Quality of the entire car, inside and outside, is top class. Feels like a proper European car, which makes us forget it’s Chinese connections.
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Background
My wife is driving an i10, which was bought in 2012. Her running is quite low, around 18500 KMs in 10 years. Though she wasn’t keen on changing her vehicle, the bug had bitten me quite deeply. When I finally succeeded in convincing her to change her car, she said she will opt only for SUVs / crossovers and that she wouldn’t be interested in Hatchbacks or Sedans. And, it was also decided that we will look only for auto transmission.
Of all the sub 4-meter SUVs, I was attracted only by Sonet, for the tremendous value it offered for the price. And in 2021, in mini-SUVs, I liked Seltos though the price differential between HTX of both cars was around 4 odd lakhs rupees. When my wife test drove Sonet, she liked it and we booked HTX in June ’21. Then the waiting game started with no commitment from the dealer. However, Allied Kia in Sohna Road Gurgaon sales team, including their Head of Sales, was very good in attending to any queries but were expressing their helplessness for early delivery.
Kushaq came along and being a Skoda owner already, I was keen to add one more Skoda to our garage and was willing to scale the budget up for it. Both of us liked the exterior and the drive was awesome. We had decided that we will go for Style AT 1.0 and we wanted to have one more test drive. This time, when the SA came home, we could hear couple of rattles in the car, which wasn’t there a week ago in the same car. Though I had read Kushaq thread in detail, I wanted to check the car in detail this time, personally. As someone had mentioned in Kushaq thread, this was a skoda, which was completely ‘Un-skoda like’, in terms of interior quality and fit & finish. With heavy heart, we decided to knock off Kushaq from the list, though I was able to bargain a cash discount of 50 K (insurance was self from outside).
I was also tempted by Seltos, but wife wasn’t interested in it as she felt that there are so many Seltos running in the city, but few Sonets. She felt that she will settle for Sonet. A Hyundai showroom owner in another city is a personal buddy, and told me that if my wife wanted Creta, he will ensure delivery as early as possible. But both of us weren’t interested in Creta at all, for several reasons.
Enter MG Astor
When MG Astor was launched on October 21st, I was able to book it in the first few minutes online and had got confirmation. When I shared the booking details with a Sales Advisor MG Flagship showroom in Gurgaon, he said based on the serial number, I should get the delivery in November for sure. But I hadn’t shown Astor to my wife nor had she test driven it nor had I discussed anything about Astor till my booking. So went to the Gurgaon flagship showroom for the test drive. My wife immediately fell for it hook, line and sinker. She loved the exterior, interior and the so-called European styling. In fact, she said, booking Astor even without letting her know about it, ‘was the best thing you had ever done in my life’
It wasn’t a happy ending, though, mates. ‘Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost’.
In November first week, SA from the showroom called and said my booking isn’t in the list for Nov & Dec. I should possibly get it in January. I was surprised as my booking serial number was in 20s, and it was unfathomable that I won’t get my delivery among first 20 cars. I had written mails to Rajeev Chaba couple of times. But, let me tell you, he is neither Anand Mahindra nor Zac Holis for sure. The other two gentlemen are known to be very customer-friendly when it comes to interacting with consumers. In my case, someone from MG called both the times, and just expressed their apologies. That’s it!!!
We decided that let’s wait till January and then take a call. In January I was told that it might be Feb when I get my car. SA also said if I opt for Spiced Orange, we can take the delivery next day. Though I had booked Black, my wife wanted to have some bold colours, as it wasn’t our primary family car. When we saw the Orange colour personally, we felt that though the colour was very sporty it may not age well. She wanted Red, so politely refused to take the delivery.
I had randomly called MG showrooms in Agra / Karnal / Chandigarh / Noida to know if they had any free stocks of Sharp CVT. White was available at couple of locations and Red was available in AT, but white was off the list and didn’t want to stretch the budget to AT.
Booking & Buying Experience
Agra SA said he had Red in Sharp CVT, as the original allotted buyer couldn’t arrange finance. As I had pre-approval from my banker, I said I could pick the car in two days. I sent someone whom I know to do the detailed PDI. The odometer was showing 15 kms but in the pic he had sent me, had some accessories fitted to it as the earlier buyer wanted them. One was the hood-branding and other was the side scoop. Hood branding was something I was interested, but didn’t want the side scoop. SA said, if he removes the side scoop, it would be unusable. After much discussions, he said he will remove it and will not charge me though it will not be of use to him. Also, I had mentioned that I will be taking insurance directly from outside.
I took the insurance from Tata AIG, with all bells & whistles and saved 20 K. Drove down to Agra to take the delivery. He offered accessories package, which weren’t necessary and I personally found they were more of bling. I just took, 3D foot mats, mud flaps, hood branding and let the side scoop be on for the time being(though he didn’t charge me for it). The SA Yash Verma was very supportive, friendly and very prompt in handling local bank team. He even ensured that I get the delivery based on delivery order, though my bank was from Gurgaon and I was taking delivery from Agra.
I feel that the chrome package offered by MG / Koreans / Japanese, are designed by Bappi Lahiri’s jewellers. Only Germans offer very subtle accessories, I guess.
There was no ribbon tied to the car, nor was the confetti blast, nor was there any cake cutting. It was just the customary MG music in full blast with clapping and unveiling. I guess as I didn’t take insurance or accessory package from them, they didn’t want to spend any money on me. But I was only interested in the car, anyway.
Ownership Experience
Good ones and OK ones:
- Quality of the entire car, inside and outside, is top class. Feels like a proper European car, which makes us forget it’s Chinese connections.
- Interior makes the car look like at least two segments above.
- Auto Hold and Electronic Parking Brake is very good, apart form freeing up the real estate in the central console, it is easy on the eyes without the hand lever.
- Well-controlled NVH and while idling engine noise creeps inside.
- Suspension set up is quite satisfactory
- Music system is good, though there is no sub-woofer
- Full Under-body protector sheet
- Complete wheel arch cladding
- Tail lamps are really good and gives a 3D kind of look.
- Front grille is quite attractive.
- Electric seat adjuster for the driver is very convenient though isn’t very necessary. As only my wife drives it and once the height is set, there is no changing it frequently.
- 360 degree camera is very helpful.
- Rear drive assist is actually useful in real world.
- Though I am not a big fan of sunroof, for my wife it mattered a lot. A lot!
Bad ones and no so good ones:
- AI Bot for sure. It works two times out of 10 times. If you are buying Astor primarily for AI Bot, please don’t buy it.
- Though I have huge respect for Mrs. Deepa Malik, MG should have used different voice modulation while recording her voice. When the AI Bot says, in Deepa Malik’s voice, ‘I am listening’, I actually feel that my school-time Math’s teacher is pulling me up for not doing my homework. Even when she is saying ‘Goodbye’, I feel that I am being shown the door by my Headmaster. I feel that I am obliged to say ‘Goodbye madam’ when I exit the car. When the bot says ‘Hello’, I have to control the urge to stand up and say ‘Good morning madam’.
- Transmission is typical of a CVT, which was clear even during test drives, so it was a known devil.
- Fuel consumption: The car is so much like Rishabh Pant when it comes to mileage scores, you never know when it gives magical numbers or when it gives you heart aches. The drive from Agra to Gurgaon, which had highway, expressway, broken stretch and under-construction roads, it gave a mileage of 15.5 kmpl. The car was driven under 90 KMPH, in less than 2000 rpm, with three passengers and AC on. In pure local drives, it has given mileage between 7-11. Mind you, this is a naturally aspirated CVT and not a turbo petrol and still low mileage.
- Though Jio Saavn has a great library, is very very laggy. Even after first service and the system update, it doesn’t run well.
- The UI of the infotainment system is very boring and the choice of themes are limited and all look very similar to each other. Serious updates are due for the infotainment to make it attractive.
- Though the car looks awesome from the front and from the side profile, the rear looks like a hatchback. The smaller boot lid and thick rear bumper makes it look like a proper hatchback.
- The digital MID looks good, but please do not expect it to be Skoda’s virtual cockpit kind.
- Front DRLs are very uninspiring.
- Though armrests are fixed, no auto dimming IRVM and no wireless charger, it wasn’t a deal-breaker to my wife.
Side Note: Car Exchange
Though Cars 24 and Olx Cars, claim to offer best prices, in my case, their prices were lower than the outside market rates and the exchange prices offered by car dealers. In fact OLX cars offered the lowest price followed by Cars 24. Exchange prices from dealers were the highest and outside market buyers fell in between.
Keyword: MG Astor 1.5 CVT: Delivery and initial ownership experience