So my car has gone for it's first 1000 free checkup and i thought about writing this review so that people who might be interesting in this vehicle may know the pros and cons of this particular car, i must mention before hand that i found the community at pakwheels (www.pakwheels.com) to be very supportive and my decision making was made very easy courtesy of all the informative posts there, so if you haven't checked their site out what are you waiting for, guide your browser to www.pakwheels.com right NOW!
Showing Off The Shine
ExteriorHonestly, the car doesn't scores that much as far as the exterior looks are concerned, i often get to hear that its a female car (much to my annoyance) and it does looks very small from outside, the looks of this car are like love and hate relationship, either you will love it or you will hate it, myself i am living with it and growing fond of it day by day, but than again i didn't bought the car for its looks in the first place :)
InteriorDry would be the word which comes to mind in the first place, second thing which will come to your mind would be PRACTICAL, i found everything i need to be within hand's reach and layout is very practical, the only annoying thing is the placement of indicators and wipers, they are opposite of what we are used to (indicators and lights work from left and wipers work from right)
I do miss having a rev/rpm in the car, i know its not a performance car but still would be nice to have a rpm meter showing me the revs i am pulling.
One thing i simply LOVE about the car is its A/C God Damn i haven't seen such a chilling A/C in any car, first time in my life i had to turn it off because i was feeling cold, this is 6 in the evening i am talking about not 1 in the night when atmosphere is relatively colder than that of the day, In 30 seconds flat even in the hottest climate the car manages to make a cosy atmosphere which in hot climate of Karachi is a blessing.
DriveNow before you start making judgment let me tell you before hand that i personally have a Toyota Vitz and Suzuki Cultus VXL apart from this car so i would be making good amount of comparisons to those cars.
Drive is pleasant and enjoyable, what i don't like is the gear ratios, it took me some time to get used to changing gear very frequently, on the same distance i cover in cultus in second gear i have to shift to third in joy (i am talking about by the book shifts according to speed limits per gear)
The rear shocks in my opinion are able to take good beating but still Karachi potholes manage to give them a hard time, i often get to hear a loud CLANG if my car is overloaded and there is a nasty pothole i ended up in, other than that the car handles the potholes in a splendid manner, lesson to learn here is not to (a) overload your car (b) avoid those potholes don't drive like a blind bat (like i do from time to time)
Power Steering is a disappointment to me, It's still on par with the Cultus power steering but Vitz power steering is way better, After driving Vitz the power steering on Joy feels like a Semi Power Steering, i wish it was more fluid.
ProblemsThe problems which i jotted down for the showroom people to fix are as follows,
- Passenger seat making sqeeking sounds
- Fuel Average
- Gear Ratios
Passenger seat for some odd reasons make these squeeking sounds which is annoying like anything, i think so its a loose spring or some screw nothing major but none the less i hate the sound and i want it removed from the car, Lets hope they fix the damn problem
Fuel Average is nothing to write home about, The dealer claims an average of around 12km/l in city traffic with A/C, i am having mix readings between 8-9 km/l with A/C. The dealer have told me that after the first service and tuning the average will improve so lets see. If i was paying for the fuel from my own pocket i would be bothered a lot but since my company pays for the fuel i am one happy guy.
Gear Ratios, as i discussed above the car needs to be driven with gears being changed constantly, you start the car from a scratch and before you know you are in top gear, i wish the gear ratios was something like other cars, its not a big deal but its different from other vehicles.
Final VerdictAm i happy with the car? Yes i am if i compare it with my Cultus, Joy is much better car than Cultus but i can't simply imagine comparing Joy with Vitz, Vitz is hands down a better vehicle.