Hyundai iGen i20 1.4 CRDi: 38,000 Kms Ownership Report


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Hi Guys..

It been 2 years since I owned my 2nd car i20 Crdi and now sold for a Verna 1.6 Crdi... I will try to recollect and write as much as possible from the car buying decision till the date I sold it

Few might feel, that my review is a little biased, as I do not have much of complain and if i did have, there are many positives in this car which lets me not care much of the negatives.

Its going to be a long review, so I thought, I add a quickie before I start with

Quickie:

At the end of 2 years/38k kms was I happy - Yes, very much

Is handling/suspension a major problem - No, not at all (Explained in detail later)

Engine performance and reliability - Very good, Car never broke down even once, no spare parts changed

Hyundai After sales service experience - Good (with its own set of minor issues which is common with every other manufacturer)

Average mileage overall - 14 - 15 in City, 19 - 20 on highways.. (I am not a too sedate driver)

Reason for selling - Wanted to upgrade to a Sedan

Do I need a new car? :

My First car was a Petrol Swift Vxi bought in May '11 .. Back then. I did not have much knowledge of automobiles. what the engine numbers mean, what difference do they make and what things to look for in buying a car. Having said that. Having seen the enormous success of Swift even after years since its launch. I went ahead and booked it. Its a awesome car, but the rising petrol costs were being a big problem for me.. Meanwhile. I got my job transfer from Mumbai to chennai. and I saw this as a chance to convince my parents to get a new car, taking into consideration the re-registration charges and the car transport charges itself coming to around 70k together. I planned to sell it and sold it in April '12..

One thing was sure,My next car has to be a diesel. By now, I had gained some knowledge on cars by reading online forums and reviews. and I had 2 months to research on get a good car now that I know what things needs to be taken into consideration. And my budget was 7 lacs on-road.

Buying decision

First of all i20 was never in my list, mainly because, I always thought it was costly hatchback (I was wrong.. later on this topic)...

Cars considered & rejected: (No offense meant to any of the owners owning the below vehicles, its just my personal opinion)

1.) Swift

Pros:

- Great car to drive in city.
- Proven Fiat 1.3 mjd
- Interiors on the new version were far more pleasing than the older one
- Nice peppy engine

Cons:

- Already had a swift .. Should I go for another swift (Parent's question)
- Long waiting period of 6+ months

Overall a nice car, within my budget, mid variant was costing around 7 lacs, but the long waiting period put me off..

2.) Figo

Pros:

- Nice all rounder
- Handling and drive quality is good
- Overall a spacious car with good boot space
- Well under budget, even the top end was well within my budget

Cons:

- Engine is noisy
- Atleast a 75+ bhp was needed
- Average interior design and quality

Somehow, I did not get that feeling of love at first sight, and the engine noise was upsetting even more.

3.) Polo

Pros:

- Great build quality
- Superb suspension
- Good handling

Cons:
- 3 cylinder engine was again noisy
- Interiors were cramped. and was never able to get into a good driving position
- VW ( Human physcology , costly spares and after sales service)

My cousin had a polo, and I borrowed from him for a day and roamed around the city for 100 odd kms.. The car was great to drive, No complains in handling and suspension. No rattling , But. the 3 cyl engine performance was still a drawback. In city drivability was good, but above 110-120.. the engine some how feels like its breathing out.. again, it was very noisy. the foot well was very narrow, the center console, the right side door handle kept hitting my knees and did not feel much comfortable at the end of the day, So this was also rejected..

Punto - First of all I did not like the look of the car, plus the interior design was not too pleasing either. Did not test drive

Liva - Did not like the looks, interior quality was just average and the dash layout and design was not too pleasing either - Did not test drive.

Till this time, when I was left with nothing. I never had i20 in my mind.. Then since the iGen i20 had just released. I thought why not go and test drive it.

The moment I got into car, the feeling that.. this is it. striked me from the heart.. premium looking dash board design, Good spacious cabin, very good space for the foot well. I cranked the engine and oh boy, Is it a diesel (I asked the SA literally) and he was like, yes sir. My entire presumption that diesel engines are noisy was almost negated by this car. I drove for around 30 mins inside the city.. No stress at all. awesome light steering, good space all around. The engine does sound a bit, put a mild song and AC at blower 1, and you wont notice if its a diesel mill running under the hood. No vibrations at all on the pedals ( I felt with all other diesels I test drove). The 90 bhp engine feels so relaxed. at 100 in 6th gear, the RPM hovers around 1900. Overall felt very good.

Now comes.. Does it fit my budget. I asked SA for the price list, and bang man. i20 has a variant with price matching every other variant of Swift/Polo.. Swift LDI - I20 ERA, Swift VDI - I20 magna, Swift Zdi - i20 Sportz (Though with only driver side airbag).. The price difference between variants were just around 20k.. and is very much justified for a bigger space, bigger and refined engine, overall a big hatchback (4m, its the size of swift dzire)

Cons: Well.. At the time I did test drive, I was so impressed by the engine refinement and the spacious cabin. I did not have time to think on what to complain

Swift/Figo/Polo - I had read lots of reviews over the net and I had quite a bit of info on user experiences, but i20.. I had not read any review. So. I thought. Better read user reviews and see if any one has any major complains about the vehicle. So the research phase started and I read as much ownership reviews as possible over the auto forums.. Every where the main complain was light steering, poor handling, soft suspension. But. Light steering - I felt very comfortable and easy to drive (Not a issue for me), Poor handling - I drove till 100 kmph and I felt the car in good control (Again not a issue for me), Soft suspension - Again in city, soft suspension gives good driving comfort (Not a issue for me).. So the mostly talked complains were not much of a bother to me.. So after discussing with parents. I decided to book the car..

Buying & Dealership experience

So, In first week of June(Apologies, I could not recollect the exact date) I booked the car at Express Hyundai showroom (Velachery branch), Since it was a new launch waiting period quoted was 2 months which was reasonable compared to 6+ months for swift. To my surprise. I got a call from last week of June that, my car has been allotted and I can get delivery in first week of July. I had taken loan from SBI, and I got the approval and sanctioned loan in couple of days, Once the car arrived, did a thorough PDI (Never knew something like PDI exsists and can be done while buying swift).. Once satisfied. Made the balance payment and go ahead for registration.. and I had requested the delivery date for 5th July '12. and the dealer agreed but did not looked too convinced.. Anyway. I reached the showroom at 4 pm on 5th July. and even till 6 pm, I could not see my car anywhere. The dealer said, Saar.. its coming from Sholinganallur yard, Heavy traffic saar.. I did not create any fuss, as I did not wanted to spoil the ambience and my mood. The car finally came at around 6:30 pm. Did the dealer side pooja and took a snap. Checked the vehicle again. Could not check thoroughly as it was very dark.. I had no option , By the time I took the car out, it was around 7 pm.. Straight away went to temple and did a proper pooja and drove back home..

Few pics taken on the day after delivery

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Overall happy with the buying and dealership experience, except for the delay on the delivery day (It happens, everything doesn't always happen your way :P )

Little advice from my side for those availing loans:

Its always best to get loans from Public sector banks over Private sector banks..

The private sector banks may lure you with lower interest rates, e-approval, spot approval and what not .. Guys please, these are not that important. The most important thing is whether the bank allows pre-payment/part payment. If it does allow then after how many months/years. How many times can part payment be done and in what amounts. What are the penalties of doing pre-payment/part payment. These things are very important. Most of the private sector banks have lots of restrictions and penalties for pre-payment/part payment and the penalties are pretty huge. Do ask the bank rep about these things and then decide. The private sector banks do have one advantage of doing less paper work but at what cost?

In public sector banks, I agree. lot of paper work is required, but every document which they ask can be provided and they do have alternatives, its just that it takes time (not more than 2 days) and we have to do some extra additional work from our side. Once done, we have complete peace of mind and flexibility, For example, SBI, has a flat processing fee of 500 rs, whereas private sector banks charge atleast 1% of the principal amount(Which itself comes to 5k for a loan of 5 lacs) , Pre-payment can be done anytime even the very next month of awailing the loan, part payment can be done as many times as you want with 0 penalty.

So, Please take care of above mentioned things before awailing loan..

To be continued...
 
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