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It all started after the sale of my Toyota Corolla CNG, Never earlier had i felt sentimental for any car but this was something special, i had spent about 13 months with the corolla. These 13 months had been the best phase of my driving period as i had really bonded with the car over the time. But due to its age and very hard persuasion from a friend decided on parting with it. So on 4th October 2013 i said goodbye to one of my dearest friend and companion who i had enjoyed precious ~ 15000 kilometers of my life drivng it in every manner desired.![[cry]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Cry.gif "Cry [cry]")
Now began the search for the new beast. It was a pretty simple list we wanted an petrol so that we could continue it with CNG as we were very much impressed with its performance on the corolla and we wanted something that was not more than 5 years old. With a budget of around 5 Lacs we tried the below list and selected one of them.
1) Honda City I-Vtec :- This was our first choice of preference as it was a good city car which is running very successfully, has all the features and the power and had no issues with the CNG conversion as the company was providing an option with CNG on new cars. Drove a couple of 2009 and 2010 models ranging from 4.5 lacs to 6 lacs but somehow things did not materialize.
2) Toyota Corolla Altis:- The second choice of preference as we had been using the old corolla on CNG, A car with all the necessary features required and the Toyota reliability. Drove 2 of these cars, one being a 2008 which was around 4.25 and the other from a known person only which was a 2009 but decided to let go as the Altis had very expensive maintenance cost almost 3 times the price of the older Corolla.
3) Skoda Laura Ambiente 1.8 TSi:- Ahhh! my dream car. This was one of my dream machines, the 1.8 liter turbocharged engine with a 160 Horses and 250 Nm of Torque. Found an advertisement on the used car site, the car was near my house only, went to see it the next day. A very clean car which had run around 47k Km which had been maintained by autobahn. A pure pleasure to drive this car, smooth when you are driving it in a decent manner and a monster when you want it to become one. Now i was aware that it cannot be converted on CNG but still i wanted it and planned using it just on the weekends.The only problem was the car had Suspension problems for which we redused the money from the asking price and gave the offer but the owner was not willing to move from his quote hence did not go ahead with the deal.
4) Honda Accord 2.4 i-Vtec:- This was considered as an option but was a bit too big for us and specially me, hence did not consider it.
5) Honda Civic:- The last of the options on the List. The car was an all in one package having all the features and powers in one piece. Test drove a couple and finalized a December 2007 1.8 S MT which had done around 4 Lacs. The Car had run 47k Kms with complete service history and maintenance from Arya Honda.
The Civic
I was pretty sad after the farewell of my Toyota Corolla. Now my father has always told me that never keep personal attachment with your machines as it make it difficult for us to part with it. But this was different, i had spent 15000 kms with that beast, had the best and the worst moments with it. It was almost impossible to not fall in love with it. The same period is enough for us to fall in love with a girl who might end up ditching us, but here was a machine who was your companion in all your journeys who has faced a lot of batters and abuse but still kept smiling.
Anyways the Civic replaced the Corolla and in comparison with it was a class apart from it. The I Vtec is a pure pleasure to drive. In fact of all the I Vtecs that i drove i.e the City and the Accord type 3 this was the most refined of the lot. Drove this car for 2 weeks on petrol and fell completely in love with it. Compared to all its competition it was by far the best car i had driven even better than the Laura TSi. The average that i received on petrol was around 12kmpl in city with AC. Now the car was such a pleasure that i did not want to risk it on CNG. So i test drove a couple of CNG Civics and frankly after driving them i opted not to fit it on CNG as the car is good on CNG but the I vtec charm and refinement is completely lost. Thought of keeping on petrol only but the 60Km daily run for me was very heavy on the pocket as i had just started earning. So after a lot of thinking and some requests from one of my cousins decided on parting with Honda Civic.
The Entry of the Unicorn.
With the departure of the Civic we were back to the square. We decide on not to go for CNG so finalized that it would be a diesel. So went to a couple of advts on the site and decided as follows. Again the same budget of around 5 Lacs . Main criteria was the service history.
1. Maruti Swift Dzire :- Saw an ZDi version test drove the car. The car was in good shape and very well maintained but somehow due to the rattling noises which is a common problem in marutis and my complete hatred for its shape we rejected it.
2. Skoda Laura L&K:- Saw this car on the advertisement, it was a 2007 model L&K in a very neat condition maintained nicely and serviced by the company. A monster to drive with the DSG box had all the goodies and very strong built like a tank had done around 70k kms. But did not go ahead with one due to the fear over the DSG box and maintenance.
But after thinking a little we decide not to go for a sedan and go for an hatchback as we already have an Toyota Innova so if we bought a sedan then all the journeys in city and out of city would be done on it and the innova would be ignored. Hence a hatchback was finalized so that all city runs would be done on it and all out of city on the Innova. So the following options were considered.
3. Hyundai I 20 CRDi:- It was one of our first choices as it had all the feature and great engine to drive, but unfortunately there were no decent cars available in the market hence had to let it go.
4. Maruti Ritz VDi ( ABS): Saw this car near a known dealer. It was a 2011 model had done around 36k kms. Good condition and well maintained. Drove the car and found it nice but was a bit noisy as the noise was very easily heard within the cabin. Almost had finalized it until saw the unicorn.
5. VW Polo Tdi:- The same dealer had a VW polo standing behind in the parking lot, when inquired found it on sale also. It was a 2010 Highline model in very good condition, very well maintained had clocked 40k Kms. Drove the car for a short round liked its quality and built. The noise was a lot refined for a 3 Cylinder Diesel. Father also drove it he fell in love with it and decided on that. The car has complete service history till date with complete maintenance by VW.
The Unicorn Comes Home![[:D]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Big%20Smile.gif "Big Smile [:D]")
Now began the search for the new beast. It was a pretty simple list we wanted an petrol so that we could continue it with CNG as we were very much impressed with its performance on the corolla and we wanted something that was not more than 5 years old. With a budget of around 5 Lacs we tried the below list and selected one of them.
1) Honda City I-Vtec :- This was our first choice of preference as it was a good city car which is running very successfully, has all the features and the power and had no issues with the CNG conversion as the company was providing an option with CNG on new cars. Drove a couple of 2009 and 2010 models ranging from 4.5 lacs to 6 lacs but somehow things did not materialize.
2) Toyota Corolla Altis:- The second choice of preference as we had been using the old corolla on CNG, A car with all the necessary features required and the Toyota reliability. Drove 2 of these cars, one being a 2008 which was around 4.25 and the other from a known person only which was a 2009 but decided to let go as the Altis had very expensive maintenance cost almost 3 times the price of the older Corolla.
3) Skoda Laura Ambiente 1.8 TSi:- Ahhh! my dream car. This was one of my dream machines, the 1.8 liter turbocharged engine with a 160 Horses and 250 Nm of Torque. Found an advertisement on the used car site, the car was near my house only, went to see it the next day. A very clean car which had run around 47k Km which had been maintained by autobahn. A pure pleasure to drive this car, smooth when you are driving it in a decent manner and a monster when you want it to become one. Now i was aware that it cannot be converted on CNG but still i wanted it and planned using it just on the weekends.The only problem was the car had Suspension problems for which we redused the money from the asking price and gave the offer but the owner was not willing to move from his quote hence did not go ahead with the deal.
4) Honda Accord 2.4 i-Vtec:- This was considered as an option but was a bit too big for us and specially me, hence did not consider it.
5) Honda Civic:- The last of the options on the List. The car was an all in one package having all the features and powers in one piece. Test drove a couple and finalized a December 2007 1.8 S MT which had done around 4 Lacs. The Car had run 47k Kms with complete service history and maintenance from Arya Honda.
The Civic
I was pretty sad after the farewell of my Toyota Corolla. Now my father has always told me that never keep personal attachment with your machines as it make it difficult for us to part with it. But this was different, i had spent 15000 kms with that beast, had the best and the worst moments with it. It was almost impossible to not fall in love with it. The same period is enough for us to fall in love with a girl who might end up ditching us, but here was a machine who was your companion in all your journeys who has faced a lot of batters and abuse but still kept smiling.
Anyways the Civic replaced the Corolla and in comparison with it was a class apart from it. The I Vtec is a pure pleasure to drive. In fact of all the I Vtecs that i drove i.e the City and the Accord type 3 this was the most refined of the lot. Drove this car for 2 weeks on petrol and fell completely in love with it. Compared to all its competition it was by far the best car i had driven even better than the Laura TSi. The average that i received on petrol was around 12kmpl in city with AC. Now the car was such a pleasure that i did not want to risk it on CNG. So i test drove a couple of CNG Civics and frankly after driving them i opted not to fit it on CNG as the car is good on CNG but the I vtec charm and refinement is completely lost. Thought of keeping on petrol only but the 60Km daily run for me was very heavy on the pocket as i had just started earning. So after a lot of thinking and some requests from one of my cousins decided on parting with Honda Civic.
The Entry of the Unicorn.
With the departure of the Civic we were back to the square. We decide on not to go for CNG so finalized that it would be a diesel. So went to a couple of advts on the site and decided as follows. Again the same budget of around 5 Lacs . Main criteria was the service history.
1. Maruti Swift Dzire :- Saw an ZDi version test drove the car. The car was in good shape and very well maintained but somehow due to the rattling noises which is a common problem in marutis and my complete hatred for its shape we rejected it.
2. Skoda Laura L&K:- Saw this car on the advertisement, it was a 2007 model L&K in a very neat condition maintained nicely and serviced by the company. A monster to drive with the DSG box had all the goodies and very strong built like a tank had done around 70k kms. But did not go ahead with one due to the fear over the DSG box and maintenance.
But after thinking a little we decide not to go for a sedan and go for an hatchback as we already have an Toyota Innova so if we bought a sedan then all the journeys in city and out of city would be done on it and the innova would be ignored. Hence a hatchback was finalized so that all city runs would be done on it and all out of city on the Innova. So the following options were considered.
3. Hyundai I 20 CRDi:- It was one of our first choices as it had all the feature and great engine to drive, but unfortunately there were no decent cars available in the market hence had to let it go.
4. Maruti Ritz VDi ( ABS): Saw this car near a known dealer. It was a 2011 model had done around 36k kms. Good condition and well maintained. Drove the car and found it nice but was a bit noisy as the noise was very easily heard within the cabin. Almost had finalized it until saw the unicorn.
5. VW Polo Tdi:- The same dealer had a VW polo standing behind in the parking lot, when inquired found it on sale also. It was a 2010 Highline model in very good condition, very well maintained had clocked 40k Kms. Drove the car for a short round liked its quality and built. The noise was a lot refined for a 3 Cylinder Diesel. Father also drove it he fell in love with it and decided on that. The car has complete service history till date with complete maintenance by VW.
The Unicorn Comes Home
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