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A Skoda Slavia owner shares his impressions of the 2023 Hyundai Verna

27th March 2023, 11:32 by Deepankar Sadekar

Paint quality is still a bit away from VAG standards, but better than the City.

BHPian ashivas89 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

First impressions from a Slavia DSG, Gen 5 City ZX and former Verna 1.6 CRDi AT owner:

I visited Lakshmi Hyundai in Whitefield, Bangalore on an impulse while driving by. They have a grey SX(O) ivt example on display.

Test drives to begin 10 days from now, according to the SA.

I could only spend 15 mins with the car. Here are a few quick observations:

Styling is quite funky and the car looks good from some angles(more on this later).
Detailing is interesting.
Full cladding in the front arch + Steel front arch (city gets only a partial metal arch).
Hood felt very heavy ( possibly due to the sheer acreage of the hood?).
Decent paint quality.
Decent GC of 170 mm (According to the SA. He was quite confident and did not have to think twice before his answer.)
Car looks ugly from some angles (you only need to shift a few feet to the left or right for the car to alternate between ugly and good looking).
Build quality is still decidedly Asian.
Doors and trunk lid do not have the heft of European cars' (my old Verna was closer).
Rear wheel well does not have full cladding.
Come on Hyundai, why cant you paint the areas which people do see often? (inner surface of the tailgate gets only the base coat).
Paint quality still a bit away from VAG standards, but better than the City.
4 lug nuts on wheels!!?
Brake discs up front appeared to be small for a car this size (My prediction? this will pop up during the road test.. brakes lacking bite. Rear discs don't provide a huge advantage for bite or stopping power. The advantages are more evident during repeated braking)
What's with the lame quarter plate sized logo up front?
Finally, forget about body shops repairing dents, there are too many creases! Hang on to that zero dep insurance as long as you can!

Quite bright and airy.
Soft touch materials applied across the dasboard (the white strip with the stich on it).
Decent material quality.
Decent fit and finish (not hugely better than the Slavia, virtus or City but better nevertheless).
Slick infotainment (I still prefer the VAG 10+ inch unit).
Comfy seats.
Low dash and good frontal visibility.
Good legroom in the rear, Finally!
Steering wheel looks terrible and the centre boss plastic quality feels low rent, buttons are okay though.
Window switches are not not fully illuminated (as usual..).
Light coloured soft touch material will pick up stains. The dealership got the car 2 days ago and it was already pretty soiled.
City still feels more spacious, so does my Slavia. Especially in the rear.
Some buttons look tacky, especially the piano black ones (personal taste..).
The bezel around the infotainment screen looks CHEAP!

All in all, it is evident where the money has gone. The interiors + the overall "snazziness" are where it is at for this car.

Would I still have bought the Slavia now? Yes, but.. it is not as emphatic a yes as it had been until the price announcement

The Verna is is going to come across as a terrific all rounder especially due to the pricing for anyone in the market for a C2 sedan.