[Citytobmw]

Sir, in the budget of Rs 12 lakhs, you can go for Honda city 4th generation. I have 2019 model city petrol.
Benefits
1) segment best petrol engine
2) 4 star safety
3) space comfort of a sedan
4) looks fit and finish are good
5) Honda service is good
6) Hassle free ownership experience

[FireBlade]

Originally Posted by confusedbuyer80

Please please please don't ignore my query. Mods just won't let me post my own in a thread.
I am looking for a car with final cost between 10 to 12 L. I am open to sedan, hatchback and CSUV with a preference for the later most.

Besides all your other choices, I would suggest you to take extensive test drive of Tata Nexon as well. It's India's number 1 selling C-SUV for a reason. Kindly give it a check

[pandey.jai]

My dad is in his 60s and he’s looking for a petrol automatic. He had the same confusion between various cars named in this thread. Finally between Venue and Brezza, he has almost finalized Brezza. He has been quoted a waiting period of 3 months.

However, I just don’t see enough “new version” of Brezza on the streets and the initial ownership threads on Team-BHP are also not there yet. I just can’t understand what gives!? Is the car just not good enough for people to buy? Should I request my dad to reconsider his decision of going with the Brezza?

[Roonil]

Originally Posted by confusedbuyer80

Thanks a lot. Appreciate your feedback. In that case, I would finalize between Sonet and Venue after taking Sonet TD.

Happy with the features they provide and of course, I find them more appealing than Baleno. FE is a mirage I believe I should not chase when looking for cars that give road presence and feel good to own

I would strongly recommend test driving the Kiger Turbo CVT. It is a lot safer (4 star GNCAP) ,much more spacious, has a more fuel efficient and reliable CVT gearbox,and is a whole 2-3L cheaper than the turbo variants of Venue/Sonet.

The only aspect where the Venue is better is in interior quality,but that's not a deal breaker. Check it out!

[confusedbuyer80]

Thanks everyone for your inputs and suggestions. It does mean a lot. After taking several test drives and going through various threads on Team-BHP, I erred on the side of safety. Went with Altroz finally. Hoping that overall experience (mainly for services) will be less horrible than often quoted.

Car quality is good. It is really not the FE champ but is premium and safe for sure.

[Briarean]

Not sure why no one is recommending Citroen C3.
What I understand is that it is easy to drive and has one of the best suspensions.
As it is a CSUV, ingress and egress will be easy and with good suspension, elderly people can bear the journey on our famous potholed road.

[shubham7799]

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

I have gone for Nexon XZ+ variant in Foliage Green color. A dealer in Lucknow (Puneet Motors) luckily has a November made car in our choice of colour in stock. The car was manufactured in the second week of November and billed to the dealer on 28th.

The SA promptly drove me to the stockyard day before yesterday and I have seen the car in flesh and have the VIN number as well. The VIN also confirms a November 2022 car. Nothing looked out of place.


Booked the car yesterday and am hoping to take the delivery either tomorrow or on the first day of the upcoming year.

The dealer has been transparent in the whole deal till now, right from price discussions, to stockyard visit and sharing VIN and all. The only thing in my mind is that how is a car with waiting period of 90 days otherwise readily available. Other than the PRI, which I shall be doing tomorrow, is there anything else I should keep in mind?

[manasmahajan]

Originally Posted by epiccross

Honestly - I would pick Baleno from your list then - as transmission is TC and is reliable, plus Maruti so it's hassle free ownership. If you like a sportier drive with the Venue/Sonet and the likes is upto you, but you're trading of FE and potential transmission issue down the line which might cost you a bit.

Oh Altroz returns poor FE numbers. I just drove my brother's Altroz, didn't like it personally and the FE is not great. Would pick Sonet/Venue over that.

The current Baleno no longer has TC. Its AGS now (Maruti's version of AMT).

[bajoseph04]

Originally Posted by shubham7799

As of now, we are left with
1. Ignis
2. Brezza VXi
3. Nexon XM+ (S)
4. Nexon XZ+ (Since not much of a price difference and the feature set will keep it relevant for the next 10 years)
5. Kia Sonet 1.2 HTX

Members, please help me make a choice and point out any options that I may have skipped.

I know you are worried of Honda leaving the country. But I don't think so at least in the next couple of years. They have planned 2 new launches in 2023 so fingers crossed. If you don't mind, do test drive the WRV IVTEC 1.2L. Though there's an upgrade coming in, the current one should more than satisfy your dad. It's the best in the segment in terns of space offered, the most airy cabin you'll find in any subcompact SUV / crossover, the ivtec - the gem of an engine for a fuss free ownership. Also you get few other bells and whistles that will make your dad happy.

[epiccross]

Originally Posted by manasmahajan

The current Baleno no longer has TC. Its AGS now (Maruti's version of AMT).

Sorry, my bad. Although the AGS is well tuned, didn't feel like an AMT at all. Kickdown response was good and shifts were pretty decent with no jerkiness (at least I didn't notice anything).

[epiccross]

Originally Posted by bajoseph04

I know you are worried of Honda leaving the country. But I don't think so at least in the next couple of years. They have planned 2 new launches in 2023 so fingers crossed. If you don't mind, do test drive the WRV IVTEC 1.2L. Though there's an upgrade coming in, the current one should more than satisfy your dad. It's the best in the segment in terns of space offered, the most airy cabin you'll find in any subcompact SUV / crossover, the ivtec - the gem of an engine for a fuss free ownership. Also you get few other bells and whistles that will make your dad happy.

Honestly, doesn't make sense to buy Honda right now. Yes, they might not leave for two years or so, but then it will be incredibly difficult by each year to maintain. I love my Amaze, reliability is excellent, but I would still not recommend anything beyond Amaze right now. Especially since his dad might want to keep it for long.

[manasmahajan]

Originally Posted by epiccross

Sorry, my bad. Although the AGS is well tuned, didn't feel like an AMT at all. Kickdown response was good and shifts were pretty decent with no jerkiness (at least I didn't notice anything).

Actually my bad as well, as Baleno never had a TC, it had CVT earlier which was replaced with AGS in the 2022 facelift

[bijims]

The 2022 Baleno going for the AGS instead of the CVT is such a downgrade. I still wonder why Maruti did this, maybe the dualjet with CVT wasn't an option. earlier too the CVT was offered in the N.A motor (83 bhp and 113 nm of torque) instead of the dualjet (90 bhp and 113 nm of torque)

[Mustang_Boss]

Originally Posted by bijims

The 2022 Baleno going for the AGS instead of the CVT is such a downgrade. I still wonder why Maruti did this, maybe the dualjet with CVT wasn't an option. earlier too the CVT was offered in the N.A motor (83 bhp and 113 nm of torque) instead of the dualjet (90 bhp and 113 nm of torque)

It clearly looks like they are consolidating their suppliers.
They are moving away from CVT for the current crop. The new Brezza uses TC and so does the GV. The full hybrids are completely different. The Arena cars use only AGS.

Having a supplier and assembling the CVT for just baleno does not make sense from a manufacturing point of view. Even if they do, the costs will be much higher. Current Baleno zeta and alpha cost ~850 & ~950 ex-showroom respectively. The CVT would add more than 1.2-1.5 lakh, which pushes them into Brezza's Automatic territory. That's not going to work for the cheaper Baleno, which is sold in a price sensitive segment. Maruti cannot actively advertize and encourage CVT in this segment, because of CVT's low FE in Bumper to Bumper traffic, which again affects their brand value. Why sell a better product and get a bad name?

[FireBlade]

Originally Posted by shubham7799

Thanks everyone for your inputs. I have gone for Nexon XZ+ variant in Foliage Green color. A dealer in Lucknow (Puneet Motors) luckily has a November made car in our choice of colour in stock. The car was manufactured in the second week of November and billed to the dealer on 28th.

Congrats bro, you've made a great choice

You're also lucky that the car was in stock, otherwise the waiting period on Nexon is huge. Anywhere between 2 to 6 months, IMO.
Now, enjoy the car to the max. Take it on a long stretch, engage the sports mode and just see the car go. Sports mode is a bliss, trust me