Oct 26, 2014 02:49 PM
201636 Views
Hi All, Its been over an year now and thought I would like to share my views on the most expensive car I could afford ever. This review would be most useful to a variety of prospective buyers as I will attempt to cover the full angle of my experience with this vehicle. Pretty experienced in driving for the past 15 years and almost drove or tested all the wide range of cars available in our country.
Pre Purchase research - For months I researched on team-bhp website and other sources on which vehicle I could get under 14 lakhs - why 14 lakhs? thats the max I would be able to get through my corporate lease program. My heart was always on buying a really fancy car(atlas a used one) around 20 lakhs, but as a responsible husband or call it by the wifey's powerful persuasion and quick reality check on personal economics:(, decided I will play the conventional route of going through a car lease program to get tax benefits and avoid breaking my savings. The contenders as per the conservative pressure I had was Ecosport, XUV, Vento, Amaze and probably stretch towards the Cruz.
Vento - Was able to eliminate this as I was itching towards a car with high ground clearance and did not want to buy a car which had been more than an year in the market. XUV - Again wifey did not want a huge looking vehicle, still tried to convince myself on buying this as it had the politician look or the real estate dealer look, failed to convince after the tacky design and lack of quality in the exterior and interior department.
Amaze - This was easy to decide, the only reason I was considering this due to the high mileage being advertised. There is no comparison with the budget or the range of car I was considering, but I thought if I could close the need in 8 lacs then why not. Its easy not to buy as I wanted to buy a really good car my poor 14 lakhs can buy, but did not due to the growling engine noise coming inside the cabin.
Cruz - out of budget, tried to see a copay option but did not have hence dint go for this one.
So finally the Ecosport and the Duster were the ones as I was bored of the sedan's I had been driving for quite a long time now. Was really confused with the both. Ecosport fared better with the features, looks, ground clearance and was the new buzz in the industry in mid 2013, with waiting periods of over an year. Reason I did not consider was 90bhp was the only option in diesel, looked a little cramp and somehow was not happy that a hatchback was dressed up to look big. So the left over was Duster which with lot of hesitation went ahead and gave the advance in July 2013.
Dealer Experience - Unfortunately this is the worst experience, which has spoiled my entire experience of buying a new car terrible. 1. I had to leave to US in the first week August and requested the dealer to deliver the vehicle prior to that, the waiting period was 1 week and 25th July I got the DD released. The dealer was unable to get the vehicle delivered on time and to my horror called me on the day I had to leave on my business trip to states, two weeks after my DD was given. I requested that I will take the delivery after I come back in the end of August, Dealer threatened that the free insurance option will not be applicable and I had to come over to the showroom and finish the formalities. Instead of wasting time on discussing, I budged to go to the showroom and filled the forms needed for temporary registration. Due to the time crunch I requested the dealer that I will take delivery after I come back and keep the car safely with him.
Car Delivery - Came back from my trip and was excited to collect my brand new car, Since Sunday was a good day, fixed the appointment with the sales executive, took my family and my best friend for the deliver. To my surprise the showroom was closed and they opened the back door to deliver my car - So the big issue here is that my wife was expecting the normal hungama they do for delivery was missing and she was terribly upset that we had to go to the cellar, pick up an unwashed car with no ribbon on it. Car was unwashed as my best friend is a car detailer and is against the dealer using cheap cloth, polish to wash and wax the car.
However we decided to take the car and leave to my friends house for washing it.
Next day I realised that the engine number and chassis number have been registered incorrectly in the invoice and temporary registration. This is so far the most disappointing experience of the car as I have still not got my final rc card, I had to go to the dealer and RTA office numerous times, I also had to involve renault folks as the dealer was not cooperating and was not serious in fixing the mistake he did.
Actual vehicle review - What I like in the car is the looks, high ground clearance, the huge tyres, comments heard on the engine life exceeding a couple of lakh's of kilometres. The view is good and the turning radius is amazingly small. The confidence of driving over water filled roads and potholes is the highest. Engine noise from inside is minimal and with music running will not bother you. The 110bhp engine is smooth and on the non traffic roads is quite enjoyable. While you might not feel confident with zipping around as a sedan but not bad either.
What I wold like to highlight is the really heavy clutch which gave me pain in the left leg especially the feet hurt though I wore a heavy shoe due to the hard clutch.
Mileage - The onboard display has always been showing approximately around 13, its very rare I use the car without AC.
Interiors - The Pros - I like the mounted controls behind the steering, can always confuse people how the song got changed, the call controls work fine and this also supports my Sky FM radio play / pause. The seats are comfortable in the front and could have been better in the back in terms of thigh support and leg room.
The boot space is amazingly huge and the best best part of the car.
The cons - The plastic quality sucks and no way feels like I am in a 14 lakh car. The audio system is ancient and the speakers sound like they are made of paper. if you are not too careful you can hurt yourself while closing the door due to the plastic cladding.
The steering cover is not comfortable to hold. The rubber beading looks cheap and the beading on the windows has become hard and curvy now.
If you have little ones in the front be careful as the doors open inspite of the lock and the windows operate too. Please be careful and keep you lil ones in the back seat secured in a child seat. AC is not very effective in hot days, is fine in winters and evenings.
Miss climate control and good looking interiors badly in this car.
Service - Missed the first service timeline due to the fight with the dealer and I had to pay 700 for just a checkup. Except for a wash and basic check no other changes were made.
for the 2nd service at 10000 km did not miss it and got it done on time as water was seeping in through the car in the front passenger cabin. Dealer said it was due to dust accumulated at the AC vent. I was upset due to so many quality issues and complained on the heavy clutch, to my surprise when I picked up the car the advisor told me that a clutch pedal was replaced to make it little soft. 60% improvement in the clutch I must say, but how come the dealer is careless to inform the customers of a fix?
After the first service the AC has become even more ineffective in hot days. There was a rattling noise in the roof which I was adjusting for an year, got fixed but the mechanics left little grease marks on the roof. Car was not properly washed and had them to have a quick clean again.
Paid around 2700 for the service which is decent.
Overall - The dealer made the experience bad due to incorrect registration and careless attitude, I feel while 14 lakhs might mean a lot to us, might not be much to the auto industry, (itna paison mein itna ich milenga!). I wanted a heavy car which I did not want to worry about and for rough daily use, this was the choice I made and quite satisfied though I want say I wanted to be really happy.
Hopefully my next car would meet my dreams and expectations!:)
