[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by Surprise

How does Fiesta Classic TDCi perform in handling department in comparison to Vento/Rapid?

Fiesta classic has excellent handling and steering setup. Surely superior than Rapid/Vento.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Well yes, brand preference is really important. Suggested the Ford due to the modern transmission and safety features. Vento AT is fairly competent but I have a feeling that the 1.6 may go off in the near future, and get aligned to the global engine options like the 1.2/1.4 TSI (the latter have already made an appearance with the Jetta). Anyway, checkout the Jazz X and the lower price point may help to cover the added fuel cost.
Happy shopping

Thanks once again. Tested the Vento AT. Both of us found it fantastic, and far superior to both the City and the Vento TDi. Was extremely quiet, gear shifts were very smooth, and braking was fantastic. The ride quality, handling and suspension were also several notches above the City. The air conditioning was the only weak point, but seemed to be because the vents were broken (Is that a common problem with Ventos?). This is clearly the car for us (hope the dealer is not reading). The only issue is that the dealer was unclear about when supplies would be available (they have just cleared the 2011 inventory and seem to be mainly producing TDis), and also is refusing to offer any discounts bar a very small corporate one (not even free insurance).

We also drove the City MT - it was certainly less noisy and better to drive than the City AT and much better from a left leg perspective than the Vento TDi, but was not a patch on the Vento. As a Honda fan, I think they clearly need to do some introspection - this is the second time in two years I started a car hunt with a Honda as a favourite, and have more or less ruled it out (and not due to the absence of a diesel). The Jazz test drive car was once again missing despite our having told the dealer we were coming.

We also went to check out the Rapid (despite my wife's lack of faith in the brand) and the Verna 1.6 CRDi AT. The Rapid's interiors were far inferior to the Vento - I didn't like the colour combination, and the steering didn't feel great to hold. The dealer was willing to offer only a short run down Warden Road (since it was a Sunday and despite our being the only customers around), and so we did not take up the offer, and have more or less ruled this out. The price difference between the Elegance AT and the Highline AT clearly does not compensate for the missing features (interior quality, better ICE, steering mounted controls and leatherette seats).

The Verna test drive car was also not available. I found the interior quality good (better than the City and Rapid, worse than the Vento) but rear seat leg room was far inferior in my driving position to that in either the City, Rapid or Vento. In some ways, this does seem to be the same old car from half a segment down.

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

If you drove a TD car from one dealer, it could be that car had an issue. As far as i know, VW replaced the clutch hose pipe on a few Vento's when the owners complained of hard clutch. A very high chance this TD car needs attention.

Vento suits your requirement perfectly, do TD again and see if you're happy with it

Thanks for the suggestion. Incidentally, the sales guy at the VW dealer also suggested that - he indicated that the car we drove was slightly old (18,000 km) and abused, and that we should check out a newer TD car from the other showroom. Will see if my wife wants to take him up on that offer.

We also looked at the Jetta AT. Was shocked to find an ex show room price of almost Rs. 20 lacs. The 320D starting at Rs. 30 l is clearly a much, much better deal (off topic).

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Thanks for the suggestion. Incidentally, the sales guy at the VW dealer also suggested that - he indicated that the car we drove was slightly old (18,000 km) and abused, and that we should check out a newer TD car from the other showroom. Will see if my wife wants to take him up on that offer.

We also looked at the Jetta AT. Was shocked to find an ex show room price of almost Rs. 20 lacs. The 320D starting at Rs. 30 l is clearly a much, much better deal (off topic).

One of the owners on the forum,had the clutch hose pipe replaced under warranty and found the clutch far lighter to use. Good idea to up another TD.

The Jetta Highline is frightfully expensive, only USP is it has paddle shifts i guess!

All the best with your decision

[rambo1o1]

Hey guys . I am posting here for my uncle from Delhi. He needs a new car with a max budget of 10 onroad. His main criteria is space, safety features and decent maintenance cost and spare part prices.He is a Sikh so good head room is important.The car will be used frequently for long trips(Delhi -Chandigarh) with 90% of the time with just two people.Resale value is not important and the car will be kept for max 5 years.

He has only driven the sx4 celebration edition and is impressed with it,plans on buying it since it feels sturdy and is a maruti so maintenance and service will be good and it is available for delivery!!. The following cars were not considered due to the following reasons but he is still open to any suggestions.
1. vento- too expensive, lower models have no features and no safety!!

2.rapid- not much features, maintenance and service big suspect!(still valid??)
After reading this thread no one will even look at the cars!!http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...opean-car.html

3.Fiesta-A bit expensive, dismal sales creates the apprehension that the car may be discontinued soon(valid reason?) spare parts are slightly expensive(valid reason?)

4.Fiat linea-less rear headroom at the back, meek performance and suspect spare parts availability and fiats future in India!(valid reason?)

5.sunny-few dealerships, service is also an issue.(valid??)

6.vena-rear space not good, maintenance cost suspect??

The duster,ertiga were not at all considered due to the waiting period and lack of safety features in the lower versions of duster! He needs a car soon so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[surd_biker]

Hi buddies,

I am on the lookout for an upgrade to my 2002 Santro. It has served me faithfully for 10 years and I feel now an upgrade has become must.
Family includes my wife , 3 year old son, 8 month old daughter and my parents. My monthly running is around 650 kms which translates to about 8000 kms yearly. Looking at the current petrol prices my wifey has given me a mandate only to buy a diesel car, though I am not really convinced by that. But then Hey, diesel will always be cheaper in India as compared to petrol. I do not really believe that diesel prices will be deregulated in India. No political party will take that risk.

Alright, I am looking for a family sedan at a reasonable price.
My basic requirements->
- decent rear space
- good performance/engine power
- reliable/good quality
- good after sales
- safety equipment ABS/Airbags
- good boot space

I can spend between 8 - 10 lacs approx.
I am usually a sedate driver and keep my speeds below 120 on the highway runs.
I will be driving most of the time.
Intend to keep the car for at least 6- 7 years.

Shortlisted cars:

Sunny diesel XL
Honda City petrol corporate / E MT
Hyundai Verna petrol SX (diesel is out of budget)
Ford fiesta classic diesel /new fiesta petrol (new fiesta diesel is out of budget)
Toyota Etios Diesel
Vento petrol (diesel is out of budget)
Ertiga Petrol/Diesel

I am leaning towards the sunny diesel after reading the excellent review by GTO. Only issue with Nissan is unknown after sales and a little thing that bothers me is lack of USB port(though not really a deal breaker)

Another thought that I am having - for a self driven car, is it worth going for sunny diesel or for the same amount of money, should I opt for petrol models of other manufacturers (since GTO mentioned that sunny is boring to drive on the expressway). e.g. verna petrol sx/sxo - i get good a.s.s along with six airbags and blah blah or the new fiesta petrol titanium+ or the vento Highline petrol

Please help me reach a decision.

[agambhandari]

Since you will keep the car for 6-7 yrs , you will need a reliable and easy to maintain car.
If you can go with a petrol option, you must go for the Honda City. My family has owned 2005 model City for 7.5 years and the experience was nothing short of impressive. Also it will be fun to drive and among the petrol ones, will retain its value over 6-7 years.
In fact i am amazed over its resale value.
Eg- I bought the January 205 Honda City for Rs 6,56,000(Ex-Showroom)
Drove it for 67000 Kms without any major problems
and sold it in Jun 2012 for 3.25 Lacs!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

Shortlisted cars:

Sunny diesel XL
Honda City petrol corporate / E MT
Hyundai Verna petrol SX (diesel is out of budget)
Ford fiesta classic diesel /new fiesta petrol (new fiesta diesel is out of budget)
Toyota Etios Diesel
Vento petrol (diesel is out of budget)
Ertiga Petrol/Diesel

First of all for 650 km monthly running , I don't think its reasonable enough to buy a diesel car. You would take a long time recovering your costs. Secondly with the Fuel pricing fiasco sooner or later there is going to be some amount of price correction with either Petrol prices climbing down or diesel going up. Hence my advice would be stick to petrol.

Now when it comes to petrol I would suggest look no further than the Honda City. Its a great car and you can also get some discounts on it. It gives you all that you ask for: space, good After sales and overall a nice ownership experience. Also do enquire about the Civic if you are interested. Its being discontinued and you might find yourself a good deal on some remaining stock.

Next for me would be the Sunny. Why? The petrol engines are all equally good in this segment and there is hardly any outright difference. With the Sunny you get a lot of goodies, all that space and save a lot of cash too in the process.

If you are open to used cars then do give a thought to a used civic or a used Altis petrol. Both cars would enable you to jump into the premium D segment and have a totally different feel to themselves. You will get some almost new pieces with ODO readings of less then 20k kms for around 10L.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

Shortlisted cars:
Sunny diesel XL
Honda City petrol corporate / E MT
Hyundai Verna petrol SX (diesel is out of budget)
Ford fiesta classic diesel /new fiesta petrol (new fiesta diesel is out of budget)
Toyota Etios Diesel
Vento petrol (diesel is out of budget)
Ertiga Petrol/Diesel

Diesel: My recommendation would be the Sunny diesel. Nissans are very reliable, and reasonably safe. The after sales really depend on your local dealership. The next recommendation would be the Rapid Elegance, but it maybe a bit above the said budget. Also check out if the Linea MJD gets into your budget.

Petrol: From your shortlist, I would suggest to go with the New Fiesta Titanium. The car is fully loaded, excellent ride and handling, and pretty safe as well. As a second option, I would recommend to check out Honda Jazz X. Slightly lesser engine than the City, but as a package, it is an excellent option for a small family. It may not have a boot, but the car itself is case study for effective space utilization.

Happy shopping!

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

Hi buddies,

I am on the lookout for an upgrade to my 2002 Santro. My monthly running is around 650 kms which translates to about 8000 kms yearly. Looking at the current petrol prices my wifey has given me a mandate only to buy a diesel car, though I am not really convinced by that. But then Hey, diesel will always be cheaper in India as compared to petrol.
Shortlisted cars:

Sunny diesel XL
Honda City petrol corporate / E MT
Hyundai Verna petrol SX (diesel is out of budget)
Ford fiesta classic diesel /new fiesta petrol (new fiesta diesel is out of budget)
Toyota Etios Diesel
Vento petrol (diesel is out of budget)
Ertiga Petrol/Diesel

Another thought that I am having - for a self driven car, is it worth going for sunny diesel or for the same amount of money, should I opt for petrol models.

At 8,000 km per year, I don't think a diesel makes sense. For any given model, the diesel costs about Rs. 1.5 lakhs more than the petrol. Work off 10 kmpl for the petrol and 13 kmpl for the diesel, you will use 800 litres per year of petrol and 600 litres per year of diesel. At Rs. 75 for petrol and Rs. 45 for diesel, fuel costs would be Rs. 60,000 for petrol and Rs. 27,000 per year for the diesel. Interest on the capital cost differential would be about Rs. 20,000 per year, so your net cash savings would be Rs. 13,000 per year for the diesel. Personally, I think that is worth it for the smoothness of petrol engines and the vast difference in left leg effort while changing gears. I know lots of people on this forum think that modern diesels can compare with petrols, but that is probably true only for ATs - for an MT car, a petrol is still much easier to drive. And Rs. 40 per day is certainly worth the greater driving comfort that a self driven petrol car will give you.

The risk to this calculation is what happens to the diesel petrol price differential. In 2010, that was Rs. 53 vs Rs. 42 or 25%, now it is 66%. The current differential is insane (look at IOC's losses this quarter), and the government will either fix it or go bust. If you believe the government will not act in the next 5 years to reduce this gap, take the Rs. 150,000 you save and invest in foreign securities - you will gain more than what you would save on diesel prices when the Rupee collapses.

Given your family structure , I'd be tempted to consider the Ertiga - amongst the sedans, the Vento is the best by far in my view.

[surd_biker]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

If you can go with a petrol option, you must go for the Honda City.

Thanks

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Also do enquire about the Civic if you are interested. Its being discontinued and you might find yourself a good deal on some remaining stock.

I enquired about this but the SA kept telling me sir it is not being disontinued, it will be refreshed.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Next for me would be the Sunny. Why? The petrol engines are all equally good in this segment and there is hardly any outright difference. With the Sunny you get a lot of goodies, all that space and save a lot of cash too in the process.

The price diff between the sunny and city is not much. so if in petrol, i would rather buy city.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

If you are open to used cars then do give a thought to a used civic or a used Altis petrol. Both cars would enable you to jump into the premium D segment and have a totally different feel to themselves. You will get some almost new pieces with ODO readings of less then 20k kms for around 10L.

Family says no used cars, so That's not a option.

Originally Posted by vb-san

From your shortlist, I would suggest to go with the New Fiesta Titanium. The car is fully loaded, excellent ride and handling, and pretty safe as well. As a second option, I would recommend to check out Honda Jazz X. Slightly lesser engine than the City, but as a package, it is an excellent option for a small family. It may not have a boot, but the car itself is case study for effective space utilization.
Happy shopping!

I found the interior quality of fiesta lacking for the price it commands. Added to that the low numbers it sells has me worried.

Originally Posted by Hayek

Given your family structure , I'd be tempted to consider the Ertiga - amongst the sedans, the Vento is the best by far in my view.

Ertiga was a option but since no Z variants are available for 9 months that option is ruled out.


Ok guys here are my test drive impressions during the weekends:

Ertiga Vdi:
Dealer Aurocreate Wheels, chandivali
Impressions - Refined engine, good space in middle seats, maruti service. But Z versions for both petrol / diesel are not available - long waiting periods for upto 9 months due to manesar plant problem. Dzire has also long waiting periods. SX4 diesel celebration edition readily available for 10.5 lacs. Long Waiting period means I have to chuck out maruti from my list.

Honda City:
Dealer Linkway Honda, chandivali
Impressions - Very spacious car, easy to drive and good pickup, very refined motor, good braking - had oppurtunity to slam the brakes hard due to an driver ahead stopping suddenly. was impressed. rear seating also comfortable good space at rear. Free insurance and free Road side Assiatance + extended warranty. E MT cost works out to be 9 lacs. S MT works out to be 9.6L

Skoda Rapid MPI petrol-
new dealer in chandivali - Senator motors.
Impressions - Solid build, refined motor, good pickup,
Discount offered 10 k + 1st service free. + corp discount 7k

Nissan Sunny Diesel
Dealer - Torrent Nissan
Impressions - nice diesel engine, spacious, plastic quality of stalks behind the steering and also steering wheel did not impress -felt economy grade / cheap - no USB port. Space at rear is excellent. ACC was good. pickup was good. Surprisingly I did not feel any problem in braking. (I was expecting to feel this problem but maybe coz I was aware of this issue beforehand). I stopped a couple of times at high speeds also but could not feel any issue in braking. I did not check the brake lever for play however. Gear shift felt economy grade and would not slot easily. Had to conciously slot it properly every time. (all other cars I tested I could sub-conciously slot the gears very easily - vento was the best)
Diesel XL - 9.9 lacs - corp discount around 8k
Petrol XL - 8.5lacs - free insurance 22k - cor discount 8k - around 8.2 lacs

Vento Petrol:
Dealer Tornado Motors
Impressions - I received the best sales experience at VW. Was very professionally attended to. Wifey also mentioned this. Liked great build quality, good rear legspace, excellent interior quality. Was first explained the features by the SA and then given a demo of the car with the customary VW door banging stunt and jumping on the doors in order to demo the build quality. Went for a test drive after that and found the engine power sufficient for my needs, nice refinement levels, good braking. Found the car to be very stable at speed. Wifey at rear said she could not feel any road undulations.
Small Issues though not deal breakers
- wrong placement of indicator and wiper stalks
- legspace at the front though length-wise it is good, but width wise i found the left knee and right knee constantly touching the center console and doors, maybe because of the way the console tapers down. I felt the honda city was more roomier at the front - width wise.
- Front armrest interferes with seatbelt and handbrake.
- Rear floor hump
Overall very impressed with the car
Offering only free insurance.
SA was pushing for the Comfortline variant by saying city driving mein airbags ka kya kaam.? Highline Petrol MT cost has been increased to 10.49lacs . SA said there is 2012 model coming with Steering mounted controls and maybe leather. Is there any news on this new refresh model?

Hyundai Verna Petrol
Dealer - Asset Motors
Impressions - nice refined engine, good interior quality. rear legspace adequate for my hieght (6'2''). Though the middle seat at rear has quite raised foam so middle passenger will be sitting higher that other two. No floor hump. Had good pickup from engine - absoluteyly noiseless. nice reverse camera.
Verna Petrol SX - 9.7 otr after 20K loyalty + corp disc 8k


I now got to choose between
Sunny petrol - 8.2
Sunny Diesel - 9.9
Verna Petrol - 9.8
Vento Petrol - 10.25
Honda City - 9
SX4 celebration DDis - 10.5

Which one is a better buy , considering my daily running of 30 kms?

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

I now got to choose between
Sunny petrol - 8.2
Sunny Diesel - 9.9
Verna Petrol - 9.8
Vento Petrol - 10.25
Honda City - 9
SX4 celebration DDis - 10.5

Which one is a better buy , considering my daily running of 30 kms?

I would vote for the Honda City out of the given options. Japs usually have the longest niggle-free life.

However, are you sure your daily running wouldn't go higher in the near future? If yes, it might make sense to choose a diesel vehicle. If diesel, I would NOT vote for SX4, which is the most dated car of the given options.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

I now got to choose between
Sunny petrol - 8.2
Sunny Diesel - 9.9
Verna Petrol - 9.8
Vento Petrol - 10.25
Honda City - 9
SX4 celebration DDis - 10.5

Which one is a better buy , considering my daily running of 30 kms?

Sunny Diesel if you are primarily driven around.

Otherwise Verna Petrol - its a car filled with features which can even put some D segment cars to shame. City has a good motor but the interiors are a letdown compared to Verna IMHO.

[gandalf]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

Which one is a better buy , considering my daily running of 30 kms?

If you are ok with a longer waiting period I suggest you TD the duster and the xuv. The duster would be around your budget and the xuv w6 slightly over budget

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by surd_biker

I now got to choose between
Sunny petrol - 8.2
Sunny Diesel - 9.9
Verna Petrol - 9.8
Vento Petrol - 10.25
Honda City - 9
SX4 celebration DDis - 10.5

Which one is a better buy , considering my daily running of 30 kms?

Can you please clarify the models for which you have mentioned the prices? For instance Sunny diesel at 9.9L is for XL or the XV variant?

I would pick between the Honda city and the Nissan Sunny from the above list.
BTW Sunny diesel XLD should cost you around 9.2L OTR +/- 10k. Doesn't it then become a much more lucrative option compared to the Honda city or anyother petrol sedan? Trust me the satsfaction that you get when you spend only 12-1300 Rs for a tank full is priceless!

[surd_biker]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Can you please clarify the models for which you have mentioned the prices? For instance Sunny diesel at 9.9L is for XL or the XV variant?

Price of XLD is now 9.9L and XV diesel is 10.9L
(this includes extended warranty)

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Trust me the satsfaction that you get when you spend only 12-1300 Rs for a tank full is priceless!

I agree. The interior quality of the sunny bothers me. I am m going to be behind the wheel all the time. And I felt the quality was not in the league of other cars in the same price bracket (10L). Drivability, space and other things are quite good.