Buying a car can be a difficult task.There will be so many opinions, your friends,your family, your colleagues , your relatives and of course YOU. Internet only increases the confusion , it just increases the number of opinions and recommendations and If you are married you have had it. The number of opinions double. After all its ...an add on wife..her friends, her colleagues,her family,her relatives and of course HER. I somehow came out of the confusion by a TOSS. Believe it or not yes it was a toss between Swift and Hyundai I10 1.2 L . I was with I10 and my wife with Swift.
" If its a head its gonna be a swift Vxi and if its a tail its gonna be I10.." she said...
" But lets make sure this will be the only toss ..aisa na ho ki ...after this you say one more toss or lets do it again...or best of 3 or best of 5 kinda stuff.." I replied...
"Oh sure......I m sure god is with me and I can be sure of swift.." she said...
"Ok then lets consider this as the voice of god..no more overruling for this" I knew this would ensure no more childish response if she looses...but deep down fearing what if its head...i cant play this childish tricks as well...
Well it turned out to be my spin...and in came the Hyundai I10 . She was pretty sad and disappointed and I had to really cheer her up saying color will be of your choice. She was as always a great bargainer and despite loosing ..she demanded Black and further bargained for Sportz model whereas I had thought of Magna. Haarkar jeetne waale ko baajigar kehte hai and jeetkar haarne waale ko Ankur Kehte hai I guess.And she would have definitely felt like a baazigar. For those of you reading this for review of the car here are my readings for Hyundai I10.
Looks..: 10 /10 I went in for a black sportz model 1.2 L Kappa Engine with Electric Red Interiors. I personally like the look both external and internal , and to be honest from the heart I find it the best. Even my wife agrees so after I bought it. She says.." Yea black I10 is better looking than any swift.." ..that coming from a staunch supporter of looks of swift was more than a compliment. Wonderful Interiors , Red Colored , Beige interiors ...display of the music system.. wonder internal dashboard lights.. oh how much I love it.
Engine : I m not a mechanical engineer or great with engines and all....I know that its 1200 cc engine generating good power and torque without making any noise( some times I check with accelerator whether engine is on or off...at signals..specially) . I took it to coorg within a week after I bought the car and it was zooming off those mountain curves with steep hikes without any problem. On the highway it touched 130-140 as well without any one realising any sound/ noise/ vibration. On the mountains of talacauvery a constant drive of about 40-60 km at 3-4 gear and any drop in speed I could pick up from 3rd gear itself..so sufficient power and pick up I believe.
Mileage : 10/10 Well this was something I never expected . When I left Bangalore I got it full tank with extra premium ( Speed ...may be..) petrol . I got the tank filled up again after 370 km and only 21 lts was all that was required. That was a mileage of 17.6 km/l . I was very very happy. AS the maximum they claimed was 15-16 km / lt . I thought may be Speed Petrol ...something to do with it. But slowly the facts dawned on me. I had switched on AC for almost 170 km ( heat in some places and some where for mist and rain ). I am a new driver so I don't go much on to 5th gear, My drive was mostly on 3rd and 4th gear . I drove for about 100 km.Rest was driven by my driver who drove mostly on 5th gear. Then drive from Coorg to Talacauvery was always ghats where my driver drove on 3-4th gear. Went and came back about 80 kms of ghats ( up and down) out of 370 km ..here is the break up
90 km of ghats ( 45 km Ac and 45 without AC )
250 kms of Highway ( 130 with AC and 120 without AC ( 100 driven by me and 20 by driver appx))
30 kms of City and traffic.(without AC)
Now despite all this I get a 17.6 mileage ...Its unbelievable for a one week old car. But I will get it checked up again on my next filling and come back on the corrected figure.
Other Features : AC works pretty well ,it cools immediately and like a chilled shimla.., Power windows too good, Music system very good. But we miss remote in the system.Nor is the USB slot directly available .Got to get some converter soon but CD player,radio and IPOD player were too good and sound quality also good throughout the car...4 speakers..I have. No space for a can,bottle,cup on the dash board,but its fine.I keep it in the middle below the gear but that's one disadvantage. I keep searching for putting my water bottle. Now the electronic central locking. It works fine but after such rains it has stopped making sounds...guess electronics you cant say anything ..even the back gear sound/alarm has gone down.Power steering is a bit weak when u compare it with swift ,estillo...etc. But still its a power steering.
Price : I got it for 4.2 On road with the annual tax option . Got a few accessories ..some basic ones.Car cover , central locking..sun film etc. (I am thinking of getting an under-chassis coating to be done after the first servicing). I thought it to be reasonable when u compare it with swift and similar cars.Price was one factor I was with I10 and not Swift after its my salary and not hers. :)
Overall : I feel that it had been a good bargain when compare it with swift . May be after six months or so I will have to add / change something but now I am happy as I have got what I had thought of when I bought the car.
Overall Hyundai I10 (I love to add KAPPA engine in the name) has been the dream come true kinda car for me..
And above all my wife agrees with me... :)
