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Beat makes sense if and only if boot space is the least priority.Also i hope the downsizing doesnt affect the reliability or drivability of the proven multijet.Mileage would be the best of the lot for sure.

Unfortunately, I do not have the same luck as you do. So its Tata to Tata.
None of the other cars have ABS or Airbags, so I won't really miss them :)

Surprisingly few Figo owners have written about it on this thread.

As a recent Figo owner I can say go ahead with some caution. The car does have niggles and the FASS is not exactly cheap as far as labour costs are concerned, but my boss claims his Santro and Fiesta have given about the same amont of maintenance trouble so far (expense wise) and given that Fiesta is a different segment altogether, and Hyundai is considered as good as Maruti, this is a big statement.

Also Figo not only has cheap parts available, the dealerships (at least here in Hyderabad) make you feel wanted even after you have bought the car. I get a call twice a week from the dealership to find if there is any problem and whether I'm satisfied with the car - this from a dealer who is selling so much he doesn't care to discuss a discount.

With Maruti there is an arrogance factor in salesmen which somehow I think will permeate into the whole body fabric of the organisation - with so much in sales why should they care?


Cheverlet Beat is a nice car, I didn't buy it because (1) no diesel (not too much of a problem - I don't drive that much) (2) smaller car inside - huge problem because I have a baby.


I wanted a Vista but with better service - kind of like your requirements. Figo fit in perfectly.

For your budget Tata Indica Vista Quadrajet base model is a nice bet. It doesn't have any fancy electrical bits so nothing would go wrong, the engine is Fiat and we all know how robust it is. It spacious for someone as tall as you and has wide spread service network. We havent have too many reports of people having mechanical problems with the car.
Yes you will have to go for TASS but then its only once in 10k's kilometers simply because there wont be too many problems except regular service so it is not a big deal in my opinion.

I would say go with the Ritz VDI, most practical.

I think when buying the Safari to you had run a poll, and I advised to buy the Scorpio, for the same reasons practicality and niggle free nature.

I voted for the last option – Something else.
From the requirements you mentioned. These are the two options I can suggest:

1) In the current available set: Check out the Nissan Micra diesel. I feel it ticks almost all of your requirements.

2) Upcoming option: New Swift diesel. Looks painfully closer to the current swift, but its slightly bigger, and much better (if the international reviews are to be believed)

After experiencing GM service I too had an A.S.S phobia which made me buy a Ritz diesel which ticks all the boxes that you want better than most other.

Figo was very competitive and a close second. But with with niggling problems reported, a lot of cost cutting observed and after suffering from cost cutting induced problems in my Spark, I decided to stick to a Maruti. Another major factor was selling my Ikon for a huge loss coz nobody wanted a used Ford.

So Swift was an automatic choice but loved the ride, interiors and build of the Ritz even more. More so it was cheaper and had better discounts compared to its more hallowed sibling. So now I am proud owner of a glistening grey Vdi Ritz.

Thanks vina, figo and ritz look like contenders.
As for "why care", they can afford to be arrogant, because 99% of marutis do not require any care

When you have a shoddy QC deparment, failures can come from any direction. I still don't think Tata employs qualified Testing professionals. When they do, all problems, whether electrical or otherwise go away.

I remember. I decided on scorpio, but M&M refused to sell me a 4x4!

Yes, Micra was a contender, but from the brochure it appears that diesel is available only in the 5.69 variant.
For that kind of money, I would take the i20
Remember, the cheaper the better

So GM service is also somewhat a horror story? Hmm, that puts chevy beat option in trouble. But let it launch. Lets see if they offer some kind of comprehensive maintenance package.

I voted for Ritz for the practicality it offers.

Taller seating stance; you'll not need to make much adjustments between Safari and Ritz.

Higher GC, shorter wheel base combo is a fun in the hills; Recently we drove in my BIL's Ritz Vxi to Sundernagar - Chindi - Karsog - Luhri - Rampur - Kalpa - Delhi (K-series petrol is an absolute delight to drive)

Maruti service; biggest plus.

The dash quality, fit & finish is better than Figo.

Go for Ritz Ldi, get basic mods done; at least get front PW @5K from outside; add wider tyres equivalent to Ritz zxi i.e. 185/70 Tyres. You'll be still able to save 30 k over Vdi.

@TSK

If you do not mind my asking, Why this aversion to TML?

I have followed your travelogues with a lot of interest and admiration for you and your ride. The lack of importance to the QC function in Tata Motors & the TASS network is evident from the continuing problems that owners face. But then they have always been forthcoming in owning up to their shortcomings and making amends, correct?

The Vista QuadraJet is a nice ride if some of the ownership threads are to be believed and VFM at that. If it were not for this aversion to the way TML is running things, would the Vista have been a candidate?

My sister has been using a Figo ZXI TDCi for almost 1.5yrs (she got one of the first 100 Figo vehicles in NCR)

She did 2.5k km in about 1 month, and the 10k service within 6 months. For last several months her travel is restricted, but the car has done over 20k (She had her third service some time ago, I don't know whether it has done 25k already). With such a heavy use, and an ignorant user like my sister (she can't even change the tyre should the need arise :D - what does the clutch do? change gears of course - how?- who cares?) the car has had zero problems so far.


As far as Maruti not giving trouble is concerned - Maruti is a very relaible vehicle and my father is using M800AC we bought in 2005 (which my sister drove 1L km between late 2006 and early 2010) - no major problems so far. So 7 trouble free years on an over two decade old platform should speak for itself.


As for Ritz, very very good car, and I would have bought it myself. Except there were two things - it is a small car inside (as all Maruti cars are) and 5 people is a stretch as is the boot space (on paper it is 20% smaller than Figo, in practice it looks more like 40% smaller). When going for Figo I was worried about service too, but sister assured me it is not a problem at all, and so did a lot of Ford owners in general. And in a city like Hyderabad (perhaps most of our cities) where "chalta hai" is the default attitude embedded in the fabric of the society this was a big deal.

Go for the Figo! Its a sheer VFM , has good space , brilliant 1.4tdci engine suiting city driving . Though the A.S.S of Ford is not as good as Hyundai or a Maruti, i would still go ahead with the Figo !

ITs a lot of hassle to take car to service center, and be carless for days. Due to this reason we need a car which needs to go to service center mostly for service.
Basically a trouble free car, good quality out of factory, and not via way of retro this and retro that.
For that we already have a safari. Since our second car is indica, we have learnt the hard way that its not a good idea to put all eggs in one basket.

So for lifestyle and "the hearts choice" we have the safari, and she will go on the road less travelled. For regular highway and city stuff, a frugal diesel which will always be with us, rather than with TML makes more sense.

I was thinking on the same lines as @selfdrive.

- you need a reliable car over 5+ years
- you need low TCO
- you need excellent resale value
- you can't afford to have ABS/Airbags as a mandatory requirement in your budget

Why not buy the Alto K10?? Use the money saved to pay for petrol.

At any time during the ownership period, should you want to move on / upgrade etc .. you'll get pretty good resale value. Selling it will never pinch you much.

There's only one problem with the Alto. Tanveer can't fit inside one!!!

Actually he just might, but we would have to remove the front seats. :D