Toyota Corolla – Dealer did not show up for test drive

When I bought my first car, I was in California. Corolla was one car I was condidering for buying. Corolla in US is an entry level car staring at $13K. In India this is luxury !!! So Corolla is a n obvious choice for me now. Now a days on Bangalore streets Corolla has become as common as a Maruti Esteem 🙂

I contacted Ravindu Toyota. They promised to bring a Corolla for test drive. I waited for two weeks, they called me a couple of times asking when to bring to car. But they never showed up.

I read some reviews on MouthShut.com on Ravindu Toyota, Bangalore. The user feedback was very bad.

Corolla did not have ABS or TCS. It appeared to be a solid car. The price was also beyond my max budget of INR 10 lakhs. The dealer also did not show for a test drive as promised. I started feeling that this is not value for money.

I took Corolla out of my list !! With Honda City out, it leaves me Elantra and Optra.

– Manas Kamal Bhattacharya

Auto: Honda City – Didn't bother for a test drive

The new Honda City is like a hot cake on Indian Roads. This car is everywhere.I did flirt with the idea of buying City for two reasons

1. It is a Honda Car
2. The great milage everyone talks of.

As I looked at the specs, it just had 77 bhp. On a highway I would have struggled more then I did with my current Santro. There is nothing much to say about the City’s looks.My collegue at work is has been waiting 3 weeks now for his Honda City GXI, he has no clue when it is going to be delivered.Okay !! No point even going for a test drive.

Chevrolet Optra – A Real Great Looker on the Road

I drove the car for 3 hours today. I drove it on mud roads, on highway and through the traffic jam at Airport Road. Great car to drive. The sales guy from Sundaram Motors was very helpful and ready t answer all my querries.

Looks wise, this is the best among all the 4 cars I have shortlisted. The interiors is not a good as the outside. The two tone finish was a little flashy. However it had a lot of storage space and cabinets inside.

I drove the the 1.6 LT version, that has 104 bhp with a 1.6 l engine.

The problem is that it also did not have ABS on the 1.6 LT. The 1.8 version had a ABS, but was priced wel above a corolla. The dealer was willing to give only a small discount. The price they quoyed was only a little less then a Hyunday Elantra GT. On paper Elantra had much more features then the Optra.

Also, I have lived in US long enough to know what Chevrolet means for quality.

At the moment the scales are going much against the Optra.

– Manas Kamal Bhattacharya