Hyundai Alcazar long term review, 30,000km report

The Hyundai Alcazar is my go-to car in our long-term fleet whenever I plan to undertake a long road trip. It ticks all the requirements I have from an SUV. To begin with, I really like its frugal nature and how easily it covers at least 800km on a full tank of diesel. Moreover, the space that it offers is also something that I appreciate a lot. You see, on most of my travel escapades I carry plenty of luggage, and, in addition to a very spacious cabin, the Alcazar’s boot is very versatile.

The third-row seats can be folded flat easily, and it instantly opens out a whole lot of luggage storage area. What I really like though are the seats, which, especially on long drives, have proven to be very comfortable. Speaking of comfort, I absolutely love the ventilated seats, which I am habituated to using. I must say, it is a superb feature to have especially if you drive in hotter cities like Mumbai. 

It got a lot of appreciation from my family members on a recent day trip to Daman. Rear seat passengers liked the space and comfort offered in the back seat and that the rear windows had retractable sun blinds. They simply loved the panoramic sunroof, which, with the sunshade open, made the cabin a lot airier.  But a bigger highlight for them was the foldable trays that they found very useful. Another feature they used throughout the trip was the wireless phone charger in the rear seat. It’s good to have not one but two wireless phone chargers in the Alcazar. Third-row passengers also get a USB port for charging and air-con blower control.

I would have liked it to have wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay, however, I now keep a dedicated iPhone cable in the car as a workaround. The downside to that though is that while using Apple CarPlay, the phone keeps getting charged, even when it’s not required. I would have also liked the ride quality to be firmer than its current set-up as it tends to move a bit more than required. But frankly, the list of likes is longer than things I don’t like about the Alcazar.

It’s no surprise that our Alcazar has already clocked 30,148km and reached its third scheduled service so soon  – the second service was done only a month and a half ago. With monsoons in Maharashtra just months away, this will be the perfect car to battle the flooded roads of Mumbai. Now, I am going to try and hang on to this SUV for a while.