I am going back 5 years in my memory lane to jott down why I landed in Xing. I was comfortable with my first and dearest Maruti 800 which I called the golden chariot.To explain in simple terms why I chose Santro is - I felt prey to the aggressive marketing of the local dealer and the decision was taken in 1 day and a new car was in my home the second day. Normally hasty decisions can go wrong, but to my luck this one was not to be.
The Hyundai dealer offered me a very good price almost near to the purhcase price of my Maruthi 800. This made me think seriously about buying this. Based on my one ride in a Santro of one of my friends, I was impressed with the silent cabin and jerk free ride.
Quickly browsed the net and found out that Wagon R is the nearest competitior. I called up the dealer and asked for a quote and test drive. He told me to come in the evening. But before I could do that I talked to my better half, who immediately told that, if it is wagon R , she will
better live without a car. She was completely against the boxy look. I tried to explain that feature wise Wagon R is more better. She was so adamant. In her eyes Santro was looking good. Deep inside my mind I also shared the same feeling. That is it, deal fixed and my red Santro was at my home next day.
Initial Driving Experiences.
WOW, why didn’t I take this decision long back. It is a tall car, engine is powerful, AC is quite chilling, boot space is great. Typical thoughts of a guy who just matured from a maruti 800.
Long term experience
Soon I began travelling a lot and I could identify the following pros and cons
Pros
- Very less maintenance - service interval 6 months, Each service cost around 1.5k to 2k. No maintenance other than this. the first major service (cost wise) is the 30K service which costs 4k - 5k.
- Good sitting posture - I took a liking for this posture so much that I started to hate dreaming of buying a sedan.
- Peppy engine (itz more peppier than Wagon R even though both share the same specs)
- Very small turning radius. Big rear view mirror is a boon.
- Very good city driving manners
- Excellent braking (still remember two sudden brakes from around 70ks to 0ks).
- Good chilling AC.
- Quality of interiors.
Cons
- As the family grew, space constraints grew up
- Lack of utility spaces like bottle holders began to be felt during picnics lasting for more than one day.
- Big A piller causes a blind spot in the right front area, as a result of which driver can miss motorbikes coming from that direction
- Eventhough the engine is peppy, when we get into highways we feel like we are exerting the motor too much.
- Even though the specification says this as a 5 seater, for long distance travel this is comfortable if there are only 4 persons
- I am scratching my head to find more cons - that means there are not much
Fuel efficiency: 13 to 16 km/litre
Summary
This has now become a choice for families as their first car, because of the rise in per capita stuff as is rightly shown in the Hyundai Ad
If you are looking for- an entry level model- which will not give you any trouble and- which offers decent comfort and- decent spacethis is the one to go for.
Donno how useful this review will be coz now there are lot of other options available in the 3 to 4 lakh range and the people may not opt for Santro because its looks has not changed much for the past 4 to 5 years. Still thought of posting coz my xing deservs to have a positive review :)
