my zen estilo...so far so good

Pros : Smooth engine, Good looks & spacious, great driving experience
Cons : Gear lock inconsistent & No power in Gear2

I am writing this after 1 year of having bought Zen Estilo VXI. At the end of every quarter i used to feel that i still have something to explore or i might be too early in giving full marks to Zen Estilo..but after 1 year..i have to.:) I was using Maruti 800 earlier and with lot of deliberations of which vehicle to buy next - either a WagonR or Santro, what caught my eyes was Zen Estilo parked in Bimal - Yelahanka.  Since most of my friends/cousins either had a Santro / Wagon R, they were not my natural choice. I wanted to buy something different...apart from the crowd..but at the same time hesitant to ignore their good words on the vehicles they had. Did a test drive for Zen Estilo (Thanks fo Mahesh (Salesman of Bimal Yelahanka) for his honest inputs about the vehicle and his co-operation with me. Both at the time of exchanging my M800 and also test drive. He is a gentleman. Decided to Buy Zen Estilo and it landed in my house in Feb 2011. It's just more than an year now and i have clocked 13500+ kms on this. A couple of long drives but mostly within the City. The engine is smooth..at times i get confused if it is running or not.. quite spacious... I drive for 50 kms every day from North to South Bangalore and am enjoying my drive each day..every day. It's just FILL IT - SHUT IT & FORGET IT. The boot space is amazing when compared to any other car of this family and if you avoid installing your speakers behind...nothing like it... The AC performance is very good and within 2-3 minutes you have a chilling effect in the car. REALLY DONT KNOW WHY THIS VEHICLE DOES NOT OUTPERFORM WAGONR WITHIN ITS FAMILY AND OUTSIDE AS WELL I am getting a mileage of 16+ in city without AC.. not sure if this is optimal. Suggestions welcome if there is a way to optimize. Coming to drawbacks 1. Power in 2nd gear is not enough. Something needs to be done for this. With AC ON, just forget you have a second gear..You need to use 1st. 2. 2nd free service was not upto the mark from Bimal..had to send it back again..but  was not really happy. 3. Issue with reverse gear..At times it gets struck between and if you release the clutch...you hear the crackening noise..I told about this during service..but nothing happened. Anyways..now i am used to it..and am rather conscious when applying reverse. Over a Very Good experience and no Regrets in buying Zen Estilo...