Living With the Hyundai Creta N Line : MH 03 EL 6295 is sporting a few scars these days. Scars entirely of my making. Here’s the back story. We had to make room for a test Mercedes-AMG G 63 (yes, first-world problems!), the Creta N Line had to be parked in an adjacent parking slot that’s next to a pillar. Days later, returning to the Creta, I forgot how close it was to the pillar, lined up, and tried to reverse out the usual way
peering through the rear view camera feed. Crrrunch. The left-wing mirror bore the brunt. The glass shattered and the electronics (mirror adjust, camera and blind view indicator) were untouched thank GOD. Phew! Because replacing the entire wing mirror would have set us back a cool Rs 32,000! A simple wing mirror got expensive with all the ADAS features and electronics. The Rs
1,000 replacement glass that I should have bought looks cheap compared to that. The mirror casing isn’t exactly fitted, and consequently, a small blind spot appears in the blind view monitor. It’s not ideal, but I take it as a minor reminder on the dangers of being so dependent on cameras. Lesson learnt.
The exterior design of the Creta N Line, though, has been my ride for what few short excursions I’ve been able to make out of town since the last report. We especially liked spending a weekend at Alibaug during a period of very nice weather. Driving with all four windows down was a most refreshing experience; the overworked dual-zone climate control and air purifier really needed
the day off. And speaking of windows, my drive-loving dog likes the fact that the rear windows roll all the way down. It’s almost a make-or-break for him — and it’s a detail I’ve come to pay close attention to when reviewing a car. After all, everyone in the family should enjoy the car, right?
The Creta’s nifty integrated rear window sunshades that my (human) passengers are encouraged to use on sunny days also gets a mention. What’s not nice is the Creta’s fuel economy. That’s hovering about 7.9kpl at low speeds, so our N Line is a bit of a walleteer on urban duty. However, this rises to 12-14kpl during gentle highway drives.