[bijims]

Hello, Fellow BHPians!

I am writing this post on behalf of my uncle who is in a dilemma about whether or not to go for the Current gen Creta or Selos or the new Seltos Facelift or wait even longer and go for the Creta facelift.

Background
My uncle is a retired ex-NRI who had mostly driven high-end to mid-range cars during his time in the Middle East, he retired in 2014, and after having driven the Accord and Civic during his final days in the country(he had driven everything ranging from Corolla to Land Cruiser to Mercedes during his time there), he decided to not splurge too much on a new car,(since retirement and no further regular income and marriages of his children coming up) so he went with a Honda City Diesel Manual bought in November 2014, which has served him well for almost 9 years, having driven hardly 50,000 km, the car is in tip-top shape with no accidents, scratches, dents or nothing whatsoever.

Current Scenario
Now with most of his family commitments taken care of and enough money left, he decided its finally time to move on and get himself an automatic SUV, so he started his search late last year, taking test drives of each and every SUV greater than 4 meters in length beginning from the VAG twins, the Hyryder/Grand Vitara, Astor, Seltos, Creta, Hector, XUV700, Alcazar, Harrier and Compass. He had more or so made up his mind, not to get a diesel so a few options were easy to write off.

Now the only options left are the current-gen Seltos, Creta, and the Seltos facelift, he had deemed the diesel on the Compass and Harrier too noisy and moreover, he felt anything greater than 4.5 meters too big and he wasn't into 7-seaters either because only 3 people would be traveling at the maximum most of the time.

So on to the Seltos and Creta it was, he has already booked all of them the Facelift Seltos, both through K-Code as well as through a dealership a couple of months back, and the Creta through a couple of dealerships recently too.

The Dilemma
After test drives of the current gen Seltos and Creta, both petrol automatic, IVT, DCT, and Diesel AT, he felt all of them were quite good and were impressed with the rather quiet nature of the diesel too, but since he doesn't have too much running and the fear of a diesel ban looming, he decided petrol was the way to go. So it was a tussle between the top-end variants of both the Creta and Seltos and the upcoming Seltos facelift. He loved the interiors and quality of the Creta and felt the SX(O) IVT would be the best value-for-money option for him, the Seltos GTX+ was only available in either a 1.4-liter Petrol DCT or 1.5 Diesel AT, moreover, he wasn't a fan of the center console of the Seltos. Moreover, he felt because the 1.4 liter is discontinued, better not go with it and he had an aversion to diesel too.
The Seltos IVT on the other hand was available only in the mid-spec HTX trim. Now the Seltos facelift has almost launched and he had a look at that too, but the incremental upgrades are mostly limited to the GTX+ and X-Line variants.

He feels the 1.5 Petrol DCT is too powerful for his needs and he needn't spend that much for it, and he is skeptical of the Diesel as well, he feels the IVT is perfect, but both the old and new Seltos come with IVT only in the HTX Variant, he loved the new Seltos so much but the lack of IVT in the top variants is bothering, he feels the Creta with SX(O) IVT is a better buy now, but he loves the updated Seltos interiors even more. We thought, how about waiting for the new Creta in 2024, but that would be as expensive too, and there is no assurance of a top-end IVT in it either. Moreover, he feels waiting for the 10-year mark on his City would drop its prices even further.

He is getting a good deal on the City now too, now his dilemma is whether he should go for the older Seltos HTX IVT at hardly 17.75 lakhs on-road and save the money, or the older GTX+ Diesel AT at 21.80 lakhs on-road and get most of the features required apart from the center console which he dislikes or splurge on the GTX+ Petrol DCT of the New Seltos which will surely be at least 25 lakhs and get everything he needs or go for the Creta SX(O) IVT at 20.85 lakhs and get most of what he needs at a sensible price.

Kindly help with your suggestions.

[yedukrishnan199]

In my opinion, you should go for the facelift Seltos, with prices coming out on 21st July, reviews by 23rd July, and test drives commencing the day after, it should be the one you should go for. Unless the price hike is substantial and you do need to feel the need for the added features like ADAS, panoramic sunroof, 18-inch wheels, etc, I see no reason why you should go for the pre-facelift model.

Yes, it is available at a huge discount, but money aside it is going to be outdated soon, I always prefer going for the "latest and greatest" and I think you should do so too considering your case scenario.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by yedukrishnan199

In my opinion, you should go for the facelift Seltos, with prices coming out on 21st July, reviews by 23rd July, and test drives commencing the day after, it should be the one you should go for. Unless the price hike is substantial and you do need to feel the need for the added features like ADAS, panoramic sunroof, 18-inch wheels, etc, I see no reason why you should go for the pre-facelift model.

Yes, it is available at a huge discount, but money aside it is going to be outdated soon, I always prefer going for the "latest and greatest" and I think you should do so too considering your case scenario.

With the pricing of the new Seltos out exactly as you said, I find the proposition quite attractive owing to the hardly 35-50k price difference between variants as compared to the pre-facelift, but with the multitude of feature additions, the New Seltos makes perfect sense.

The Kia showroom has informed me test drives would begin on Monday, and as I understand, their stockyards are already filled up with the new Seltos in every color and trim, so deliveries would start soon as well.

Now, my dilemma is mainly focused on the issue of whether to go for IVT, DCT or Diesel AT (Considering prices of the Diesel AT and DCT are at par), As I see, going for the GTX+ or X-Line makes more sense if I am going for the facelift, else if you look at features of the mid-spec trims, even the pre-facelift which is available at a huge discount also has almost all the features, moreover in the case of IVT, it is available only in the HTX trim as it was in the pre-facelift, whereas the Creta offers it in the top two trims.

Now, I am eagerly awaiting the media drive reviews coming out tomorrow at 10 am, following which I would be getting an extended test drive next week.

With the sensible pricing and offers, I definitely am more inclined to the facelift than before, but still, the issue of the new gearbox and engine lingers in my mind, moreover, do I need a fast 160bhp car?

These are a few questions which linger in my mind.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by bijims

. the sensible pricing and offers, I definitely am more inclined to the facelift than before, but still, the issue of the new gearbox and engine lingers in my mind, moreover, do I need a fast 160bhp car?

Availability of more power never hurts. The engine works under lesser stress for the same speeds, thereby increasing FE as well as engine life. I guess a 100 kph in 7th gear results in just a meagre 1800 rpm in 1.5 DCT. Minimal NVH, stupendous power available readily on just a tap of accelerator. Mileage would also be very good at such rpms.

If the running is low avoid the Diesel. Purely because of worries of dpf.

[Equus]

Creta or Seltos IVT - serves his needs best. The seltos also has a sport mode should he wish. DCT long term reliability issues are on my mind. IVT should be relatively lot more peaceful

[kamilharis]

On any given day, if the budget allows you to get the latest variant then there is no point in considering the pre-facelift variant.

He just needs to decide on the Engine+Gearbox combination as per his liking and go with the facelift model as long as the difference in price with the pre-facelift is not a concern for him.

[mkumar79]

Voted for other.
I suggest the efficient and comfortable XL6 AT from Nexa. It is stylish enough and very practical.

[wheelguy]

Voted other. I strongly recommend waiting for the launch of the Honda Elevate before making a decision. Once it's available, your uncle can take it for back-to-back test drives for comparison with other cars from the segment. This car has the potential to be a practical and reliable option, as long as Honda doesn't overprice it. Taking the time to wait and test-drive can lead to a more informed and sensible choice for your uncle. The only issue is pricing, Honda India should shed off its stupidity and price it sensibly, this is a good chance for them to revive their fortunes in India.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by wheelguy

Voted other. I strongly recommend waiting for the launch of the Honda Elevate before making a decision. Once it's available, your uncle can take it for back-to-back test drives for comparison with other cars from the segment. This car has the potential to be a practical and reliable option, as long as Honda doesn't overprice it. Taking the time to wait and test-drive can lead to a more informed and sensible choice for your uncle. The only issue is pricing, Honda India should shed off its stupidity and price it sensibly, this is a good chance for them to revive their fortunes in India.

Yes, we are eagerly awaiting the reviews of the Honda Elevate to drop on August 1, after which we will more or less have a decision, We can't wait too long as the facelift Seltos has already been allocated to us, and the dealership has only a handful of units of the older Seltos remaining. While the Creta is available without much delay, I am not too sure that would be the case with the Elevate, going by media reports of waiting periods of up to 16 weeks.

However, our dealership has promised quick delivery and loyalty bonuses, and exchange bonuses if we replace our City with the Elevate, let's see how it goes.

[bijims]

An Update to the thread

Found the Honda Elevate quite underwhelming, the feature set, power, and performance are just adequate, so Honda needs to price it sensibly or else it won't be worth the money.

I have more or less finalized the Seltos but now am in another dilemma, whether to go for the Turbo Petrol DCT or the Torque Converter Diesel AT, both are priced exactly the same and even if I include the 5-year My Convenience Plus package and the slightly higher registration fees for diesel cars in my state, still the price difference is just Rs. 6,000. So the Diesel seems to be a good buy owing to the far superior mileage (13 kmpl in City to around 19-20 kmpl on the highway) along with the more-reliable and time-tested 6-speed torque converter AT gearbox, moreover, diesel fuel is cheaper by a good 11.25 rupees too,

In contrast, the Turbo DCT hardly gets 8.5 kmpl in the City and around 14 kmpl to 15 kmpl on the highway. Moreover, the 1.5 Petrol T-GDi is a new engine and the 7-speed DCT isn't known for being reliable either.

So considering these I am inclined towards the diesel, but am I justified, is there anything else I have missed out or should consider before I take the leap?

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by bijims

So considering these I am inclined towards the diesel, but am I justified, is there anything else I have missed out or should consider before I take the leap?

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks

I would suggest you have a thorough TD of both, back-to-back. I haven't tested the turbo-DCT, but did take a longish TD of the D AT and found the D AT a little underwhelming.

In terms of pure performance the DCT will surely shine. However, if mileage and reliability is a consideration than D AT it is!

But again, do take a thorough TD's of both.

[bijims]

We have been trying to get a test drive done back to back, but surprisingly, the dealership in Thrissur where my uncle lives has test drive vehicles of only the Diesel AT, Petrol IVT, Diesel IMT, and Petrol MT. The 1.5 Turbo Petrol DCT is the new engine but still, they haven't got a test drive vehicle citing pending registrations, and the fact that they have allotted all Petrol DCTs that came to the dealership to the customers who had booked them in advance without even keeping one for test drive. It's simply unbelievable.

My uncle for one is one who isn't convinced without test drives and even though the dealership was willing to allot him the car in July end itself, be it Petrol DCT or Diesel AT, he was unwilling to budge without test drives, he test drove the Diesel twice, once by himself and once with the family, but he wants to test drive the Petrol DCT as well, just to make sure that he is making the right decision for himself.

Hopefully, he can get the test drive soon, and finalize his decision as the dealership has been pestering him to make a call soon as they have the vehicle and colour available, be it Petrol DCT or Diesel AT, but is awaiting his approval for which one to go for, the colour which he chose Gravity Grey doesn't have a lot of takers it seems.