It's Time for SX4 Diesel Celebration - Ownership Review


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Initial Test Drives and Decision making:

Getting car is dream of middle class family. I got my first car Alto-Lxi in January 2010. Everyone in the family was excited about new car. That time we were having family size of four people (Me, wife, son and mother). My son was small and my mother used to enjoy lot of space in back seat of Alto even we put extra luggage on back seat on long drives. Thoroughly enjoyed the ride of Alto everywhere we went. There was no trouble of petrol price hikes also.

Alto-LXI - Copy.jpg
ALTO - Copy.jpg

But as you all know that time changes everything. My son was growing fast and we welcomed new family member i.e my daughter (fifth member) by god’s grace. My son started taking space of back seat where we use to keep extra language after loading it inside the boot space. Then eventually petrol prices were rising and my daily usage of my car hitting above 30 Km on average. I am almost Six feet tall and it was painful for me to drive the car of Alto size. I started getting lot of pain in my legs and always felt fatigue after 200 Kms drive. So we started seriously thinking to get Sedan for our family of five.

Then there was instruction from my mother to get a car which can be kept at least five years and don’t change a car after every 2-3 years. So we all zeroed on budget of 7-8 lakh cars and then there was another question Diesel or Petrol? Everyone said Diesel for obvious reasons.

Now what I needed is a car which I can keep for 5 years, excellent after sales support, Good aggressive driving dynamics, large boot space, easy to maintain and off course having plenty of space for 5 people.

Ok now the cars listed were Etios, Manza, Verito, Dzire, Ford classic.

This is what is found during TD of above cars.

Dzire (Vdi):- I took Dzire 2012 model of my friend and gone for long drive and I felt excellent drivability. It gave good economy figures. During drive my leg started hitting against front plastic parts and found no better rare space than swift car. The big let-down was boot space which was not sufficient for my requirement.

Etios( VX-D):- One day I got a call from DSK-Toyota that they are having camp on my place. I got specified time from them for TD and got a test drive car. I took almost 20 kms TD. What a car!! Excellent very VFM. Super light steering was beauty. Everything fell in place for this car except interiors but it was ok with me. Also with respect to power I felt that I am driving big Alto car. That means not really up- gradation with respect to power of car. But still I liked this car.

Manza (Diesel):- After several calls Tata people showed some interest in giving me TD of Manza but time was not convenient for me hence I refused to take it. I got chance to drive Manza of my neighbor. Still big spacious car I did not like performance on the road. Engine was not refined lot of turbo lag. Moreover my neighbor told me his experience with TaTa. Then even having good car I was not ready to take it because of their ASS.

Verito:- I tried several times with Mahindra people for Verito TD but they said they don’t have Car for TD.

Ford Classic: - I called ford people and they quickly responded to my enquiry about Classic model. They said we don’t have Classic model but we have All New Fiesta Car for TD. I told it is 11 lakh car and my budget is 8 lakhs max. Then they said just take test drive this car even if it is not coming in your budget. I said OK.

Unexpected entry into next level:[confused]

All New Fiesta (Titanium Plus):- I TDed this car for about 30 Kms on highway. Man what a car? I really loved the car drivability, ride quality and comfort everything. I was blown away by this car but my back seat passengers were not happy because they told there is no good room for them. But still I was under utter confusion whether to extend my budget or not to extend.
Looking at my joy of driving fiesta all family members told me if you want this car then get it and don’t think much about it. But for that I have to wait for few more months. I told myself let us wait for few more months and then I will get really good car which satisfy everybody and meanwhile I can finish all TD's of remaining cars.
.......TO BE CONTINUED​
 
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Re: Ownership review- Its time for SX4 diesel Celebration

Come on man quickly complete the rest of review. I am very excited to read on. :-)
 
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Re: Ownership review- Its time for SX4 diesel Celebration

Its no episode of the erstwhile daily sop "TARA". Come back dude, members and guests alike are waiting for your experience to be shared!
 
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Re: Ownership review- Its time for SX4 diesel Celebration

nice startup[thumbsup] @ manisback
awaiting for other parts of review as quikly as possible:please:
 
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Re: Ownership review- Its time for SX4 diesel Celebration

need the whole story man. cant wait for the next week [;)]
 
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Re: Ownership review- Its time for SX4 diesel Celebration

ManisBack,
Congrats on your new acquisition !
Waiting for the rest part of the review.
Do post pics of your SX4 !
 
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Re: Ownership review- Its time for SX4 diesel Celebration

Hey come on friends have a TEA and come back, its an interval [clap] don't be panic, The HERO will come back with the HEROINE [;)] soon !!
 
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Well that's great start and looking forward to the next part of the review. And as a matter of fact i was waiting for someone to come up with a diesel SX4 ownership as one of my close relative is looking to buy it.
 
Thread Starter #12
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Here we go friends...

Then short listed Hyundai Verna, VW Vento, Skoda Rapid, Fiat Linea, Suzuki SX4, and Nissan Sunny.

Now I had to call all showrooms and plan for TDs of all.

I got reply from VW that they are planning for camp in my place and they will contact me as soon as they finalized the date.

Hyundai Verna:- This car was selling and is selling like hot cake in India and I was really looking forward to it. I called Mai Hyundai nearby and their reply was Sir, the delivery period of diesel car is more than six months and right now we don’t have demo car as it was stolen from our showroom. We will call you once we get the car for any customer to have TD for you.[surprise]

One day I got chance to test-drive somebody's car which came for delivery. I got only 10 Kms of TD that too on plan road. It was bumpy ride above 90 Km/hr speed but interiors were excellent and back seat space was ok. Somehow not convinced about this car because driving dynamics was not matching to even Etios forget about Ford car. I wondered why people are behind looks and loaded features instead of driving pleasure and comfort of co-passengers. My family also didn’t like this car.

Fiat Linea:- I called Tata showroom they told me today they have camp for Tata as well as Fiat cars. I was surprised because they didn’t even bother me to call and inform in advance about this event despite having my number with them. Anyhow I got it into Linea emotion. I felt like I am seating on back of Turtle (No offense Fiat owners). Then I asked SA why is the steering wheel is so heavy? He said, Sir, We have removed wires which are connected to electronic system. My hand started paining when I took the car on the ghats. Then encountered big problem of seating position I tried every single position to fit into but in vain. In the middle of TD I gave the car to SA and told thanks for TD.

Suzuki SX4:- Celebration model was not available for TD but it is same as Zdi model with changed interiors. During TD of this car I was skeptical about its Krebs weight and engine displacement. Actually while driving I felt faster than Fiesta and more rooted on road than Verna at high speeds. Absolutely did not feel underpowered or inadequate power. I was not so much interested with hi-fi features so this car was ok for everybody.

Nissan Sunny:- I called Nissan showroom and asked can I take TD on Sunday? they said, Yes Sir.
I got car again fully loaded with features. The driving experience was as good as Fiesta as power was concerned but engine felt tired when I tried to accelerate it to high speed. The power seems to be dying at higher rpm. I had to put the car into defined rpm to get maximum power output. Also I was not sure about their ASS.

Skoda Rapid:- I got a call from Skoda showroom saying that they are bringing car (Ambition Tdi) to my home for TD. We all got into the car and planned to take it for 25 Kms ride. The moment I took this car on good roads I felt that no words can describe this gem. All cars fell flat in front of this car. My brain and heart felt that this is beauty I was searching and I got it. This excitement short lived when the car started brushing its belly on bad roads. My heart came into my mouth. I started thinking why can’t they think about Indian roads while making the car. I decided to purchase Elegance model of this car as it is coming with alloy wheels and have big size tyres which will improve ground clearance. But it was risk.

VW Vento: - I got a better car (Rapid) than Vento with less price then why to go for Vento. Anyhow I got TD and decided against it because of high price and driving pleasure not matching to rapid. But I must tell you here Vento has best rare space than Rapid and Verna.

After looking at every option I had two car to choose in one end of spectrum I had SX4-Zdi and other end of spectrum I had Skoda Rapid Elegance. But I decided to buy rapid and informed them to send their representative to have discussion on deal because I wanted everything clear before I buy Skoda car. I read many horror stories of Skoda customers and also they quoted very high car insurance compared to more expensive cars like Vento and Verna. But no response from these guys even after days passed and then months passed. It didn’t bother me much because I had sufficient time.

Skoda experience: [anger]

But time flew just like that. I called Skoda showroom one day. The reply from Skoda dealer was that this week our SE is not free if you are interested in our car please book it first then they will come to you for discussion. I was surprised about such an attitude before booking the car. Anyway I told them if they are not free this week you can send somebody in the next week. There after long silence for two weeks.


Conclusion:

I was started thinking to buy Suzuki SX4, Vento or Ford Fiesta after having experience with Skoda dealer. Thanks to God for giving me Skoda experience even before my booking. Skoda needs to improve a lot in the cities other than the metros I think.

I had already stretched my budget to 11 lakhs and Vento highline was going beyond that price from April 2012. Also I read and heard few issues with Vento on various forums and friends.

I got chance to see SX4 Celebration model and Maruti-Suzuki was giving Rs. 40,000/- discount on it. I TDed Fiesta and SX4 back to back for final choice. There I found difference in driving SOHC engine car and DOHC engine car. Said no to all SOHC engines loaded cars for forever even though they carry brand value (Nissan, Ford, and Toyota). Driving a car with DOHC engine is fun compared to SOHC at least for me.

Obviously SX4 Celebration was chosen because it is not underpowered, it is very Spacious all around, having masculine looks which suits my personality, Good MASS, Best ground clearance, more than sufficient boot space, composed ride on uneven roads, Very well-tuned suspension for Indian roads and cheapest of the bunch after all discounts. VFM Car.

SX4-Optimized.jpg

Now SX4 is standing in my parking area using all space.

SX4-Optimized2.jpg

……..To Be Continued​
 
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Nicely written up review !
More pics please ! Especialy that of interiors .
SX4 ZDi celebration edition at its special price is defenitly a nice deal considering the VFM it offers.
 

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