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Seltos & Compass owner buys a Creta diesel automatic: Ownership review

23rd January 2024, 16:30 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

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Other cars that were on my list included Mahindra XUV700, VW Taigun, Toyota Hyryder, Honda Elevate and Hyundai Alcazar.

BHPian vattyboy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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A gem of an Engine- Refined and Quiet.
Features- Loaded to the brim.
Gearbox- Very accurate and reliable Torque Convertor.
Performance- 116 ps with 250 nm offers good drivability and fun.
Mileage- This car loves to give a mileage of 15 in the city and 20+ on the highway.
Brakes- Brilliant braking performance with all 4 disc brakes.
Handling- No sign of nervousness at triple-digit speeds and slight curves.
AC- It is a chiller.
Good Noise Insulation inside the cabin.
Gorgeous Panoramic Sunroof.
Good Ergonomics for every passenger.

Dislikes

Price- 24 lakhs on-road is quite high.
No aerotwin wipers on a car worth 2.4 million bucks.
Power windows switches are not backlit.
There are no soft-touch materials in the car.
Rear Number plate bulbs are yellow.
Automatic wipers are not present.
No seat lumbar support.
High-beam throw headlights are not good.
Noisy Centre Console.

Need for a New Car

My Mercedes CLA and Jeep Compass maintenance are on the higher side, especially JEEP. Jeep Compass is proving to be unreliable and it asks for more maintenance than Mercedes. Jeep parts are also very costly somewhat comparable to the Big 3 Germans.
Second reason is there are no ASS of Mercedes and Jeep in Udaipur.
My reliable Kia Seltos is registered in Surat, Gujarat, so I can't drive it in Udaipur, I purchased it for driving in Surat whenever I go there for work. For almost 5 months a year, I have to live in Surat.

So this time I want a car which is-

Reliable.
Low Maintenance even after the warranty expires.
Good availability of Service centres across India.
Feature Rich.
Decently powerful Engine.

Test Drives

Mahindra Xuv 700 Diesel AT

This was the 1st car on my list. I made up my mind that I would buy this SUV only without even checking any other car. I and my family went to the nearby showroom and took a test drive of the top variant i.e. AX7 L Diesel AT.

Everything was good in this car- a lot of space, engine power, refinement and pricing. The showroom experience was also good. I and my family were happy after the test drive and left the showroom asking the SA - if we could book the car tomorrow and if he would provide discounts. I came home very excited even if the SA didn't provide any discount I would have booked the car as the delivery date was promised within the next 10 days.

However, my excitement came to a halt when I opened Team BHP and went through the forum of Xuv700. I saw many bhpians share their story of niggles they are facing in their xuv 700 like-

A glitch in the infotainment screen, sometimes the rear camera does not work, Hill Hold Assist not working properly, a sound coming from the airbag module, and a recent thread in which a bhpian shared that his Xuv 700 was not unlocking in the midnight at his friend's house, car going into limp mode while going to the office due to some sensor issues etc.

After reading all this I was very disappointed. But with a heavy heart, I decided to rule this car out because this time I didn't want a car with niggles and unwanted ASS visits.

Volkswagen Taigun GT 1.5 Tsi EVO

This car is fast on the open road but at the city speeds, I experienced some turbo lag. The suspension is the best out there I have experienced in a car below 30 lakhs( except Innova). If you are hard on the throttle then mileage reduces to 8 kmpl. Acceleration is very good till 140 and high speeds are not felt inside the cabin.

Ruled this car out as it looks very small like a sub 4m car and due to the maintenance horror stories of VW and Skoda. Already there are 2 white elephants in my garage so I can't take the risk of adding another one this time.

Toyota Hyryder Hybrid

Rejected it due to noisy 1.5 L 3 cylinder petrol engine. Till 40 kmph the car is in EV mode which feels great to be in but after that, the engine comes to life. I pressed the throttle more and the engine felt stressed and noisy which reduced the overall driving experience. I also felt the doors and bonnet were very light. The mileage it was giving was mind-blowing i.e. 24 in the city but on the highway mileage of this car decreased to 22 kmpl as the engine kept on doing its duties to maintain the highway speeds.

Honda Elevate

I went to the Honda Showroom considering Top notch Honda's reliability. Took the test drive of Top Variant ZX Cvt with ADAS.

Honestly saying I don't like ADAS and I can't live with it, I don't like the artificial feel of a computer doing things for me.

Talking more about the car there is no wow factor in it, I did not like the quality of its interiors. Felt the suspension was too stiff even stiffer than my Jeep Compass maybe the tires were overinflated. On hard throttle the engine was noisy. Due to its low torque of 145 nm, there is a need for a medium to hard throttle for good pickup and due to this, the engine revs at higher rpms and becomes noisy which causes discomfort to the ears and mind, it feels the engine stressed.

I didn't take the Test drive of Tata Harrier as I owned a Tata Tiago and Tata Indigo in the past, these 2 cars gave me a lot of trouble. My friend owns the New Safari XZA+ Dark edition and he is also unhappy with the car due to frequent niggles so I was afraid of spending 25 lakhs on it.

I didn't take a drive of Mg Hector because I don't like its looks and its soft suspension which reduces high-speed stability.

Now only Koreans were left on the list. Since I have Seltos 1.5 MPi Htk plus. I decided to have a look at the Hyundai stable and Alcazar gained my attention.

Hyundai Alcazar

I called the nearby Hyundai Dealer and asked them for a home test drive of the Alcazar Diesel AT. Within half an hour the SA was at my home with White Alcazar.

Loved its alloy wheel design. Sat inside the car and loved its interiors with a piano black finish in the whole centre console and around the Infotainment screen. I liked the nvh of the car and engine and took a 15 km long test drive in the city and on the highway.

2 things I didn't like in the Alcazar were:

Power- Due to its sheer size the 1.5 Diesel is slow at picking up speeds.
2nd Row leg space- To add the 3rd row in the car, the leg space of the 2nd row is compromised.
Looks- In my eyes, it looks neither here nor there.

Bid goodbye to the SA during lunchtime and told him that I needed some time to think. Now I was disappointed that no car was meeting my requirements. Due to that Day being a Sunday, I decided to take a nap.

Booking and Delivery Experience

After waking up from a power nap, suddenly a thought came to my mind of the Hyundai Creta in the evening and I was like Why Not?

It will be quicker than Alcazar due to less kerb weight.
There is no compromise in the 2nd-row leg space.
Creta Top Variant Sx(0) has similarities with Alcazar Interiors like a piano black finish in the centre console which looks very premium.

Coincidentally at the same time, Hyundai SA called me asking me about the Alcazar. I picked up the call and told him that I wanted to have a look at the Creta too and as expected he told me about 6 months waiting on Creta.

I asked him if he could arrange the Top Model i.e. SX(0) Diesel AT if I bought the car at their price quotation without any negotiation i.e. their Insurance rate, accessories, warranty, the shield of trust etc.

He told me he would ask his senior and call me back. Within 5 minutes he called me back and told me he would arrange a car for me and deliver it in the next 5 days because the customer to whom this car was allowed was having a problem in the loan process.

I was on Cloud 9 after hearing this, I told him to give me in writing that he would deliver the car to me in the next 5 days to which he agreed but asked me to give him a booking amount of 25k first after which he can give me it in writing.

Immediately I transferred the booking amount to 25k to the dealer account and SA did what he promised. SA told me that he would receive the car in the next 2 days and provided me with the VIN.

As promised the car arrived at the dealer in the next 2 days. I requested PDI for which they obliged. I went to the showroom and SA took me to their stockyard in Nios CNG (an impressive car with lots of space and a refined engine).

I did PDI as per the team BHP PDI checklist and the car passed with flying colours. I was happy after seeing my car for the first time. After PDI we went back to the showroom and I transferred the amount to the Dealer's bank accounts by RTGS.

Ex-showroom price - 19,03,000 /-
Insurance - 93,500 /-
Shield of Trust 2yrs- 11,000 /-
Extended Warranty 5 yr/ 1.40 Lac km- 34,000 /-
Accessories - 15,000/-
RTO- 2,48,000/-
VIP Number- 50,000 /-
TCS- 19,000 /-
Ceramic Coating- 30,000 /-
Total Cost - 24,03,500 /-

After paying the full amount, I told the SA to deliver the car on 1 January 2024.

Delivery Day

Reached the showroom according to my muhurat time i.e 6.30 pm. The car was parked in the delivery area in a neat setup with a blue cover.

I like the professionalism of the Monarch Hyundai, Surat. They did everything which was asked by me, all the accessories were fitted in the car and the vacuum cleaner etc were neatly placed inside the boot. Generally, dealers forget 1 or 2 items on the delivery of the car but things didn't happen by Monarch Hyundai Surat.

First, we completed our muhurat of Taking the delivery of the car and then did a 30-minute photo session. The dealer played a Nice Song in the background for the delivery. They didn't have a big duplicate key which the dealers generally have so they handed over a bag of Hyundai which carried all the documents like invoices, RTO papers etc. They also provided a pooja thali and a pack of chocolates.

After taking the delivery of the car, we went to a nearby Mahadev Temple for the mandatory pooja of the car.

Process of Buying a Car from a Different State and Registering it in Your Home State

I bought the car from Surat, Gujarat and I will register my car in Udaipur, Rajasthan because no dealer in Udaipur could arrange the car in 5 days. So I can tell the process involved.

Ask the car dealer to give you a CRTM ( Certificate of Temporary Registration) slip. This costs about Rs 300/-. In issuing CRTM, the dealer asks you these things before the car delivery-

In which RTO( City, State) do you want to register your car?
Your Address of the City of Registration.
Aadhar Card.

All the above information will be uploaded to the Vahan portal before the delivery of the car and then they will give you the CRTM slip after which you are good to go. CRTM slip costs Rs 300/- but many dealers charge differently for this. My dealer took Rs 4500/- for CRTM.

Now, from the date of delivery, you will have 1 month to reach your home city and submit all the RTO documents and road tax. The dealer will give you a file of all the documents which are to be submitted in the RTO, you will have to hand over that file to your RTO agent simply.

Don't worry about insurance as the Dealer will provide you with the insurance on the vehicle's VIN and Chassis number so there will be no issues with the claims in case of any mishappening while going to your home city.

Drivability of Creta 1.5 CRDi AT

Press the brake pedal along with the push button start and the 1.5 CRDi engine comes to life, it is so silent, and refined and feels like a petrol car.

The car feels very easy to drive in the city thanks to its light steering, good turning diameter and good visibility from the windows in all directions.

Release the brake pedal and the car starts crawling at 8 kmph. I noticed that the initial pickup is very strong due to the Torque Converter.

The engine and gearbox are match-made in heaven. There is no lag in the engine and the icing on the cake is the Perfect tuning of the AT gearbox which always keeps the engine in its turbo band.

With a light foot, the gearbox shifts at 2000 rpm, and in no case, does it shift below 2000 rpm.
If it senses that you want more acceleration and pickup it can stretch and delay the shifting till 4000 rpm.
The gearbox in no scenario keeps the engine spinning below 1500 rpm. The moment engines go below 1500 rpm, the gearbox downshifts.
In case you accelerate hard till 3000 rpm and you don't want to accelerate further and maintain that speed then lift off the throttle and the gearbox will upshift in 1.5- 2 seconds.

Mileage

Out on the highways, I tried testing mileage at various speeds. At 110- 120 kmph it gives 19.5 kmpl. Then I set the cruise control at 90 kmph and it returned 23.5 kmpl mileage. At 80 kmph cruise control, it gives 25 plus kmpl mileage and this is the max mileage Creta D AT can give.

In the city depending on the traffic I am getting between 15 to 17 kmpl with very light input from the accelerator.
With pedal-to-metal driving, the mileage can drop to 12- 13 kmpl.

Ergonomics and seating comfort

The first things I notice after sitting in the car are comfort, wide seats and all the ergonomics in place like the door handrest, gear lever, Infotainment system, power window switches etc.

I am 6ft, I Adjusted the front seats according to my height and there is a good amount of legroom left at the rear

The window glass is very thin.

Engine and Performance

Hyundai's 1.5L CRDi VGT engine makes 113.5 bhp /116 ps power and 250 nm torque from a low 1500 rpm. It feels adequately fast and is faster than 90% of cars on the road.

I can say confidently that it offers a good amount of performance after driving Big 2.0 L and 2.2L Turbo diesel Engines in my Compass and Mercedes daily. Yes, the 2.0L multijet and 2.2 L CDI of Mercedes have an edge but that extra performance comes into use only 10 out of 100 times on the highway when you are in a mood to smoke other cars.

It cruises 100-120 kmph very easily and effortlessly, even 140 feels smooth without any strain on the engine plus the mileage I get at these speeds deserves a standing ovation.

At 100 kmph engine spins at 2050 rpm. So the engine in its turbo zone just presses the throttle and zooms past the vehicle in front.

One thing I noticed was that slight engine noise creep inside the cabin only after 3000 rpm and that too doesn't feel like A noise from a diesel engine.

The engine is city-friendly due to 250 nm torque from low 1500 rpm the car accelerates quickly for overtaking or reducing the gap inside the city.

Out on the highway, I had fun keeping the engine between 2k- 3k rpm for performance and I was ahead of almost 95% of cars on highways. And I kept the engine below 2000 rpm to get better fuel efficiency.

Notice the AGM Battery