Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 (2012) CRDi EX: 81,000+ Kms


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UPDATE Index:

Service updates:
  • 24,000 km and 18 monthsu Update, Dt 19-June-2014 (link)
  • 30,000 Kms : 1st Paid Service Update, Dt 05-Dec-2014 (link)
  • 40,000 Kms : 10-Sep-2015 --- Rs. 12,331/- (link)
  • 50,000 Kms : 07-Aug-2016 --- Rs.12,750/- (link)
  • 60,000 Kms : 13-July-2017 --- Rs.19,000/- (link) .... Bills at link
  • 70,000 kms : 30-Mar-2018 --- Rs 14,100/- (link)
  • 80,000 kms : 05-05-2019 --- Rs 17,015/- (link)

Insurance Updates:
  • 2nd Year (1st Paid) Insurance --- Done in Nov 2013 but posted in Thread on 19-June-2014 (link)
  • 3rd Year Insurance Update, Dt 25-Dec-2014 (link)

Some interesting Stuff:
  • Rat bite and Hyundai Service Bill for Rs.197, Dt 02-Jan-2015 (link)
  • GREAT Escape - Front left tyre BURST at 10 kph, 18-July-2016 (link)
  • Tyres changed around 51,300 km on 19-Aug-2016 (link)
  • Battery Problem and Pushing Car to Start Engine, 09-Feb-2017 (link)
  • Battery Changed at 57 Months & 64,000+ Kms on 21-Sep-2017 (link)
  • 66666 on the Odo, on 10-Dec-2017 (link)
  • Too Scary incidence - Fuel Leakage : on 24-Sep-2018 --- Bill amount Rs.247 (link)
  • Advantage of using Blindspot Mirrors , 18-Dec-2018 (link)
  • 77,777 on the Odo, on 21-Feb-2019 (link)

**************************************************************** ORIGINAL Post # 001 BELOW *******************************************************

I have completed 6500km in my Crystal White Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDI Ex, which came home on 27 Dec 2012. I waited so long for this review just to be sure of what I am writing. My usage is 70% Highway & 30% City, as my office is just 3km from home. Since 2008 I was searching for a new car but no car generated enough passion to warrant an upgrade from my Apr 2000 model Matiz. But, in Nov 2012, came across a Skoda Rapid review, which set my pulse racing. A few weeks of net survey and the short-listed competitors were Rapid, Verna, Duster, Vento, Manza and SX4, all Diesel versions.

Quick TD report: All TDs were done in Dec 2012, on top end diesels. I Loved the way the Rapid drove on the 35km TD, except on 4 points; trouble in releasing the super long travel clutch while shifting gears, horn pad that required me to punch it every time (may be Great Khali would have thumbed it), cabin that did not make me feel I was in a year 2012 car priced at 10L and the constant “thud” sound over every pot-hole in my area. To top it all I stalled the Rapid five times in traffic! With the SA telling that I would take time to adjust to a Diesel, I recalled my effortless TD of Diesel Manza in Oct 2011. Then came the Manza TD for a distance of 20km; releasing the clutch was a smooth affair. The drive, space, NVH levels and features impressed me; but after the TD was over, the family just walked away without even a glance. Blame it on TATA image. Manza proved one major aspect – that I could drive a diesel car. The next TD was on a Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDI, which sold itself to the family even before the TD started when it arrived at the door steps. The 25 km long TD brought forth Verna’s strong points which are modern dash, bright interiors, a sense of being in a car of a higher class, petrol like behavior, cushiony and silent ride over the same pot-holes where Rapid “thudded”, effortless sprint to 130kph and the long list of features. Family was surprised why I didn’t seal the deal then and there. Rapid got its 2nd chance on the next TD on a newer car which I did not stall this time around but the clutch/horn problems persisted. One of my friends was rooting for Duster, but, no one from Palace Orchards Bangalore showroom (nearest to my home) bothered to answer my call; I was afraid of the A$$ obviously. Booked for a Vento TD online (even before Rapid TD started) on a Sunday, and pat came a call within 20 minutes from Mumbai, assuring me of a TD soon, which never came till I paid the advance for Verna (3 weeks later). Disqualified the SX4 from my list without any reason. The negative comments on Verna’s handling above 120kph necessitated a 2nd TD on Verna, but I could check the handling at low speeds only.

Decision making and buying: Heart said Rapid and mind was on Verna. Lost sleep for a few nights, kept mining through the reviews and comments on Rapid and Verna. The Skoda horror stories, the month-on-month sales data, hard to release clutch and regular thudding finally settled the issue. If they sell fewer cars, how will they maintain enough number of inventories for the less than critical spare parts in SCs? Won't they keep the car for a few weeks for the lack of availability of a critical spare part?? Moreover, for Skoda, Rapid is 2nd from bottom; for Hyundai, Fluidic Verna is their redemption to Sedan segment . The MIND WON finally. After analysing the variants, I chose the base Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDI Ex, as I felt the integrated rear seat head restraints gave more roomy feeling inside the cabin than the taller and adjustable ones in higher versions. The trade-off sadly was 15 inch wheels as against 16 inch alloys in SX and above. My old Matiz got Rs 55K offer, the insurance amount of Rs.39K was waived off; free seat covers and floor mats thrown in by the dealer. I paid 10K more for seat cover upgrade and finally paid Rs.10.8L for the Ex variant on 21-Dec-12. Though the car was ready on 24th, I took delivery on 27-Dec-12. From TD to delivery to 1st service, the experience with Blue Hyundai Rajaji Nagar was very good (though it was not a match for Vinayak Skoda). Now let’s move on to my initial ownership review.

Clutch and Size: A M800/Alto/Nano owner can start driving Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDI just like that. That smooth the clutch and power delivery combo are! Easy to pivot the left heal to release clutch with precise control, on the FIRST attempt itself. I simply loved the fact that I did not need to change my driving style much from a Petrol hatch to Diesel Sedan, save for the size. It took me 3 days to adjust to the dimensions of the car. On the 4th day morning I was on my way to Chennai from Bangalore. Got trapped in the traffic snarl due to AIADMK General Council meeting at Chennai on 31-Dec-2012 (needed to take the same stretch three times that day) and grew in confidence.

Power Steering: In my car, the power steering weighs down nicely at highway speeds. On highways I drive one handed holding the steering at 2 O’ clock position and at the end of the recent 1900 km drive (over 4 days), I felt a wee-bit of stiffness in my right forearm, as the steering is not that light at speeds. There is no need to tightly hold (as I have read elsewhere) the wheel all the time, except on bouncy roads or on the sudden level dips and ups on our highway flyovers, especially on top.

Comfort: I got what I expected from a C2 segment sedan. I am 5’11” and others in the family are less than 5’3”. The art leather seat covers (Rs.18K) have made the seats a bit harder and the long drives are a pleasure. The car is a royal comfort for all four of us. The automatic climate control (ACC) cools down the cabin within 5 minutes. The stock OEM audio sounds good with nice bass. The integrated Bluetooth enables easy pairing of mobile for conversations and playing of music . The tilt adjustable steering is sometimes adjusted for the lowest position on lazy cruising at 70-80kph on state highways. The blue illuminated console looks pleasing and easy to read. The comfort of the steering mounted audio and phone controls ensure that the eyes are kept on the road. All these, coupled with the rear view cam display on the mirror have made this an ideal family car. Hyundai should have provided bottle holders in the rear doors, though. And, the windows are placed a bit higher for children and shorter people who may not like the boxed-in feeling. Driver seat height adjustment is a joke IMHO, as only the front portion of the seat is tilted up/down. Yet, it is easy to find a comfortable driving position.

Gear: Depress the clutch and start the engine, wait for 30 odd seconds, engage the 1st gear and you are ready to conquer anything. The car glides from rest elegantly. The 2nd gear can be used as an auto-box in stop-go city traffic (one change to my driving habit as it was the 3rd in Matiz). I have also noticed that in 3rd gear, between 1000 and 1250 rpm and at around 20-25kph, the car pulls on its own without throttle input on level surfaces; slight throttle response cuts this off. Keeping the rpm above 1250 is good enough for most of the driving conditions, and a little dab takes the rpm to above 1500. A word of caution, I have stalled the car a few times, in 2nd gear on inclines, starting from zero speed and 1st gear is mandated in Verna CRDi (second change to my driving style, as 2nd gear was mostly used in Matiz after coming to rest; also the reason why I stalled Rapid, I guess). Selecting the Eco mode will bring up the “gear shift indicator”, which if followed for 4th to 6th gears, will result in a slight reverberating humming sound inside the cabin. Shift a bit later (to keep rpm above 1250 in the shifted gear), and sound disappears. The service people gave some lame answers, but I think I was lugging the engine. Nevertheless the indicator and the multifunction info display are great convenience (especially the distance to empty indicator). The 6th gear is good for speeds above 80 kph and is useless in most city driving conditions (though great for improving highway efficiency). Any overtaking maneuvers in 6th gear can be accomplished without trouble in four lane highways. However, I prefer 5th gear for such moves in dual carriage ways.

Behavior on speed breakers: In my car, the under body scrapes on those EVIL bumps - those tall bumps with the least width. In 6500 km, it would have happened some 25-30 times. If the front wheels go up and down the bump at more than 15kph, the vehicle comes down too fast and the car scrapes the evil bump. Whereas when the width of bump is slightly more and/or the evil bump spotted in time, no scraping sounds. Even now, when I don’t spot the Evil ones, the scraping happens. That said, there’s a super bad road (near my home) which is filled with craters and mounds of varying diameter and depth/height for a distance of 1.5km. However hard one tries, one set of wheels is always inside some crater or on top of a mound. Our BBMP digs and covers and digs and covers and it is been going on since Mar 2011 (what do they try to achieve BTW?). 90% times I take this stretch to reach office on time (as the main road is jammed during school days). Fluidic Verna hasn’t scraped even once in this dirt road! This stretch helped me figure out the reason for scrapping and way to avoid.

Mileage: In city, I get between 13 and 14.5 kmpl. On a relaxed 200km round trip to Avani hills (near Mulbagal in Kolar district) on a Sunday, I got 23.4kmpl (topped up near home before starting journey and filled before end of it). Verna was doing 1800rpm at 100kph and 2500rpm at 130kph. Apart from that run to 130kph, speed was generally around 80kph on that trip. On one 500km trip to home town, I was mostly between 110-120kph with gentle accelerations, and the diesel mill rewarded me with 21.8kmpl (multi info declared 23.6 kmpl). Return trip was driven more enthusiastically, reaching speeds up to 150kph and the mileage dropped to 18.3kmpl. ACC remains ON in all of my drives. And top-up to top-up method used for mileage calculations.

Power: From 52bhp to 126bhp, the transformation has been exhilarating, in highways. The long drives always bring a smile. I used to cruise at 110-120 kph in my old Matiz and was bullied many times for that. Whenever I overtook some cars, they used to overtake me with a purpose, cut in front, slowed me down to 80 and sped away. I had faced this with mostly with Innova taxis, Diesel Swift twins, Diesel Ritz and Diesel i20 cars. In 1.6 CRDi Verna, sprinting from rest to 100kph is done in 10.5s and 0-140 kph is done in 21.3s. On top of all, the Diesel Verna is pretty good cruising at 150-160 speeds. All these generally have discouraged the earlier mentioned trouble mongers on NHs.

Handling: One reviewer commented that “the car doesn’t instill confidence to push above 120kph”. On four lane NHs, I cruise at 140-160kph; And on SHs, the speed drops to 70-110kph due to traffic conditions. Another commented that putting the enemy in the rear seat of Fluidic Verna is a courteous way of punishing him. My 74 year old mom and 14 year old daughter normally occupy the rear row. Due to the music played or due to sleepiness, wife and daughter swap their seats. I have not heard any complaints from the three despite specifically asking about roll, pitch or bounciness (on bad stretches) over these 6500km. Likewise, maintaining 120kph on inner lane at bends never posed a problem with Verna. I hope the next example brings out the handling composure of Fluidic Verna. On a Saturday at 7:30AM, on four-lane NH7, while cruising at 160kph, I was just about to overtake a truck and the trucker suddenly started for the right lane; I could slam the brakes, swerve to the left lane and finish the overtaking without any drama. The family felt it was a cool overtaking maneuver, but, I knew better. Luckily I had noticed a clear left lane before attempting to overtake. Fluidic Verna will not win mountain rallies, but it sure is a confidence inspiring handler, for a family man who likes to push those 126 horses and derive fun. More than the top speed, the sprint to it will bring the smile on one’s face. A few pictures (three with friend's Audi A4, one at Avani Hills and one on the Pamban Bridge) also enclosed.

Misc: Never had trouble adjusting to the left-right re-orientation of indicator stalks, even after driving Matiz for close to 13 years.
 

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Re: Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi Ex : Ownership Review at 6500km

hello Vijay, congrats for the Fluidic Verna. [:D] you own one of the best sedans in India. nice review and nice pictures. did you faced any issue with clutch till now? one thing is common between both of us, we own the same model car. [clap]
 
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Re: Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi Ex : Ownership Review at 6500km

Hai vijay_968,congrats for your Verna, well maintained. Nice review and nice pictures.
 
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Re: Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi Ex : Ownership Review at 6500km

Congratulations on your new Buy.
Hyndai Verna Look and Feel is awesome. If there is no rule on Cooler Stickers restriction, the white with black cooler stickers will be great.
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

Congratulations on your new acquisition buddy[clap]. Nice review.

One of the most VFM sedan in the segment and my favorite as well.

Wishing you miles of happiness with your Verna.

How's the maintenance cost of the car?
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

congrats for your Verna ...
Thanks pal.

Congratulations ... black cooler stickers will be great.
Thank you. Yes, dark films would look great, but, I always felt even the mild sun films (which I had installed in my Matiz), reduce visibility after 6PM.

Congratulations...How's the maintenance cost of the car?
Thanks. For first service I only paid Rs.100/- as auto charge for the SC driver. The billed amount was Rs.Zero. I guess they'll start charging from 2nd service onwards, which is due at 10,000 km.
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

Yes vijay you have to pay for 2nd service as the engine oil etc wil be replaced at that time my bill was Rs. 3250/- for 2nd service which is reasonable IMO. [:)]
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

Congrats Vijay_968 on your fluidic verna. Its a looker for sure. Looks gorgeous in white. I absolutely loved your seat covers. They give a pretty rich look to the interiors.

We too have a fluidic in our garage,but its a petrol 1.6VTVT SX done about 10k kms in close to 18 months.

I have a few questions regarding the EX variant. Does the EX variant gets the rear view camera in the IRVM? Is there Automatic Climate Control also present? And what is the rim size? Is it 15inches or the same 16inches as it comes with the alloys in SX variant?

And since i read that your car has touched its under-belly quite a few times, has it harmed anything? As in have you had any breakdowns because of this,any oil leakage or something?
 
Thread Starter #10
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

... I absolutely loved your seat covers...Does the EX variant gets the rear view camera in the IRVM? Is there Automatic Climate Control also present? And what is the rim size? Is it 15inches ... with the alloys in SX variant?

And since i read that your car has touched its under-belly quite a few times, has it harmed anything? As in have you had any breakdowns because of this,any oil leakage or something?
My wife chose a color that closely match the Verna interiors (shades of colors are beyond me). It was available in a thicker material than the freebie offered and the dealer guys were running away from me. When forced, they mentioned it belonged to the Rs.16K range and I gave them Rs.10K to get this.

The Ex variant has all the goodies like rear view Cam/display on the mirror/sensors, ACC, electrical OVRM adjustment, multi-info disp, steering mounted audio and phone controls etc. But, instead of the 16" alloy wheels, it comes with 15" steel rims. The cooled glove box feature, adj. rear head restrains, front passenger Air bag and electrically fold-able OVRM of the SX variant are also missing in EX.

About the underbelly scrapping: a few of my Engr. friends with relevant knowledge have told me that the underbelly is designed take these abuses. It is nevertheless an irritant which has led to the 3rd change in my driving style. By God's grace till now no breakdowns, oil leakages or any other damages due to it.
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

Congrats on the new Verna vijay_968. Wish you a many happy miles ahead.

Its a nice review of Verna which I have ever read off.
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

hello sir

may know that is there seat adjustment for the driver properly?please reply
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

congrats vijay on your purchase.i too own a 1.6 SX CRDI.
one thing i would like to know is did hyundai did any tweaks to EPS system in newer cars because you said the steering weights up on highway but on my 2012 car it is too light for highways and i have to hold it firmly if i go above 120 kph.
BTW,you have got a very hassle free car. maintenance costs are less.and i cannot complain of anything in the car except ride&handling.
 
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

Congratulation for buying one of the most beautiful cars around in india. It definitely looks great in white, and will look even better with tinted windows. Have fun with the machine.[clap]
 
Thread Starter #15
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Re: Hyundai Fluidic Verna 1.6 CRDi EX: Ownership Review At 6,500 Kms

... is there seat adjustment for the driver properly?...
Yes, a namesake driver's seat adjustment is there. Pls read it under heading "Comfort" in my opening post. I am 5’11” tall and managed to find a good driving position, even with this so called seat height adjustment.

... did hyundai did any tweaks to EPS system in newer cars ....
Maybe yes. I've noticed this heaviness even at 70kph. But, no confirmation from service center staff.

Congratulation ...[clap]
Thanks a lot.
 

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