So far, we have owned a Hyundai Accent, Maruti Swift and lastly Hyundai Xcent – all petrol manual variants.
BHPian jomyboy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
My 2023 Renault Kiger
I’m mighty excited to lay bare my journey on deciding on a new car for our family, which is primarily driven by my wife for her office commute in Mumbai, which is primarily a distance of 16 km, which at peak office time takes roughly about 2 hours to cover.
We have owned Hyundai Accent, Maruti Swift and lastly Hyundai Xcent (all petrol manual variants). Driving a manual car in Mumbai traffic was taking its toll and hence we decided to look for a new automatic car that would, hopefully, bring back some ease into the commute. What’s more, the Xcent was having problems with some part or the other every year driving up the ownership cost. After having owned two Hyundai cars, I have come to realize that after three/four years it’s a downhill experience with Hyundai and Hyundai replacement parts are not cheap!! Thus began our search by googling the internet to find the most VFM automatic car in 2023.
I went through most reviews of every car in my budget on YouTube and forums on the Internet including Team BHP. From what I could absorb, NA engines with 4-cylinder engines were the best bet according to the experts, which swayed me towards the Honda Amaze CVT and Brezza VXI AMT.
We first headed towards the Honda showroom and having driven the Honda Amaze CVT, I must say it is a car worth every penny for city bumper-to-bumper driving. Googling the Internet, I found that a new facelift is to debut in 2024, which kind of killed my interest in the current generation because there were quite a few features missing in the present car including TPMS.
Next, we headed to the Maruti showroom. Brezza VXI AMT has quite a lot of features missing for the price it commanded. I thought the car was OVERPRICED big time and came to the decision rather swiftly of getting a three-cylinder engine with turbo if it offered better value.
We first headed to Hyundai to test drive the Venue DCT and I was not at all impressed with its looks or driving, moreover the rear felt crampy, but my wife liked it and as she was going to drive it every day who was I to complain. Still, we decided to explore and see what else is available in the market.
Next we headed to KIA, which in my opinion has the best-looking car out there both exteriorly and interiorly in the automatic range in Kia Sonet. With the premium price it commanded and having read the horror stories about the DCT gearbox in city bumper traffic, we decided that it was not for us.
In the meanwhile, I chanced upon a white Renault and the car was really eye-catching. I made a note of Renault Kiger as it passed by me. I did an extensive search on Renault Kiger and it seemed the most VFM and even more in comparison to its rivals. There were quite a few complaints about mud problems with the car, but it seems with the new Kiger 2023 the company had it all sorted out. When discussing with friends and colleagues, they all dissed the car like it was some sort of China-made product even though one had ever owned a Renault car. I wonder why people have this negative connotation about Renault. What’s more, initially I was having a hard time differentiating between a Renault Kwid and a Renault Kiger. My wife decided there and then that she did not want to even look at the car, let alone drive it. But going through all the comparisons, it seemed a no-brainer that this is the most VFM car out there. I eventually managed to coax her to at least see and drive the car before giving up on it.
When I first saw the Renault Kiger in the showroom, I was absolutely gobsmacked! It really is beautiful and stylish with a whole load of space inside. It really felt big on the inside. They didn’t have the CVT Turbo to test drive at that moment and asked me if they could get it to my home, which was a downer for me. Anyways, when I did finally get hold of it, the drive was a pleasure. We took it on a steep incline with four of us onboard and in normal mode it had no problems pulling itself up. We, or rather I, immediately knew “this is it!” That is how good the test drive felt.
It checked all the boxes with regards to CVT reliability in bumper-to-bumper traffic, ease of driving, and from a learned source the CVT mated to a turbo is the best combination that one can have for city drives. All this while, friends and relatives were still lecturing us on resale value and how Renault might wind up pretty soon. But the car had felt good to drive and we decided that our safety and convenience within our budget should take precedence. With that in mind, we decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with booking the car from Landmark Juhu and within a week got our car delivered on 29th June.
The negatives:
- First up is the TPMS. Rather than proper number readings, it shows only “OK” for all four tires and it will do so until it goes below 25% from the set reading. It definitely feels down market, but well something better than nothing.
- The wipers make a lot of noise and it doesn’t even clean the view properly if it is a slight drizzle. Moderate to heavy rains aren’t a problem though.
- There is an irritating screeching sound while braking at low speeds. I had the exact same problem with my 2014 Xcent, hence it doesn’t bother me that much as I am sort of used to it now, but would have preferred a smoother experience.
- When at idle, there is quite a bit of vibration thanks to the 3-cylinder engine, but that can be negated by changing the gear from D to N and the vibrations fade away.
- Front parking sensors: The sound, usefulness and fit quality, everything about it is so down-market. I was so disappointed that I switched it off from the showroom itself, yes it’s that bad!
- Fuel Efficiency: I am getting about 6.5 Km/L having travelled 1000 km. Haven’t taken the car out for any leisure travel yet, will do that after the first service.
- For some reason, this car gets very very dirty when driving in the rain. Our car cleaner says he has to work doubly hard to clean the mud from our car. It is so bad some days that it looks like our car has been through a rally cross!
- The headlights feel inadequate for me. They should have provided better lamps; however, with high beam, there is a better throw.
- Seatbelts: Even in 2023, problems with accessing seatbelts still persist. It’s not a deal breaker, but I would have hoped with time they could have done something to sort things out.
- The A-Pillar with the ORVM creates a serious blind spot. Surprisingly, it has caused me more bother despite being 6’3 and sitting tall whereas my wife who is 5’6 has not found it as much of a distraction.
One-month ownership experience:
It’s been a month since we got the car and the car is truly a gem! It has got some road presence and people do stare a bit longer at your car — I don’t know if it is because you do not see so many Kigers on the road, but I guess it definitely helps. The sound of the turbo spooling is exhilarating. There is also no more fatigue from driving through traffic, which is a blessing. A lot of people have been complaining about the AC’s effectiveness, but I find it more than adequate. The temperature is always set at 26 with ACC switched on and I have never had a chance to complain.
The audio setup is good and should suffice for most people. With the heavy rains that we have had in Mumbai recently, I have had the chance to thread through flooded subways recently and the car performs a charm. Full marks to Kiger on getting the ground clearance right, the only downside being some minimal body roll.
Special mention again to the space management inside the car as although the vehicle looks smaller from the outside, it feels big on the inside where it really counts. How they have managed that with such a big boot space is a marvel in automobile engineering. This is truly the USP of the car.
I look forward to posting my next update once I am done with the first service and a proper long drive to Lonavala/Pune. Till then, as they say in French, Au Revoir!
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