A good car to own.

I am a car enthusiast and I like all the cars without exception. Every car has its pros and cons. So, which car will suit a person, will depend on his/her needs and priorities.

A lot of people ask me, "why did you buy a hatchback for 7 lacs when you can easily own a sedan with more power for the same price". A valid question, but my decision was based on the following points with priorities in the descending order.

• Budget - below 7 lacs (on road).
• Safety - with ABS and Airbags, Fabia is the best i could get. Swift and i10 were the other options here, but the build quality of Fabia easily inspire more confidence. Forget sedans here. None is worth its salt.  
• Security - Fabia has a floating code engine immobiliser as against Swift's static code immobiliser. How about i10? Well, immobilisers are alien to Hyundai. Logan seems to have them, but .... Add to it the wheel locks, or whatever it is called.
• Comfort and cabin space/features - Fabia has it in abundance, in fact, it betters most of the sedans that you can buy for this money. Has decent boot space as well. Actually its big inside and small outside feature suits me just right for a city like Bangalore. The cabin is very well insulated.  The rear AC vents under the seats...haven't seen in any other car in this range. The music sytem panel and dual tone adds to the beauty. Totally adjustable steering wheel and front seats. electrically adjustable and heated OVRM. Fog lamps, Alloy wheels. Whew ! more than i can digest. Oh, and the delicious gear box. Yummy.
• Engine/Performance - Frankly, i prefer a better engine with more punch. But since my driving style is very sedate, I dont really mind it. The engine is a bit unrefined too, but I can't have best of both the worlds.
• Exclusivity - Well... This one was thrown in by my girlfriend :).

I bought this car two months ago and have covered around 1700kms till date. I am getting around 11 km/lit in city and 16-20 km/lit on highway. There was an odd occasional 'tud' noise coming from near rear right wheel, related to a loose nut. Got it fixed at the service centre. A few more minor irritants remain, will get it fixed in the next visit. Overall i am satisfied.

Good leg space, build quality, safety and security featuresless punch for the price