[evilmessiah]

Ew. No way I'm buying a used i20.

I hated the steering feel (or lack of it). I also didn't like the feel and character of the diesel. If I didn't like the diesel, I can't imagine how the wimpy 1.2 would be. I would rather get a used 3rd gen arrowshot 1.5 City with the TC AT over the i20 AT if I can afford to pay for the extra fuel guzzled- at least the former is way more fun and more reliable even though its ground clearance is bad. The only plus points of the i20 would be interior space and plastics. Also, Hyundai is quite ambitious in its service costs nowadays.

This car is in a twilight zone- it looks like a sporty, premium hatch, but it's neither truly sporty (like a Polo GT, Punto Abarth, Tiago JTP or a Figo S) nor truly practical (like a Jazz). Kind of like the MS Surface Go which cannot make up its mind as to whether it's a small laptop or a mid size tablet and end up bad at being both.

I would rather have my old Santro Xing as opposed to this or the Grand i10. There are more competent cars in this price range that are suited to my taste than this milquetoast. Great for a family man/ non driving enthusiast (both of which I am not). Each to his own, in the end.

[Candy$Cars]

A big NO.
Somehow we as a family have never liked Hyundais right from our first car (The Daewoo Matiz bought in 2000 and sold in 2018) till now. Maybe due to the dull & sad shade of beige they use, the cramped interiors (especially the rear seats), the lifeless steerings, their seemingly cheaper service though it is not, the poor showroom experience we experienced each time any of us was in the market or their overload of gizmos just to attract customers (as they say first impression is the last impression!). No offence but they just seem to be soul-less A to B cars impersonating as reliable machines but the recent compilation from Crazy Driver has shattered that myth as well.

Coming to the i20, the 1.2 is sluggish and a guzzler. The 1.5 ivtec with more power, displacement and fun is more efficient than i20's 1.2 in almost any scenario and it is same for other 1.5NA engines too (I guess?). Moreover, with the plethora of problems in these new-age Hyundai cars, I will have to think twice or thrice putting my money that too on a pre-owned one. We live in a sub-urban area and put tremendous amount of trust on our automobiles as a lot of travel is through roads where it is difficult to find help if you are stranded, maybe the city-dwellers can live through the reported mechanical failures as the service centers are nearby.
May be the diesel is a good choice but then you have much better options in the market, not to mention at lower prices (ex- Figo 1.5D).

[angadmonga]

Voted YES (Before I actually found out something interesting)

Drove the 1.4 diesel back in Bangalore (rented from OLA Drive - Mint condition cars, check them out if renting for short drives). I was surprised by how refined this engine is even though I own a 2012 Honda City 1.5 V AT! (Ownership thread coming soon!) I think many people here are more concerned about the long term costs, which is something to be wary of but, out of all the Hyundai cars in my friend circle and extended family, no one has ever complained of any major expense/failure on the car. It came as a shock to see so many people commenting about the same here.

The main purpose of writing this post is something else though. I was just going through some used car ads on Olx and this is what I found https://www.olx.in/item/honda-city-1...iid-1578741387 (Sorry I don't know how to rename the URL )

I then actually looked for used Honda City on other sites and found out that there are several sellers out there selling both the 3rd gen and 4th gen City at around the 5.5-6L mark, which is what the Elite i20 is in the used market! In such a case it doesn't make sense to buy the Hyundai at all given the fact that you get a much more reliable car with a much better engine option.

[NitinDev]

A big YES for the 1.4 CDRI. Not a fan of the 1.2 though. Clocked close to 1L km on my Asta 1.4 before selling it off. Gem of an engine Acceptable built quality. Not a single breakdown throughout the ownership.

[anshu1101]

Voted "Yes". The best premium hatchback available even after so many years of its launch. Cabin space, premium interiors, improved handling vis-a-vis the earlier i20 (which handled like a boat), competent ASS and the superb diesel makes for quite a compelling case. A friend who got this car last year (following my recommendation) is very happy with the purchase.

[avsrihari]

Voted YES. Drive a Elite i20 CVT Asta since 2018. 2 years of trouble free ownership with 27000 kms on the Odo. It replaced a i10 Auto after 110000 kms. The Diesel is an absolute blast to drive. Would've been my choice if not for the Chennai city traffic. The ergonomics suits all body types. Don't miss any features. Initial choices were Jazz CVT, Polo GT TSI and Figo DCT. Jumped and booked i20 as soon as it was launched. Will post an Ownership review soon.

[DieselAnna]

Originally Posted by ganesc

I always liked the Elite i20's look and feel but hate the face-lift they did around 2018/2019. I too was surprised, but reading further, it makes sense why it's a No for many.


Hope you don't say it doesn't age well because of the above though? Many other cars that has run 72K would have had most of these changed too.


+1.

You are right that these parts are changed in most cars during a lifetime of 72k Kms. I am just putting out more details about our car changes for clarity.
1. Suspension changes done at 60k kms/5th yr
2. ABS Sensor failed twice 5th yr/6th yr
3. Steering rack replacement at 20k kms/3rd yr. This was the most useless change. Hurt my pocket as Hyundai rejected warranty
5. Also, mirror autofolding mechanism failed twice
6. Tyre/Battery is ok as those are not car specific
7. Towards the end the car rattled a lot and had become difficult to live with

Services of this car had become expensive. We had upgraded from a Santro and were of Hyundai Service costs. Hence I said Hyundais don't age well. The engine however was good enough for another 75-80k kms, I am sure.

[extreme_torque]

Voted no. Test drove it once and it did not do anything for me, its fairly average all around without being terrible at anything. The 1.4 diesel is a good engine though, the 1.2 is underpowered and not efficient either, a bad combination to have.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by DieselAnna

We have owned a Fluidic Hyundai i20 1.4 Crdi Sportz from Oct 2012 and sold in May 2019 (72000 kms odo). Hyundais don't age well. Following things were changed during the ownership:

Most cars that have covered 70,000 km will require the big items in your list (suspension overhaul, tyres, battery, clutch).

What stands out to me is the ABS sensor (must be inexpensive) and steering rack (expensive, my City Vtec suffered from it too). Still, I wouldn't call 2 part failures in 7 years as "too negative" at all.

What do you mean by air-con overhaul? A service? Or did any parts fail?

[DieselAnna]

Originally Posted by GTO

Most cars that have covered 70,000 km will require the big items in your list (suspension overhaul, tyres, battery, clutch).

What stands out to me is the ABS sensor (must be inexpensive) and steering rack (expensive, my City Vtec suffered from it too). Still, I wouldn't call 2 part failures in 7 years as "too negative" at all.

What do you mean by air-con overhaul? A service? Or did any parts fail?

ABS sensor costed me 4.5k each time. Both rear tyre sensor failed.
AC compressor had an electrical failure. HASS quoted a bomb for this. Later, I got it done from a FNG but still it was an expensive affair. Don't remember the exact spend.

The suspensions costed around 25k. Clutch was quoted around 14-15k iirc but I sold the car before changing that. Spent around 40-50k in the last 2 years, including servicing, which I think was too much for a hatchback that ran around 12k kms in a year. It got too expensive to maintain. The auto folding mirror was changed once under warranty and then it was quoted 5k. Did not replace it and left it like that.

Maybe the next 2 years would have been easy on the pocket because major expenses were done. But, we wanted peace of mind. Any other unforeseen cost would have made the ownership bitter.

Having said that, the Car was loved by me and my father for the VFM factor. The 1.4 crdi was one gem of an engine with a confused suspension. The suspension and handling never complimented the turbo kick in the car. It was my first diesel car and I loved the turbo kick at 1750 rpm.

[nerd1200]

I had to vote "NO" although I really liked the 1st gen i20 facelift (2012 - 2014) in it's 1.4 U2 CRDi Asta avatar. Not a fan of the Elite's design language.

The car had a really good ride and handling package for the segment, enough power to keep you awake on highways and feature loaded in true Hyundai fashion.

However, having owned the Accent in the past, my experience with ASS hasn't been the best. Maintenance costs shoot up quite a bit for Hyundais past their prime. I used to pay 11-13k in HASS for the Accent for regular services. To put that into perspective, I pay about 12-13k for the Laura TSI at Skoda ASS. Keep in mind the service interval for the former was 6 months. There's a 38 page thread (Hyundai India, unreasonable long term maintenance and service practices!)in TBHP to back my claim.

Originally Posted by GTO

What do you mean by air-con overhaul? A service? Or did any parts fail?

Hyundai ASS have 3 stages of A/C checkup/repair and although I don't recall the details on exactly what was covered in each stage, the prices were on the higher side. My Accent also needed a A/C compressor replacement at 50K on the odo. The reason that was given by HASS was that the compressor oil was really low which caused the failure. That is after servicing the car diligently at HASS only. Forget any sort of good-will warranty, I was forced to pay 20k advance for ordering the ~25k part. That entire ordeal costed me about 40k.

[Veelubai]

I've been using the elite i20 Asta 1.4 diesel for past 5yrs and 70,000kms. I have all praises for the car.
Likes :
1. Good power for overtaking
2. Light steering makes it so easy to drive (I respect road rules so I don't drive like a racing driver and I'm fine with the steering)
3. Very comfortable suspension for passengers and driver
4. So much convenience features ('some' people call these gizmos as Gimmicks, but once you use it, you will realize how much it makes life easier)
5. Good space (compared to My previous hatchbacks polo and swift)


Dislikes :
1. No speed sensitive auto door locks

Complaints and issues faced till date :

1. Door handle unlock switch failed once (some 2000rs or so)
2. Front suspension bush changing (I don't always stop-n-go over potholes )
3. Rear boot hydraulic system small issue - the boot doesn't go fully up on its own anymore, just need to push it up manually)
4. AC failed once during warranty period. Got it fixed immediately by nearby service centre.

Overall extremely happy with this car, after i20 in 2015, my father got himself a creta and this Saturday he's getting the new model creta too.

[TheGearBox]

I test drove the i20 1.2 petrol back in 2011. It felt quite under-powered and this became even more apparent when I tired to climb a slope; I had to shift into first gear! We ended up going for a Polo 1.6 MPI instead.
Now I am curious as to what the next generation i20 with the 1.0 turbo will be like. I hope Hyundai offers it with a manual transmission option and not just a DCT. It might just end up replacing the Polo.

[anshuman_b]

Voted no.
Hyundais in general lack characters and feel like appliance.
The reasons being:
1. Hyundais have quite high service cost compared to peers. My 4 years old Grand I10 used to cost around 8-10k for a regular service, which is even more than the service cost of my honda city.

2. Hyundais start giving problems as soon as warranty is over. In the 4 years ownership of Grand I10 with ODO around 45k I had a complete AC failure, rattling steering rack. The clutch became super hard after around 30k in the ODO.

3. The petrol engine is lacklustre in I20. This engine felt underpowered even in Grand I10, so it’ll be even slower in I20 and moreover this engine is quite thirsty, often returning single digit mileage in city traffic.

[CLS_06]

Hello guys I am relatively new on this forum
(Although a reader from last 7 yrs)

Need your valuable advice.
As I am getting a i20 asta 2012 80k run diesel
Priced at 3L appx from cars24 platform
ASS maintained in pretty good shape
I am upgrading from a Ritz vdi 2013 140k run

Needed diesel only as my highway run is more for work related travels

No issues in Ritz but just the itch to upgrade as its little boring in 2023 (read featureless)

Other car for family highway trips is Innova v 7str just over 90k run

Confused between shall keep Ritz (jazz it up. Little )
Or buy i20