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-   -   Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD (https://britishexpats.com/forum/hungary-140/cars-trucks-2wd-4wd-935306/)

FenTiger Oct 16th 2020 4:32 am

Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
I'm off to look at a car today. It's a new Suzuki Vitara 1.4L 4WD hybrid. Main reason to choose this car is it's cheap and according to some car reviews fun to drive. I hope they don't mean "scarey". Another reason is the customer service is better than all the other dealers. Being deaf I can't telephone them so use email or FB messenger.
My deaf friends, including a mechanic/body repair guy, here have been emphasizing 4WD is better and I am inclined to agree with them because we live on a hill, I'm certain it's never gritted in winter, there's often surface water on the roads around here and need some oomph to get up some of the hills around here. The SEAT Arona I hired was great but that was my experience in dry driving conditions.
The one thing I'm not looking forward to is paying the deposit and balance. My bank expect me to call them prior to the money going through! They suggested going online and chat with them through their website but 9 times out of 10, that's a 10-20 minute until they link me with the right person!
I've had to urgently get a mobile with Hungarian number and get a package to suit my needs. Luckily Vodafone here offer a discounted package for deaf people. I've signed up for a year and once that expires choose what's best price for my needs.

Peter_in_Hungary Oct 16th 2020 7:58 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
Is the car permanent 4wd or selectable? IMO permanent is much better. Is it a plug in hybrid? If not and you are not going to be doing much city driving (i.e. lots of stop start driving) then I suspect the engine will be running most or all of the time so what is the point of the hybrid. OK you get electric assist for heavy acceleration and hills etc. but at the end of the day all the energy needed for moving the car around has to come from petrol and you are lugging around a heavy battery that is not there in a conventional car. (weight = fuel consumption)
If it is a plug in hybrid then you can charge it up over night and run electric only for your short trips only needing the engine for the longer trips, cheaper and less pollution.
Just IMO

Sachina Oct 16th 2020 1:50 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 

Originally Posted by FenTiger (Post 12922397)
I'm off to look at a car today. It's a new Suzuki Vitara 1.4L 4WD hybrid. Main reason to choose this car is it's cheap and according to some car reviews fun to drive. I hope they don't mean "scarey". Another reason is the customer service is better than all the other dealers. Being deaf I can't telephone them so use email or FB messenger.
My deaf friends, including a mechanic/body repair guy, here have been emphasizing 4WD is better and I am inclined to agree with them because we live on a hill, I'm certain it's never gritted in winter, there's often surface water on the roads around here and need some oomph to get up some of the hills around here. The SEAT Arona I hired was great but that was my experience in dry driving conditions.
The one thing I'm not looking forward to is paying the deposit and balance. My bank expect me to call them prior to the money going through! They suggested going online and chat with them through their website but 9 times out of 10, that's a 10-20 minute until they link me with the right person!
I've had to urgently get a mobile with Hungarian number and get a package to suit my needs. Luckily Vodafone here offer a discounted package for deaf people. I've signed up for a year and once that expires choose what's best price for my needs.

I drive a 17 year old 1 litre Suzuki Swift and have never had any problem driving on wet muddy or icy roads which living in the middle of nowhere I encounter a lot of the time. If you remember, to get to my house you have to negotiate a steep "switchback" hill and even with snow and ice on the road have no problem getting up it. Before that for a year I drove a Ford Estate which used to skid all over the place if the road was icy or muddy.

FenTiger Oct 16th 2020 3:32 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12922435)
Is the car permanent 4wd or selectable? IMO permanent is much better. Is it a plug in hybrid? If not and you are not going to be doing much city driving (i.e. lots of stop start driving) then I suspect the engine will be running most or all of the time so what is the point of the hybrid. OK you get electric assist for heavy acceleration and hills etc. but at the end of the day all the energy needed for moving the car around has to come from petrol and you are lugging around a heavy battery that is not there in a conventional car. (weight = fuel consumption)
If it is a plug in hybrid then you can charge it up over night and run electric only for your short trips only needing the engine for the longer trips, cheaper and less pollution.
Just IMO

The All Grip 4WD has three modes: Auto, Sport and Snow. On auto it switches to 4WD when it detects the front wheels slipping. According to the Suzuki website the hybrid the 'HYBRID system uses an electric motor called an integrated starter generator (ISG) that works alongside your car’s petrol engine to help improve its efficiency. The ISG is powered by an extra battery that is charged as the car decelerates and brakes.'. It supposedly boosts fuel efficiency by 15% and cuts CO2 emissions by 25%. Reviews do query this. I'm aware the 48v battery is heavy and will affect it's performance. The supposedly 138bhp is reduced to 127bhp. Still that's more than my last car, Vauxhall Zafira 1.6 Energy which had 115bhp. It survived a long trip with four adults and two mid teen boys, plus luggage. Still managed to get that vehicle up to 70mph easily.
I'm not sure if the electrics here could cope with a plug in vehicle, hence not going down that avenue.
I've read quite a few car reviews past three months and I kept finding myself going back to Suzuki because it has a better reliability score so some vehicles I was interested in. I've watched a couple of videos of the Suzuki SX 4 Cross on road and dirt roads. It seemed to cope pretty well, even on bumpy and muddy dirt tracks. Oops - I've let the cat out of the bag! Instead I opted for the said mentioned vehicle. I liked the bigger boot and extra space when rear seats folded down. The Vitara looks much bigger than the SX4 Cross but it's actually smaller. My wife seems happy I chose this. The SX4 S Cross doesn't stand out in the crowd as much as the Vitara and is another reason fro choosing it. Too late for me to take in any advice, a black SX4 S Cross has been ordered.
It's got heated seats which should make my wife happy when it's extremely cold.
​​​​​

Peter_in_Hungary Oct 16th 2020 6:05 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 

Originally Posted by FenTiger (Post 12922599)
I'm not sure if the electrics here could cope with a plug in vehicle, hence not going down that avenue.
Too late for me to take in any advice, a black SX4 S Cross has been ordered.​​​​​

If you only ordered it to day it may not be too late to change one of the specs. Think about a BLACK car in the summers we get here. 5 mins parked in the sun and any thing inside will melt!
Everyone is entitled to 32A on the day meter and 32A on the night meter. A Tesla comes with a 32A charger built in so your 32A night meter will cope with a Tesla!

wolfi Oct 16th 2020 6:23 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
Good news!
Seems that this model is built here in Esztergom and also there are many Suzuki experts around in Hungary.
Congratulations!

tooboocoo Oct 18th 2020 10:47 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
+1 to PiH

Also, think dust and grime in general - a black car always looks dirty unless it's just been meticulously cleaned!

wolfi Oct 18th 2020 1:41 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
That's good news!
Then you don't need that spray-on-mud to make your car look "adventurous"
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jun/14/uknews
PS:
I remember reading about this many years ago - couldn't believe it at first, thought it was for April Fools ...

FenTiger Oct 19th 2020 5:07 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
My sister-in-law has a white car and until she puts the AC on during extremely hot weather it is like an oven in there.
My last UK car was black so I'm not new to seeing how dirty a black car can look. Atleast my car will be able to blend in with the other dirty cars.
White was an option but then my wife said she'd prefer black because we'd never had a black car before. Please see above! My favourite car colour is red but the wife said we've had enough red cars, even she once had a red Vauxhall Corsa!
Customer service at Suzuki was excellent. Very good communications between us. They knew we were deaf and were very helpful. One knew English pretty well.
​​​

FenTiger Oct 19th 2020 5:10 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12922672)
If you only ordered it to day it may not be too late to change one of the specs. Think about a BLACK car in the summers we get here. 5 mins parked in the sun and any thing inside will melt!
Everyone is entitled to 32A on the day meter and 32A on the night meter. A Tesla comes with a 32A charger built in so your 32A night meter will cope with a Tesla!

To be honest some of the electrical wiring here is a bit dodgey I'm careful what we plug in and for how long.

FenTiger Oct 26th 2020 2:01 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
I have been quoted 168.876 HUF for car insurance! That's around £400 depending on exchange rate used. Am I being ripped off?

Peter_in_Hungary Oct 26th 2020 7:14 pm

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 

Originally Posted by FenTiger (Post 12926458)
I have been quoted 168.876 HUF for car insurance! That's around £400 depending on exchange rate used. Am I being ripped off?

What cover does that give you against what value? Here the compulsory is usually quoted (and purchased) separately and then the comprehensive part as an additional policy. I presume that is an annual premium - yes?
Any no claims bonus? If not you might be able to get a NCB to match your previous UK one if you can prove your UK NCB (e.g. letter from UK insurance firm).
Any loading because you are deaf?
Which company are you going to? Have you tried other companies?
Answers to the above will help judge the value of the quote.

By the way NCBs are dealt with differently here. In the UK your NCB results in a lower premium, here you pay the full premium and get a rebate to the value of your NCB at the end of the year. Also it is slightly cheaper to pay quarterly or annually.

FenTiger Oct 27th 2020 8:01 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12926592)
What cover does that give you against what value? Here the compulsory is usually quoted (and purchased) separately and then the comprehensive part as an additional policy. I presume that is an annual premium - yes?
Any no claims bonus? If not you might be able to get a NCB to match your previous UK one if you can prove your UK NCB (e.g. letter from UK insurance firm).
Any loading because you are deaf?
Which company are you going to? Have you tried other companies?
Answers to the above will help judge the value of the quote.

By the way NCBs are dealt with differently here. In the UK your NCB results in a lower premium, here you pay the full premium and get a rebate to the value of your NCB at the end of the year. Also it is slightly cheaper to pay quarterly or annually.

There's twp elements on the quote: (Not sure which way round).
1) 58.301 HUF (KGFB??) (There is another amount 52.601 HUF)
2) 124.301 HUF (Casco??)
168.876 HUF Total less I think 7.5% discount as I have another insurance through them.

The insurance guy has mentioned the Casco is refunded after 3 years if no claims. I've just sent him a message to ask which way round they should be. You will all already know this. As a last resort I will probably send the quote to my sister-in-law and her husband as he's the family cars fleet manager!

The insurance guy's father and mother are both deaf and the family are friends of ours too. The insurance guy has explained about the NCB and how much less his father pays due to NCB. To be honest I hope the quote is reasonable and I prefer to pay extra if the insurance guy/company are deaf friendly from the communication perspective. Makes it easier to sort out anything.

The insurance guy hasn't mentioned whether because we are deaf we have to pay more. I didn't pay any extra in UK although some UK insurance companies do try it on until pressure is put on them to with draw any increased premium. (Same with some vehicle hire companies, they ask if UK DVLC are aware I am deaf). That usually results in the deaf car owners jumping ship and going to another car insurance company! Neither of us have ever caused an accident, in my case in 43 years driving and my wife 30 years UK, 12 years Hungary! In my wife's case a Hungarian driving test at 18 and then after moving to UK 12 years later a UK driving test! That was around 1990.


FenTiger Oct 27th 2020 9:49 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
Split is... the kgfb is 58301 Ft, and the casco is 110.575 Ft.

FenTiger Nov 1st 2020 4:23 am

Re: Cars, Trucks, 2WD, 4WD
 
Picked up new car yesterday. I was alarmed the hub caps were missing. They had changed the tyres to winter which is what I requested. The summer tyres and hub caps are still in the back of the car and we'll be putting them in the garage once we make space. Access to the basement where the boiler is is via inside the garage and a little heat comes up from the doorless entrance. What I have researched on the internet the garage seems ideal. The entrance to the basement is a bit tight so I'm not keen to lump them down there.
So far driving it I'm happy with it but the car owner's manual is in Hungarian so I have downloaded an English version. Phew, with the extra bells on it it is like learning a completely new PC operating system! Thanks to Google and YouTube I don't need to order an English version. At 500+ pages no way!


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