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I would recommend an Automatic petrol car given his age & running expected.

Check out the new Brio automatic, a friend of mine has it & she is very happy - is perfectly in your budget.

Or you can even consider the VW Polo TSi, a lovely driver's car - but budget around 9+ lakhs.

Or maybe a Ford Ecosport AT will be more suitable as its tall too, will have easy ingress/egress but a higher budget, 10+ lakhs.

For driving 200 kms a month inside Chandigarh, I'd say the 1.2 is enough. Again, why lug a boot around just for the 1.5? Now if the Liva 1.5 that I have was available, I'd perhaps go with that one, but it isn't and a diesel isn't a good engine for short runs.

You haven't mentioned how long you wish to keep the car nor if its for primary use in the city/ highways.

Down here in Bangalore/ south, the Etios Diesel holds a comfortable premium in the used-car market over its petrol sibling of same vintage. Also its easier to sell owing to the popularity amongst cabbies.

Given a choice, I would prefer the diesel torque over that offered by the petrol. Test drive both the petrol & diesel variants and you will understand :)

However the clutch is softer on the petrol variant.

OT: "Japs" is considered as an ethnic slur in some regions. Am sure you did not use it intentionally.

Somehow I felt the diesel variant to be more refined on the highways. Maybe the petrol example am comparing with was an abused one.

Does he plan to hire a chauffer or will this be a self driven car in which case the extra length of sunny will be mostly unutilized.

I have not driven Petrol Etios, but we own couple of Diesel Liva's and I can tell you that the diesel engine on these twins is probably most underrated and best in class. Even though his driving is less, I will suggest to go for Diesel Liva unless he specifically needs a boot to carry goods or have a feel good factor of driving a sedan. Selling a Diesel Toyota is far easy and rewarding over anything else in this part of country :)

Avoid market, instead check "Car for Sale" section in The Sunday Tribune. Look out for a single owner car preferably who goes to a job and is not in business or better if you can find one in northern sectors of Madhya Marg in company of some high end cars. Of all the cars you have listed in preowned, I will recommend Corolla. Having owned one since 2003 and now with over 250 Thousand Km it still runs trouble free.

I am interested in having the new clutch mechanism on the platinum etios on my older etios version which has a harder clutch. Could anyone let me know if this is possible?

Yes point well taken.

The etios cross V is about 20-30k more expensive than the etios vx but its a hatchback with the same 1.5L engine.

Yes, the extra boot space isnt required because its just mom and dad 99% of the time. But seeing the price difference, its tough to decide between a top of the line etios vx Vs an etios cross V (it doesnt come in Vx).

Go for the etios vx. It's not just the boot that you get with etios compared to liva. The ride comfort is leagues ahead as well thanks to that long wheel base ( in fact best in its class, even longer than the manza )

Ps: I own an etios diesel and my parents own a liva. So I've extensively driven both of them.

SOLD my 6.5 year old Etios today! Did 44k kms.
It was probably a unit from the very first lot of Etios. Initial few days I was disappointed with the quality of interiors, but pacified myself by thinking this is a Toyota, built to last etc etc.

It was 'built to a cost'. 6.5 years, front windscreen cracked twice, at the same point, where the viper tip rests. 50+ punctures just talk about the quality of stock GoodYear tyres, as compared to 1 puncture in 6 years with my Baleno before that and zero punctures in 2+ years of my City. Same roads, same driver, same driving conditions.

AC broke down at 40k kms, had to be replaced

Antenna internal wire was only provided to reach the mid of A pillar, antenna itself did not catch many of the FM channels.

Driving ergonomics, Fantastic.
Interior room: Fantastic.
Maneuverability: Fantastic
NV: Pathetic H: Fantastic

To keep the car running I would need to pump in at least 45-50k. Better to sell it off.

Ride now: Stingray AGS, loving it.

That is bad. You seem to have got a lemon. Even with the first batch of new Honda City, I have heard of the windscreen cracking issue. Not sure as to why this would happen though.
Even if we go by the JD Power dependability award, the only year where Toyota Etios did not get the dependability award for was for the 1st year of Etios. In all of the years there after, it was the winner.

Even though, I did not get anywhere near that 50 puncture mark, 3 of my 5 stock goodyear tyres tore and gave away ( 2 of them after 15,000 kms and the stepini @ around 1 lakh kms ). But, thanks to the Toyota zero depreciation insurance, got all of them replaced under insurance for a total expense of 1500 INR ( the minimum amount payable was 500 initially which is now 1000 INR ). And the remaining 2, I sold it at 2nd hand price. :) Has been with Bridgestone and Michelin ever since then and they have been flawless. Goodyear was a bad choice for Indian roads, especially on such a powerful vehicle.

Was it the compressor ? How much did they charge you for that ? Mine is still going strong at 5.5 years and 1.2 lakh kms.

Don't use the FM extensively. I use it only for a change and it works whenever I try. So, I cannot comment on this.

+1 with regards to the initial batches of Etios Petrol.
With the Diesel, the only change would be
N --> Average ( compared to Diesel standards )
VH --> Good.

With the new platinum Etios, I think, Toyota has made the NVH really good both for Petrol as well as Diesel.

Could you please elaborate on this ? What is that gave away ?

Mine (Liva Diesel) also from the initial lot. Even i had a bad experience with GoodYear tyres. Though i somehow managed them till 55k kms, at the end i had 6 punctures in one of the tyre, so at that time i decided enough is enough and went with Michelin. Since then, i have driven my car for more then 25k kms and have not faced similar issue.

I cannot comment on this, mine is running flawlessly even after 80k kms. I am quite happy with the AC performance in Liva.

Again, i extensively use FM in the city and never had any issues with the signal.

Liva Diesel's initial lot didn't have any issues. The Diesel was released almost 10 months after the release date of Etios Petrol.

Yes, change tyres, change windscreen, also forgot to mention the front shockers were advised to be replaced. After 6 years zero dep insurance doesnt happen...Above all> peace of mind is disturbed.

Changing tyres after 6 years is the norm. You should have done that already because the rubber looses its flexibility and grip. It's dangerous to drive around with a 6 year old tyre as there is a high probability for a burst at high speeds as well.

How much did they quote for this ? And didn't they allow it to be covered under insurance ? Even a stone hit can be used to claim insurance. I had claimed insurance for a bonnet dent when coconut fell on it.

Shocks getting weak after 6 years is normal. I too changed my rear shocks after 5 years. Not that the ride was bad. But, the service center advised it as a proactive measure and I went ahead with it. It was damn cheap as well.

We also have an Etios Petrol in the immediate family from the initial lot. Thankfully did not face the issues you mentioned. 110,000KM now and still going strong.

The interiors are ordinary, but I would definitely say the car has aged very well. Mostly driver driven and my family does not want to let go off it. I am also of the same opinion. Perfect for a driver and the rear space and boot space are 2 big USPs for us.

Hi all. How much of a difference do alloys make to a car with this power-to-weight ratio?

I'm almost set to buy a petrol Etios (the Platinum update makes the interiors more liveable, and I've never had anything against the exterior; in fact, I'm happy they've finally given it usefully fat bumpers).

I liked the test drive in a VX variant very much; but I'm considering the V variant which has similar profile 185/60 R15 rims, not alloys like VX.