Replacement For My Spark - The Search Ends: Bought Figo Ford Titanium

[Gurrala74]

Re: TDed the Toyota Etios Liva - mix of emotions

Now the bad part and absolute deal breaker. This car has major design flaws and probably designed with shorter height Japanese in mind. With the tilt steering pushed to the topmost position, and the seat pushed back as much as possible, the steering still rubbed against my thigh. And I am 5ft 10' and stature wise would be comparable to the average Indian. Not sure if this has been identified by other people before.
.

Chayan

Good observation. I am also 5'10" with bit long legs and experienced the same thing in Liva. I have written the same in one of the thread but, some member I do not remember his name who bought this car told me that there is no such problem and I said I will take one more TD, but I think it is not required as I just recall my experience after your post that it is very much true

 

[Tornado]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

I personally do not suggest Beat diesel or petrol and Spark is much better !! here again you may not willing to buy a car from GM once again !!el[/QUOTE]


@gurrala, you mean to say GM once again or SPARK once again?

Polo well who said its cheaper to maintain ?

Both are devils .
I was just curious to know why you suggest a skoda )

I with raja, I know when polo was launched ,1st servicing cost approx.Rs 12500, when every one was waiting to know cost of ASS of vw vs ASS of Skoda.

Anyway, TDed the Vista first, asked my wife to drive (it would be her car after all)

Following are my wife's observations:
1) Better than the Beat

Next as we were walking back, saw the Punto and decided to give it a try. I

1) Cabin looks a little dated now, but has all the bells and whistles (auto ac, driver seat height adjust, tilt steering). Space is Ok but not as great as Vista.
2) Externally the car looks good (beauty is in the eye of the beholder but its a design classic for me)
3) The drive was excellent, handling & steering feedback was excellent and my wife liked it better than the Vista (no surprise here.. the price is better than the Vista too
4) Highway stability is very good.



Also mentioned that there might still be 2011 stock available (pretty strange) on which discount available is Rs. 60-70K (not interested).

Even when my wife and I discuss on the Vista, she some how mentions the Punto.

It’s a pity to see Fiat selling so few numbers in spite of having such a wonderful machine (even if the design is dated by 6-7 years).

Punto design is dated but it is unique and the car is not commonly seen on road for eg. Swift.
In punto ,you don't feel like a part of a que and crowd, it stands out.

Your wife liked vista more than beat and punto more than vista. So why not punto? After all punto is better city drive than vista.

You are not intrested in 2011 model. Is there any specific reason other than depreciation at the time of resale?

AFA depreciation is concerned, the benefits at the time of purchase are enough to compensate it.
There is 'special servicing procedure ' to be done prior to delivery as laid down by the manufactuer s for the cars manufactured more than 6 months back, if the same is followed , there is no problem.
Also ,you can get the GC kit fitted.

If your Tata service centre is alright ,I will recomend you to go ahead with Vista.

Punto should be considered when,
your motive is too keep the car for next 20 years
Not a regular driver but occasional cruizer.


Hope it helps.

@Chayan,
For punto, I advice you to enquire with fiat ,.when and where independent FASS will be started in your metropolitan city?

For a person who is used to better ASS of Honda and chevy, It will be a real pain to deal with TASS.For others it will be ok, but not for you.

By now you must taken TD of UVA sail, let us know about low end torque of UVA in comparison with punto.



@Jaydeo , can you please elaborate on above mentioned punto related comment.

 

[Gurrala74]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

@Tornado,

I never suggest a Beat to anybody anytime, Its like a Toy to me and it is really cramped and its GC or suspension is pathetic, I wonder that what way these manufacturers measure the GC, it has to be measured from the lowest part of the car and most of the times it will be the front bumper area or side door area. I see at least 3 cars hitting the ground from front at my neighbours chevy service center due to uneven roads. It is reall painful if you take it on highway. Spark is much much better car than Beat

 

[ERTIGA_ZMR]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

I guess this thread will serve as Bible for Hatch. This is one of the rare thread where all the posts are equally informative.
Till 48 posts, Fiat Punto is a serious winner.

I am little surprised why not you have taken test drive of Ritz Diesel.

I found one of informative link, it may also help you to decide the purchase based on monthly sales figure.


Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog » India October 2012: Renault Duster up to #15

 

[sethumurugan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

@Tornado,

I never suggest a Beat to anybody anytime, Its like a Toy to me and it is really cramped and its GC or suspension is pathetic, I wonder that what way these manufacturers measure the GC, it has to be measured from the lowest part of the car and most of the times it will be the front bumper area or side door area. I see at least 3 cars hitting the ground from front at my neighbours chevy service center due to uneven roads. It is reall painful if you take it on highway. Spark is much much better car than Beat

Sir, even spark has problem with GC. If we four of us go I have never faced much problems in speed breakers. But if we have one more person on board [My MIL or My Sissy ] we face the same problem in speed breakers [Not in all]

 

[Tornado]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Here , Chayan is used to handling skills of a low GC car, so GC is not his priority., Even in case often punto it is up to him as far as GC upgrade `kit is concerned.

 

[chayan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

A few more update on the hatch hunt. Covers the last 3-4 weeks hence will try to make it concise.

Few weeks back, one Sunday had some free time and my father was also not busy so thought it a good idea to get his inputs on two of the cars that I would consider to be among the the probable choices. The choices in this case were the Figo and the Beat. The only reason these two were considered that day was because the show rooms were in the same building and going to this place you could TD both the vehicles.
At home we discussed on both the cars and my father's point of view was that Beat is a better car because of the following reasons:
1) Better GC
2) Better FE
3) Having a Spark, knowledge of ASS is better + the CPCO offer
According to him since the car would be used for city drive 90% of the time, FE and GC were of utmost importance. Also Beat (LTO) was coming to about Rs.25K (approx) cheaper than Figo Titanium, was a point to consider.

Now I like to state that my father's opinions are very important to me and if he said no to something, I would find it very difficult to go against it. Its not that I am financially dependent on him, but it is mostly out of respect. I may try to reason with him and shows him the pros and cons, but his consent (as in most Indian families) is always required.

Any way we got to the showroom and I had already alerted the SA that we would be coming so did not have to wait for the test drive. Beat was the first and since I had driven it before, let my father and wife drive it around. Was expecting my wife's view of the Beat would be a little positive this time and unlike the first TD, she would give her go-ahead. My father was pro-Beat before coming to the showroom and financially Beat was making a lot of sense too (insurance was offered free at that time). Anyway, after the TD, following were their feedback.

Wife: Nothing special, but I think I will get used to the seating position. Kind of OK, if you really want to buy it.

My father had one line and with it he showed that he was going to vote for anything but the beat -- "Good pick-up, but feels like a toy" and that said it all.

So not wasting any more time, decided to try the Figo. The dealership had received the latest face lifted titanium model and I liked the handling very much. Following are the good and bad points:
1) Excellent handler, probably the best handler after Punto. Again my views after TDing both vehicles, so owners (who have both) probably are better judge.
2) Lots of space (rear seats) as well as boot. Rear seat rivals that of Vista.
3) The steering felt very good, good feedback from the road. With diesel as fuel, I expect this to be a fun vehicle to drive. Quite planted at 100 km/hr. Could not take it over that due to traffic.
4) Could not check the headlights, hence not sure if the week HD issue has been resolved.
5) GC issue remains, but hopefully careful driving should alleviate some of the concerns.
6) Steering mounted controls correctly placed and easier to use
7) no turbo lag, but engine clatter present if you stand in front. Very less noise enters the cabin (with windows up) though.
8) Spare tyre is one size down

Father and wife both liked the car. Wife liked it more and the blue was practically confirmed (the current TVC running on TV has something to do with this). The SA could not give the exact FE figures on paper, the number he quoted (25km/lt) is a lie.

To me, the Figo seems to be a VFM offering and something the driver in you can be happy with if you cannot go for the Punto (for whatever reason). Talked with a few existing owners on ASS and service cost and feedback was generally positive (some mentioned the GC issue though). General stated FE in city was 14-15 km/lt with AC on, which I think is quite good.

So in summary, Beat was struck off from the list and Figo seems to be an obvious choice.

Why then have I still not decided and booked it? Well because I am still to receive my Spark's smart card back from RTO after removal of hypothecation (was sitting on Form 35 for more than a year). A few people have shown interest and hopefully should be able to sell it by December. The choice would then be decided partly by brand which gives the best end year offer.

Last week, dropped in at the Toyota showroom as my wife had not seen the Liva in flesh. She liked it and though no TD car was available, seems like it might be back for consideration. Strangely when I sat in this car at the showroom, the steering did not rub against my thigh as it did in the TD vehicle, so I thought it rather strange.

Will update the thread as things progresses.

 

[visran]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Didn't you try the new Sail U-VA when you visited Chevy showroom?

 

[Tornado]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

I happened to drive facelifted RITZ Vdi for a distance of 100 km. which included 3 km Ghat climbing stretch. and most of the highway and some city running.Car handled very well on all types road s , GC is exelent on worst diversion I drove ever. Low end torque and clutch feel is is excellent for city road.
Road view and side view is excellent from drives seat , no blind spots,so plus 1 for handling and tight spot parking.
Front seat under thigh support is good, adequate kneeroom for front passegers , no hitting with door or centre console. dash mounted rpm meter helps you to read it without taking eyes off the road. Steering feedback is good.

Interior plastic quality looks upmarket.

Only, the rear seat comfort is little less but better than micra due to more breadth and high seating position. Only two people can seat comfortably on rear seat.

Rear bumpers give it a wider dimension at lower end than the remaining car. It is likely to be scraped by auto rikshaw s during near kissing overtaking attempts by them espesially if the car is dark colored so white would be dent and paint saver.

The new front grill I didn't liked , The checks appear too big for the car front, but my view is subjective.

I asked my friend while handing over the keys back that is it really diesel or petrol?

This is the car which has used the fiat's national engine most intelligent way.
@Chayan, Please TD it before making decision.

 

[chayan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Didn't you try the new Sail U-VA when you visited Chevy showroom?

With Rs.6.99 L on-road for the LS(O) variant - its one of the over priced one out there. I have seen the car inside out, but have not TDed it (so will not be able to put my option on how it drives). Design is very plain (which is necessarily not a bad thing), but has the same GC as Figo (168mm) and given its GM, is priced wrongly.
They should be targeting Figo but seem to have Swift in their cross-hair. What they don't understand is the probability that a Maruti buyer will buy GM is very less. I am not a fortune teller, but given the crowd at the dealership, I don't see much Sail-UVA being sold.
November numbers will give a better idea, so lets wait and see.

 

[Tornado]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

@Chayan, Taking clue from the existing fuel expenditure (6000 to 6500 Rs), it seems that your spark runs approx 1000 to 1100 km/months ., correct me if I am wrong.

So as to punto or sail UVA to fit in your budget , if you prefer to use new diesel car for highway trips , and city trips whenever you and your better half are traveling togather instead of petrol Jazz , and thus if running of diesel car increases , and money saved on petrol can be used for extra budget of punto or sail UVA. IMHO.
Just give a thought and let us know.

 

[Music_Swift]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Chayan Bro-Did you bought Jazz?I had seen it in your profile that you had bought a Jazz.

 

[Tornado]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

@M_S , If you go through opening post of this thread , you will come to know that Chayan already owns a Jazz for himself and he is looking for a new hatch for his better half.

 

[chayan]

Update: Sold my Spark

My Spark has a new home now. There was a little delay due to the bank hypothetication removal and getting the new smart card.

I think the person who bought it will take good care of her. Its hard to tell, but he waited nearly a month for the car so I guess he was really interested.

I will upload a few pictures in the next post. Now the search for the new car can begin in earnest and in perfect time too.

 

[hari_hyderabadi]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

In your budget, only 3 cars are available.

1) Beat Diesel (top variant)
2) Vista ZX (top variant), VX doesn't have airbags but has ABS with EBD
3) Ford figo Titanium with optional pack (top variant)

Beat would be ideal for city and small lane driving. Figo comes next and Vista could be as difficult as a SUV or sedan to maneuver in city traffic. Mileage wise the order would be Beat > Figo > Vista

With subsidy battle for LPG, I don't suggest you to buy a LPG (just my opinion).

All in all go for Beat if the vehicle is only used for 2 people commute. If you feel Beat is too little in size, go for Figo.

If you are stringent about the occasional fifth person in the car (or maybe sixth person), go for Vista. Nothing can beat Vista for its space an comfort.