after running 1.2 lacks kilometres. Only thing that would be replaced in intervals was the oil and the tyre even the battery was stock as it had just done 4 years. This was really hard to digest but it was the truth. After this journey my mind completely changed my fathers no doubt had changed. A car which could survive such brutal conditions of the village for so long will surely survive a lot more in the city. So we thought of the innova as another option but the OTR of a G4 was around 14.5 lacks and way out of the budget so we thought of going for a used one.
So we were back to square one of buying a used Innova. The plan of the Vento had been dropped. Now finding a used innova is not a joke majority of the ones available In the market were either complete drained out or their meters had been tampered. When we were about to lose hope we saw an advt of a 2007 G4 Black Innova which had clocked 75k Kms completely maintained by the company with full service history and in excellent condition. We saw the car it was in good condition with few here and theres we finalised the deal at 8 lacks. Now we took the delivery on 24th December and were planning on a trip to Bangalore for new year. We decided to go by road so first things first we changed the tyres of the car as we did not want to take any chances on the highway.
Now after 2 major trips to Bangalore & Tamil Nadu and many short distance trips to Pune & Nashik I am writing this review about the black beauty.
Ownership Review
The Car has now clocked approximately 15k Kilometres the first year running being 10k Kilometres and the second being 5k Kilometres as the second year. I Know that’s nothing for an innova but its all because I started working after the first year of purchase due to which all the outstation journeys by roads to long distances were not possible due to less leaves and the major part of the intercity running’s for my office and other works was done on the family Toyota Corolla H1 which was being run on CNG.
Now since we have baught the car according to the earlier records the car had done work only for oil servicing and for tyres. Since we have bought the car we have just replaced the tyres, Clutch assembly, Brake pads and the battery. Other than these nothing has been done to the car. The car has now run approximately 90k kms on the odo from the time we had bought it at 75k kms on the odo.
The car is a delight to drive. The version which we have is a 7 seater which consists of 2 rows of bucket seats and the last row a 3 seater. There is more than enough room available for all the occupants. Even with the driver’s seat fully taken back the person behind him can sit comfortably with enough room for his/her knees.
The Last row seats can easily carry 2 adults in comfort, 3 Can be a bit uncomfortable though. But it can easily carry 6 adults in comfort.
The Air conditioner is very effective but yes on a hot summer day the rear vent might take some time to chill as the car being black absorbs a lot of heat on the roof top & as the air blows from the Vents close to the roof it take a bit of time.. The front vents however chill instantly.
The engine of an Innova is a 2494 cc Common rail diesel engine with a decent specification of 100 Bhp & 200 Nm torque. Now if you see the specification it looks very poor for a 2.5 lit diesel engine when a 1.3 lit Multijet Diesel engine of a SX4 produces almost similar specifications of 90 Bhp & 200 Nm torque. But trust me the power is more than enough for this heavy beast, it’s not too much but again it’s not too less.
The search had begun exactly about 2 years back. My dad usually has this habit of changing vehicles after every 2 years hence he has never purchased a new car as the value of a pre-owned car was almost half the value of a new & the value of a new car would depreciate a lot after 2 years. So all of a sudden on my force and little support from mom we decided to go in for a new car which we could use it for a minimum of 5 years without any major issues.
The Requirements were simple we required a diesel for sure due to rising price of petrol, also the car should be able to seat 5 people comfortably and should not be heavy on maintenance and below the 10 lacks budget.
The following were the Contenders on the list
1) Maruti Suzuki SX4 ZDi
2) Swift Dzire ZDi
3) Hyundai I 20 Sport CRDi
4) Volkswagen Vento Highline TDi
5) Skoda Rapid TDi
Ford, Tata & Fiat were not considered in the list due to heavy running cost, no reliability and very poor after sales.
Took the test drive of all the cars in the list, the outcome was as follows.
1) Maruti Suzuki SX4 ZDi : We took the test drive of the ZDi version at Maruti Vittese. The car had just been launched about a month back. The interiors of the car was similar to that of the Petrol version. The SX4 diesel was using the same engine that was being used by Swift, Swift Dzire but this had been fitted with a Variable Geometry Turbo Charger which maruti liked to call the Super turbo. Now having owned a swift diesel earlier was completely aware of the turbo lag and the responsiveness of the engine. But the Variable Geometry turbo has done its charm here the 200 Nm torque is available much earlier here at 1750 RPM making the car much more peppier to drive and very minimal Turbo Lag. The car was packed with decent fittings but the quality was really not that upto the mark. Anyways loved the car and the OTR of the ZDI was 9.8 Laks Mumbai which was very much within our budget. The negatives for this car were cramped back Seats and Interiors.
2) Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire VDi: Took a test drive at the same showroom it felt exactly the same like driving the old swift diesel and with the New shape dzire around the corner it was not worth the money. Hence dropped this option of the list.
3) Hyundai I 20 Sports CRDi: We took the test drive of the Hyundai I 20 diesel. The test drive version was a white colour Asta model with 5 speed Manual transmission. We had heard of the six speed gear box but the company had discontinued at that time. The interiors of the car were chocolate brown in colour. The test drive car had done about 19k Kms and was only a year old. The moment I started the car the engine noise was really loud, on enquiring the sales exec told me that the car had not been serviced from some time. I drove the car for a stretch of 4 kms with a few open and straight roads. There is a lot of Turbo lag in the car the 210 Nm of Torque is available at almost 2000-2100 RPM which I felt was a bit more than the swift but once the turbo would spool it was a rocket but again a feature which I loved and my family didn’t. The other issue was the engine was too audible on the inside and the Climate control was somehow not able to chill out the interiors as expected. Again on enquiring the sales exec gave me the same reason that the car had not been serviced. The other few drawbacks were the rattling interiors, very uncomfortable for 5 passangers and the OTR which was almost close to a sedan. The OTR of the Sportz version which we were looking out was 8.1 Lacks. The other major issue was that there were rumours of a Fluidic I 20 to be launched which the Showroom was strictly refusing but luckily we dint go for it as the Fluidic version was launched exactly after a month. Now the Fluidic verna had been launched but the 8 month Wait for a diesel and almost 13.75 OTR for the top end was not worth at that point so never considered that option.
4) Volkswagen Vento: This was my favourite among the list as I love german vehicles due to their strong built and quality all thanks to previous ownership of a Skoda Octavia. We went to test drive the vehicle at the downtown showroom. The test drive vehicle was a silver colour highline variant which had clocked around 11k kms. The car was neat and tidy and the interiors were decent but premium quality. The engine when started is audible on the outside but completely unaudible on the inside at decent speeds. The car was the most powerful on the list. The drive was beautiful the power delivery was beautifull not too harsh and not too linear just perfect. Turbo lag was minimal. The interior was pretty tight for a car that had been used as test car and clocked 11 k Kms. There was no rattling at all the, the seats were comfortable, it had the best back seat comfort among the cars in the list. The car had all the features that were required. Me and my family loved the car the OTR price of a highline was 12 Lacks which was above our budget but the Trendline version was available at around 9.5 Lacks and the company was offering a certain give away offers such as free insurance and accessories budget of 40 k which I could use for any accessories from their company. The wait period earlier for the car which was six months had been reduced to 1 month. We had almost decided on the car but thought of test driving the Skoda Rapid which had been just launched.
5) Skoda Rapid TDi: The car was an exact replica of an Volkswagen Vento but somehow not up to that mark. The drive and ride of the car was exactly the same but the interiors somehow did not feel premium as the Vento. The top end version was much cheaper than the Vento. The OTR of the top end was 10.5 Lacks. But somehow due to Skoda after Sales service and previous experience about the Service we dropped the idea of the Skoda Rapid.
So after immense discussions we finalised the Volkswagen Vento Trendline. At the time due to rise in price of petrol and sudden demand for diesel vehicles there was no discount options available for any of the above options at the year end. As we were looking for a car around November end and with no discounts available we decided on buying the car the next year as it did not make sense to buy a 2012 car in December when you can get a 2013 car in January. So we somehow managed to convince the VW people in offering us the same offers for a 2013 manufactured car.
Now comes the turning point of the story, everything had been decided. We had to go to our native for our yearly Puja at the temple which mostly happens in the Month end of November or in December first week. My Fathers cousin had sent his personal innova for our travel within the village and in and around other villages. My family has always loved the innova and as a previous owner of a petrol version we were completely aware of how smooth our journey was going to be. And as thought our journey was really very smooth, the car took the potholes of the village roads really well without causing any discomfort to us inside, now one the thing about the potholes in the village is that they are not small like the ones in our city but here they are so big that the whole car goes inside it and comes out, it is very difficult to find a clean stretch of road within the village. Now we did a lot of journeys in the car and due to the condition of the road I thought the interiors should be rattling but it was not, the interiors were pretty tight.
Then I thought the car must be new so it might not be rattling but I was wrong again the car was 4 years old. Then again I thought that my uncle must be using it for short runs only hence the car must have not clocked much distance but again I was shocked and this time the shock was big the car had clocked 1.4 lacks kilometres. I could not believe what I was seeing and experiencing. Now came the biggest shock of my life which was really hard to digest but was true. The car had done 1.4 Lacks kilometres but was running on everything stock, From suspension to fuel pump the clutch had just been replace after running 1.2 lacks kilometres. Only thing that would be replaced in intervals was the oil and the tyre even the battery was stock as it had just done 4 years. This was really hard to digest but it was the truth. After this journey my mind completely changed my fathers no doubt had changed. A car which could survive such brutal conditions of the village for so long will surely survive a lot more in the city. So we thought of the innova as another option but the OTR of a G4 was around 14.5 lacks and way out of the budget so we thought of going for a used one.
So we were back to square one of buying a used Innova. The plan of the Vento had been dropped. Now finding a used innova is not a joke majority of the ones available In the market were either complete drained out or their meters had been tampered. When we were about to lose hope we saw an advt of a 2007 G4 Black Innova which had clocked 75k Kms completely maintained by the company with full service history and in excellent condition. We saw the car it was in good condition with few here and theres we finalised the deal at 8 lacks. Now we took the delivery on 24th December and were planning on a trip to Bangalore for new year. We decided to go by road so first things first we changed the tyres of the car as we did not want to take any chances on the highway.
Now after 2 major trips to Bangalore & Tamil Nadu and many short distance trips to Pune & Nashik I am writing this review about the black beauty.
Ownership Review
The Car has now clocked approximately 15k Kilometres the first year running being 10k Kilometres and the second being 5k Kilometres as the second year. I Know that’s nothing for an innova but its all because I started working after the first year of purchase due to which all the outstation journeys by roads to long distances were not possible due to less leaves and the major part of the intercity running’s for my office and other works was done on the family Toyota Corolla H1 which was being run on CNG.
Now since we have baught the car according to the earlier records the car had done work only for oil servicing and for tyres. Since we have bought the car we have just replaced the tyres, Clutch assembly, Brake pads and the battery. Other than these nothing has been done to the car. The car has now run approximately 90k kms on the odo from the time we had bought it at 75k kms on the odo.
The car is a delight to drive. The version which we have is a 7 seater which consists of 2 rows of bucket seats and the last row a 3 seater. There is more than enough room available for all the occupants. Even with the driver’s seat fully taken back the person behind him can sit comfortably with enough room for his/her knees.
The Last row seats can easily carry 2 adults in comfort, 3 Can be a bit uncomfortable though. But it can easily carry 6 adults in comfort.
The Air conditioner is very effective but yes on a hot summer day the rear vent might take some time to chill as the car being black absorbs a lot of heat on the roof top & as the air blows from the Vents close to the roof it take a bit of time.. The front vents however chill instantly.
The engine of an Innova is a 2494 cc Common rail diesel engine with a decent specification of 100 Bhp & 200 Nm torque. Now if you see the specification it looks very poor for a 2.5 lit diesel engine when a 1.3 lit Multijet Diesel engine of a SX4 produces almost similar specifications of 90 Bhp & 200 Nm torque. But trust me the power is more than enough for this heavy beast, it’s not too much but again it’s not too less.
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