[binz]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

2. Is the 95K price diff to Vxi worth it? Being in the 7L bracket I feel it is closer to newer competition.
3. I saw that the head room in the rear seat is less than ford ikon. But I am 6ft tall (and would be at the drivers seat.. ) , and my family members are shorter...so it wont be a problem would it?

If I had the money,I would definitely pic up a vxi.It has one thing that only a d-segment car offers i.e. its climate control.One of my friends(member tarul)when he picked up his ikon nxt sxi(top end) in exchange for his 800,he didn’t want alloys so the ford dealer gave him a better price for his 800(about 20k more).This would effectively bring the 95k price diff to 75k but then it also depends on your bargaining skills
The headroom at the front and back is more than enough for a six-footer and even if you grow a couple of inches,you would have no problem.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

. But then, you also reach the price tag of the low-end Honda City. The looks might not be great, but it is a Honda and the FE would also be better slightly.

] He set his eyes on the baleno because of its performance. If you had said v-tec then I would have shut my mouth, but an i-dsi?? Frankly 77 bhp isn’t enough.


binz

[lamborghini]

Since you have your heart set on the Palio and since TATA is supporting Fiat, i would say go for the Palio.
Fiat makes sonme of the best cars in India and now with TATA backing there is almost no reason to ignore it.
The Petra 1.6 costs 50-60K less then the Baleno, is safer, faster, more comfortable, better looking, better built.... (the list goes on).
The Baleno however is bigger and has better resale and perhaps a better a.c. but the Fiat's is equally good.

[kvish]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Since you have your heart set on the Palio and since TATA is supporting Fiat, i would say go for the Palio.
Fiat makes sonme of the best cars in India and now with TATA backing there is almost no reason to ignore it.
The Petra 1.6 costs 50-60K less then the Baleno, is safer, faster, more comfortable, better looking, better built.... (the list goes on).
The Baleno however is bigger and has better resale and perhaps a better a.c. but the Fiat's is equally good.

The problem is that petra seems to have been left out of this fiat-tata partnership for obvious reasons. (it is also unclear whether tata would service them.) Since there are no fiat dealers in Bangalore, petra and palio diesel are out of question. I have palio 1.6 and Adventure in the list now.
I just spoke to the guys in concorde, asked them for a test drive of Adventure, they said that only one car has been sent and thats on the display. He told me that he will get back to me regarding the test drive.
I saw that concorde has changed the boards and added the fiat logo under the tata one! And he also said, "Saar no discounts! "

[hari_rama]

Oh yes you are right.. Juz checked dealers quote .Here in Kerala the tax + regn comes for around 20800Rs. Sorry for misleading

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

The reason for the low price is that road tax in Kerala is lesser than in TN and Blore. I heard it is half that of TN. InTN, tax+regn comes to 40K for Baleno Lxi.
Hari, how much is it for the Baleno Lxi in Kerala ?

[aseem]

Well I would never invest 6 lakh or 7 lakh on a Baleno or Lancer now, as they are both OLD.... PERIOD!

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Hold on, buddy. Baleno was introduced in the Indian market only in 1999 and not early 90's as you mentioned. Early 90s would be the Esteem.

Forget what product you get in India and when. Baleno was discontinued in other countries before it was introduced in India. Its older. Period.

Originally Posted by kvish

Will check out with concorde motors soon. Its true that Baleno is an old car too, but then they have cut prices to compensate its age....But if you check the lancer, it still costs 8L onroad for 1.5 petrol which is just 30K cheaper than Optra, so its not value for money....and I also felt the rear seat had much lesser leg room than other cars.

Get your prices for lancer verified.Even lancer has gone price revision to compensate for its old age. visit www.lancerinindia.com to check the price. Its 6.89 ex-showroom for BS-III(6.59 for BS-II). Also put in the discounts(dont expect much) alongwith the better service coverage of 3years. And no the rear seat legroom is more than in Baleno. maybe just marginally lesser than NHC though.

and for this bit more you are getting better build,better looks, better handling,better resale better refined and smooth engine, similar FE, Bigger space, eqaully spirited, easy to drive in the city, less delicate than the baleno. What you loose out on is marginally better looking interiors, Auto A/C and maruti Service network.


fiat beats them all though. go for a fiat.

[kvish]

Originally Posted by aseem

Well I would never invest 6 lakh or 7 lakh on a Baleno or Lancer now, as they are both OLD.... PERIOD!

Its always a personal choice.
Would I invest 6-7 L on a newer car with lower power, no new features, same if not worse handling, worse fuel efficiency....just because the car is new into the market? I dont think I would... particularly since I plan to keep the car for quite sometime and resale value is not an issue....

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by kvish

Its always a personal choice.
Would I invest 6-7 L on a newer car with lower power, no new features, same if not worse handling, worse fuel efficiency....just because the car is new into the market? I dont think I would... particularly since I plan to keep the car for quite sometime and resale value is not an issue....

Well said, buddy. Don't ever make the "newness to market" of a car an yardstick while deciding on the car. I have been using Suzuki cars for 20 years now, since 1985 (2 M800s and a Baleno) and if I say that they are VFM, it would be an understatement.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Forget what product you get in India and when. Baleno was discontinued in other countries before it was introduced in India. Its older. Period.

devarshi, you were discussing the datedness of the Baleno and Lancer in the Indian car market. So, why compare when they were launched abroad? Also, I am sure the Lancer was not launched in India new. It was already available abroad (possibly under a different name - in the US it sports the name "Mirage").
If datedness were to be calculated from the time the car was introduced anywhere in the world, and if quality was directly proportional to it, then you would not see the number of Qualises that you see in India today. It could be an ancient platform as far as the market outside India goes, but then it was much better than whatever equivalent was available in India at that time ie. the Sumo. People buy what is good, even if it is old.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

devarshi, you were discussing the datedness of the Baleno and Lancer in the Indian car market. So, why compare when they were launched abroad? Also, I am sure the Lancer was not launched in India new. It was already available abroad (possibly under a different name - in the US it sports the name "Mirage").
If datedness were to be calculated from the time the car was introduced anywhere in the world, and if quality was directly proportional to it, then you would not see the number of Qualises that you see in India today. It could be an ancient platform as far as the market outside India goes, but then it was much better than whatever equivalent was available in India at that time ie. the Sumo. People buy what is good, even if it is old.

So you want to say that if Maruti brings out a new car that's been discontinued worldwide 4 years before then its still a new car? I wouldnt buy it.

And yes lancer was launched new in the market. The mirage platform that you just mentioned debuted in 1997 and the Indian lancer was available on sale in 1998.

maruti baleno came into the world market in 1995 by the names suzuki esteem and suzuki baleno.



well about the qualis, half the people didnt know how old it was. by the time Indians opened their eyes Toyota intelligently passed the qualis out for Innova. How many Innova's sell today? see the sales of sumo victa. and yes you are right people buy what is good.

hence fiat remains a better choice for this gentleman here coz he liked the car.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

So you want to say that if Maruti brings out a new car that's been discontinued worldwide 4 years before then its still a new car? I wouldnt buy it.

What matters more than newness-to-market is VFM.
BTW, we are not discussing what car you would buy. What matters is what kvish wants to buy.

Originally Posted by devarshi84

And yes lancer was launched new in the market. The mirage platform that you just mentioned debuted in 1997 and the Indian lancer was available on sale in 1998.

Check out the following link on Mirage. You might then have to relook the so-called newness of Lancer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Mirage

Originally Posted by devarshi84

well about the qualis, half the people didnt know how old it was. by the time Indians opened their eyes Toyota intelligently passed the qualis out for Innova. How many Innova's sell today? see the sales of sumo victa. and yes you are right people buy what is good.

You are very wrong there. Actually, if Toyota had not made the mistake of phasing out the Qualis, they would be still raking in the money.
Going by your new car logic, Innova is new worldwide, then why is it not selling ? Problem was it did not meet the need of the main market segment ie the travel agencies. They dont care about looks, newness etc. They want a box to ferry people and Qualis did the job well. Now they have no option other than Tavera and maybe Sumo.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

What matters more than newness-to-market is VFM.
BTW, we are not discussing what car you would buy. What matters is what kvish wants to buy.


Check out the following link on Mirage. You might then have to relook the so-called newness of Lancer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Mirage

You are very wrong there. Actually, if Toyota had not made the mistake of phasing out the Qualis, they would be still raking in the money.
Going by your new car logic, Innova is new worldwide, then why is it not selling ? Problem was it did not meet the need of the main market segment ie the travel agencies. They dont care about looks, newness etc. They want a box to ferry people and Qualis did the job well. Now they have no option other than Tavera and maybe Sumo.

that link you provided. read this line

"1995
A new Mirage was launched in 1995"


1997 mirage


1995 mirage.


1995 baleno

If you still think baleno is new then I give up on you.


and yes part of the reason of Innova failing in India is Qualis's image. WHy would a big company like toyota stop manufacturing qualis when its making them good money? why in the first place did toyota bring in Qualis when Innova was already on the anvil?

you decide for yourself and lets stop this discussion here and stick to the topic.


Fiat has got points in goodwill with tata's support. Makes a good buy now. Kvish have a look at a nearby tata dealership and let us know what you think of the car.

[BUSA]

Baleno owners learn to admit that car is helluva old one and a old car means less technology so dont pounce on devasrhi84.. i am with him on this..

Everybody calls the Lancer outdated, but please look at the Baleno first. The lancers fresher then that..

Sorry for going Just my 2 cents..

[kvish]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

that link you provided. read this line
Fiat has got points in goodwill with tata's support. Makes a good buy now. Kvish have a look at a nearby tata dealership and let us know what you think of the car.

-I called up all the tata motors dealers. They said it will take one week to get the adventure for a test drive.
I will keep you guys updated. But it was nice to see a good start by tata, they have really spruced up the showroom with fiat signboards, they are atleast taking things a bit seriously. I hope this tie up goes well...

The issue of old car vs. new car always debatable. Infact the adventure available currently in India is already one generation older. I personally liked the Baleno over a lot of other cars despite being a 1995 car, (I own a 2003 M800 which dates back to 80's so its not a deciding factor for me.)

[supremeBaleno]

1997 Lancer. 1995 Baleno.
What's the big deal here ? Both are dated - diff. being only 2 years.
What matters is which is the better car and VFM ?
And as BUSA says, old car does not necessarily mean "less technology" or bad car. And BTW, baleno owners know & admit that theirs is a dated car, but at the same time a great car. Still, with not much spunk in the so-called new cars in that class, its a better deal.