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My 2022 Hyundai Verna ownership: Service updates, trips & fuel stats

5th July 2023, 14:36 by Rahul Nagaraj

The lifetime fuel efficiency average stands at 14.146 km/l with the best being 18.855 km/l.

BHPian Shanksta recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Update: 30K kms and 4th Service

Since my last update on 27th March 2023, Sena has been driven around another 10,367 km in 3 months. I have done a lot more trips and munched highway miles like there is no tomorrow:

Chennai - Kalasa - Kumta - Chennai -> 1818.6 kms
Chennai - Coimbatore - Chennai -> 983.6 kms
Chennai - Goa - Chennai -> 2101.9 kms
Chennai - Mumbai - Chennai -> 2652.8 kms
Chennai - Pondy - Chennai -> 253.6 kms

The Scare:

During the Kalasa trip, while trying to reach our Airbnb homestay (which was pathetic) I had a major scare when the concrete road I was following ended abruptly turning into a gravel road with a huge elevation difference of 4 ft. I was doing 40kmph and the road ended at a curve. The Verna ended up diving and I thought the sump might have cracked. Luckily only the plastic engine guard had cracked with a part of it ripped out. After returning home, I contacted my service centre and placed an order. After 2 days the part arrived and the total damage to the wallet was Rs 1432 (Part- 904, labour-250 & tax 278). Also had them inspect the rest of the car and everything was in order.

Also during this trip, the Airbnb was located in a place which was proper 4*4 territory, the host kept assuring me that sedans can come if you are careful and ended up doing it slowly with caution. Extremely impressed with the Verna post this trip.

The broken engine guard

A new engine guard was fitted, and the lip is a little scuffed up but no other issue otherwise.

Goa Trip

Drove down to Goa during the May Day long weekend. Took the route suggested by BHPian Parag after crossing Bengaluru i.e. Hubbali - Kalaghatgi - Yellapur - Ankola - Karwar - Polem. The road from Kalaghatgi to Yellapur is an epic driver's road with amazing crests and curves. This is one of the few state highways where you can maintain good speeds.

Post crossing into Goa, took almost 3 hrs to do Polem to Mandrem. Ended up driving 1075 km that day in 18 hrs including stops. Would definitely not recommend doing South to North Goa in the dark, the oncoming traffic especially the locals use very powerful lights that are always in high beams. Had a splitting headache till the next afternoon.

Mumbai trip

A friend was getting married and the venue was Mumbai, what better excuse to travel than this also having relatives in Mumbai was the icing. Headed off to Mumbai for a week, thanks to WFH. Started around 4:40 AM on a Saturday, drove till Karad and stayed at Fern residency.

Chennai to Ranipet has become a pain nowadays with countless diversions and endless construction, it takes almost 3 hours to cross this 98km stretch from home. Post this it was a peaceful drive till NICE road. NICE road to Tumkur is again a slow stretch with crazy drivers and post Tumkur it is a peaceful run all the way to Hubli. Hubli-Dharwad is again a slow stretch due to heavy truck traffic and the single-carriageway with steep elevation worsening the situation. Post this it is again a fun drive all the way to Koganoli toll plaza. Once you enter Maharastra the traffic is constant and you need to be careful of slow-moving tractors and 2-wheelers on the highway. The road condition is good though.

On Sunday, drove from Karad to Navi Mumbai in 6 hours. Maintained a constant 80kmph. Nearing Pune, there were constant bottlenecks and traffic Jams on the expressway. The MPEW(Mumbai Pune Expressway) has become very dangerous with extremely crazy drivers since my last drive back in March 2022. Also while passing one of the overhead bridges, my car was splattered with green paint (they were painting the railing ). Stopped at the food plaza before Khalapur and had a nice 1-hour workout under the hot sun cleaning all the paint before it dried up. Used all my might and the sanitising wipes I had with me liberally to remove every last speck of green paint.

The return journey was uneventful and fun. Left Mumbai on Thursday and stayed overnight in Hotel Anand the Grand(highly recommended) on the Hubli-Dharwad bypass. The next day left around 6 AM and reached Chennai by 8 PM.

The Verna was just great during this drive and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The 4th service experience at 30032 kms

I always book my service appointment on a Sunday. I take the car myself and stay back monitoring the work done. However, this time I decided to leave the car and come home to see if there is a difference in the work they do. Glad to report everything went well.

Landed at the service centre at 9:00 AM, the service advisor attended to me in 15 minutes and a job card was created. Got an estimate of Rs.8440+taxes with a few unwanted jobs added like AC cleaning-1900, cowl top cleaning-800 and fuel injector cleaning additive - 800. Made them remove these three and the final estimate for only the general service involving oil change, oil filter change, air filter change, AC filter change and labour totalling to about 5900. I was back home by 10:30 AM. Received an update by 11:30 with the picture of my car on the lift and approval for the wiper blade change (which I rejected). By 2:00 PM received a call from SA to come by 4:30 PM to pick up the car. Reached the service centre by 4:30 PM and was out by 5:00 PM. The final bill was Rs.5991.

The job done was neat and of course, as with all service centres I usually come back home and thoroughly wipe the interiors with a microfibre to remove any smudges left behind.

Overall the Verna has been a *touchwood* no-nonsense car to own while also being able to satisfy the driver in me. 30,000 km in 305 days is a new personal record for me and despite being a petrol Verna did not break the bank with fuel costs.

Fuel Stats:

The lifetime average stands at 14.146 km/l with the best being 18.855 km/l and the worst being 9.393 km/l in the city recently when the whole of Chennai was choked up for a week due to metro work.