First of all, i do like to start by thanking my parents,who felt the need to gift me a car for my daily commute.I am incredibly humbled by the gesture.Frankly,i was very happy with my tata indica.It served our family stupendously well both commercially(initially a taxi) ,and privately (when its permit expired).
When my father proposed the idea of a new car,i promptly rejected citing that i got my two trusted guns - indica and the r15.My father countered my claim by pointing the fact that the indica broke thrice in the last 2 months[hitting us with a bill of 20 k] and was beginning to show signs of age(8 years old) , and that they arent ready to let me ride 70 odd kms a day on a motorbike.
I agreed and asked him for what budget should i be targeting the car at and he responded by just saying "take something with a good brand and stay away from tata".in my mind however i decided on a 6 to 7 budget which includes most of the accessories that i wished.
The hunt for a car begins! Excitement slowly simmers in my spine.
Initially i was hunting for a petrol car.now you will ask why? Basically the high running of 70 kms per day is for just 1.5 years(20 days a month) and after riding a diesel and based on my calculations, i was ending with just about the same figure as i would by paying for a diesel car and also cheaper maintainence.
Since this was my first car buying experience,i did meet with a wide variety of people in this field-some pure wierdos to a bunch of honest,hardworking people.
The test-drive begins -
Hyundai i10 - this car along with the alto has filled the streets of mumbai and almost everyone and his dog has one.It's small,peppy and a decent drive for daily chores.I test drove the magna version and the interiors were very nicely designed and the car devoids you of the feeling that you are in a small car.The pickup is very impressive and overall it costed around 4.95lakhs for the magna version which felt vfm in my eyes.
The only negatives about the i10 i can point is that the ride quality isn't really the jump i expected it to be.Now, eventhough i rode an indica, i have driven a few other cars in my relatively small driving span to know that the ride quality wasn't really what you can term as "quality".I took the proforma and said to the service guy that i would reply in 2 days as i was testing other cars as well.The guy wasn't pushy at all and was very knowledgable.
Vw polo petrol - the pushy salesman scenario begins.i do like to keep this as much to the vw polo as i can and hence do not want to talk much about the joker that i was test driving with.
I test drove the polo and was given the trendline version(the cheapest) and it was horribly basic internally.For a moment,if i ignore the vw logo and look at the cheap interiors,i do honestly say that i was sitting in a cab(not a good one)on my way from the airport.BUT,but, the ride quality! Oh my dear me,it was fabulous! The first car which i felt deserved all the praise it can get.The interiors were immediately ignored as i planned to take a higher version anyways and it should be loaded with all the bells and whistles i want.
After the very very short test drive,the salesperson threw a proper fit when i said i was test driving other cars as well.He kept pushing me for a booking and i told him that it was not happening.heck he was even ready to book it for 5 k.
Honda brio - i test drove the high end version here.At first look,the brio looks a very small car and heck it is,but in the inside it is stunningly spacious and is terrifically designed and engineered.The test drive begins-no engine noise,gear quality excellent and a dream to manouviere i had a rife smile that told me this was the car for me and the ride quality and handling was so good that i kept on having the same smile for the whole test drive.This was riding the r15 which was a breakthrough in handling when it launched in our country.I booked that baby right then and planned to book this right on the spot as well.
After the test drive,i came to know that the waiting period now is 13 to 14 weeks[except the highest end] which threw a spanner down my pants.I decided against booking the car at that moment and consult with my father regarding this.Dad decided to have a look himself and this is a typical "auld guy remark" but by gholly he wasn't impresssed with the design.His first remark was "why is there a glass at the back?" what if some car with a high ground clearance bumps and puts a clank on it.Is it safe for rear passengers?.At this moment, i tried my level best to convince him that honda would not ignore such an obvious point , and that he should not worry about this at all.He then told me to take a test drive of the chevy beat(showroom was besides my building) and if i am not convinced,then book the brio the very next day.I nodded and went to the chevy showroom early morning.
Chevy beat - To be honest,i always thought this car was a bit overdone in terms of design.it felt too agressive and didn't fit the simplicity i was looking for in a car.Given that i have regularly seen it in red,green and blue , it looked a bit too funky for my taste.but when the test drive vehicle was white i was pleasantly surprised by how sober it suddenly looked.it managed to tame the agressive stance and made the car look a bit more easy to the eye.
Towards the testdrive and i suddenly felt the car had a decent pickup and since my test drive was on a peak traffic road i found the maouvirbility of the car to be very nice.The ride quality was excellent and overall the car really felt very nice.I have to mention that the steering was the best i have used so far- very zippy,but not very light(this is a personal choice).Towards the end of the test drive,i had to make a decision between the brio and the beat.i honestly didnt find much difference at all and booked the beat on the spot.Booking the version of the car was a real pita! I initially wanted the lt version and intimated the same to the sales personnel.i however first wanted a trial of the ice(in car entertainment).
And alas! I finally found it.the worst sounding system i have ever had the displeasure of hearing.Even radio songs didn't sound much nice and with a heavy heart,decided to go for the ls version with a d-i-y of ice afterwards.
After booking the car and on my way back home,i got a strange lil notification on my ipad.What were the freaking odds of petrol prices increasing 7 rupees an hour after me booking the petrol version of the chevy beat? http://www.techenclave.com/general-talk/petrols-prices-rant-rave-thread-129965/p3/#post1650892
I was like wow and eventhough 7 rupees is not that inflated in a monthly budget sense,over a period of time it was surely going to affect my finances and also created more doubts in my mind about my decision to go petrol.I honestly felt of going for a diesel the same day i booked a petrol model.:ashamed:
Diesel powerrrrr grrrr(3 test drives on 1 day)
Maruti swift - quietly next day i went to vitesse maruti to test drive their swift diesel and i loved the car.it was on par with the vw polo i rode in terms of ride quality and this was a car i couldn't go wrong with.After the test drive however i was told that the waiting period was 14 to 16 weeks except for the white colour.i told them i would need 1 day to think.
Ford figo - figo always goes unnoticed on the road.the test drive vehicle was in white colour and looked very nice on the eye,abeit the design can be considered as a little old.the rear of the figo also was a little reminiscence of my tata indica.I rode the car ,and it was clear that this is a notch below swift but the whole package at 7.10 was really very nice on my pocket.the higher fuel efficiency of the car also made me feel very satisfied.The figo made a lot of sense,but when i jotted down all the parameters,it just did not appeal to the heart and i decided to let it go.sometimes everything is right,but it just doesn't feel 'right'.i do blindly recommend this car to anyone who wants a main/first car.the vfm king of our market.
Chevy beat - i was on the way towards the chevy showroom to tell the guy that i have decided to go diesel and i do like to test drive their diesel variant.i obviously expected a wtf look from the bloke but to be honest,the guy had a huge smile and was more than happy to grant my wish.I test drove the vehicle expecting the worse - low power,the diesel clatter(this matches indica) and the vibrations.I was expecting all this but thank you sweet baby jesus,when i started this car,i felt minimal difference between the petrol version and the diesel counterpart.the ride quality was on par and in my mind it was clear that even though it didnt match the swift,i didnt feel it was a million miles away.The decision was simple- wait for the swift(break the bank in the process) or get the beat.i have personally never been a fan of waiting,so booked the beat diesel by paying another extra 25 k(25 k already paid when booking the petrol)
Colour conundrum - i was basically looking for a colour which would tone down the agressive stance.White was obvious but we already have two white cars,sandrift grey was a duplicate copy of the colour on our tata indigo and black is not considered "shubh" in our family.I decided on the misty lake colour but the salesguy responded by saying that the colour has been discontinued and a new "switchblade silver" has been introduced.To give me a demo of the colour,he showed me a chevy cruze of the same colour and i liked it.had to book the ps version because the ls version was not available in the same colour in their stockyard and had a decent waiting period.paid the remaining amount 2 days after booking and i was promised a delivery on 22 nd june ,a day prior to my birthday with a promise that no cringeworthy songs will be played in the showroom when i take the delivery( no congratulations and celebrations playing in the background)
Total cost was 5.60 otr(not even 1 paisa discount for diesel) no freebies except mudflaps total amount paid with accesories was .6.17 lakhs
Accesories included -
Front power windows 7k
Left ovrm 2 k
Autocop 3 k
Spoiler 5 k
Antirust -3k
Alloys -18 k
Roof rails 3 k
Reverse parking sensors with cam and lcd - 10 k[bought from ebay]
Seat covers -6 k [didnt get them today which was a bummer,no stock for what i wanted]
Total just near 6 lakhs which was a decent price for a nice overall package.
Other diesel cars considered - liva,but they did not have a td vehicle("sir the car is on the way" *5) and polo but the petrol episode really put me off it.i totally forgot about the grande punto and regret not being able to have a test drive.Same with the i20.
In car entertainment
Headunit - jvc 900 bt
Rear components - gto 949
Front components - db 401(bummer)
Amp - pioneer 6500
Sub - focal
Total cost of 35 k with damping and installation.
installing the ice tomorrow as the delivery process was delayed. original time given was 11 but that got delayed till 4 pm
okay enough bullshit now some pics -
a half decent pic
the chevy logo
sporty interiors,a big upgrade from my indica
hello jazz??
quality interiors will get a lot more bling in a couple of days!
neo alloys fitted from the dealership
pure muscle
no sunfilm as of yet
this baby wont be going to the airport anytime soon
rear door goes fairly high
When my father proposed the idea of a new car,i promptly rejected citing that i got my two trusted guns - indica and the r15.My father countered my claim by pointing the fact that the indica broke thrice in the last 2 months[hitting us with a bill of 20 k] and was beginning to show signs of age(8 years old) , and that they arent ready to let me ride 70 odd kms a day on a motorbike.
I agreed and asked him for what budget should i be targeting the car at and he responded by just saying "take something with a good brand and stay away from tata".in my mind however i decided on a 6 to 7 budget which includes most of the accessories that i wished.
The hunt for a car begins! Excitement slowly simmers in my spine.
Initially i was hunting for a petrol car.now you will ask why? Basically the high running of 70 kms per day is for just 1.5 years(20 days a month) and after riding a diesel and based on my calculations, i was ending with just about the same figure as i would by paying for a diesel car and also cheaper maintainence.
Since this was my first car buying experience,i did meet with a wide variety of people in this field-some pure wierdos to a bunch of honest,hardworking people.
The test-drive begins -
Hyundai i10 - this car along with the alto has filled the streets of mumbai and almost everyone and his dog has one.It's small,peppy and a decent drive for daily chores.I test drove the magna version and the interiors were very nicely designed and the car devoids you of the feeling that you are in a small car.The pickup is very impressive and overall it costed around 4.95lakhs for the magna version which felt vfm in my eyes.
The only negatives about the i10 i can point is that the ride quality isn't really the jump i expected it to be.Now, eventhough i rode an indica, i have driven a few other cars in my relatively small driving span to know that the ride quality wasn't really what you can term as "quality".I took the proforma and said to the service guy that i would reply in 2 days as i was testing other cars as well.The guy wasn't pushy at all and was very knowledgable.
Vw polo petrol - the pushy salesman scenario begins.i do like to keep this as much to the vw polo as i can and hence do not want to talk much about the joker that i was test driving with.
I test drove the polo and was given the trendline version(the cheapest) and it was horribly basic internally.For a moment,if i ignore the vw logo and look at the cheap interiors,i do honestly say that i was sitting in a cab(not a good one)on my way from the airport.BUT,but, the ride quality! Oh my dear me,it was fabulous! The first car which i felt deserved all the praise it can get.The interiors were immediately ignored as i planned to take a higher version anyways and it should be loaded with all the bells and whistles i want.
After the very very short test drive,the salesperson threw a proper fit when i said i was test driving other cars as well.He kept pushing me for a booking and i told him that it was not happening.heck he was even ready to book it for 5 k.
Honda brio - i test drove the high end version here.At first look,the brio looks a very small car and heck it is,but in the inside it is stunningly spacious and is terrifically designed and engineered.The test drive begins-no engine noise,gear quality excellent and a dream to manouviere i had a rife smile that told me this was the car for me and the ride quality and handling was so good that i kept on having the same smile for the whole test drive.This was riding the r15 which was a breakthrough in handling when it launched in our country.I booked that baby right then and planned to book this right on the spot as well.
After the test drive,i came to know that the waiting period now is 13 to 14 weeks[except the highest end] which threw a spanner down my pants.I decided against booking the car at that moment and consult with my father regarding this.Dad decided to have a look himself and this is a typical "auld guy remark" but by gholly he wasn't impresssed with the design.His first remark was "why is there a glass at the back?" what if some car with a high ground clearance bumps and puts a clank on it.Is it safe for rear passengers?.At this moment, i tried my level best to convince him that honda would not ignore such an obvious point , and that he should not worry about this at all.He then told me to take a test drive of the chevy beat(showroom was besides my building) and if i am not convinced,then book the brio the very next day.I nodded and went to the chevy showroom early morning.
Chevy beat - To be honest,i always thought this car was a bit overdone in terms of design.it felt too agressive and didn't fit the simplicity i was looking for in a car.Given that i have regularly seen it in red,green and blue , it looked a bit too funky for my taste.but when the test drive vehicle was white i was pleasantly surprised by how sober it suddenly looked.it managed to tame the agressive stance and made the car look a bit more easy to the eye.
Towards the testdrive and i suddenly felt the car had a decent pickup and since my test drive was on a peak traffic road i found the maouvirbility of the car to be very nice.The ride quality was excellent and overall the car really felt very nice.I have to mention that the steering was the best i have used so far- very zippy,but not very light(this is a personal choice).Towards the end of the test drive,i had to make a decision between the brio and the beat.i honestly didnt find much difference at all and booked the beat on the spot.Booking the version of the car was a real pita! I initially wanted the lt version and intimated the same to the sales personnel.i however first wanted a trial of the ice(in car entertainment).
And alas! I finally found it.the worst sounding system i have ever had the displeasure of hearing.Even radio songs didn't sound much nice and with a heavy heart,decided to go for the ls version with a d-i-y of ice afterwards.
After booking the car and on my way back home,i got a strange lil notification on my ipad.What were the freaking odds of petrol prices increasing 7 rupees an hour after me booking the petrol version of the chevy beat? http://www.techenclave.com/general-talk/petrols-prices-rant-rave-thread-129965/p3/#post1650892
I was like wow and eventhough 7 rupees is not that inflated in a monthly budget sense,over a period of time it was surely going to affect my finances and also created more doubts in my mind about my decision to go petrol.I honestly felt of going for a diesel the same day i booked a petrol model.:ashamed:
Diesel powerrrrr grrrr(3 test drives on 1 day)
Maruti swift - quietly next day i went to vitesse maruti to test drive their swift diesel and i loved the car.it was on par with the vw polo i rode in terms of ride quality and this was a car i couldn't go wrong with.After the test drive however i was told that the waiting period was 14 to 16 weeks except for the white colour.i told them i would need 1 day to think.
Ford figo - figo always goes unnoticed on the road.the test drive vehicle was in white colour and looked very nice on the eye,abeit the design can be considered as a little old.the rear of the figo also was a little reminiscence of my tata indica.I rode the car ,and it was clear that this is a notch below swift but the whole package at 7.10 was really very nice on my pocket.the higher fuel efficiency of the car also made me feel very satisfied.The figo made a lot of sense,but when i jotted down all the parameters,it just did not appeal to the heart and i decided to let it go.sometimes everything is right,but it just doesn't feel 'right'.i do blindly recommend this car to anyone who wants a main/first car.the vfm king of our market.
Chevy beat - i was on the way towards the chevy showroom to tell the guy that i have decided to go diesel and i do like to test drive their diesel variant.i obviously expected a wtf look from the bloke but to be honest,the guy had a huge smile and was more than happy to grant my wish.I test drove the vehicle expecting the worse - low power,the diesel clatter(this matches indica) and the vibrations.I was expecting all this but thank you sweet baby jesus,when i started this car,i felt minimal difference between the petrol version and the diesel counterpart.the ride quality was on par and in my mind it was clear that even though it didnt match the swift,i didnt feel it was a million miles away.The decision was simple- wait for the swift(break the bank in the process) or get the beat.i have personally never been a fan of waiting,so booked the beat diesel by paying another extra 25 k(25 k already paid when booking the petrol)
Colour conundrum - i was basically looking for a colour which would tone down the agressive stance.White was obvious but we already have two white cars,sandrift grey was a duplicate copy of the colour on our tata indigo and black is not considered "shubh" in our family.I decided on the misty lake colour but the salesguy responded by saying that the colour has been discontinued and a new "switchblade silver" has been introduced.To give me a demo of the colour,he showed me a chevy cruze of the same colour and i liked it.had to book the ps version because the ls version was not available in the same colour in their stockyard and had a decent waiting period.paid the remaining amount 2 days after booking and i was promised a delivery on 22 nd june ,a day prior to my birthday with a promise that no cringeworthy songs will be played in the showroom when i take the delivery( no congratulations and celebrations playing in the background)
Total cost was 5.60 otr(not even 1 paisa discount for diesel) no freebies except mudflaps
total amount paid with accesories was .6.17 lakhsAccesories included -
Front power windows 7k
Left ovrm 2 k
Autocop 3 k
Spoiler 5 k
Antirust -3k
Alloys -18 k
Roof rails 3 k
Reverse parking sensors with cam and lcd - 10 k[bought from ebay]
Seat covers -6 k [didnt get them today which was a bummer,no stock for what i wanted]
Total just near 6 lakhs which was a decent price for a nice overall package.
Other diesel cars considered - liva,but they did not have a td vehicle("sir the car is on the way" *5) and polo but the petrol episode really put me off it.i totally forgot about the grande punto and regret not being able to have a test drive.Same with the i20.
In car entertainment
Headunit - jvc 900 bt
Rear components - gto 949
Front components - db 401(bummer)
Amp - pioneer 6500
Sub - focal
Total cost of 35 k with damping and installation.
installing the ice tomorrow as the delivery process was delayed. original time given was 11 but that got delayed till 4 pm
okay enough bullshit now some pics -
a half decent pic
the chevy logo
sporty interiors,a big upgrade from my indica
hello jazz??
quality interiors will get a lot more bling in a couple of days!
neo alloys fitted from the dealership
pure muscle
no sunfilm as of yet
this baby wont be going to the airport anytime soon
rear door goes fairly high
