Wagon-R Vxi Vs Santro

I purchased WagonR Vxi (Ocean Blue) in April 2008 for 4.1 lakhs on road in Bangalore. I have so
far covered 1500 Kms and finished with my first service. My overall experiece has been OK with the car and excellent with the dealer (Mandovi Motors, Bangalore).

My budget was around 4 lakhs and I considered Wagon R and Santro. I din't consider i10 as I feel it is too small/cramped. My objective was low running cost, spacious, easy to drive in city and good resale value. I chose WagonR as it beat Santro in all the above factors.

Here are the advantages that WagonR Vxi enjoys over Santro:

• Electrically adjustable rear-view mirrors. Santro has only internally adjustable mirrors. You can adjust rear-view mirrors with the touch of a button.
• Head-lamp levelling switch. Very useful for highway driving.
• Keyless entry and integrated security system. Not sure if top-end Santro comes with this built in.
• Adjustable rear seat head-rests.
• Tachometer to show Engine RPM. Very useful. Tells you when to switch gears and when the engine is off.
• Lots of useful space in the dashboard to keep stuff. Has a hook near the front passenger where you can hang your lunch-box or water bottle.
• Immobilizer system. The car-key has a built in electronic code which can be detected by the car when inserted into the ignition system. If a fake key is inserted, the immobilizer system will lock the car. In case you lose the key though, you have to pay Rs.2500 and order a special key from Maruti :-)

Satro's advantages over Wagon-R:

• All 4 doors power windows in top-end model. In Wagon-R top-end model only 2 door power windows are available
• Rear washer and wiper - Very useful in the rains
• Clutch foot rest
• Low-fuel warning lamp. Flashes when the fuel is low. This is in addition to the Normal fuel gauge.

Having said that, I am very disappointed with the plastic quality. The plastic cover under the rear seat, covering the seat harness broke and fell off when my bag just brushed against it. Pathetic x-(

I am also very angry with Maruti for not fixing the reverse gear problem. When you try to engage the reverse gear, sometimes it doesnt engage at all. You have to do it a 2nd time. Its a legendary problem with Wagon-R and has been well documented. Maruti must really be arrogant for not fixing this issue with the release of the new look Wagon-R.

Its problems such as these that Hyundai just doesn't allow to crop up. They really take care of the quality.

I must say, I had an extremely positive interaction with Mandovi motors. They were very professional with the first service also. The service engineer took my car for a test-drive with me, noted all the issues and was there with me during delivery (after just 4 hours).

Update (2500 Kms): I am getting mileage of 13 Kms with AC 20% of the time using non-premium petrol.