Zeroing to Mahindra Renault Logan? How did it happen?

guys i just wanted to see what different views pour into this topic from our various friends.... also i am free for some while right now.... provides me immense pleasure to pen down certain things as they are coming to my mind...

How you went for a Logan?

what i have heard as to be a general belief from certain parts of globe where i have been so far is,
european cars are more towards driving pleasure, safety measures, pollution norms, design, art work etc...
japanese cars are more towards economy, fuel efficiency etc...
us ones are more towards class, comfort, luxury, statement etc..
indian cars try to combine all of above and end up no where.... this happens as a result of cutting on production costs so as to bring down the ultimate sales cost, still maximising profit margins.

Dont know how true is all this....

I will start with my own experience....
My first car here is Logan which i bought in Dec 2008.

I did not have a preference as to whether hatchback, sedan, station wagon or SUV / MUV.
I was pretty much open for all...
However i had it clear that if i spend beyond 8L then it has to be a SUV/MUV.

Also in case if nothing is fruitful i will go in for Honda City blindly.

I had done lots of reading on internet and zeroed down on....
Swift, Dezire, Logan, Indigo, Indica Vista, Safari, Scorpio, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Accent...

Further reading and i made up that if at all diesel then it should be the Common Rail technology. I didnt want to go for Turbo Diesel...

I didnt want to go for a diesel one as my daily run is limited to home - office - home which is just 15 kms per day. Also common Rail is pretty costly... so diesel was totally out....

i went to TATA showroom though and checked out some models.
- Indigo: The long XLS is nice. Features did impress me, but interiors did not impress me at all. e.g. they have independant rear a.c. vents. nice feature but check the plastic quality. Apart it is a costly affair and i dont think worth the price.
- Indica Vista Aqua: Powerful. Interiors did not impress me at all.
- Safari DICOR: Best thing one can possibly own. But huge for the roads here.
then i somehow felt that TATA expertise is diesel, TATA went out.

Now i was left with
Swift, Dezire, Logan, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Accent...
Scropio was also out, as by this time for a machine of that segment i had fallen for Safari, which was already out due to size constraints.

Next i went to maruti guys.....
the showroom they had within city did not have all models for me to check them out and have a test drive...
So i had to go to their stock yard where they had everything.... somehow all this gave me an impression that they are not bothered any more as they know they are amongst the brands.
There i tested...
- A Star: Too small. Good for college kids (what abt money? he he he.... they have it in black)
- Wagon R: Looked OK from out. I entered and i can not rate it as a car. Rear seat is like a soft bench. Plastics are cheap. Car shakes above 60. Not at all safe....
- Dezire: Like this one. Good. Unfortunate event for Maruti guys.... During test drive i parked the car at one highway dhaba (small motel kind of) which is very near to that stocking yard. The guy with me had to drop some money in there. Just besides was a good old Ambasador. I felt that Dezire is nothing but latest version of Ambasador. They looked very similar. Round, Fat, Curvy....... Nopes...
- Swift: Very nice engine. Powerful. Strong. Interior is somehow very conjusted, all in black, gloomy, small windows, feels like trapped..... Full version almost at par with Logan cost.

Now i was left with
Logan, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Accent...

I was pretty much convinced on Logan by this time.... One of the main reasons was Renault...

Next ford:
- Fusion: Gives good feeling. Plastic job is pathetic.
- Ikon: The newly done front grill looks good. Again plastic job is pathetic. Seems to be worst in Ford.

Next Hyundai:
- Verna: costly. out of budget. better get a honda City.
- i10: Good for college kids (what abt money? he he he.... they have it in black). Sporty.
- Santro: Nopes...
- Getz: Powerful. Good. Not too convinced overall.
- Accent: Low on mileage. Old model. Though looks nice.

Finally Mahindra Renault:
Logan gave a true professional executive classy look from its shinning headlamps...

- Limited Edition: Above budget... No discount offered... Best car of all... Fabulous color. You will fall in love with that purple. Dealer not ready to change the company fitted music system for another one.

- 1.6: again costly even after 50k discount. at this price somehow i felt honda city would be better.

- GLX 1.4: after checking it out, seemed to be a bit over priced. 50k discount offered on the spot. a toll free number discovered with 24x7 anywhere support. i get what i wanted.......

this ends my quest.....

My Conclusion around 7 lac options:
TATA: Go blindly if you want Diesel excellence.
Maruti: Go if you dont want to break traditional values.
Ford: I dont see any reason going in for this one with the models they have.
Hyundai: If you prefer Korean car technology go in here.
Skoda: Frankly I havent seen this on roads in other places as much as i see it in india. Again i would definitely prefer Honda over Skoda. However Skoda looks good and performs well.
FIAT: We used to call this First In All Troubles.
Chevrolet: Models available seem to be outdated. Not too keen on this.
Mahindra Renault: Save money and get into lower bracket. Get more out of your money.

If you still want to spend go for Honda City or if size does matter go for Scorpio with discounts offered.


My Conclusion around 5 lac options:
LOGAN: Push your mark.


all are welcome.... share your story.........

very nice post...

sirji, aap bhi to kuch likhe...

Some-what akin to what someone else wrote a few days earlier.

"Selection by rejection" as one understands.

However, very sensible and practical.

After all this, I am sure you like your machine (a few niggles here and there are bundled gift with the Lexus brand as well!).

Well written Mir..
Appreciate..

It was very simple for me..

1. See Logan ads
2. See Logan on roads
3. Wow! Limited Edition!
4. Book.

I did not even test drive any other car.

for me, i never had logan in my list even........
this is our first car so we were planning for a hatchback...
1.indica vista
2.swift
3.wagon R
4.A-star
then, for A-star, the rear leg space and boot space was almost nil so noooooo,
then came the wagon R, everything was good, but i was wondering whether three people from my family will fit in the rear seat..........haha
then i went for swift and vista, both were the best of it's class, but then i found on the net that indigo cs is coming around 4.07 lakhs, so why not go for a sedan with the same price......
then i had look over the net for a sedan within 4.50............

then came swift dzire, good looks, but lxi was available at that price.......so was a bit dis-heartened but still it is a sedan ,and of maruti............

so we stuck to dzire.............then my brother from bangalore said, why not go for logan??????????

i again had a look over the internet and saw logan has a 1400 cc engine(ok), but the width of the car was something which no other car had...........so at that time i had to use my brain and not my heart.......
my heart said, go for dzire, but my mind sain that i will always get better utility from logan.................
so planned for logan glx 1.4 by increasing the budget by 50000...........

then my dad had a chat with one of his office staff and the person said he has a logan petrol (donot know whether 1.4 or 1.6), and the mileage of the car with a.c. on is around 9.5 in cities..........so dad again said to go for dzire, bcoz of mileage..........

again my brother asked some of his friends and they mentioned about logan diesel..........so we went to the dealers and heard that the logan diesel 1.5 dlx will come around 6.25 on road...............and the dealer assured a mileage of around 20 without a.c. in cities...........that will be a 2009 model, so new interior and many other things...........so booked one..........and will get it delivered on friday....

I NEVER HAD TEST DRIVE OF ANY OF THE CARS THAT WE LOOKED FOR..............
let's see whether my decision will appreciated or not..............

Nice... Welcome..
dont know abt mileage buddy...
But mark my words you have had it right....
Did you not find Dzire upgraded version of Ambasador... Not that Ambasador is all that bad.. but still

till the back door, d zire seemed great,(looked like a swift), but then all of a sudden, it seems that Maruti got the rear part of the car designed by me...........but the main problem for swift and dzire was rear leg space.............
or else to be frank, swift has great looks.......but who is running after looks......i want utility at it's max. so no car came even near to logan.........
if some one would have wanted to exchange a brand new honda city with a logan..........i would go for logan( mileage is better in logan)

well this thread seems to be one that M-R should really love... and the best is each of us have really thought it out the same way... Great men always seems to think alike