Stark Naked Review...........Direct From The (Neighbour's) Backyard
Love It or Hate It, Agree or Disagree, But Do Read It
BackgroundI come from a middle class family living (satisfied Alhamdolillah) on a salary being father of four school going kids and a mother to look after. Budget is the biggest dictator here. That being said, I'm also a keen enthusiast with impulsive nature who would shell out even the last penny to pursue a sane choice. I live in Pakistan where the choices are limited and the options available are not commensurate with the features offered at insane rates dictated by vehicle manufacturing companies not less than cartels running their own lobbies.
Decision Making: Confusion, Confusion and More Confusion. After disposing of Viper I had almost 15.5 lacs in hand and about 5 lacs saved/loaned. I'm the kind of guy who would spend even the last penny if my mind is set on something. Yes, call me impulsive, fool, anything, but that's my description and I don't step into ladies' shoes when it comes to decision making. But Ice Cube can better explain my situation:
Initial Options:
* New vs Imported In this category I didn't have any decent choice. Toyota Axio, Premio (old shape), Fielder, Rush, C Class MB, and what not. Couldn't quite get to set my heart on any one of them. Those which were nice required another 3+ lacs which I didn't have and was not willing to spend.
* New 1.8L Civic i-VTEC (Base Model): Let me not kid you guys. I'm a Civic fan boy but with that budget and auto tranny being the lead requirement due to the reason that my left foot and left hand had had enough of local traffic. Couldn't pick up wife's calls (that meant war at the end of the day), mom's calls (that meant that I had turned into a Joru ka Ghulam), boss's calls (that meant screwing with my yearly appraisals) and most importantly my girl friends' calls (that meant koi aur).
* 2014 Used Civic Prosmatec: Searched a lot but didn't find any car to satisfy my extremely OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) nature of getting a low mileage, scratch less and pristine Civic Prosmatic at that price. But most importantly, the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] Gen has grown over us. It's been on the roads since 2013. I'd hate to see a facelift just around the corner.
* 1.6L Super ECT "So Called Altis" Did someone say Corolla 1.6 "Altis". Seriously? It's called an Altis now? That too with Super ECT technology that's there in the GLi 4-speed AT? Whatever happened to the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] Generation 1.6 GLi Auto?
Well, marketing, shall I say? Here came the biggest dilemma. I was like a pendulum oscillating between the GLi A/T and 1.6 Altis A/T. But for the difference in price (1,25,000/- plus) getting just a half cocked Entertainment System (Without Navigation), vintage 8 year old design alloy rims (which by the way you could get slightly used for 19,000 in pristine condition). Oh c'mon Indus Motors: You could do better than that. I mean are they kidding us? Rest everything is the same?
Spot The Difference Contest
The only thing I considered to be worthy were, um, well, uh, actually, umm, "Nothing". I mean paying an additional "sawa lakh ropaiya" would have bought me a 1.6 GLi with an Altis badge, 8 year old alloy wheels, a half cocked multimedia unit and striking resemblance between both cars. Simply Wow. Simply Spectacular (Yeah Right). Damn you Indus Motor Corporation.
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Corolla GLi (Auto): Next up, Super ECT Automatic GLi 1.3L Toyota Corolla (Yayyyyyyyy). No Brainer.
