Hyundai Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDi SX(O) AT (2014): My Korean Beauty Comes Home


Thread Starter #1
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Oct 15, 2012
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It has been long since I have posted an ownership review so please bear with me. Attaching the link of my previous ownership review just for your reference.

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...y-swifts-6th-birthday-amazing-experience.html

It all started in May 2017 when I sold my Maruti Suzuki Swift which I had owned for 10 long years without issues. That car was a gem and I had a lot of memories attached to it which will never fade away. I initially was looking out for a compact sedan and had decided to wait for the New Dzire which was expected soon at that time. I checked out and TD'ed the Baleno (though not a compact sedan) and liked it but thought of waiting for the Dzire to launch. In this period I took a TD of the Brezza for fun and instantly fell in love with the commanding driving position and road visibility. At the back of my mind I was wondering whether to wait for sometime and increase my budget and buy a compact SUV/MUV instead. I ended up booking the Ertiga Vxi since that fell in the budget I had planned for and also gave the big car feel to some extent. They had told me that the waiting period is around 3-4 weeks. In this period the news of the launch of Tata Nexon was making rounds and once the launch was imminent and I instantly decided to wait for it. I cancelled the Ertiga booking and waited for the Nexon patiently keeping track of any updates on it.
One fine day the Nexon was launched and the pricing too was within my reach! I instantly ended up going to the Tata showroom that weekend saw the car in flesh and ended up booking it. I was told the deliveries of the diesel cars would start first and the the petrol so i would have to wait. But I was in two minds whether to go in for the petrol or the diesel engine since the media drives had mentioned that the petrol engine was not that good except for a couple for reviews which preferred the petrol engine. I had decided to wait for TD of both diesel and petrol and then take a decision. The diesel TD happened within a few days of launch and I was to some extent disappointed that the TD of the petrol variant was getting delayed. One day suddenly my dealer called and said that the petrol TD vehicle had arrived. I went to the showroom that following weekend and took the TD. I liked the petrol engine and was satisfied with it. During this period the launch of the new Ecosport was doing the rounds and also the mention of a new petrol Dragon engine was keeping me interested in it. I decided to wait for the Ecosport launch and not cancel the Nexon booking since I had liked the Nexon a lot and for some reason if I did not like the new Ecosport I can always look back to the nexon with this booking.
The new Ecosport finally launched and the dealer called me saying that they have the TD's of both petrol and diesel manual variants. I decided to go and have a TD of the petrol variant. The pricing between the Titanium MT and Trend + AT was a mere Rs.20k which kept me thinking about the AT. I was ready to compromise on the features which the Titanium MT variant offered over the Trend + AT (projectors, drls, alloys etc). The ease of driving an AT especially in Bengaluru B2B traffic was what kept me more inclined towards the AT. I took a TD of the petrol manual and liked the car and booked the AT. The dealer confirmed that the AT TD car would be arriving soon and he would let me know when it arrives. After a few days got a call that the AT TD car had arrived. I went that weekend and took a TD and instantly liked it and continued with my plan to go ahead with the AT. Since I thought it would be better to buy a 2018 manufactured car the dealer confirmed I would get it by end of January 2018 and decided to wait.
During this period gave my final level CFA exam. I had known that the value of CFA in India is still very less and it has more scope abroad (UK,Canada,Australia etc). I also spoke to a friend who has done her CFA and settled in Canada and she has agreed to help me find a good option. This affected my buying a new car plan and the thought of buying a used car came to my mind since what if I end up going somewhere abroad within a year or so (may take more time too). No one else drives a car at home and the worst thing would be buying a new car and selling it within a year or so considering it would depreciate quite a lot. I was looking out for a used AT and came across a couple of good Diesel Verna ATs through known sources. I had always liked the appearance of the car a lot and after driving for some distance fell in love with it. I decided to go ahead with a 2014 Silver Hyundai Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDi SX (O) AT which was very well maintained and had run 33k kms. The owner (a colleague from my previous company) was ready to give me the service history and was desperate to sell since he was relocating to the US in January. He was happy handing over his car to a known person and i was happy that I was buying a good car from a known person.
My journey of buying a car has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride (almost 7 months) but finally I am totally satisfied with the decision I made. I have driven the car for about 350 kms till now and I am loving every bit of it. I guess Silver is my lucky colour since my previous Swift and now my Verna too is Silver. [lol]

Positives about the car :
- 6 Airbags, ABS, EBD and rear disc brakes
- 4 speed automatic gearbox
- Torquey engine has excellent pickup
- Steering is light and is easy to drive in city
- Gets all the bells and whistles - 16" dual tone alloys, Projectors, DRL's, Reverse
parking Camera and rear parking sensors, Audio with bluetooth and steering
controls, Auto folding ORVM's, Electrically adjustable and retractable ORVMs,
Leather upholstery
- Decent FE. Getting around 13 kmpl in city and got 16 kmpl on my highway trip to
Mysore according to MID and not tank to tank method

Negatives of the car :
- No touchscreen infotainment and audio quality is very average to my liking
- Only 4 speed gearbox and the gear ratios are very tall
- Beige upholstery is tougher to maintain
- Ground clearence may be a concern though I haven't faced any issues as of now
- Since the car seating position is low may be a concern for older people

I shall keep updating this thread as and when more updates crop up. I am planning to change the ICE setup soon so please help me with your suggestions which will be highly appreciated. I am looking to continue with the stock HU - may be add components to the front and rear doors coupled with a 4 channel amplifier. No subwoofer this time around since that interest has died down. Thank you for taking some time out and reading this review.
Adding a few pictures of the car first day after pooja and after a wash!
 

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Joined
Mar 30, 2011
Messages
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Location
Bengaluru
It has been long since I have posted an ownership review so please bear with me. Attaching the link of my previous ownership review just for your reference.

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...y-swifts-6th-birthday-amazing-experience.html

It all started in May 2017 when I sold my Maruti Suzuki Swift which I had owned for 10 long years without issues. That car was a gem and I had a lot of memories attached to it which will never fade away. I initially was looking out for a compact sedan and had decided to wait for the New Dzire which was expected soon at that time. I checked out and TD'ed the Baleno (though not a compact sedan) and liked it but thought of waiting for the Dzire to launch. In this period I took a TD of the Brezza for fun and instantly fell in love with the commanding driving position and road visibility. At the back of my mind I was wondering whether to wait for sometime and increase my budget and buy a compact SUV/MUV instead. I ended up booking the Ertiga Vxi since that fell in the budget I had planned for and also gave the big car feel to some extent. They had told me that the waiting period is around 3-4 weeks. In this period the news of the launch of Tata Nexon was making rounds and once the launch was imminent and I instantly decided to wait for it. I cancelled the Ertiga booking and waited for the Nexon patiently keeping track of any updates on it.
One fine day the Nexon was launched and the pricing too was within my reach! I instantly ended up going to the Tata showroom that weekend saw the car in flesh and ended up booking it. I was told the deliveries of the diesel cars would start first and the the petrol so i would have to wait. But I was in two minds whether to go in for the petrol or the diesel engine since the media drives had mentioned that the petrol engine was not that good except for a couple for reviews which preferred the petrol engine. I had decided to wait for TD of both diesel and petrol and then take a decision. The diesel TD happened within a few days of launch and I was to some extent disappointed that the TD of the petrol variant was getting delayed. One day suddenly my dealer called and said that the petrol TD vehicle had arrived. I went to the showroom that following weekend and took the TD. I liked the petrol engine and was satisfied with it. During this period the launch of the new Ecosport was doing the rounds and also the mention of a new petrol Dragon engine was keeping me interested in it. I decided to wait for the Ecosport launch and not cancel the Nexon booking since I had liked the Nexon a lot and for some reason if I did not like the new Ecosport I can always look back to the nexon with this booking.
The new Ecosport finally launched and the dealer called me saying that they have the TD's of both petrol and diesel manual variants. I decided to go and have a TD of the petrol variant. The pricing between the Titanium MT and Trend + AT was a mere Rs.20k which kept me thinking about the AT. I was ready to compromise on the features which the Titanium MT variant offered over the Trend + AT (projectors, drls, alloys etc). The ease of driving an AT especially in Bengaluru B2B traffic was what kept me more inclined towards the AT. I took a TD of the petrol manual and liked the car and booked the AT. The dealer confirmed that the AT TD car would be arriving soon and he would let me know when it arrives. After a few days got a call that the AT TD car had arrived. I went that weekend and took a TD and instantly liked it and continued with my plan to go ahead with the AT. Since I thought it would be better to buy a 2018 manufactured car the dealer confirmed I would get it by end of January 2018 and decided to wait.
During this period gave my final level CFA exam. I had known that the value of CFA in India is still very less and it has more scope abroad (UK,Canada,Australia etc). I also spoke to a friend who has done her CFA and settled in Canada and she has agreed to help me find a good option. This affected my buying a new car plan and the thought of buying a used car came to my mind since what if I end up going somewhere abroad within a year or so (may take more time too). No one else drives a car at home and the worst thing would be buying a new car and selling it within a year or so considering it would depreciate quite a lot. I was looking out for a used AT and came across a couple of good Diesel Verna ATs through known sources. I had always liked the appearance of the car a lot and after driving for some distance fell in love with it. I decided to go ahead with a 2014 Silver Hyundai Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDi SX (O) AT which was very well maintained and had run 33k kms. The owner (a colleague from my previous company) was ready to give me the service history and was desperate to sell since he was relocating to the US in January. He was happy handing over his car to a known person and i was happy that I was buying a good car from a known person.
My journey of buying a car has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride (almost 7 months) but finally I am totally satisfied with the decision I made. I have driven the car for about 350 kms till now and I am loving every bit of it. I guess Silver is my lucky colour since my previous Swift and now my Verna too is Silver. [lol]

Positives about the car :
- 6 Airbags, ABS, EBD and rear disk brakes
- 4 speed automatic gearbox
- Torquey engine has excellent pickup
- Steering is light and is easy to drive in city
- Gets all the bells and whistles - 16" dual tone alloys, Projectors, DRL's, Reverse
parking Camera and rear parking sensors, Audio with bluetooth and steering
controls, Auto folding ORVM's, Electrically adjustable and retractable ORVMs,
Leather upholstery
- Decent FE. Getting around 13 kmpl in city and got 16 kmpl on my highway trip to
Mysore according to MID and not tank to tank method

Negatives of the car :
- No touchscreen infotainment and audio quality is very average to my liking
- Only 4 speed gearbox and the gear ratios are very tall
- Beige upholstery is tougher to maintain
- Ground clearance may be a concern though I haven't faced any issues as of now
- Since the car seating position is low may be a concern for older people

I shall keep updating this thread as and when more updates crop up. I am planning to change the ICE setup soon so please help me with your suggestions which will be highly appreciated. I am looking to continue with the stock HU - may be add components to the front and rear doors coupled with a 4 channel amplifier. No subwoofer this time around since that interest has died down. Thank you for taking some time out and reading this review.
Adding a few pictures of the car first day after pooja and after a wash!
Wise choice, Congrats. I would like to add these:
Ground clearance
will be a problem, over some of those unscientific speed bumps which are made as if to to "launch the car skywards". From the peak, the down slope is sort of abrupt; either the suspension gives a 'thud' sound or the bottom scrapes [frustration] . Wise is to halt momentarily on top of the bump, and let it roll down gently.

Quickly add a "seat cover in Beige Color". Color gels with the car and gives a bright feel.
 
Thread Starter #7
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
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Location
Bengaluru
Just an update! Got the car serviced at Trident Hyundai, Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore and I am totally satisfied with their service. The service advisor Mr.Madhukar was a friendly person and explained everything in detail.
Also the rear brake pads had worn out so got them replaced too. Total damage to pocket was Rs.14,981/- all inclusive (Labour and GST). Also asked the service advisor to check the overall health of the car and he confirmed that it is in excellent condition.
Done around 500 kms so far and I am loving the car everyday.
 
Joined
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Congratulations on your new acquisition[:)]. The Verna CRDI AT is really an awesome car. Have driven my friends car for few thousand kilometers. The only let down would be its mileage figures and outdated 4 Speed AT gearbox.
 
Thread Starter #10
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Bengaluru
Congratulations on your new acquisition[:)]. The Verna CRDI AT is really an awesome car. Have driven my friends car for few thousand kilometers. The only let down would be its mileage figures and outdated 4 Speed AT gearbox.
Thank you vikvis14. I am getting a decent mileage of around 12-13 kmpl in city mostly with AC on and 16+ kmpl with AC on highway (MID and not tank to tank method). It is not the best of mileages but considering it is a very powerful engine I am very happy. The ease of driving is what I was looking for and this car has exceeded my expectations with its amazing pickup and ease of driving in city (light steering).
 
Last edited:

allhyundaicars

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Just an update! Got the car serviced at Trident Hyundai, Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore and I am totally satisfied with their service. The service advisor Mr.Madhukar was a friendly person and explained everything in detail.
Also the rear brake pads had worn out so got them replaced too. Total damage to pocket was Rs.14,981/- all inclusive (Labour and GST). Also asked the service advisor to check the overall health of the car and he confirmed that it is in excellent condition.
Done around 500 kms so far and I am loving the car everyday.
is your car under warranty ? if not then you should find some good aftermarket shop to procure less expensive OE parts.

part's in hyundai packaging has exorbitant price. OE parts are available for much less.
i bought the rear brake pads for 1900rs , the only difference was that it was in kia packaging (imported) check the details here
caliper is manufactured by MANDO and you won't believe that the front and rear pads in mando packaging were available at a total of 1500rs.

master cylinder in hyundai packaging costs 4500rs. TCIC OE part costed just 900rs.
details here
 
Thread Starter #12
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
489
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162
Location
Bengaluru
is your car under warranty ? if not then you should find some good aftermarket shop to procure less expensive OE parts.

part's in hyundai packaging has exorbitant price. OE parts are available for much less.
i bought the rear brake pads for 1900rs , the only difference was that it was in kia packaging (imported) check the details here
caliper is manufactured by MANDO and you won't believe that the front and rear pads in mando packaging were available at a total of 1500rs.

master cylinder in hyundai packaging costs 4500rs. TCIC OE part costed just 900rs.
details here
Yes the car is under warranty till November this year (2018) and that is the reason still sticking to Hyundai Genuine parts. I shall surely try to find out where these parts are available in Bangalore so that next time I can buy them from there. Thank you for the information!
 
Joined
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Excellent purchase thegreatv !

A Verna Fluidic CRDI has always been my dream car, though it's far out of budget. A used one with AT, is a Gem for your BLR b2b traffic rides.

I have test driven a used 2014 CRDI AT Verna a year ago, which was run only 25k km and asking price was 10.5L. I plainly refused, though the car was in mint condition. I bargained for 8.5L and was ready to shell till 9 for its AT.

But the city mileage 12-13 and highway mileage 16 kmpl with AC is too low in my opinion. It should be little more. I would dare to suggest you little more sedate throttle press, if possible. Since AT behaves & responds well when throttle is kissed gently, kindly give a try and let us know if you see any improvement in fuel efficiency.

I heard one of my colleages telling me his cousin's Verna AT (with 4 speed Torque Convertor box) gave 23 kmpl on highway when driven at around 130-140 kmph speed. (I know he was bluffing:wink::)

23 kmpl on an AT VErna with 1.6 engine, that too at 140 kmph is not at all possible.

But I guess you could get somewhere around 18 on highway with AC, and at least around 14 in City...

The only negative I would mention on this car is the old school 4 speed slush box. The current new Gen Verna has 6 speed though.

However, seems you have got rear disc brakes, which is absent in today's version and in that aspect I would say you're lucky in terms of safety.

Wishing you thousands of miles of safe and happy driving. Please keep updating.

Warm Regards
Kumar
 
Thread Starter #14
Joined
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Messages
489
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Location
Bengaluru
Excellent purchase thegreatv !

A Verna Fluidic CRDI has always been my dream car, though it's far out of budget. A used one with AT, is a Gem for your BLR b2b traffic rides.

I have test driven a used 2014 CRDI AT Verna a year ago, which was run only 25k km and asking price was 10.5L. I plainly refused, though the car was in mint condition. I bargained for 8.5L and was ready to shell till 9 for its AT.

But the city mileage 12-13 and highway mileage 16 kmpl with AC is too low in my opinion. It should be little more. I would dare to suggest you little more sedate throttle press, if possible. Since AT behaves & responds well when throttle is kissed gently, kindly give a try and let us know if you see any improvement in fuel efficiency.

I heard one of my colleages telling me his cousin's Verna AT (with 4 speed Torque Convertor box) gave 23 kmpl on highway when driven at around 130-140 kmph speed. (I know he was bluffing:wink::)

23 kmpl on an AT VErna with 1.6 engine, that too at 140 kmph is not at all possible.

But I guess you could get somewhere around 18 on highway with AC, and at least around 14 in City...

The only negative I would mention on this car is the old school 4 speed slush box. The current new Gen Verna has 6 speed though.

However, seems you have got rear disc brakes, which is absent in today's version and in that aspect I would say you're lucky in terms of safety.

Wishing you thousands of miles of safe and happy driving. Please keep updating.

Warm Regards
Kumar
Thank you Kumar! I shall surely try to drive more sedately and get more FE out of the engine. But the power is so amazing it is hard to control at times [;)]. The gearbox is surely the only let down but I cannot complain since facelifts keep changing something nor the other every year to be on par with the current trends. I too wouldn't be able to buy a brand new one and that too a Diesel Automatic. Luckily came across a known source (desperate too) selling one at the right time so seized the opportunity!
 
Joined
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Location
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Thank you Kumar! I shall surely try to drive more sedately and get more FE out of the engine. But the power is so amazing it is hard to control at times [;)]. The gearbox is surely the only let down but I cannot complain since facelifts keep changing something nor the other every year to be on par with the current trends. I too wouldn't be able to buy a brand new one and that too a Diesel Automatic. Luckily came across a known source (desperate too) selling one at the right time so seized the opportunity!
Power part, I totally agree with you. This is the engine that powers Creta 1.6 as well. I had an opportunity to drive my boss's Creta for some work, and voila, what a power grunt. I would say the power is extraordinary and the vehicle is overpowered for Chennai City Traffic. I was just terrified at the first throttle, and wow, it's great. I can bet Honda City I D Tec Diesel with 100PS power and 1500 cc engine can't stand beside the Verna, be it new Gen or old generation.

Overall Verna is great. Be little careful while cornering at high speeds, since that's where people have shown concern, I am not that sure though. Other Verna owners can comment on this part.

Keep driving and munching happy miles, safe ones too. [:)]
 

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