[SmartCat]

What according to you is the best car for the Indian driving conditions? A car that will not need a replacement for many years to come? What according to you is the car that offers the ideal mix of everything you need in a car?

My vote goes for a pre-owned Skoda Yeti 4x4 Elegance:

- Reasonable price
- It is compact in size, around 4.3 metres in length. So it would be easy to park in the city and drive on congested/narrow roads.
- Nice interiors and features list.
- Good mix of ride and handling for highway driving.
- Sedan matching boot space with the flexibility to stuff more luggage by removing the parcel tray.
- Fuel economy, being a diesel.
- Ability to take on the Bangalore Mangalore highway after the monsoons thanks to decent offroad capability.

Basically, with a Yeti, we get a small car that has the ride & handling of a sedan and practicality of a SUV. It would have been 100% perfect allrounder if -

- Yeti was made by Honda or a Toyota
- Had 7 seats like the Ertiga, with last 2 being foldable of course
- Had Automatic transmission.

What's your nomination for the best allrounder car?

[drmohitg]

Well thats an interesting thread and I guess its very tough to pick an ideal car since it would largely depend on what the person is looking for in the car.

I feel the following three cars are right amongst the best:

1. For a Person with a small family (newly married) and hence need for a small car to be used majorly in the city with an occasional highway drive thrown in: In this case my Vote goes for the Maruti Ritz. Its small yet spacious inside, the engine is great, comes in both diesel and petrol, has the Maruti advantage, well priced and can be peppy too for those highway drives.

2. For a person with need of little more space but still wants to keep the cost of the car and size in check: The Tata Manza. It gives you the Sedan advantage, high on Interior space, Large boot, diesel advantage, Good looks, cheap After sales costs and VFM, good to drive on open roads too. Another car I would love to add to this category will be the new Maruti Ertiga.

3. For a family guy who needs all those extra seats and space: The Toyota Innova. Its drives like a car making driving in the city traffic very easy, extremely reliable and soft on the pocket to maintain, good after sales, loads of space and very comfortable seating, ability to go almost anywhere a regular guy would want to go.

[drchernish]

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[Dr.AD]

Smartcat, nice thread! But I feel this really depends on the price range too. I somewhat agree with your points on Yeti, but feel like if I look at beyond 50L price range (just for example), there might be something out there that is even more ideal. So it is really upto the price one can afford. Anyway, here are my takes:

1. For under Rs. 10L, I would go with SX4-ZXi. I may be biased because I am using this one for last year and a half, but it does offer what I need: a nice 1.6L VVT petrol engine, solid reliability, good space for 4 people and luggage, all the safety features that you can expect at this price range, and decent bad-roading capability if not off-roading etc. Also has some bells and whistles such as ACC, steering mounted audio controls etc.
2. For Rs. 10L to 20L range: I agree with you. Yeti is a good choice here.
3. For Rs. 20L to 30L range: Maybe Fortuner? or maybe it is too big to be practical in all conditions?
4. Rs. 30L and above? No idea :-)

Thanks,
-AD

[skuz]

Given your running is below 1000 kms per month, the Honda City

Fuel efficiency which beats many a hatchbacks,
Performance and the excitement when you need it,
Take a curve at a little more than usual speed and the tyres start screeching, while the car still feels steady - Makes one feel like F1 Cheat..hehe
Space - Inside & boot - Better than most
Safety Features - All of them
Looks - Still looks sharp!
Reliability - Done 34 K kms and absolutely no part replacement or a faulty part or a rattle!..Incredible!
Decent Servicing costs

Meanwhile - the sunny would be a close second, and once ertiga arrives, i think it would beat the city too!

[vvijay]

I feel the best all-rounder would be the Mahindra XUV 500. It is one car that has great performance, mature ride and handling, loaded with equipment to the gills, stunning SUV looks, good off-roading capabilities to tackle any Indian roads at a killer price. No doubt this car's sales have reached new heights. This would be, I feel, the perfect all-rounder had it not been giving little niggles with electronics and much more boot space with all three rows put to use.

[Blow Horn Ok]

If discontinued cars would be in the race along with the currently available ones, I would vote for the FORD FUSION TDCI. IMO, its the best all rounder one can get due to:

1. Fuel Efficient & Refined Engine
2. High ground clearance (Enough to tackle bad Indian Speed Breakers)
3. Overall a Big hatchback with Big Boot and good leg room (back & front) - Boon for long trips
4. Even though big, its small Enough to park easily and drive through congested traffic
5. Sorted Ride quality
6. Superior Handling with great feed back from the steering

It would have been the Master of all trades if Ford would have positioned/marketed the car cleverly (Like the figo) and provide good After sales support.

[carwatcher]

I was looking forward for this kind of DEFINITIVE thread since long time. Something like ratings for each car on a scale of 1-10 so we can judge the PERFECT or almost perfect car as per T-BHPians for Indian conditions.
If you take into account everything then Ford Fusion (Petrol) (I own one) as well as Ford Fusion Diesel can easily be defined as perfect all-rounders, Hatch like compactness, Sedan like boot, excellent handling and driving comfort, Brand value, etc. If Fusion has not been discontinued, it would have to be seen as to how many people vote for Yeti. Even the OP has mentioned 'PRE-Owned' reflecting the main weak point of Yeti.
If you broaden the criteria to upcoming cars then Nissan Duster, Ford EcoSport and Maruti-Suzuki Ertiga look like a potential candidate alongwith upcoming car from Chevy.
Finally, in todays scenario Honda Jazz fits the bill as the price and mileage is not that bad comparing the All-round nature.
PS : Interesting point to note is NONE of the all-rounder cars (Fusion, Yeti or Jazz) are doing well as far as their sales figures are concerned and in all the cases, the manufacturer are to blame for that. Now with MSIL taking matter in their own hands with Ertiga, I am sure this contest will be won by Ertiga hands down in the following days or months.

[wilful]

This is a tough one - since you have asked for one choice - because there are different all rounders at different price points. However considering everything i.e. Type of fuel (for economy), space, comfort, durability, safety, reliability, ruggedness, proven track record and cost of vehicle - my vote would go for the Innova. Yes -it appears a mite too large for city roads but I'm yet to hear complaints on that from Innova owners I know and I see any number in all the towns I visit. And yes I have driven one around quite a bit.
I only wish it had offered an AT box as an option & maybe a 4 wheel option as well.

[a4anurag]

Nice Thread Smartcat!

In the Hatchback category:

If the running is low then I feel the Alto 800 or K10 will do the job. If the running is high then I would prefer Ritz (DDiS Top model). This is not because I own it personally. Frankly I have covered 51K in 1 year and still all the parts are stock except for the brake pads changed once! No complaints. A nice VFM car and its the rear design that is the deal-breaker for a few but for me I loved the car whole!

In the Sedan category:

It can either be a Honda City or a Civic if the running is low. If it is high then Skoda Octavia though the skoda A$$ is the bad part not the car!

In the SUV/MUV Category:

Its the Toyota Innova all the way!

I don't see an alternate for me in this category. Hats off to Toyota for such a wonderful and complete car.

[Santoshbhat]

Very difficult to pick one car like that that is ideal in all situations . But in India it has to be the Maruti Alto! 30,000 Indians will agree with me month after month

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by smartcat

What according to you is the best car for the Indian driving conditions? A car that will not need a replacement for many years to come? What according to you is the car that offers the ideal mix of everything you need in a car?

It is the Maruti Ritz for me -

• new tech.
• new design and platform
• spacious quality interiors
• easy "parkability" in our conditions
• split folding rear seats,
• goodlooks with alloys
• ridiculously low cost of maintenance

[lobojames9]

I would say that Alto k10 would be my nomination for best all rounder car in India.

My reasons for choosing the Alto are:

- To start of, it is one of the cheaper hatchbacks we can buy in the market.
- Low maintenance and maruti after sales is a plus point
- The car is spacious enough for a family of four
- Being a small hatchback makes it ideal for our crowded streets and parking spaces
- In a country obsessed with mileage (as maruti says), the car does return decent fe figures which again score in its favour.
- Even though its a small car, one cannot discount it on the highways, a decent highway performer.
- A small car for the enthusiast too.

[pganapathy]

This is something that is entirely dependent on where you live and what your requirements are. Having said that, we do need to consider that half of India has roads like the surface of the moon, which means good GC is a prerequisite. This is the one thing that keeps me from nominating the Jazz. Also, given the present cost (subisdised) of diesel vs petrol, it is unfortunate that we need to find a diesel engine for cost only.

I have to say overall that the Innova has to be the best all rounder in India, no questions asked. It has good GC, a diesel engine, awesome reliability courtesy of Toyota, enough space for 7 people plus luggage and is not too bad in the city because of its reasonably decent turning radius. It is pretty decent on the highway till about 140 and it has a decent ride. The only thing it doesn't have to make it perfect is a 4x4, which would make it super versatile. Also, it does not have a great reach of A.S.S in the more rural areas, though I guess we are not taking that into consideration here. If we were, then it skews the nomination too much due to the fact that about 70 percent of India live in rural areas, though cars are definitely sold inverse to that (probably about 70 percent urban vs 30 percent rural).

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

This is something that is entirely dependent on where you live and what your requirements are. Having said that, we do need to consider that half of India has roads like the surface of the moon, which means good GC is a prerequisite. This is the one thing that keeps me from nominating the Jazz. Also, given the present cost (subisdised) of diesel vs petrol, it is unfortunate that we need to find a diesel engine for cost only.

If Only, the Jazz had the City's heart (1.5L) and the clearance of a Fusion (198mm).
From a space point of view that is the most practical hatch today.
(I can still remember the Goa special TL by Suhaas).

I have a feeling that Ertiga would enter into that category (all advantages above included + Maruti advantage
+ diesel). Many people would buy it even for a comfortable 5-seater+luggage to cruise on the highway.