Why I decided to buy the Hyundai Exter: Replaces my 12-year-old WagonR

Chose the Exter over the likes of the Baleno, Punch, Fronx and even an i10 NIOS.

BHPian alok9345 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Finally took the delivery of Fiery Red Exter SX MT.

Some quick background: We are from a Tier-3 town and the Exter replaces our 12-year-old WagonR and primarily is going to be a highway car for my grandparents. We evaluated multiple cars (Baleno, Punch, Fronx, Exter, Nios) and our decision revolved around ease of ingress and egress (for 80+ yr olds), availability and ease of service and spares, safety features and importantly, it should cost us around 8L (yes, that's where it started!)

How did we decide on Exter? Or rather dismissed others!

Maruti Baleno - low-hung seating was uncomfortable for my grandma to get into the back seat. My brother-in-law owns one and I've had many chances to test this

Tata Punch - Loved the car, but the engine kept wanting for more and NVH levels weren't all that great. However, the final nail in the coffin has been my personal experience and multiple horror stories with Tata ASS. I just couldn't imagine my grandparents going through this hassle and even when Tata doesn't have a showroom or service centre in our town.

Maruti Suzuki Fronx - Was upbeat about this higher-up Baleno and thought it could be a perfect balance for us, the pricing with respect to features was completely off and didn't make the cut for us. The Delta 1.2 MT would've cost us well upwards of 9L with lesser features than the Exter. The Zeta was most desirable, but upwards of 10L, didn't make sense. The styling was better though!

Hyundai Grand i10 Nios - Stil low hung, uncomfortable ingress/egress. Less space.

Hyundai Exter - Disappointed by Fronx pricing, quickly moved to pre-book the Exter. Styling was a hit and a miss for me, but I liked most bits of it. The pricing when launched was appetising, with SX costing us around 9L on-road.

Exterior

Absolutely love the combination of red and black. I am glad they didn't offer the dual tone in red, else I would've been tempted by the alloys, but this single-tone combination is absolutely smashing. I love the front of the car, the H DRLs are pretty cool, the grill comes out well and the overall styling from front and side looks good. However, all said and done, I don't think there's any way one can like the back of this car. It's even more polarizing in person. I am not even sure what were they thinking, but it's like it's been cut with a knife from the back.

Will add some photos shortly. Writing this on the way back to Bangalore!!

Interior

Another thing I love about Hyundai is that with cheap plastic also, they'll get better quality in knobs and buttons than a 20L Tata. The combination of fabric and leather in the seats feels good and breathable. They'll be easier to clean as well in my opinion. The white/beige/silver portion of the dashboard breaks the black monotony and the beige headliner along with the sunroof adds a sense of space. There's ample legroom and seat depth in the back for a family with an average height of 5.5-5.6".

Front seats are comfortable as well, with decent lumbar and thigh support, again for this average family height. The instrument cluster is pretty good for this price range and doesn't have 2000 things going on - plain and simple. MID is larger and crisper than my Nexon EV Max.

Engine, Refinement and other nit-bits

Engine noise is quite noticeable. It also could be more noticeable to me due to my adjustment to my EV, but it's there, at all times. The noise was more noticeable initially, but it settled quite quickly post a long trip we had the next day. It does feel underpowered in higher gears (2nd and 3rd), in case you need a quick burst of power, say to overtake.

The handling is typical Hyundai - dead in the city but weighs up on highways and at higher speeds, and that's when the feedback is pretty connected.

The cruise works flawlessly and is probably better than my Nexon EV. It creeps up the power linearly, doesn't pressure the engine and works as it is supposed to, with decent fuel efficiency.

Talking about fuel efficiency, could derive an average of ~16kmpl over ~400kms with 4 adults on the manual even with bad roads, construction-related deviations, water logging and the infamous NH8 traffic. I would say it is pretty commendable for a new petrol car.

Although I do miss the dynamic lines on the reverse camera, it doesn't hamper usage for this size of the car.

The music system is loud and clear but doesn't have the oomph that is now becoming standard in most cars, but maybe not in this segment, I am unsure of the comparison here.

I didn't miss the centre armrest as this one is a manual and I have a habit of resting my hand on the gear lever.

Biggest win: Grandma needs no assistance to get in or get out of this car.

Overall

I don't think anything else is a more complete package, having said that, Punch wouldn't need to lose its sleep because it is very much at par with definitely better styling, but let down by pathetic ASS.

I'm not delving into my delivery experience, it was pretty much the usual business and we did find a connection with the owners and things went without a hitch. I did pay 5k for accessories and was surprised to know they don't have any at the moment and would be giving these later. I am going to go for the scoops!

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