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-   -   Used Toyota Corolla Altis vs New 5th-gen Honda City (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans/235577-used-toyota-corolla-altis-vs-new-5th-gen-honda-city.html)

Need help on buying my next car. I'm confused between a used corolla altis and brand new 5th gen city. I saw a used manual corolla altis 2017 GL petrol which has done around 17k km (first owner) on sale. 14.5 lakhs is the asking price. Can someone suggest me what will be a fair pair for that car in Kerala considering it has been discontinued by Toyota. Will it be more sensible to buy the new honda city over the altis?

I am a lover of pre-worshipped cars. But in this case, I would pick the 5th-gen Honda City. For one, the City has grown over the years and become a more mature car. Second, that 1.5L Vtec under the hood is an insanely fun motor...the best naturally-aspirated petrol on sale in India. It's fun to drive, has compliant ride quality, a spacious cabin + practical boot. Two things that will need an upgrade are the speakers (if you like your ICE) and the skinny tyres. Do that and it's a heck of a package.

The Corolla is a great family car, but quite boring to drive in comparison.

I've owned and maintained the 9th Gen Corolla, driven and maintained the 2008-11 Altis in petrol and diesel, seen the 2014 and later Altis in some detail, and have great regards for the car. However, I would definitely not bet double digit money on a used Altis. In this case, the asking price is high because the new car itself was priced insanely high.

You'd be better off getting a new City since it is a much improved product. However, be aware that build is now tinny, and problems in new cars are normal fare compared to, say, 7 years ago. Quality has now given way to extended warranty (which is a must have for some peace of mind).

Firstly, the asking price of Corolla Altis P MT is high. However, the dealer won't budge as there are many takers for a Toyota. With a 14.5 L budget, it's a no brainer to go for the Honda City in comparison between the two. If I may confuse you further, look for below-

VW Jetta P MT (PO)
Skoda Octavia (PO)
Skoda Rapid/Vento TSI (New)
The same Corolla Altis if the dealer is ready to close it at less than 12 L (quite improbable though)

Oh man, for all the high rpm shenanigans of the iVTEC, Altis is a car from a higher segment and it just shows in every way. Be it space or refinement or the ride comfort or sound insulation or sheer built quality, the Toyota is simply a superior product. The asking price for the particular car in your sight is a bit too high. Altis is no Fortuner, and has been discontinued. A fair price will be around 12L. Bargain it down to around that and enjoy years of happy motoring.

Honda City:

Lovely engine and go-kart like sporty drive
Very spacious inside and big boot and still not too large in external dimensions
Good looking car
Great for use within city

Very light build and poor NVH - Corolla would be much better for long highway drives. Honda City would be fun to drive but doesn't give feelings of safety and comfort on highways.

You should buy Corolla only if yor are looking for a better highway car than Honda City. You will definitely lose out on the fun to drive factor in the Corolla.

I have the following key issues with the Honda City. Not sure if the current Mark V adequately address these:

1. Suspension. I feel it does not have a comfortable suspension and the Altis is far superior on this front.

2. Build quality: While the engine is a gem, the build quality does not hold up as long as I would expect a Toyota or Honda to hold up. Again, I believe the Altis should be superior on this front.

3. Maintenance cost: The maintenance intervals of Toyota used to be one year and the Honda had a shorter interval - plus cost of service of the Toyota is generally cheaper.

Please do investigate the above aspects before deciding. If they come out satisfactory then the City may be considered. Else I would consider the Altis (provided the price is right of course).

Neither car is a looker but I am personally not a fan of the front grill’s look on the currently City. I think the Altis looks a tad better. Not a fatal flaw and in any event subjective.

Voted for the 5th Gen city.

As an owner of the the 5th gen city as well as having used a Toyota Corolla abroad, I can definitely say both the cars are different. The Honda equivalent of the Corolla is the Civic & hence comparing the corolla with the city would not be fair. Here it depends on what you can get for your money, a pre-owned car or brand new. Used Toyotas don't go cheap and command a hefty premium, especially if well maintained. The prices you mentioned seems to be in the ball park for a used Corolla in Kerala. Corollas are spacious and have good highway manners & the car will probably outlast it's owners. On the other hand the Honda City (5th Gen) is a good car too. The car had addressed most of the issues that were present in the 4th gen & since you are looking at the Petrol engine, you will end up with a Gem of an engine. The car is nimble and very responsive. Like GTO said, get a tire upgrade and all new ICE, you will have a well rounded car ! Here is a link of my review of the V variant.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ty-review.html

Odd one out here:

Corolla any day and every day over the City. I have the new gen City ZX MT in my circle, it offers more features and better space than Corolla - that's where the game of City gets over. When it comes to basics of owning a car, which contains driving comfort, performance, driveability in hills and highways, build quality, and other aspects - Corolla is still ahead, way ahead in fact.

Shifting focus towards Corolla for what it offers:

• Better ride
• Better set of seats front and back
• Better driveability with 1.8 VVT-i, hence lesser gearshifts
• Better build
• Better GC too

17k kms is nothing for Corolla, this engine can outlive the owner if maintained well. Corolla is discontinued, but until you plan to own the car for say 10 years further, spares too are not going to be an issue at all.

Had I been at your place, I would have picked the Corolla with my eyes closed, and lived happily with it. It's a simple, robust, no-nonsense sedan from Toyota.

And as I always say "A bigger car is a bigger car, it is bigger because it is built grounds up to be bigger and better". In this case, one can easily feel this difference within spending of 15 minutes behind the wheel.

Voted for new city, the Corolla is B-O-R-I-N-G to drive :ZZZ: (no offence to anyone). Also, the dashboard of the Toyota looks too outdated now and the equipment/features are also not great. In terms of comfort too there is negligible to no difference between the two since the city has matured a lot.
To sum all this, I also feel that the prices of used Toyotas are a lot more inflated than they should be ideally. Almost all the cars in our market today are reliable, it's not long before this bubble created by Toyota will burst and they'll come crashing down.

Just few points.

City is still the most spacious amongst the C segment cars. However, you are not comparing it with similar segment car. Hence City doesn't fare well. Btw, do you like the way Corolla looks?

Secondly, when Honda launched VTEC engine in 2001, it was one of a kind. Now, every manufacturer uses variable valve timing. There is nothing special. I find it inferior in the company of Tsi engines. Had Mitsubishi launched Lancer with MIVEC engine, City would have been history. If wishes were horses!!!

Finally, the specific Corolla is over priced. Wait patiently for a better deal on the same or for another one. Trust me, in Kerala, these cars don't move fast. And Corolla is not Fortuner either.

Well said

City. Any day. And the reason to buy one is just because of that naturally aspirated 1.5L VTEC powertrain. No other mass market production car's engine in India has this beautiful "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" character! :loveit

The fact that the latest City has also got fabulous supportive seats and decent handling is a bonus.

Corolla - its a no-brainer.

Far better ride quality and longevity. I owned a 2006 Corolla HE and sold it last year - only reason i sold it was because i was bored of it. That car was always the preferred car for long highway drives simply due to outstanding ride quality over highways, reasonable fuel economy (at that time they had only 5 forward gears) and chilling air conditioner for Mumbai summers. Average expense on an annual basis was INR 10,000-15,000 for regular maintenance.

I've had several versions of the Honda city but all of them have been a grade lower than the Corolla. While the newer version is clearly a more mature car and probably more fun to drive, it will always lag behind a corolla in terms of maturity.

Corolla maintenance is once a year or 10k kilometers. Honda tends to call you for a service every 3 months (never really understood why) but i used to send once every 6 months. Cost was about INR 6,000-8,000 each time. Corolla was also a better service experience but thats a dealer-centric experience too so not really in the decision making matrix.

Either way, both cars are at the top of the game that is reliability so happy mile munching to you!

Honestly, you couldn't go wrong with either. I'd any day buy a higher segment car like the Corolla, but try negotiating for a better price on the used car - anyone living in reality will negotiate considering that the market is moving towards crossovers and leaving sedans to die.

The Indian Corolla had impressive GC which is a deal-maker for may people out there :) Also, no replacement for displacement :D If you're someone who is an absolute speed demon and loves to red-line often, the City maybe the better choice.

City all the way (please get thicker tyres).

Also, on the other hand, if you feel like you have money to burn and time to waste when waiting for parts:

1) F30 320d (a bit hard but possible)
2) Octavia 1.8
3) Superb 1.8
4) Passat 2.0
5) Jetta 2.0

(All ownership pains go away when you drive these)