The GoaOnWheels Team caught up with Mr. Austin Colaco who is a strong admirer of our blog and also a proud owner of the luxurios car, Nissan Sunny. With Nissan opening its first dealership in Goa at Verna and Nissan Sunny Advertisement boards erected at many places in the state, the GoaOnWheels Team were curious enough to know more about the rise of Nissan in Goa.
We asked Austin, Why did he choose Nissan when there are already established car manufacturers in Goa? Austin said that he test drove many cars from different manufacturers, but Nissan Sunny stood out amonst all. The Vehicles that Austin checked out were:
- Toyota Corolla Altis – Good car Spacious, but high on price.
- Toyota Etios – Not very sturdy and build quality not good.
- Hyundai Verna – Great engines, but Not Spacious.
- Ford Fiesta – Great drivers car. Not spacious for family.
- Nissan Sunny – Very Spacious, affordable, value for money. Very sturdy and well built. Very economical to use.
Austin further stated that he was not entirely happy with the build quality and economy figures of his previously owned Tata Indigo, and wanted an affordable, well built, sturdy, spacious as well as economical family car. Nissan Sunny had all the required qualities and bought the car for approximately 9 lacs from A M Nissan in the last week on March 2012.
The GoaOnWheels Team asked Austin to enlighten about the car variant, the safety features and any features in the car that he is particularly impressed about. Austin briefed the team that unlike petrol, Nissan has kept only middle and top variants for diesel, his car being the middle variant. He further stated that the top variant comes with fog lamps, alloy wheels, push button start, timer adjustable intermittent wiper, and bigger tyres which are more of luxuries than necessities. With a cheerful smile Austin said that the car looks nice and turns a lot of heads when I drive.
Talking about the interiors/ safety features, Austin stated that the interiors are very well designed and convenient to use and the car is very spacious and even with the front seat set completely back, there is a lot of legroom at the rear. The car has front Airbags, ABS and EBD. The car is full of features, other cars of this segment offer the same features at about Rs. 1 -2 lacs more. A nice feature is the rear blower to circulate the AC cooled air from the front to the rear. It is as effective as a rear AC vent !!
The GoaOnWheels Team asked Austin that now that the car is 5 months old, what he has to say about the car performance. With a spark in his eyes, Austin said that the drive quality is very nice. The car feels stable and planted even at higher speeds. There are no vibrations, even though it is a diesel. For those used to petrol, the car can be driven like a petrol, only the fuel economy will reduce. With a top speed touched till date at 120 km/h, the car felt sturdy and there are no vibrations with a reasonably good mileage of about 19 – 20 kmpl.
At the end, the GoaOnWheels Team asked Austin if there is anything in the car that Nissan could have improved upon and is there any maintainence cost that he had to bore. Austin replied that the it would be nice if Nissan were to offer reverse sensors with this car as a standard accessory and cars of this size need this standard fitment. After one checkup servicing, total cost for maintenance incurred so far: Rs. 15.00 (air top ups in the tyres).
The GoaOnWheels team would like to thank Austin Colaco for reviewing the car from the owners perspective and having a safe, memorable experience with his CAAR, the Nissan Sunny.
