This is notwithstanding all the talk about this badge engineering and so on. It was mid-June 2019 almost exactly a month ago give or take a day or two. Since Feb 2019, my parents were thinking of saying bye bye to their 5.5 year old Hyundai I 20 Asta Manual Transmission which had 25K kms on the clock. We had bought this brand new in 2014.
It was coming up to their 50th Wedding Anniv and I wanted to buy them a gift they would enjoy on a daily basis. Dad (in his mid 70's) as the main driver of the car, wanted a nice spacious and well engineered premium, nice looking, modern, petrol driven biggish hatchback car which sat well on the road, gave him and Mum good comfort, good safety features, a high seating position and most importantly an AT tranny. His other ask was easy maintenance and servicing along with painless reliability.
This is their single vehicle for daily use in the city and every few months on the highways between Madras and Bangalore. Dad tested all sorts of cars including the Polo Petrol GT AT and Hyundai Venue Petrol DCT 1 litre Turbo AT and so on. The Polo was too low slung for them though he loved its DSG. The Venue was nice they said but it was too expensive and Hyundai has again compromised on features between the MT and AT versions. I mean how stupid can Hyundai be- the AT version is given a full bench rear seat without 60:40 split folding but the MT gets this simple feature! Plus of course as all manufacturers are wont to do we never ever get the 6-7 airbags in an AT in India. He also tested the Maruti Baleno CVT. But they offer a very limited warranty.
The Toyota Glanza CVT top spec V-AT was launched at this time and there were some few cars available in Madras. Both Mum and Dad test drove it around and liked it a lot. It suited them perfectly they said. The car they finally chose came in that lovely luminescent pearly white shade and they vastly preferred the blue interior trim and accents much more than the faux wood which looks rather yellowish and fake as in all Toyotas.
I went to see them and wish them for their 50th Anniversary in June, called the dealer, told him to send his chap over to my parents home, simply swiped my credit card towards payment and the car was delivered to my parents in 3 days flat including all the registration, insurance and other stuff. It must be one of the first few Glanzas in Madras. The 5.5 year old I 20 with 25000 kms on the clock was dropped off at T S Mahalingam in Madras (the owner is a very old friend) and we got a fantastic price for it too on account of its extremely well kept and sparingly used condition.
The Glanza V-AT cost us 10.7 ish lacs on the road and having test driven it on a short 'chukka' around the city, I do honestly pronounce it a good and sensible car indeed, given the specific use-cases in mind. One of the good clinchers in the Glanza vs the Baleno is the longer and much more useful manufacturer warranty period.
The dealer was a nice chap, he gave Dad a number of accessories and mats and car cover and all that FOC. The only change we made in the car is that just after it arrived, Dad went straight to BM Lal in Madras (another old friend) and the stock Apollo Tyres of 195/55/16 were immediately changed over to 205/55/16 Yokohama Earth 1 tyres. He got a nice fair price for the stock Apollos and paid the difference for the Yokos. Better rubber and better grip and handling plus these Yokos do definitely fill the wheel arches much better.
So the bottom line according to me is that this Toyota Glanza is a car that makes a lot of people happy so it cant really be all bad !
Last edited by Gannu_1 : 21st July 2019 at 20:47.
Reason: Combining sentences into paragraphs for better readability.
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