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Why I chose the Hyundai Exter over other competing hatchbacks

18th December 2024, 14:23 by Ananth Iyer

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For what it offers, I find the Exter to be a great package and perfect for those looking for a small family car.

BHPian skanchan95 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Specifications

Car : Hyundai Exter

Trim : SX(O) Connect

Colour : Atlas White

Overall Dimensions L/W/H(mm) : 3815/1710/1631

Engine : 1.2L(1197 cc) Four Cylinder, 16 Valve DOHC Kappa BS6 (Petrol) VTVT

Fuel Tank Capacity : 37 Liters

Wheels/Tyres : 175/65 R15 Diamond cut Alloys (Spare - 165/70 R14 Steel)

Max Power : 83 bhp @6000rpm

Max Torque : 113Nm @4000rpm

Boot Space : 391 liters

Year of Manufacture : 2024 (September)

Dealership : Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore

Date of Delivery : September 25, 2024

Likes:

Superb and Reliable 4-cylinder Engine in a segment where all manufacturers have "downgraded" to 3-cylinders in the segment.
Unique H-shaped DRLs.
Bright & airy cabin. Opening the sunroof blind makes it even brighter.
Being a Hyundai and especially being serviced by Advaith Hyundai, it would be relatively easy and niggle free to own.
Loaded to the brim with Creature Comforts and features.

Dislikes:

Manual Day/Night IRVM (i/o automatic)
Lack of front armrest
The tyres look too thin and tiny(especially when viewed from the rear and sides)
No Wireless Android Auto/Apple Car Play support
No auto up for driver's side window

Requirement:

A spacious and feature packed Hatchback-type car in the range for Rs 10-11 lakhs to replace Our 2020 Toyota Glanza(Link). The Glanza had been flawless in it's four years of ownership. It was in great shape after nearly five years of ownership and 66K odd kms on the odometer. The support from the Toyota ASC(United Toyota, Mangalore) was decent too. However, my dad started having back issues recently and because of the low seating of the Glanza, was not comfortable in the car - he was having a lot of trouble getting in and out of the car and for him it was not a pleasant experience. With no practical way of addressing his concern, we decided to let the Glanza go and look for a car that offered a higher seating position, good ground clearance and offered good cabin space.

Our nearly 5 year old Glanza couple of months before we sold it

So, The basic requirement was to have a spacious car that :

has a higher seating position.
is capable of handling the deteriorating condition of roads reasonably well.
has a smooth engine that offered a fuss free & smooth driving experience like the Glanza.
has almost all features that the Glanza had.
capable of seating four adults and two small kids comfortably.
decent after sales service support.

Why Manual and not Automatic

I wanted a Manual Transmission variant because the car was to be driven mainly in the city and for occasional highway drives. Mangalore does not have as much bumper to bumper traffic as say Bangalore or Mumbai. Also, apart from the higher cost factor, an AT cannot return the same FE figures as an MT. Besides that, not really a fan of ATs and I prefer MTs when I drive.

Cars Shortlisted:

1. Hyundai Exter

2. Tata Punch

3. Renault Kiger

4. Maruti Swift

5. Toyota Taisor

6. Nissan Magnite

Hyundai Exter

Visited Advaith Hyundai, Kuntikana to have a look at the Exter where I was greeted by their Sales Executive Ms Lavanya Shetty. She showed me the display car(a Red SX) and politely explained the features. I was offered a Test Drive but as the TD car was an SX(O) Connect AMT, it did not make sense for me to take the TD of an AMT. Having owned an i20 and Grand i10 powered by the same 1.2 Kappa engine, I knew how smooth the engine was. I was impressed by how feature packed the car was - the placement of buttons, the seating position and the very roomy and bright cabin, though I knew it was nothing but a Grand i10 Nios/Aura cabin wise with slightly more headroom. Six Airbags were standard on all variants, Cruise Control & sunroof are available from mid-variant onwards. From the outside, it gives you an impression of it being bigger than it actually is. Thanks to the sunroof(when the blind is opened) and the high roof, the cabin felt very roomy and airy. I was interested in the top of the line SX(O) and SX(O) Connect. The SX(O) Connect offered a factory fitted dual channel(front & cabin facing) dash cam, 8" HD infotainment system, Bluelink, OTA Updates for inbuilt Map & Infotainment, Connect features using mobile app and factory fitted mud guards (which I though was weird, as the lower variants do not get it). I am not a fan of Dual tone(Black roof) because of Mangalore's heat and so it always going to be a single tone colour for me. Took the price list and headed to other showrooms to evaluate other cars. The Single tone Exter SX(O) was 11.14 OTR & SX(O) Connect was 11.96 OTR Mangalore. I liked what I saw and promised to get back to them.

I did not consider the other Hyundai dealership in the city - Kanchana Hyundai because I do not have a favourable opinion about them, having discovered some very unethical practices practiced by them in 2015( which I had written about in my i10 thread here.

With Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore, I have had a very great and satisfactory experience while servicing our previous Hyundais - a 2009 i20, 2008 Santro, 2014 Grand i10 and a 2015 i10. Their after sales service Support had been fantastic and at times they went out of their way to resolve issues with our cars and most importantly, I have trust in them that they will handle my car with care and competence. It was also good to see familiar faces in their Service department - some of whom have been promoted. The only reason why I did not consider a Hyundai after 2015 was because I found their designs (especially the oversized grilles and sharply shaped headlights) not to my liking (I bought a 2016 Figo & 2020 Glanza in the interim). The Exter is a Hyundai design that I liked after a long time.

Tata Punch

Cauvery group had opened a Tata Showroom at the same location where they had earlier operated a Ford dealership (till Ford exited India). My experience with Cauvery Ford during my Figo Ownership(Link) was great and "Cauvery" Tata was the only reason why I considered the Tata Punch. I did not consider visiting the other Tata dealership in Mangalore - Auto Matrix because of an unsatisfactory experience with them while evaluating the Altroz in 2020.

One of the things that struck me about the Tata Punch was the large number of variants and sub-variants - which were confusing to understand. A TD was offered which I took. Initial pickup from standstill was a little weak (at higher RPMs, it was quite good though). Bien ga 3-cylinder, the smoothness of the engine was much more than I expected, but the clatter of a 3-cylinder engine was certainly being felt- it felt more like driving a diesel while accelerating. The TD car, which seemed to be a mid variant, had retractable individual arm rests for the front seats but this feature seemed to be lacking in the top variants - which was again confusing(no front central armrest console either - which was added in the refreshed Punch variants after I purchased the Exter)! The cabin felt rather simple , the speedometer outdated and the touchscreen for the infotainment system tiny. I liked the high seating and driving position, the rear seat seat felt dark, cramped and claustrophobic. Out went the Punch from the reckoning.

The top of the Line Punch variant - Creative and it's confusing sub-variants were being offered only in Dual Tone(DT). Creative DT -11.15 lakhs, Creative DT SR(Sunroof) - 11.68 lakhs, Creative Flagship DT - 12.04 lakhs

Renault Kiger

At the price range, the Kiger seemed like a very attractive proposition and I visited Enoch Renault showroom in Kulur. However in my budget only the 1.0 NA trims seemed to fit.

The Kiger has an imposing presence and looks and feels like a much bigger car. Shape wise, it looked like a bigger Kwid. The high ground clearance, seating position and features in the RXZ variant seemed perfect for my requirements. The cabin felt very roomy and bright as well.

I took a TD and the first thing that I noticed was the trouble I had with the driver's side seatbelt. Buckling it was a pain because of the large central storage console. The footwell felt very cramped with no space to left my left foot and also a footrest was missing. Starting the engine, the harshness and vibrations were immediately apparent. The car has three drive modes - Eco, Normal & Sport. In the Eco mode, it seemed as if the car almost did not want to move and as if there's no power. Switching to Normal or Sports mode made it better but still the vibrations and harshness of the engine was the biggest negative of this car.

During the TD I also noticed a lot of rattling noises from the dashboard and suspension. Although the huge Ground clearance meant that I would not have to worry about scraping the bumper and underside of the car in big potholes or speed breakers, The ride was nowhere as comfortable as my Glanza's. Even the slightest undulations on the roads were being harshly felt in the cabin. There were quite a few rattles from the cabin as well. The car almost seemed to almost "crash" into even small potholes with a loud thud. To make matters worse, after finishing the TD and while reversing the car into the dealership's parking, it felt as if the entire car was shaking while reversing - something that I had not experienced in any other car I had driven - the car seemed to have no power! And the last irritating part - even after turning off the car, the doors did not Unlock, like they do in other cars. The car has to be unlocked manually!

The top of the line Turbo RXZ MT(which has a far more responsive engine) was going above budget - 12.43 lakhs, while the 1.0 NA RXZ MT was 10.93 lakhs. Other than the engine, in the price range, I liked what the Kiger offered - a big SUV like stance with lots of space and practical storage spaces inside. If only the engine had been better!!

I also took the opportunity to visit the dealership's workshop and speak to the Works Manager. The workshop looked very shabby, disorganized and cramped. I wanted to know if the mud splash issue under the tail lamp that existed in Kigers earlier has been resolved effectively or not. He had no clue what I was talking about and was blankly looking at my face. The sales executive had to intervene and said it was an issue earlier but has been resolved by Renault in new production cars. When I asked him about dashboard rattles and their ability to fix it - his answer was - if you drive on bad roads(the word he used for such roads was Gujiri, which loosely means bad(scrap) in Tulu) such rattles will occur, we cannot do anything about it. I thought - for more than four years, I was driving a Glanza a car that had a reputation of developing dashboard and panel rattles, but in my car it didn't even on bad roads. The major rattle issue from the steering was taken care by the ASC under warranty.

For a Works Manager to speak like this that cannot do anything about it - this statement was enough for me to not consider Renault. With such an attitude of the works manager and therefore the workshop, I was sure that the ownership experience would not be a pleasant one and will turn out to be a nightmare later. I did not want to repent later because of such poor attitude and after sales service support.

Although Renault was offering upto 7 years/1,40,000 kms warranty(extended) on the Kiger, I still felt it was too big a risk to go with such a dealership whose service center had an attitude like that. The other thought about the Kiger that was troubling me was was the resale value - What if after 3-4 years I wasn't happy with the car and wished to sell it, will I be able to get a decent price for the car? Unlikely! Out went the Kiger!

*Renault's was the only dealership that gave an the old school hard copy o the brochure - which I felt was a great thing. All the others had either given xerox copies of the brochure or sent a digital copy of the brochure by whatsapp.

Maruti Swift

It was more out of curiosity than anything else and I visited Bharath Arena in Kuntikana because of the new Swift launch. There was a Red/Black Dual Tone Swift ZXi+ on display. For some reason, it reminded me of him.

I don't mean this in any negative way. The Swift is a great car and has been a powerhouse in the segment which it will continue to be with the new launch. *Those of us who watched WWE in the early/mid-1990s(WWF back then) would recognize him as Yokozuna- the bad guy wrestler from Japan.

The features were impressive, but the lower stance meant it had the same low seating issue as our Glanza. However, I decided to take a TD to see what the new & much vaunted 3-cylinder engine felt like to drive. The TD car was not available and I was promised that they will bring the car to my residence the next day - which did not happen.

The top of the line ZXi+ Dual tone MT was quoted at 11.40 lakhs.

Two days later, I again asked them about the TD. Again they said the car has gone out and was not available. On the fourth day, I again visited the showroom for a TD - again the same reason - the car has not come back from a demo in Puttur (around 50 kms east of Mangalore). Looking at their seriousness and the low seating issue, I abandoned the thoughts of considering the Swift. Almost a week later, they called again to say the TD car is available and they wanted to bring to car to my residence for the TD. By that time, I had already decided which car to buy!

Toyota Taisor

Again, this wasn't in the reckoning seriously and would have gone over budget, but I wanted to have a look at it (being an upsized Glanza/Baleno). I visited United Toyota in Padil and asked them if they could evaluate my Glanza. While was looking around the Taisor, none of the sales executives showed up (to be fair to them, they may have been in a meeting, I am not sure). More than half an hour passed, the guy who took my Glanza's key from me for "evaluation" did not show up. When I asked at the reception counter about this guy and my car's key, I found him relaxing in his chair. Sheepishly he came up to me and said - Sir we can offer 5.15 for your Glanza - to which I said - it was too low, and walked off. If Toyota is unable to offer a good price for a car that has been immaculately maintained and serviced from their own workshop, what was the point of considering a Toyota (I know, just like my Glanza, the Taisor is a rebadged Maruti Fronx)

Nissan Magnite

Around the same time, my brother told me that the Pai Sales group (who are a big group in Mangalore and are an authorised dealer of Suzuki two wheelers in Mangalore & Udupi) was opening a Nissan dealership in Mangalore and that their workshop was near his flat in Kulur, Mangalore. While coming back from the airport one day, I decided to drop by this facility as I thought their showroom would also be in the same building. I was told that their new showroom would open shortly in Kottara and this facility was going to be their workshop(at different points in time in the past, this facility was a Renault Service Center, a Mahindra First Choice workshop and lastly, a self driven car rental service operated from there before shutting down).

However, the sales manager who was conducting training for the sales executives invited me in and showed me a line up on Magnites(pre-facelift) on the workshop floor and explained the variant wise feature in detail. The XV Premium variant looked very good and feature loaded and was slightly cheaper than the Kiger RXZ. As the Kiger and Magnite were based on the same platform and powered by the same engine and gearboxes, I felt driving experience would be similar. However he apologized that he could not offer a TD as their showroom had not opened yet. He took my number and promised to get back to me when their showroom opened. The call never came and as I was unsure of Nissan's ASC, out went the Magnite as well.
* My younger brother ended up buying a Red Magnite Facelift mid-variant(N-Connecta) from this dealership in October. While driving his Magnite, I felt the same 1.0 NA Petrol engine that does duty on the Kiger, felt much more smoother(lesser vibrations) and more responsive in the Magnite. The car also seemed to be behaving better on bad roads.

Exter - The Winner
Although price-wise, the Exter was the costliest and was over budget [SX(O) Connect variant], I felt the Exter satisfied all my requirements

1. High seat position than the Glanza- which makes it easy to get in and out

2. Can comfortably seat 4 adults and two small kids

3. Decent Ground Clearance

4. Smooth and silent Engine that offered a vibration-free driving experience for a sedate driver like me

5. Reliable and excellent After Sales Support (from Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore)

6. Four additional airbags was a bonus safety wise

I loved the fact that the car came with a factory fitted dashcam, the sunroof is a bonus - I am not going to use it(except may be opening the sunroof blind to let more light in). TPMS is great too to keep an eye on the tyre pressure. The Fully digital speedometer looks really good - the only irritant I found was absence of time display on it(which the Glanza had) . The 8 inch infotainment system is loaded with Features(is a fingerprint magnet though). The inbuilt maps(from Mapmy India) is a capable substitute for Google maps.

The only things I was going to miss badly in the Exter(compared to the Glanza) is the Glanza's UV cut glasses, which helped in reducing heat and the sunlight glare and the puddle lamp on the door.

I made up my mind to go for the SX(O) Connect for the extra features and the HD infotainment system it offered over the SX(O) - later I discovered it was capable of playing videos too- which is a rarity on factory fitted infotainment systems.

During negotiations with Advaith (Ms Lavanya Shetty, SE and Mr Mahesh, TL) I was offered a discount of nearly Rs 42,000 and the OTR price for my Exter SX(O) Connect was quoted as 11.47 lakhs.

Ex-showroom Price - Rs 9,55,900.00
Total Discount - Rs 27,500
Total Ex-showroom price - Rs 9,28,400
Road Tax - Rs 1,48,549
Nil-dep Insurance - Rs 44,315 (3 years TP + 1 year OD)
Regn & HP charges - Rs 2,662
Extd Warranty (4th & 5th Year/1,00,000 kms)- Rs 12,153
Fast Tag - 650
Hyundai Shield of Trust (5 years/60,000kms) - 10,999
Total - Rs 11,47,728

"Hyundai Shield of Trust" is a package that covers replacement of wear & tear parts and other parts like Clutch Disc, Clutch Bearing & Assy, Bulbs, Fuses, Brake Pads & Discs, Wiper, Suspension bushes etc (parts that are not covered under warranty). These parts can be changed any number of times during the coverage period.

Extended Warranty is a must for cars these days that will save you from a heavy expense later in case of a part failure.

Paid the booking amount of Rs 10,000 and as I had shortlisted Single Tone Atlas White or Ranger Khaki(Hyundai's signature Olive green colour) as the colours for my Exter, I asked them to confirm the ready availability of SX(O) Connect in those two colours. There was Ranger Khaki ready at one of their sister outlets but it was a July manufactured one, while a white SX(O) Connect (freshly manufactured), they could arrange within a week to ten days. As the bank loan formalities were anyway going to take a week's time (because of a holidays in between), I asked them to get the White one for me.

Hyundai Mobis OEM Acessories:

3d cabin mats - Complimentary from the dealership (standard carpet mats came free with the car as well)
Scuff Plates - Rs 928
3D Moot Mat - Rs 1163
Seat Belt Cover - Rs 370
Seat Covers(Airbag compatible) - Rs 6483
3M Under chassis coating(5 years warranty) - Rs 2717

With this, the Exter became the sixth Hyundai we owned in our family over the years and the third car we bought from Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore:
1. Accent GLX 1.5 MT (2001-2007) - GJ11 (Veraval) - Shreenath Hyundai, Rajkot
2. i20 Asta 1.2 MT(2009-2014) - GJ11/KA19 (Veraval -> Mangalore) - Om Hyundai, Junagadh
3. Santro GLS 1.1 MT (second hand : 2011-2015) - KA19(Mangalore) - Second Hand
4. Grand i10 Asta(O) 1.2 MT (2014-2022) - KA19(Mangalore) - Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore
5. i10 Sportz 1.1 MT(2015-2016) - KA19(Mangalore) - Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore
6. Exter SX(O) Connect 1.2 MT (2024) - KA19(Mangalore) - Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore

*In the hindsight, the Kiger RXZ MT may have ended up costing under 12 lakhs (after discounts) - which would have brought it closer to the Exter SX(O) Connect's price and therefore may have been a better fit than the Exter (price and VFM wise) but there is a big question mark over Renault's after sales service support and they are miles behind Hyundai in that department. With the Exter, I know I will have complete peace of mind, thanks to the brilliant after sales service support from Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore - an important criteria for me in every car I purchase.

D-day - September 25, 2024

The car allotted to us was September 2024 manufactured .

The car arrived at Advaith Hyundai's huge stockyard facility(and new service center) in Baikampady Industrial area on September 18/19, 2024 and I was informed about it's arrival.

The car during PDI on September 21, 2024. The car ticked all boxes of the Team-bhp checklist. Mileage reading on the car was 7 kms.

The Loan was applied with Karnataka Bank who were reasonably quick in sanctioning the loan. My earlier car loans were with Canara Bank but I stopped banking with them and swore never to give any business to them because of their poor customer service, lack of business sense and their pathetic "chalta hai" attitude towards serious complaints. After the disbursement of the loan amount by Karnataka bank, the delivery was fixed for the evening of September 25th at around 5:30 PM.

Advaith Hyundai's showroom/service centre in Kuntikana, Mangalore:

The delivery ceremony was excellent. I knew with Advaith Everything was going to be perfect thanks to their brilliant staff. Everything was done step by step in a very well organized manner by Mr Mahesh and Ms Lavanya and the car was delivered within the promised time.

There was a Black "Knight Edition" Exter SX standing for delivery besides our white Exter - an interesting contrast. All the formalities were completed and little delivery ceremony was memorable. The registration plates were fixed on the car on number plate frame. Additional Registration Blue sticker and Fast tag from SBI were stuck on the car's windshield.

The car ready for delivery: