The Hyundai Tucson AWD is a perfect replacement for my 10-year-old Fortuner 4×2 AT SUV.
BHPian xantia recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
So, the Tucson AWD is booked. It was a hair raising experience, which is always a good thing for a bald person. And a bit of adrenalin rush. Here’s the story.
Backstory
We are selling our Fortuner 4×2 AT due to the NGT 10 year rule on Diesel. Research showed AWD Tucson as the ideal replacement. Ticks all the boxes of space, comfort, reliability, number of dealer outlets and service centres. Suddenly appears to be in great demand too, which is very reassuring. Did not TD any other car.
What did I book? Black AWD. My original choice was silver, then white.
The big scare
When we went to book, the dealer Lamba Hyundai, Malviya Nagar, Delhi, checked for availability before collecting the booking amount. He was told that they had stopped manufacturing the AWD and it will restart at some point. As such, no AWDs are available! Can someone please confirm this?
Of course, that resulted in complete pandemonium. Other dealerships were contacted for availability. The only ones available were: 1 Black AWD and 1 White Diesel GLS. Petrol versions are not an issue apparently.
So I paid a booking amount of Rs 5L and grabbed the 1 Black AWD available.
What’s next? They will confirm the chassis number within a day or so and I should have the car in the next two or three days for a PDI. On the registration front, apparently, it is all online and they cannot even guarantee an odd number. Which is a bummer given the penchant of our mathematically inclined chief minister for odds and evens.
The black Tucson obviously will be a dust magnet, scratch magnet, basically a magnet. Hence visited 3M Car Care, Adhchini to explore PPF. Two options were on offer (a) Self Healing PPF at 90K (b) Self-healing with Ceramic Coating PPF for 110K. They give the car back the next day as they operate double shifts. You need to bring back the car in a week for inspection. So my plan is to compare a couple of others against this and then choose without over-engineering or overthinking the process.
The Fortuner has been inspected by Spinny Max and they have offered 12.5 (2015 reg, 4×2 Auto Diesel) – I have asked them to offer their best price. Apparently, if you approach a dealer in Punjab, you can get better prices. So far the thought is to go with Spinny.
In closing, I am speculating here. If Hyundai has stopped manufacturing the AWD, the general sentiment is that they will raise prices. There is now no confirmation of dates and it looks like 8-12 weeks waiting for the AWD from the point they start manufacturing. Fingers crossed and hopefully I will get a car! As Mr Wodehouse might say, if not actually disgruntled, I was far from being gruntled with the whole thing.
Here’s what BHPian neel911 had to say on the matter:
Congratulations! Wishing you many miles of happiness.
Per the SA I am in touch with, it’s not a temporary stop. This is to make way for the next generation Tucson. It is more of a stock clearance (based on available kits that they have).
Here’s what BHPian Born 2 Be Wild had to say on the matter:
I was also interested in booking the Tucson AWD recently, one of my business associates who also owns a Hyundai dealership told me that AWD production has stopped & that the new Tucson should be launched in a few months. Whatever is available would be the ones with the dealers.
Keyword: A big scare before booking my Hyundai Tucson diesel AWD