Best First Car

If you are looking for your first car, look beyond Maruti. Hyundai service is quite affordable for Eon and good if not better than Maruti. The price is high when compared to alto, but it is actually justified. Where Eon wins over alto is great styling and awesome interior. The fit and finish won't tell you that you are driving an entry level car. The dash and other plastics are very good in quality and looks nice. The Era Variant is the best value for money in my opinion, but the dashboard looks great and complete with the inbuilt ICE which starts from Magna. Problem is that the ICE sounds quite flat and dull. The car is smooth enough and easy to drive. However, the engine noise is high inside the cabin and the engine vibrates considerably while idling. The Gear is not that great. The 1st to 2nd gear is very notchy and often takes extra effort. I often felt like breaking the gear shaft while shifting from 1st to 2nd. But, after 2nd the gear is ok. The acceleration pedal is light and need Not be pushed too hard and too far. Sudden pressing too far just don't give any quick response. Just keep foot gentle on it, change the gear in time, and you will get optimum speed and fuel economy. The gear shift indicator also helps a lot. The clutch is light and easy to use. The break is extremely good. Stops the car confidently in very short distance. The steering wheel is light but not very accurate and does not weigh enough with an increase in speed. Acceleration is surprisingly good. But with AC on the acceleration drastically drops down. Though the AC is very very efficient and cools in very short period of time. With 5 people on board and with AC on, the car simply doesn't move enthusiastically. With a full load, another problem I faced was the underbody getting scratched from the bumps very easily. The suspension is very soft and lots of jerking is felt inside especially in the rear. The windscreen wiper is effective, but the intermittent speed feature is missing. The fuel economy really varies. City driving with AC gives 12-12.5 kmpl. Without AC it jumps to 16-17 kmpl. On a highway with AC almost 19-21 kmpl and without AC around 20 kmpl. I have met several accidents in this car (as a novice driver). Though minor, but the body simply can't endure those. However, repairing wasn't very costly. The body is prone to dents and scratches very easily, although the paint quality is decent. The problem faced in two years of ownership: 1) Acceleration reduced over time. 2) While breaking there was annoying sound from the rear of the car. (in 1.5 years) 3) The clutch produced a clicking sound. (in almost 2 years) 4) The driver seat again started generating sound with jerks. (in 6 months) 5) One of the two rear number plate light was detached automatically. (in 1 year) Everything was rectified during the scheduled servicing with satisfaction.