[Dr.AD]

A good friend of mine casually asked me today to pick the best car in these price segments: 4-6L, 6-8L, 8-10L, 10-14L, 14-20L, 20-25L, 25-30L. All prices OTR in Pune/Mumbai.

First thing I asked him was about his definition of "best". He gave following definitions:

1. Should be comfortable for a passenger seating in front passenger seat as driver will drive the car for long drives.
2. Should be fun to drive in city. I don't think he necessarily wants an absolute "driver's car" but it should not be very boring to drive either.
3. Should not be "atrociously expensive or difficult" to maintain.
4. He is pretty tall and well-built, so small and cramped cars are a "no-go".
5. He did not explicitly say this, but knowing each other, this was implicit in our discussion: We don't care for fuel economy, resale value and other such non-technical stuff, and also for fuel type (but no LPG and CNG please ).

This started out of a casual discussion, but I realized this is actually an interesting question for a discussion on Team-BHP. I am just curious to know how you guys would answer this?

My answer was as follows:

Price Range (L): Best car as per his definitions

4-6: Ford Figo 1.2 Titanium
6-8: Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 MJD VGT
8-10: Fiat Linea 1.3 MJD VGT EP
10-14: Corolla 1.8G
14-20: Honda Civic V M/T
20-25: Honda Accord 2.4 M/T
25-30: Nissan X-trail SLX M/T

How would your list look like?

Thanks,
-AD

[fine69]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

6-8: Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 MJD VGT

Honda Jazz.

Just curious that your friend wants to know the best car in all price ranges. However, which one does his buy going to fall in. IMO maximum focus should at least be on the price range from which your friend is going to buy one.

[absynthguzzler]

4-6: Ford Figo 1.2 Titanium/Alto k10
6-8: Fiat GP 90bhp
8-10: ANHC
10-14: CRUZE
14-20: Jetta 1.9 Tdi DSG
20-25: Superb Tsi
25-30: Accord V6

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by fine69

Honda Jazz.

Just curious that your friend wants to know the best car in all price ranges. However, which one does his buy going to fall in. IMO maximum focus should at least be on the price range from which your friend is going to buy one.

Jazz is an interesting suggestion. Thanks.

Regarding your question, I think he is really interested in 14-20L range. And I am sure subsequently the discussion will be more focused on that range. But he wanted to get an idea of how the best cars look across price ranges so that he can get the "high level overview" and then focus on a specific segment. I think his budget is pretty flexible, so no harm in trying to explore options in both lower and higher segments

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

4-6: Ford Figo 1.2 Titanium/Alto k10
6-8: Fiat GP 90bhp
8-10: ANHC
10-14: CRUZE
14-20: Jetta 1.9 Tdi DSG
20-25: Superb Tsi
25-30: Accord V6

Interesting to note that you have chosen Accord V6 and pushed it into 25-30L segment whereas I had used Accord 2.4 and used the highest segment for Nissal X-trail. I think these differences in thinking of various people are going to be interesting to compare Thanks!

By the way your prices are probably not true for Mumbai. ANHC goes above 10L and Cruze LTZ (with 2 airbags, which I implicitly assumed is a minimum at that price range) goes above 14L.

Thanks,
-AD

[absynthguzzler]

Nothing comes close to what the Superb offers in the 20-25 lac category, no matter what the customer's requirements are.

Hence the Accord v6 was chosen on a reverse calculation

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

Nothing comes close to what the Superb offers in the 20-25 lac category, no matter what the customer's requirements are.

Hence the Accord v6 was chosen on a reverse calculation

I see. Actually I now agree with you. Very smart move :-)

Also, I tried hard to get in Passat there somewhere too, but it does not fit in. Anyway, I am not a big fan of the Indian-spec Passat anyway.

[rajushank84]

4-6: Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi Zxi
6-8: Ford Fiesta 1.6
8-10: All New Honda City
10-14: Toyota Corolla petrol
14-20: Honda Civic
20-25: No idea
25-30: No idea

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

4-6: Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi Zxi
6-8: Ford Fiesta 1.6
8-10: All New Honda City
10-14: Toyota Corolla petrol
14-20: Honda Civic
20-25: No idea
25-30: No idea

To be honest, even I had "no idea" about 25-30. Could not find any decent sedan there, so picked Nissan X-trail. absynthguzzler did a smart thing by picking Accord V6 in this segment.

I also thought about picking CRV in 25-30 segment, but then X-trail is a much more capable vehicle than CRV, which is primarily a soft-roader.

By the way, as I already mentioned, ANHC is more than 10L OTR in Mumbai. This is the primary reason it does not figure in my list as well.

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

Nothing comes close to what the Superb offers in the 20-25 lac category, no matter what the customer's requirements are.

Thinking about this again, but you think Superb will pass Rule 3: Should not be "atrociously expensive or difficult" to maintain ?

I am hesitant to include any Skoda in the line-up precisely because of this rule.

Thanks,
-AD

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thinking about this again, but you think Superb will pass Rule 3: Should not be "atrociously expensive or difficult" to maintain ?

I am hesitant to include any Skoda in the line-up precisely because of this rule.

Thanks,
-AD

The history of Skoda pertains to their dealerships and their code of conduct. The vehicles as such are built like Tanks. A very good benchmark has been set ever since the Laura was introduced and i don't think the future is grim. You'll also find many reviews by the T-bhp seniors themselves with quotes such as "positive change in Skoda attitude " of late.

[lamborghini]

4-6: Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi Titanium/Pre-owned Fiesta
6-8: Ford Fiesta 1.6/Pre-owned Civic
8-10: ANHC/Pre-owned 2007 Accord 2.4/V6
10-14: Honda Civic V/Pre-owned Accord V6
14-20: Passat 1.8 TSi/Pre-owned CR-V
20-25: Mitsubishi Outlander/Pre Owned A4 3.0
25-30: Audi A4/Pre owned 5 Series

[CR-V]

4-6: VW Polo
6-8: Linea Petrol
8-10: Safari (oh yes basic variant is under 10)
10-14:Laura (11.99 ex showroom price tag for a audi a4 1.8 tsi engine)
14-20: Superb MT
20-25: 3 series CE (after discount)
25-30: Audi A4 with day time running lights

[ghodlur]

4-6: Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi Titanium/Pre-owned Fiesta
6-8: Ford Fiesta 1.6L
8-10: Verna Diesel
10-14: Chevrolet Cruze
14-20: Ford Endevour
20-25: VW beetle
25-30: Merc C class/BMW 3 series

[Dr.AD]

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts.

@CR-V, @lamborghini, isn't Audi A4 more expensive than 30L? I am pretty sure that a new A4 does not come under 30L OTR in Mumbai. Are you referring to pre-owned A4s?

@ghodlur, similarly, I am pretty sure that a new C class/3 series is more than 30L in Mumbai.

Am I missing something with the prices here? In fact, I was telling my friend that he needs to up the top price segment to more than 30L and then the real good sedans like A4 and 3 series can be considered.

I got some sarcastic remarks from my other friends for saying that no real good sedan is available under 25L. hehehe. Help me prove it guys

My definition of real good sedans is A4 / 3-series and above, and therefore, I think 30L is also not enough. What do you think?

Thanks,
-AD

[Visaster]

My personal choice would be

4-6: Swift diesel

6-8: Ford Fiesta 1.6 ( would'n buy it though )

8-10: Verna

10-14: Toyota Corolla diesel / Honda Civic

14-20: Cruze ( cannot make my mind on that )

20-25: Honda Accord

25-30: Audi A4

30-40: Toyota pruis, Audi X6

[Antonian]

4-6 i20
8- 8 VW vento
10-12 civic