Hello everyone,
We bought a new silver Jazz V-MT (petrol) privilege edition in Noida on 28th Sept. The car had been booked in the first week of Sept.
The decision to purchase the Jazz was mine. It was a six way battle between the usual contenders - Baleno, Elite i20 and Jazz and their small sized sedan siblings, the Dzire, Xcent and Amaze.
None of the cars from the VW group were considered because we wanted complete peace of mind when it came to servicing and I would not take even 1% chance of my elderly dad having to deal with VW service centers.
My dad was adamant to buy a 'small' car only and my mom wanted a sedan. That is the only reason why we included the compact sedans in our list.
However, a test drive each of the Amaze and Xcent soon had us struck them off the list due to their narrow cabin and less than premium feel when compared to the other cars in the shopping short list.
The new Dzire made a strong case for itself (no wonder it sold 30000 copies in a month recently). Two negatives made us drop it off the list.
1- The waiting period. Dealers promising 4-6 months was unacceptable.
2- The light built.
Elite i20
Having a Getz and Verna 4S in our garage, we were very happy with the product quality as well as the service quality of Hyundai. So, i20 was our first choice when it came to replace the Getz. The i20 oozes premium-ness. The interiors feel well appointed and you 'feel good' when you seat inside the i20.
The variant re-shuffle by Hyundai became a sore point for us as they removed many essential features from the Asta variant and placed them on the Asta(O) only. With a fixed budget of 8 lac on-road (no loans taken), the Asta (O) was out of contention.
Question to Hyundai - Who came up with the brilliant idea of selling i20 Asta with the 'stylish' steel wheels?
Dad still liked the i20 and it remained on the list.
Baleno
Maruti have really taken leaves out of Hyundai's books here. Baleno is packed to the brim with features and is still affordable. It seemed to be the perfect car for us. We took a test drive and were impressed by the ergonomics and the space inside. Big boot was a bliss. Ride quality was good and the car had good road manners. Took it up to 120 kmph and it felt very stable.
Back at the showroom, dad casually forces his thumb on the test drive car's driver's door and a dimple develops. He does it again and a new dimple develops. We asked the SA and SA says the test drive car is a 2016 model and Maruti have improved the rigidity in 2017. I am pretty sure I have not read anywhere about such updates so I took it with a pinch of salt.
We were quoted a waiting period of 24 weeks for the petrol Baleno.
For me, the waiting period was the deal breaker but for my dad, the dimples were enough to say NO.
Jazz
I would rate Jazz as the most 'practical' car in the segment. It may not have the flair of the Baleno or the premium feel of the i20 or the handling of the Polo, but it is the Jack of all trades and master of One - Space.
Just one test drive of the Jazz was enough for us to place it on the top of the pecking order. The V-MT petrol fell nicely in our budget and the car was booked on 1st Sept.
Due to in-auspicious days, waited till Sept end to take the delivery. During this wait, Honda came out with the privilege edition which had the AVN system, seat covers and parking sensors. We called up the dealer and they changed our booking to V-MT Privilege. The days turned out to be auspicious for us.
We made the complete payment on 23rd Sept and decided to take the delivery on 28th Sept.
Delivery Day
It was going all well till the SA came up to my dad and said, we need to pay 7000/- additional for the extended warranty as they have already invoiced it 'by mistake'.
We stuck to our stand that we had not asked for extended warranty and we will not pay for it, no matter what. The discussions turned a little heated in the middle. Then, the SA comes and has the following conversation with my dad-
SA- Sir, I agree it is our mistake. It is just 7000/- and you are getting warranty till 4th year, why don't you pay?
Dad- Did I ask for extended warranty? The answer is No, so why should I pay?
SA- Sir, if you don't pay, I would have to shell the money out of my pocket.
"Main aapke bete jaisa hu, mere baare mein socho" (I am like your son, please think about me.)
Dad-
Koi beta apne baap ko chunna nahi lagata hai. (No son will con his father).
Long silence. The SA walked off as my dad came back smiling. In the end, we got the extended warranty for free.
The car has been driven around 700 kms already including a round trip to Agra on the Yamuna expressway.
Highlighting some of the likes and dislikes.
Likes
- Space: We also own a Verna 4S and the Jazz simply trumps the Verna in terms of space. Brilliant packaging by Honda.
- Big boot: Gobbled up the airport luggage without a burp.
- Features: We got all the features which we were looking. The privilege edition additionally gets AVN + 3 view rear camera. This is not present even in the VX variant.
- Ride and comfort: The Jazz has big car like stability. Feels nice and solid on the highways.
- Fuel efficiency: Honda engines are much more efficient than Hyundai ones. Where the Getz gave 12 kmpl, the Jazz gives 15. Where the Getz gave 15kmpl, the Jazz gives 20kmpl. Superb !
Dislikes
- Weak lower end: The second gear is almost dead. Have to rev the engine hard at times.
- Gearbox: Being used to Hyundai's silky smooth gearboxes, Jazz seems to be like driving a Bolero (ok a little exaggeration here, but you get the drift).
Overall, we are extremely happy with the Jazz.