My First Car Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi


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Mods - starting with my buying experience, if this is not the suitable place, pls move it to appropriate location. didn't bother to do a spell/grammer check, pls bear with me [:)]

The need
My first possession Bajaj Discover has been serving me for more than 5 years quite effectively and now it was time for an upgrade. Now that we are expecting a new member in the family, it made all the more sense to go for a car. It and it was always there in my dreams and the time has come for me to decide. With a long awaited pay hike blessing us, it seems, I can afford another EMI. After all without a couple of EMIs deducted from your salary, you don’t belong to the so called Indian middle class (just kidding).

Amateur choices
I was not sure what my budget should be. Love at first sight - became a big fan of i20 in no time. What looks man! Seems like the car is moving even when it’s parked out there. Looked at common man’s sedan - Swift Dzire. I was always interested in a sedan.
Also did a lot of R & D on the new entrants like Micra, Beat, Polo and Figo. From various reviews, found that the risk is not worth taking as this is my first car.

Safety first
“Safety first” – she said. When you wife says something, better listen to that. There was an accident in her family and one of her relatives was killed in that accident. Later on, investigation pointed out that the car did not have air bags. That would have saved his life. With her brother (fellow works in the US and advised his sister not to compromise on the safety aspects) vetoing anything other than a top end car, I could see where I was heading.

Wise decision
C’mon guys, I have understood that spending about 1 lakh is not too much to ask when the question is on your life. Worked on my budget and reached at 6 lakhs. With safety features incorporated, my initial choices were out of my reach. Hyundai i20 Asta was way beyond my budget. Same was the case with Dzire ZXi. Finally, zeroed in on Hyundai i10 Asta and Ritz ZXi. Somehow liked the looks of i10 when compared with Ritz. By now, Hyundai launched new i10. Went for a TD with one of my friends. The car was really nice for a newbie like me. “No discounts” – said the sales guy. Ah...that means it will be close to 6.5 Lakhs OTR. Both of us felt that it is not a VFM deal. Various online forums and review done by overdrive – all of them suggested Ritz to be a better car – in terms of VFM, highway manners, maintenance aspects etc. Though the back side of the car was a bit disappointing, keeping practicality in mind, decided it’s going to be Ritz!.

Booking done!
Went to Pratham motors with a friend. Ended up booking the car the same day. Colour – baker’s chocolate- again was decided by my wife. 45 days waiting seemed too harsh. Got a decent deal with cash discount of 23K (20K current offer from Maruti + 3K corporate discount), standard accessories, sun control film and under body anti-rust coating. Had to bargain a lot to get anti corrosion coating free.

What’s your credit score?
Again went through the forums before deciding to choose SBI as my banker for my car loan. Was keeping other banks like axis and HDFC also in the loop as fall back option. Manager at SBI branch in Bagmane Techpark seemed like a nice guy. Told me that it will take 10 days. Gave the docs on 3rd Nov and got the call from him to visit RACPC on 18th 2 PM with form 20 and down payment receipt for disbursal of the loan. Meanwhile they found that my 2 wheeler loan is not closed as per CIBIL records. Had to submit my RC book to prove that the loan was indeed closed. The process so far was relatively painless. Thanks to the manager Venkatesh for all his timely interventions and status updates.

Playing a trick or two
After a few days, the waiting was becoming painful. Went to Bimal motors to see if they have any ready stocks. Tough luck! Baker’s chocolate color was not available but almost every other color is readily available. Called up Pratham and told them that I am getting ready delivery from Bimal. The sales girl told me to wait for couple of days before going with Bimal. In 2 days time, got a call from her telling me that White, Silver and chocolate colors are available now. Great news!.

Will continue...
 
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Congrats on the Ritz buddy. As you said, its not a great looker or a performer, but its a very sensible & practical buy. its a great all rounder.
 
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Welcome here ritzy. Congrats on the purchase. Yes. Safety comes 1st. Everyday, I curse and abuse myself for going in for a Magna and not an Asta. I was plain stupid. Anyway, good choice of color. Accessorized yet? Oh, BTW, mind telling me what the rate of interest of your loan is, as I'm buying another i10, an Asta, soon?
 
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Thanks a lot Raj. Your posts also encouraged me in choosing the car.

Thank you Young. Accessories - thinking on that. Plan is to get a parking sensor + door beading and may be a car cover from the dealer.

For Red Soul sensor he's quoting 4K, seems on the higher side. Let me check outside. Fellow TAI guys, pls share your views.

Seat cover + steering cover - no plans to buy them from the dealer. Will wait for sometime before I buy them. Suggestions are welcome.
 
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ritzy,
congratulations for the new ritz !!
wonderful choice.
and that was really great to read you post .

wishing you a happy and safe driving
 
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Nice write-up , please continue Ritzy.


And hey here i20 Asta itself is only Rs.6.6Lakhs OTR , if i10 is this price then how much is i20 Asta there??!!


Anyways Ritz too is a great choice , i myself like the car except for its looks! Congratulations , and good thing for you Safety first!
 
Thread Starter #7
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Thanks cooldhaya. See below i10 Asta price from Trident's website.

Ex-Showroom Price / Invoice Value:Rs.5,26,909.00

Road Tax Including Local Tax: Rs.81,145.00

Insurance: Rs.19,146.00

Incidental Expenses: Rs.5,500.00

Extended Warranty: Rs.2,500.00


Total On Road Price:Rs.6,35,200.00


With a bit of accessories it will be 6.4+.

Road tax in Bangalore is the killer.

i20 Asta is 700238 OTR.
 
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Whoa! , you are paying almost 40k more in Bangalore! Here i20 Asta (O) with sun-roof and 6 airbags itself cost only 7.2Lakhs OTR.
 
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Countdown begins

SBI's branch manager called me to tell me that my loan is sanctioned and the documents verification/signing is scheduled on 18th Nov at 2PM. Had to take half a day off to go to RACPC on St.Marks Road. Reached there at 1.30 itself. Was waiting, kept on waiting till around 3PM to meet the person who was in charge of my paper work. She apologized for being late as she was caught up in the rain. Found that Rs. 1000/- was already added as SBI life insurance on top of the loan amount. Gosh! I will have to pay interest on this 1000 as well. I did not want the insurance and opted out of it during filling up the form. But there was nothing much left but to sign on the docs with a protest. Had to visit my banker so as to enable ECS. By the time everything go over it was about 5 P.M and she said disbursement will be done next day. Called up the dealer to tell them to collect the cheque + form 20. They started giving some excuses and were insisting that I collect the docs myself.

Went to SBI RACPC today, reached there at 10 PM waiting till 10.30 to meet the same person who process my file. The cheque was not ready as she forgot filling some voucher. Then the section clerks responsible for issuing the chque were not available. Once they came in, the lady(who processed my loan), made sure that I got the disbursement immediately. Got the cheque + form 20 by 11 and left the place.

Well, if you are one with a little less patience, SBI is not for you. If you are used to "Chalega..." attitude, or you can tolerate inefficiency then SBI is the bank for you. Hell lot of paper work, seems like everything there happens on paper. Yes, I am also one of the pampered lot that most of us are, but it was not much of a hassle for me.

Gave the docs + cheque to dealer, registration will happen next week. Will go there and do PDI hopefully on Monday.

Decided not to buy any accessories other than door beading from the dealer, found their prices exorbitant. I was promised sun film and anti-rust coating free. Told them not to put sun film as I found that they are going to put the cheapest quality garware film.

Checked with Favara car accessories (on ITPL road) for my list of accessories, found their quote to be OK. I will take the car to them and get the accessories fitted.

Here's the offer from Favara:

1. Parking sensors - Auto Cop Rs. 1500/-, Red Soul - 2000/- (both are basic ones, dealer quoted 4000/- for Red Soul :O)

2. Seat cover - reasonable quality art leather work is offered at 4K and a better one at 6K(will negotiate further when I I get it done)

3. Steering wheel grip - Rs. 500 (genuine leather one)

4. He has 3M, Garware and Llumar sun control films with him. Didn't check the prices, planning to get that also done by this guy.

To be continued...
 
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That attitude and hassles are always expected from a Government bank. The private banks are really good in these sections but when it comes to paying the loan back Government banks are far better! Private banks rob you more before you settle the loan back to them.



Dealers always quote exorbitant prices! Still i feel you can get the sun-film from the dealer itself. You can change it later after few years to better ones. Why do you spend on something when you are getting it for free?


There is a checklist for PDI here in our forum , take of copy of it along with you , will be quite useful.
 
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Get, set, go!

Badly wanted to do PDI before the car got registered, but as I was pretty much occupied and the stockyard was about 20 Kms from the showroom, I couldn't do it. On 24th - the D day - the sales person called me and told me that they received the registration number. Told them that I would reach by 4 PM to take the delivery. Along with my family, reached showroom around 5. Was carrying a pack of sweets for the sales girl. Upon entering the showroom, found our car parked outside. Once the paper work was over, it was time for the demo. I had a printed copy of PDI checklist with me and verified everything along with the sales guy. ODO meter reading was 26 Kms and from the VIN I could make out that car was manufactured in Oct 2010 (last two characters being KA, thanks to wildon for this). Accessories guy came over to explain about what was fitted upon my request. Parking sensor, sun control film, under chassis coating, some coating on the silencer - that completed the list. The sun film work seemed pretty ordinary. Pooja was done by a priest who seemed to be pretty busy out there. I forgot taking my cam but luckily, the dealer took a photograph and promised to send it to my mail id. Seems like a good practice. It was already 7 by then and there was heavy traffic flow on outer ring road. Being a novice driver I was not comfortable driving a new car home, requested for a drop and a driver was made available.



A couple of pics:


1.jpg

4.jpg

3.jpg


To be continued...
 
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Nice color choice bro , car is looking great! And why do you say sunfilm work is ordinary? It looks to have been neatly done.
 
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Congrats Ritzy, nice color. I never liked the shape of ritz, but after looking at your Ritz iI started liking it, looks different in this color:stupid:.
 

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