Ritzed the moment!

It was my long cherished dream to own a car. But this year, it was one of my resolutions. I had decided to gift a car to my parents on their anniversary.

Back then, the car I had in my mind was Maruti Swift. I liked it the first time I sat in it in my ex-colleague Sairam's Swift and that very moment I decided that whenever I buy a car, this is the one.

Sometime in the month of March, I made a general inquiry at Sagar about the waiting period and they confirmed the waiting period of 6 months. With the anniversary on July 1st, I thought of looking at other options.

My requirements were simple:

1. A good, easily accessible after-sales service
2. Inexpensive spares
3. Budget 6.5L, all inclusive
4. Diesel 
5. Window doors should go down atleast 80% to get the max view (atleast 80%)
6. Max leg room as my I have aging parents
7. Tall boy body
8. Delivery before the D-day
9. Max boot space (Desirable)
10. Fully loaded (Desirable)
11. Good looking (Desirable)

I don't understand anything technical about the cars. So, I don't know anything about rpm, torque, etc.

After hours of reading on net and consulting few friends and relatives, I decided to take a test drive of the following cars:

• Maruti Ritz
• i10
• i20
• Toyota Liva (added at the last minute after testing i20).
• Figo (added almost for the name sake)

I ruled out the following options though some of them were very promising:

• Brio, Jazz -- No diesel version
• Beat -- Fails on points 5, 6 and uncertain about 1 and 2.Almost same with Aveo
• Fabia -- Heard horror stories about Skoda service. 
• Punto -- Not convinced by the reviews and user experiences. I somehow felt it has a feminine look. (I know that it sounds silly.)

I finally took a test drive on May 19th. Ok, I must admit that I (still) don't know to drive, so it was actually my cousin Abhijith who drove the car while I sat next to or behind him.

And the hunt began...

Sagar Auto
 
On entering the Maruti Suzuki's Sagar Auto showroom, we were introduced one Mr. Manju, who checked our requirement and quickly arranged for the test drive of both Swift and Ritz to clear our dilemma. He was patient and answered all our doubts and recommended Ritz to suit our requirements. Even I liked Ritz. The experience also re-affirmed my belief that Swift is 70% value and 30% hype and Maruti charges for the hype as well.

After the test drive, Manju introduced to the finance person, Shivakumar who explained the finance options.

Overall, we left the showroom highly satisfied with the experience and almost decided on Ritz.

Advaith Hyundai:

First thing that struck me about this dealer was that their premises is very congested. Cars competed for the space outside the showroom. 

Once we made our way through the cars and entered the showroom, the scene was no different. The space was showroom, reception, lounge, all rolled into one. Anyway, we met one Venkatesh who explained all we wanted to know about i10 and i20. We took a test drive of both the cars and were bowled over by the magical iGen i20. But it was about 1L more than my budget. Had to let it go with a heavy heart. :'(

Ruled out i10. It was way too cramped.

As we walked out of the showroom, my cousin suggested we try the Toyota Liva as well. We wrapped up some other work my cousin had in his office and headed towards Nandi Toyota on Kanakapura Road.

Nandi Toyota:

Nandi Toyota premises is huge with ample parking space. Even the showroom is very spacious. The sales executive explained the features of the two diesel variants and we were on the road for a test drive within minutes. 

Liva looks good from outside and minimal on the inside. The USP are its leg space and boot space. Guess they are best-in-class. The on-road price was about 7L. We quite liked it.

Since it was an auspicious day, I had to book a car at any cost. After a quick analysis, we booked the Ritz; with an eye on Liva. 

Lathangi Ford:

Later that week, I read some good stuff about Ford Figo and went to check it out at Lathangi Ford.

It was a good car to drive, but I was not impressed.

Ritzed...

Here is the summary of my impressions on the car I test drove:

• Ritz -- Good value for money. Meets most of my mandatory requirements.
• i10 -- Good small car. But has space constraints. So ruled out. Not sure about 5.
• i20 -- Wow! Highly recommended for anyone who can afford.
• Liva - Not convinced about 1 and 2. With minimum mandatory accessories, the price comes close to i20. Strongly 'not recommended' by a user with whom I spoke later.
• Figo - Fails most of my mandatory requirements.

I finally took the delivery of my car on 22nd June. Ecstatic and excited.

Sidewing:

I was mighty impressed by the guys at Sagar (Mr. Manju and Narayan, who processed my car loan).

Sales

Since the showroom was right next to my office, I visited it atleast 5 times before taking the delivery and Mr. Manju was very co-operative and patient in answering my queries (sometimes repetitive) every single time. He called me several times to check when I will be meeting him (for downpayment, submitting the documents, finalizing the accessories), but not even once did he sound to be in an unnecessary hurry to close the deal. Even on the day of delivery, he never rushed on anything even though he had two more deliveries scheduled.

Finance

I was very apprehensive about taking a loan from a nationalized bank. I expected to visit the bank atleast twice before I get a final go-ahead. However, Mr.Narayan, a Sagar Auto veteran, was very knowledgeable about the entire process and made the experience completely hassle-free. Once I gave the required documents, all I had to do was to visit the bank at a mutually agreed time, sign the papers, meet the loan processing officer to show the originals, and submit the ECS Debit form to my salary account bank. That's it. Plain and simple.

Surprised and supremely satisfied. 10 on 10.