- Upgraded from a Maruti Suzuki SX4, which has been my workhorse for the past 13 years.
- Choosing the vehicle
- Dealership experience and delivery
- Driving till now
Upgraded from a Maruti Suzuki SX4, which has been my workhorse for the past 13 years.
BHPian car-go recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Got my Sport Petrol DDCT delivered last Saturday! Enjoying the drive, and exactly as Sharan had put the experience. Till 25-26 km/h, the car is lethargic, after which it bursts out on long stretches. It’s like when starting from traffic, everyone seems to whizz past and mine is a white elephant, elegant and poised (ha! ha! ha!). After a while, it springs into action, very well mannered and poised on the road.
City and dealership: Kolkata (Celica Automobiles), accessories from Glix.
What I liked: Everything. It was a family decision as well that included my wife and 7 years old daughter. We did not look beyond for any other car. TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) is a welcome addition.
What could be still there: Fog lamps (they were there in the pre-facelift model), rear parcel shelf. Compared to my SX4, I miss the full-size spare alloy wheel.
What I did not mind: 8″ infotainment screen instead of 10″ (in higher models) as to me, the visual difference was not much (personal opinion only), or the 3.5″ instrument cluster instead of 7″ or up (higher models).
Background
I have driven Maruti 800 STD (my father had one, I got another later – both petrol; it was years that I drove them since 1994, till around 2003. Then I got a Tata Indica DLS (Diesel), which I drove for another 6 years. In between, I was in the US where I drove a number of cars that included (US versions, in case these cars came to India) Ford Escort, GMC Envoy, Pontiac Grand AM (all-out two-door sports coupe), Toyota Corolla, Honda Accord, a few pickup trucks as well as vans!
Back in India, I got a Maruti SX4 ZXI (2009 petrol), which has been my workhorse for 13 long years! It was a charm driving it, always. Wanted to change the car once maintenance including tires took a toll and it was already quite a number of years with it by now (that itch!).
Choosing the vehicle
I was split on choosing either petrol (have loved it for so long, given maintenance issues in my diesel Indica earlier) or diesel (given the grunt as per TBhp reviews), and between manual (so far so long) and automatic (my knees at times show wear and tear). Celica Automobiles is the only dealer in Kolkata. However, they have been super responsive. Vishal Gupta in sales has been a charm.
I initially wanted to get the Sport Petrol MT, however, they informed me that Jeep is discontinuing Sport MT (both in petrol and diesel) and Longitude versions. Later while asked why Jeep had retained the models on their online website, they said that it was a marketing tactic to retain the lowest prices (read Sport) and range (read, Longitude) there for some time to attract customers.
Did test drives for both diesel manual (Limited) and petrol automatic (Model S). The dealership was very responsive; they were at my home within an hour of calling for a test drive. Diesel’s grunt was there, but that throb was something I still did not like (personal opinion only). Petrol was good except for the initial pickup as has already been covered, but I can live with it for another reason – my wife. She always complains about me driving too fast or in overtaking mode. This petrol was so sedate that my wife loved it. By the time it takes to pick up speed, she cannot feel the acceleration inside the cabin.
So we settled for the petrol automatic, and brilliant white colour. The colour is vastly improved from the pre-facelift white (rather, off white). We had driven cars in blue, red, black, steel/ silver, and this time we wanted white as it also “looked” big.
Dealership experience and delivery
Celica was super responsive as I earlier mentioned. When the car came, they readily accommodated my request for PDI at the workshop, which is also their stockyard. During delivery at the showroom (Park Street, Kolkata), the experience was excellent. Included a cake cutting and usual photoshoot. They gave around 8 lt. of petrol to get started, for which I definitely had to land up at the nearest fuel station. TBhp was all along the way with the reviews, PDI checklists and whatnot!
The OTR came to Rs 22.7 lakhs approx. after the April price increase and a small discount due to Mar ’22 manufacture. Included ex-showroom, taxes, accessories (only floor mats and mud flaps), insurance (a tad higher, but had negotiated; I prefer to get my new car insurance from the dealer to ensure the details are fine, and I get the right servicing in case something happens in the very first year).
The delivery demo was given in detail by Vishal, with all papers explained meticulously. The paper owner’s manual was given, however, found that the online softcopy was much more detailed. He has been a pretty thorough and accommodating guy all along the sales process, with no hurries or hard sales push exhibited.
I got the seat covers, steering cover and dashboard idol from Glix, Salt Lake. It took around 4 hours. The experience at Glix was equally great, and this has been quite recommended by TBhp members. All came at around Rs. 16K.
Driving till now
Having driven some 100+ km, the average mileage shows around 9.5 km/l. At around 50 km, it was 11 km/l, and then too much of stop and go traffic reduced the numbers. Only once did I get a ‘service transmission’ warning; restarting the engine helped (as per the owner’s manual) to get rid of it. Thereafter, it has not recurred, touch wood.
Now for the photos
Keyword: Why I bought a Jeep Compass petrol AT: Delivery & 1st 100 km experience