Buying a used Hyundai i20

In Brief

The i20 ventured into a space where it challenged sedans with its attractive styling, premium features and choice of variants. The i20 comes with a 1.2-litre petrol mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, a 1.4-litre diesel with a six speed manual transmission, and lastly a 1.4-litre petrol with a 4-speed automatic gearbox. The i20 comes with a long features list that’s seen in a segment above it and to an extent established Hyundai’s name as the manufacturer who will not disappoint with its features.

On the Road

There’s one thing the i20 is good at – being pampering and hassle-free. The petrol i20 dishes out 84PS, the diesel churns 90PS under the hood and the automatic has the highest output of 100PS. Don’t expect a spirited drive though, as the i20 is a sloppy handling car when you are in need of quick maneuvering. Ease of driving in the city is its best trait. Buy a used i20 if you are going to restrict it to city use at most times as the suspension is soft enough to cushion most bad roads and the steering is effortlessly light. 

Moving in

The i20 is a large hatchback with plenty of space on the inside. It’s in fact one of the few hatchbacks where you can squeeze in three passengers in the rear with comfortable ease. Front seats are comfortable and offer driver seat height adjustment in the top end variant. It’s the only hatch that offers six airbags in the top spec petrol variant. Climate control, adjustable steering wheel for rake and reach, all-round power windows, leather seats, rear parking sensors and parking camera, alloy wheels, the kit the i20 comes with is seriously impressive. 

Efficiency

The petrol manual gets a mileage of 18.5kmpl, the diesel returns 21.9kmpl and the petrol automatic gives 15kmpl. All figures are ARAI certified

Buying used

When you are buying a used car, learn to separate the lemons from the list. These are poorly maintained cars that don’t have proper service history and have been in an accident or two. Once you are past these, start sifting through the good ones. The i20 is a very popular car. Being a Hyundai, the well spread service network will be a good backup once you purchase the car. Spares of the i20 are also readily available. 

There are very few things to spot in a used i20. Start off with the clutch and pressure plate on cars that have run in over 50,000km. the i20 has a light clutch action so it will be easy to spot a hard clutch if you find one. These cost a tad above Rs 4,000 to replace. I20s in the late 2000s had a steering yoke issue so beware of these. Since the i20 is setup on the softer side, the suspension tends to crash into large potholes. Lower arm and strut wear as a result can be seen on older models. It can set you back by approximately Rs 3,000 for a pair. 

Money-Wise

Hyundai’s don’t depreciate quickly. So a three year old i20 petrol will set you back by Rs 3.8-4.2 lakh, a diesel will cost you Rs 4.5-5 lakh and a automatic will set you back between Rs 4.2-4.7 lakh for a 2011 model. Deduct Rs 40,000 on average for a car a year older. These prices depend on condition of the car and so we have provided you with a range from a average maintained car to a pristine one. Cars with low mileage will cost more and logically, cars with more kilometers on the clock will be cheaper. The new i20 is just around the corner so expect prices of the used i20 to fall a tad bit once the new car hits the market.