Hi all
We picked up our new i20 1.2 Classic yesterday (replacing SWMBO's old Micra) and thought I would share my thoughts on the deal, the garage and the car. Don't know if anyone's interested, but here goes anyway -
Pluses :
1. Very good deal. Under scrappage, we got a discount of £2,400 off list price. So we paid just under £7k for a Classic with metallic paint and parking sensors. I know that's a genuine discount, too, as we had been looking to buy pre-scrappage, and struggled to get anything at all off list price. That contrasts to certain other makes we looked at where they do a 'smoke and mirrors' trick so that you struggle to get any real discount at all!
2. Car presented well on delivery (but see below) - looks great in metallic blue
3. Seems well-built, quite substantial and safe, drives nicely, good clutch action and gearchange, soaks up bumps well, good firm seats
Minuses :
1. A bit gutless (but not pushed as running in and my car's a V6) and bland
2. Too wide to fit in the garage (well, I could but the wife would knock the mirrors). A bit silly when you can't even get a supermini in the garage!
3. Not too impressed with the selling dealer - car in poor condition when we went to look at it last Monday (all covered in tree sap), plus didn't like the salesman answering his phone all the time when he was supposed to be dealing with us. But, to be fair, I think Hyundai are inundated with scrappage orders at the moment, so they are very busy.
4. Think the car has been standing around for a while. It came from existing stock and had a big sticker on the windscreen last Monday saying NOV - so think it was probably built 6 months ago. HJ advised looking at the seatbelt tags for dates, but all they say is DLJ - don't know what that means. One component under the bonnet is dated 24/6/08 - so that is probably consistent with a November build. This also means the car was pretty early off the production line, as it was only launched last October (and this January in the UK).
5. Couldn't get ESP from stock (even though all reviews say standard from Feb) - factory order only, which would have meant a 3 - 4 month wait.
6. Annoying little red seatbelt reminder lights on the dash
Salesman did say yesterday that they had sold out of i10s/i20s from existing stock within 3 weeks of the budget and that they are now quoting October orders for deliveries. All very well if you can wait that long, but who knows if the scrappage scheme will still apply then.
In summary, a good, competent little car so far. Not exciting to drive, but 'does what it says on the tin', which is exactly what SWMBO was looking for. And about £2.5k cheaper than the equivalent Fiesta. So we're pleased - although obviously early days!
If anyone has any more specific queries, let me know.
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Re Item 6 - presumably the lights goes out when the belts are done up = not that annoying!
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AS
They don't actually. They seem to be on if there is no-one sitting in the relevant seat (so there's 5 altogether) and go out about 30 seconds after driving off. A bit strange really.
I also meant to say that I felt a twinge of guilt at sending our old Micra off to be scrapped. OK, it was on an R reg with 67k miles up, but I think it could have gone on for several years yet. Probably our best ever car in terms of reliability. The only reason we changed is that I didn't like SWMBO driving around in an old car with no safety features, hence the switch to the i20 which scores well (even without the ESP).
I know I've benefitted from this scheme, but, whatver it is, it is not a green measure!
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I do agree that this is aggravating, even for 30 seconds. Perhaps there is a fuse which could be removed without disabling something important like the airbags or the rear wiper!!??
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Some Peugeots have a similar system - drove me mad too! If no one is in the seat I don't need to know the belt isn't fastened.
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the old sierra had it with the big flashing symbol on the dash
maybe they bought a job lot off fords and modded them
look under the seat or under the ashtray for a just in time component fit date to time when the car was assembled OP
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Thanks for your post brgpete , I have exactly the same car down to the colour Blue i20 (liked the green but Is it true green colour cars lose on resale value?) on order too
under scrappage.
What Car gave it a good review though not Top Gear. It was tight between this and a skoda fabia, grande punto or a mazda 2 but i figured hyundai's scrappage reduction was the best and the other manufacturers took a while to get going. The fiesta gets great reviews but so pricey and their discount s were not very transparent to me.
I feel a bit guilty getting a korean car built in india so the scrappage scheme has missed its target there. also my old G reg volvo 340 would have kept on going for ages apart from cosmetic rust so it is not very green as a scheme.
I have had a delay with them getting it taxed so I'll collect it next week. They said they could not tax it based on fax of the cover note it had to be the actual cover note seems strange to me as surely they just need a reference number like when yu tax your car at the post office?
I'll tell more how i find it when it's delivered
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BB
Thanks for that - will look tomorrow - though not sure I want to know now!
Consul
The blue does look very good. Avoided the red because, although it's cheaper, I think there will be an awful lot of little red Hyundais bought under the scrappage scheme. Yes, the scrappage reduction from Hyundai is transparent and real. The garage also wanted the actual cover note with us but shouldn't take them long when they get it, as they seem to get the tax on-line. Hope it goes OK for you.
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I feel a bit guilty getting a korean car built in india so the scrappage scheme has missed its target there.
Don't, the cost of building the car isn't the largest percentage of what you paid for it. Just think of it this way, you've now paid a shipping company, UK dock workers, UK distributors, UK truck driver, the dealership, valeting company, paid UK vat, UK first registration fee. UK advertising agency, UK media organisation and perhaps a few others.
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Thanks to BB for advising to look under the ashtray for a date. That said 9/08. Also just seen 15/12/08 on the side of the engine. So, based on the most recent component, that makes my car about 5 months old - hasn't been standing around as long as I thought then!
Really liking this car now. Very direct steering and a fantastic turning circle as well. All in all, feels like a premium car for a budget price. (Hope this is not tempting fate!)
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Yeah, seems a shame about the Micra - paid its dues, good for a while yet and could have provided reliable transport for someone who couldn't afford anything better.
To me it just shows what a charade the whole thing is. An horrendously expensive (in both real and social terms) way of bailing out an undeserving motor industry - who apparently don't in many cases really want it.
What's the betting most of what Hyundai is taking back won't get the scrapper for quite a while yet?
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Mike
Our old Micra was in pretty good condition and certainly doesn't need to be scrapped. But the salesman told me it would be going off to be scrapped within 48 hours. They can't afford to have a big build-up of old cars sat on their forecourt!
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Diabolical waste. MH is right. No disrespect to brg of course, hope you continue to like the new car and glad you got a good deal.
But if it's true the car will be scrapped, then the process is immoral and mad. The word 'wicked' isn't too strong.
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i agree lud
i cant buy these cars at the moment they arent available
think of the knock on as well
short term thinking by governments run by big business
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governments run by big business
Just so bb.
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There is no environmental argument for premature scrapping, even of a so-called "gas guzzler". This really does knock any remaining environmental credibility of this government into the dirt. Who can take them remotely seriously now?
The only consolation as far as the environment, and our motoring heritage is concerned, is that *most* people who drive 10+ year old cars are simply not in the financial position, or of the appropriate mindset to buy new, even at a £2k discount.
Good luck to the OP for taking advantage of it, and I would do the same in his situation, but I can't see this being a big or lasting feature of car buying, somehow.
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really does knock any remaining environmental credibility of this government into the dirt.
I think the scrapage scheme is a bad idea, but it's harldy unique to the UK - several other European countries have been running such schemes for a while now.
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Mrs BB wanted me to consider scrapping a 14-year old Xantia Activa for a new car. I would have none of it and sold it on Saturday to an enthusaist. I'm sure I could negotiate the difference between the £2,000 scrappage and what I've sold the Xantia for, as a discount of any new car, anyway.
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It really depends on the car you're going for as to whether scrappage is sensible or not. The best discount I could get on the i20 before the scrappage scheme was introduced was £300. Assuming our old Micra was worth £500, and given that the scrappage discount was £2,400, we're up by £1,600.
I don't think we fit the usual scenario for scrappage. SWMBO always keeps her cars until they're 10 years old not because of any financial constraints but because she hates changing cars! We pay for cars out of our existing bank savings. We delayed changing to take advantage of the scheme. If it hadn't been available, she would have bought a 1 year old old-shape Fiesta for the same amount.
Although I've taken advantage of the scheme, I think it could be a really bad thing. From what I can see, the big seller is the base model i10 in red (ie the very cheapest model in the range). I can't help thinking that a lot of people using the scrappage scheme can't really afford to, so they're just getting into even more debt by buying the cheapest new car available. I thought people getting into debt they can't afford to repay was where the credit crunch problems started!
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I am pretty much in the same position as you pete, though I enjoy comparing cars I keep my cars a long time as changing cars incurs expense.
Economically at first I dis agreed with the scheme but now I think it is quite clever economically as the government is stimulating a lot of economic activity for a little investment. Though it is certainly not enviromentally friendly at all- and is not joined up with the government's "green" taxes on cars and driving .
Got the car today Blue looks good, possibly should have gone for the comfort spec as I can see now that ellectric folding mirrors would have been useful.Though I am no t convinced of the advantages of Alloy wheels so I gave the upgrade a miss
The Air con got a good test today and cooled the car more quickly than I expected so I wa pleased with that.
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We've just put a deposit down on an i20 1.4 auto and will order it properly on monday when our 10+ year old pug 306 has been with us for a year.
We managed to get a whopping £3100 discount on the list price by scrapping our 306! (Which has dodgy electrics, broken alarm and central locking and rear windows don't work so is unfortunately about ready for the scrapyard despite still having plenty of life in the engine).
Bit of a no brainer for us really as it's looking by far to be the best quality new car at the price. We're cash buyers also so no extra debt for us.
We needed an automatic as my wife prefers one. This gave us a problem as there were only 3 i20 automatics available and those are currently being shipped and are not even in the country yet! Unfortunately this means we couldn't change any specs as Hyundai can't currently build a new car and ship it to the UK in time to meet scrappage deadlines (over 4 months to do it apparantly).
Anyway we got a blue one too reserved which to be honest was my favourite colour anyway and probably wouldn't have wanted any options apart from possibly parking sensors but to be fair they'd probably just confuse the missus :-)
Hope to take delivery in October. Like the original poster, safety was a primary factor in the purchase really. Although without the scrappage scheme would have hit the second hand market. Looking forward to having a car from new at last.
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