[dr_TJ]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

Hi Guys,

I 've been the owner of a Ford Ecosport Titanium Diesel since Sep 2016.

But what threw a wrench in all these was Ford's bombshell announcement to exit India

With the resale value at a low point, selling the Ecosport would be a bigger loss for me

Should I go ahead and buy another car, or put off the purchase for another year or so and buy the bigger SUV I've wanted?

I am in a similar situation. Got a Ecosport AT last year, May 2020. Then the Mahindra Thar came along with a pretty good combo on October 2020. I was doing fine with the Ecosport AT but not being a 4x4 makes it struggle in mud places where I go.
So, thought of getting a Thar eventually. Came June 2021, finally went ahead and booked a Thar Diesel HT AT. Listed the Ecosport AT on sale.
Now the biggest reality I faced were, Petrol SUVs are low on resale, Automatic is not a popular choice in my state of Assam cause some people are not even aware of such a variant. Petrol+Automatic is the hardest to get a buyer.
Lots of low ballers, spam callers, very few genuine buyers but still I had hope of selling of the Ecosport AT and getting my Thar.
Then came the low blow from Ford India, as they announced their exit. Now, the resale value is almost nil and selling it off is Mission Impossible.

I am totally confused now. I also have a Celerio AMT which is my daily commuter, so I might need to sell the Celerio and arrange the funds to get a loan for the Thar AT.
A big mess

[AJ56]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

With the resale value at a low point, selling the Ecosport would be a bigger loss for me, as I would be left with little to contribute to the downpayment. With that in mind, I have considered putting off an upgrade and buying an additional automatic car for the time being, and keeping the Ecosport as a FTD mile muncher, which I can remap, mod and make unreliable generally, for occasional fun use. I have an hope that the troublefree BS4 diesel versions might be future classics, and I can sell it for a better price (for its age). I have shortlisted the Brezza VXi AMT, Rapid Rider+ AT, Polo ComfLine AT so far. I am also looking at the Magnite and Kiger, because the full option CVT variants are priced under 10 lacs ex showroom. I am open to other suggestions as well. The car will be driven mostly by me, and occasionally by my wife. I'm 39, short and fat. A large comfy seat is a must, and FE is not really an issue considering the low running. It should be nice to drive, and ride well.

Should I go ahead and buy another car, or put off the purchase for another year or so and buy the bigger SUV I've wanted?

I’ll assume you’re limited to the loan amount to finance your additional car going by your words above. Any car you buy new with just 10.5L is not going to feel like an upgrade, be it Rapid or Polo or Brezza, specially as your family grows with time the compromised rear seats won’t feel adequate. For 1-2 years of intermediate use, get a reliable used car like an older Corolla/Accord which will be automatic and comfortable to drive in traffic without tiring you and when additional funds are available, sell it (you’ll hardly lose much as it’ll already be depreciated) and get your dream SUV. Cheers.

[rahulkumarin]

Greetings Everyone,

Since this is my first post here, allow me to introduce myself . I am choosing to do so outside of the Introduction channel as it is relevant to the question at hand. This forum is what introduced me to the ideology of an automotive enthusiast (still a newbie by every measure) and have been an avid reader of the forum for last 6+ years.

Turned 40 this year and have been an entrepreneur (IT domain) for most of my career. Spent most of my life in the beautiful city of Jamshedpur and the last decade in Pune. Our garage comprises of a Hyundai i10 (2010) model which has served us for 22k kms so far and a Honda City Manual (2012) model which has been serving us without a problem for the last 45k kms.

About the family, most of us have a small frame with me being relatively taller at 5"7'.

As can be seen from above, we keep our cars for a while. We will be mostly keeping the i10 as a beater going ahead and we plan to add 2 more cars to the garage. The i10 was the first car i bought and so keeping it is more about the emotions for me then anything else.

The City on the other hand is something we really enjoy driving and being driven in. It has been an absolute pleasure with no surprises in maintenance or otherwise. More on that later. The only issue we have with it is the ground clearance which is kind of pathetic and we also would like to move to automatics hereon.

Driving Pattern
-----------------

Father (Soon to be 70) : Chauffeur driven for 80% of the time and he drives during weekends. 200km avg weekly

Me : Self driven at most times. Office is < 1 km away and currently in work from home mode. Before pandemic, I did 95% of my rides within city via uber/ola. Hence the low mileage on the cars. I am not too fond of driving in the city and most of my miles are spent on trips in and around pune (My bandwidth of experience is limited to Goa on one side and Mumbai on the other ). I am hoping to challenge this narrative going forward, call it a mid life thing or whatever.

Ideally we would like to get a sedan and a crossover to fill in the gap. My father is more comfortable with sedans while i do have a bias for crossovers. We both however like cars with relatively small footprint. Hence tall SUV's etc are disregarded without consideration. Any long distance tour is covered via flight+Innova rentals (within India) and that will not be changing anytime soon.

Yes, I would love to drive to Spiti someday but then there is a slip between the cup and the lip.

Priorities
----------

1. Back Seat Comfort : This is of prime importance for my parents and its been tough to replace City on this front as it is a benchmark even against the more expensive cars.

2. Reliability/After Sales Support : We have so far had extremely reliable vehicles which have never really thrown a fuss about anything. Our driving will increase significantly however, so reliability is even more important then ever. No offense meant to anyone but 6+ years of reading team bhp makes me not even look at Skota/Volkswagen etc . Octavia was my favorite car earlier and right now the only way i touch a Skoda is if it comes for free. Toyota for that very reason commands a premium as far as i am concerned. Again, its a personal bias and i totally understand why for others it would be vice versa.

3. Brand vs Value : I remember reading the thread "What car @ what salary" and found that to be an eye opener in terms of perspective. I am a minimalist unlike the rest of my family. To prove that I would take you to a point of my life 11 years ago when i had gone looking to buy my first car. I had gone out with hopes of bringing home the Honda City, cash in hand and i came back with a Hyundai i10 Era model, ( chose the era for the manual window as was told that motorised is less reliable lol ). I am willing to take a leap of faith this time around though.


Test Rides Taken So Far
-------------------------

1. Honda CIty 5th gen ( V CVT): This is as far as everyone is concerned the ideal replacement of the older city. It is a top contender in terms of being our choice for one of the cars. I personally really like the Manual 3rd gen but cannot overlook the convenience of the AT. Currently in stock in color of choice.

2. Creta SX(0) Automatic (Diesel): All of pune and not a single test drive vehicle. Everyone had only Alcazar for test rides and so that is what we tried. The overall engine and gearbox seemed fine ( not very enthusiastic like others to come but comparable to City, diesel vs petrol not withstanding).With a smaller Creta Footprint (compared to Alcazar) we are currently assuming it will be overall a decent package. Might test ride friends car before actually making the booking. 4+ months waiting period is a concern but we are willing to wait.

3. Tata Harrier : Having been in Tata Motors for 30+ years ( Father) we did not want to ignore this. However, the car height was not conducive for the family and we did not even proceed with the test drive. Nexon and others will be considered if and when we upgrade the i10.

In comes a curveball. For my father this will by most probabilities be the last car he is legally allowed to drive ( 75 if i am not mistaken is the age limit) . With that in view we decided to broaden the search and not keep to our old habits.

4. Initial Top Choice : Camry Hybrid : Me being a bit of a Toyota fanboy and having read so much about the new Camry being good got the test ride scheduled. The Camry fit everything to our needs in terms of ambience and power ( read sedate drivers), except for some reason the backside ride quality was horrible. I do not know whether it was the test ride vehicle at fault but as per both my parents, they prefer to ride the City then the Camry. This was something i had not anticipated as i was pretty sure the test drive would seal the deal for us. While the seat was way better, they experienced significant tossing around and in the words of my mother, it was a jarring experience. Was even offered a discount to the tune of 1 lac for a black car ( someone else in pune was offered the same here i think ) which was very tempting to be honest. However, we could not make that call with the sub par experience we had. If others here have experienced otherwise, please let us know and I shall have another test drive organized.

5. Countryman : Lacked in back seat comfort and in equipment list but was overall given a score of average by parents. Cooper S (3 door) was something mom has eyed for a couple of years now and she loves the exterior of that one. This drive was following the Camry and while the seats were more firm , my mother found the rear seat more sorted on the Countryman then the Camry (go figure).

6 and 7. GLA and C-Class : Took the test drive on the same day and my father did not like the GLA ( the diesel did not sound nice and the missing armrest in the rear was a deal breaker). We did get a very handsome discount offer on the C220D and the car dynamics were good. My issue with the C is the non existent boot space and lack of clarity on ground clearance. That said at < 55 OTR it kind of has an appeal to it. Hence still in the consideration set. Would appreciate input from more experienced members here who could shed light on things like ground clearance or anything else to keep in mind while buying the C220D.

That was last week for us and today we test rode the

8 and 9. BMW X1 and 320D Limousine : We found X1 pretty good in terms of drivability despite their being a concern w.r.t the RFT's. Would appreciate some input from those who own the current X1 20d Xline. The back seat was decent considering our frame size. What makes us think twice is lack of wireless charging and a few other things along with a very pedestrian exterior. I had asked for TD of 320d and they bought 320D limosine variant. (Phew) The engine was decent but the extra length is not needed for us (remember short people here) and is an inconvenience we do not want. Also ground clearance of 162mm is something I am not so sure about. Would love to hear about the discounts currently people are getting on the X1. Haven't really negotiated yet but seems we should be able to close X1 @ 48 or so.

Our analysis/paralysis currently stands at :

1. Get X1 + City
or
2. Get C-class + City
or
3. C-class + Creta ( not very comfortable as it stretches budget + we would then also need to keep our current City for its luggage devouring capacity)
or
4. City (Fathers favourite) + Creta (mom's favourite)
or
some other combination/cars to be tried.

Audi did not bother getting us a test drive after making first contact and hence A4 has not been tried yet. I did read about the 39L OTR which was available last month in Mumbai but in my opinion if the experience of sales is sub par, what after sales can i expect. Hence have not really pursued it further.

Budget : We started at 35 and have since extended it to 65L post the curveball (for 2 cars). That said 65L would be the limit as me and "loans" do not see eye to eye. We have been offered 3.5 for our current City.

I have tried my best to give a birds eye view of our current frame of mind. If there is something I have missed, please do feel free to share your recommendations. Do pardon any newbie mistakes I might have made in my post.

PS : I am open to second hand cars but currently given our work schedule , both my fathers and mine, we do not have the bandwidth to explore that option.

[One]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

...except for some reason the backside ride quality was horrible. I do not know whether it was the test ride vehicle at fault but as per both my parents, they prefer to ride the City then the Camry. This was something i had not anticipated as i was pretty sure the test drive would seal the deal for us. While the seat was way better, they experienced significant tossing around and in the words of my mother, it was a jarring experience. ..... I shall have another test drive organized.

On this specific issue, you should definitely get another TD done and check the tyre pressure before the TD. This should not be the experience if the tyre pressure is fine more so as compared to the 3rd Gen City.

[jkrishnakj]

Agree with ONE above. Something does seem amiss with the TD Camry. It’s actually a very silent and pleasant experience when you’re inside one. And with 1L discount that you were offered (this is also a surprise), it’s worth another shot.

Did the Toyota folks tell you why you felt the way you all did during the TD or was that Q not asked?

If Audi is no longer in play, then, I’ll say the C + City is a good combo.

Curious - Did you not try the Kushaq? (assuming they quickly find a fix for the breakdowns we have seen)

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

Greetings Everyone,

Since this is my first post here, allow me to introduce myself . I am choosing to do so outside of the Introduction channel as it is relevant to the question at hand. This forum is what introduced me to the ideology of an automotive enthusiast (still a newbie by every measure) and have been an avid reader of the forum for last 6+ years.

A very offbeat option, but get an used Endy now. BHPian cool_dube is selling his 2021 Endeavour with barely any mileage for a mouth-watering price for what its worth. Listed on Team-BHP classifieds. Here is the listing for it!

Also, for the sedan, get a Superb! Discounts are ridiculous all around and should be easy to get one in your budget. Even the Octavia makes sense for you, although it's not the most VFM.

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

Turned 40 this year and have been an entrepreneur (IT domain) for most of my career. Spent most of my life in the beautiful city of Jamshedpur and the last decade in Pune. Our garage comprises of a Hyundai i10 (2010) model which has served us for 22k kms so far and a Honda City Manual (2012) model which has been serving us without a problem for the last 45k kms.

First of all, that's a very well penned down car buying query thumbs up

Secondly, I don't think there's a legal upper age limit to drive in India. This proposal was in the news years ago but I don't think it came into effect.

As others have suggested, you should definitely give Camry a second chance. Convey your family's opinion to the sales rep and tell him to get tyre pressures checked this time.

Another comfortable car I can vouch for is the MG Hector. Nice and soft suspension but driving dynamics are nothing to write home about. If you're open to used, Tata Hexa will be a great choice. But it clearly lacks the kind of aspirational value you're looking for in this purchase.

One way to bring down your confusion will be to firmly decide what to keep and what to sell. I could infer from your post that i10 is going to stay no matter what. Honda City is a nice car and can serve you well for the next 2-3 years. You can add a third car to the garage, probably a Camry, and go for a 30-35 lakh crossover to replace the City when the time comes. That way you'll have a luxury barge for the family and a compact & capable crossover to take you places.

I personally don't recommend jumping too many segments at once even if one has the money. There is a lot of difference in reliability and cost of running and upkeep as you move from mass market to luxury segment.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

Greetings Everyone,
Since this is my first post here, allow me to introduce myself .

Welcome [formally] to the forum

we keep our cars for a while.

The City .......... The only issue we have with it is the ground clearance which is kind of pathetic and we also would like to move to automatics hereon.

Its a wonderful car and except for gizmos, hardly anything has changed in the new one. So better keep this too as a beater.

Father (Soon to be 70) : Chauffeur driven for 80% of the time and he drives during weekends. 200km avg weekly

We both however like cars with relatively small footprint. Hence tall SUV's etc are disregarded without consideration. ...........

Yes, I would love to drive to Spiti someday but then there is a slip between the cup and the lip.

For your usage, stick to Petrol cars. Modern diesels are silent and refined relatively but for you they make no sense. Petrol engines are way more refined and pleasure to drive too. More so since you have had an experience with the iVTEC. And these days you can take any car to Spiti. A 4x4 is not needed and you can always rent one for those few times in your life.

1. Back Seat Comfort

2. Reliability/After Sales Support :

3. Brand vs Value :

1. Honda CIty 5th gen ( V CVT):

2. Creta SX(0) Automatic (Diesel):

3. Tata Harrier :

4. Initial Top Choice : Camry Hybrid :

5. Countryman :

6 and 7. GLA and C-Class :

8 and 9. BMW X1 and 320D Limousine :

Our analysis/paralysis currently stands at :

1. Get X1 + City
or
2. Get C-class + City
or
3. C-class + Creta ( not very comfortable as it stretches budget + we would then also need to keep our current City for its luggage devouring capacity)
or
4. City (Fathers favourite) + Creta (mom's favourite)
or
some other combination/cars to be tried.

Audi did not bother getting us a test drive

PS : I am open to second hand cars but currently given our work schedule , both my fathers and mine, we do not have the bandwidth to explore that option.

From your list, Only the City and Camry will be good cars for your family and usage. Backseats are just pathetic for the rest of the cars. Either the leg room is bad or the headroom is non-existent or the ride is very firm for all other cases. Creta will be ok for you given you have mentioned that everyone in your family is 5'7" or shorter.

Option1 (Get X1 + City) will give you the required driving pleasure, brand recognition and comfort.
Option 4 (City + Creta ) will give you all the comfort and convenience in the world and you can easily rent any modern luxury car when needed.

So you are good with any of these from your list.

But then if you want something special, non easily seen on road and want to feel special when you ride (worth your hard work all these years) - Camry is a great car to buy. So you can try to explore a Camry and Creta combination.

Though I am surprised at your choices so far as hardly any car has a small footprint

Audi - Try to explore the A4 from another dealer in Pune or do ring up dealers in Mumbai. Mumbai dealers are aggressive and they will give you good deals. But Audi experience will nearly same as that for Skoda. So a Superb or Octavia too can be explored. Better to check Q3 as well, since you have already checked X1 as well.


Among used cars, the options will be endless in your budget but like you said, you will need time and patience for those.

[rahulkumarin]

Originally Posted by One

On this specific issue, you should definitely get another TD done and check the tyre pressure before the TD. This should not be the experience if the tyre pressure is fine more so as compared to the 3rd Gen City.

Tyre pressure is what we immediately checked and it was as per the recommended values. I was myself taken aback with the whole experience as i was pretty much expecting a slam dunk with this one.

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Agree with ONE above. Something does seem amiss with the TD Camry. It’s actually a very silent and pleasant experience when you’re inside one. And with 1L discount that you were offered (this is also a surprise), it’s worth another shot.

Did the Toyota folks tell you why you felt the way you all did during the TD or was that Q not asked?

If Audi is no longer in play, then, I’ll say the C + City is a good combo.

Curious - Did you not try the Kushaq? (assuming they quickly find a fix for the breakdowns we have seen)

He blamed it on the condition of the tyres and mentioned that the car having been driven 40k+ kms had something to do with the aforementioned feedback. That said he did not offer to get another test drive vehicle and was basically intent on pushing the sale of that last Camry which according to him will arrive in October and will be followed up only in January, 2022.

I have to say that after sales might be good with Toyota reliability and all that but the pre sales is pathetic to say the least. I can imagine not many in India give credence to the car considering our penchant for the Namely 3 on one side and value for money alternatives on the other.

I would imagine Toyota would want to capitalize on those who are ready, willing and able to pay the premium.

The other aspect of it is every Toyota Dealer seems to be giving a varying account of the face lifted Camry which has been released internationally. Some say it will be launched by Jan 2022 while others claim that it will be much longer. If members out here have some clarity on this it would be greatly appreciated. The thing we really felt was a big miss in the current generation is the absence of Apple Carplay. This should be addressed with the newer version.

As has been said by yourself , One and self-driven I will push for another test drive on the Camry and if the back seat comfort is found to be good we can put a hold on our plans for the update and get a Creta meanwhile.

Originally Posted by akash_v12

A very offbeat option, but get an used Endy now. BHPian cool_dube is selling his 2021 Endeavour with barely any mileage for a mouth-watering price for what its worth. Listed on Team-BHP classifieds. Here is the listing for it!

Also, for the sedan, get a Superb! Discounts are ridiculous all around and should be easy to get one in your budget. Even the Octavia makes sense for you, although it's not the most VFM.

Endeavour and the likes are not being currently considered as i mentioned we do not prefer bulky SUV'ish cars.

No offense meant to Skoda car owners but for now I would like to stay away from the brand.

Originally Posted by self_driven

First of all, that's a very well penned down car buying query thumbs up

Secondly, I don't think there's a legal upper age limit to drive in India. This proposal was in the news years ago but I don't think it came into effect.

As others have suggested, you should definitely give Camry a second chance. Convey your family's opinion to the sales rep and tell him to get tyre pressures checked this time.

Another comfortable car I can vouch for is the MG Hector. Nice and soft suspension but driving dynamics are nothing to write home about. If you're open to used, Tata Hexa will be a great choice. But it clearly lacks the kind of aspirational value you're looking for in this purchase.

One way to bring down your confusion will be to firmly decide what to keep and what to sell. I could infer from your post that i10 is going to stay no matter what. Honda City is a nice car and can serve you well for the next 2-3 years. You can add a third car to the garage, probably a Camry, and go for a 30-35 lakh crossover to replace the City when the time comes. That way you'll have a luxury barge for the family and a compact & capable crossover to take you places.

I personally don't recommend jumping too many segments at once even if one has the money. There is a lot of difference in reliability and cost of running and upkeep as you move from mass market to luxury segment.

Thanks a lot self-driven for the appreciation. Just penned down my thoughts and experience so far in the pursuit of finding the right fit in terms of the car/car's.

This is what i love most about TBHP that the value addition in terms of knowledge is so intrinsic to any discussion and is in my opinion a big part of the soul of the forum. Thanks for letting me know that there is no age limit on the driving license renewal.

We did convey the issue with the Camry to the representative but have not heard back. More on that i have mentioned above.

MG Hector we have in our friend circle and my father just could not find a comfortable seating height on it and we did not take that further. The same length/height issue works against Hexa and most other SUV's/MUV's in the market.

There is very little confusion regarding the current cars. Hyundai i10 stays no matter what and City goes only if it is replaced by the current gen City or something with equitable boot space and utility.

What i had forgotten in my earlier post was that we wanted an Altis to replace the City and it would have been the easiest decision if it was still in production. We asked Hyundai for the Elantra but were told that it has been discontinued. So there is nothing out there for sedan lovers if you want to stay away from Skoda. That is the very reason we went to Camry in the first place.

Very solid advice I must say regarding getting a third car and upgrading City later on. The only caveat in that scenario is that my aspirations of expanding my driving territory then would get curtailed for the same period (that is why i felt the need for the CSUV). For any purchase decision beyond a necessity, I usually have a tendency to wait a week or two and see whether the drive still persists. So certainly, I see where you are coming from and it is very pertinent as well.

Coming to the maintenance bit, if we go the Merc/BMW/Audi way rest assured that I would be considering a 1-2L/year cost as a buffer for the maintenance bit and probably sell after 7 years with an expectation of 60-75% depreciation on the vehicle while selling. I honestly love the VFM proposition in the secondary marketing in this segment of cars but our current limitations on time do not allow us the luxury to explore it. Considering we maintain our vehicles well (read timeline maintenance strictly followed), I do not foresee a worse case scenario. That said do correct me on the above if i am mistaken and if there is a likelihood of an even more grim scenario presenting itself.

Thanks a lot to everyone for leaving your valuable inputs. Audi finally got back and a test drive is scheduled for later today. Seems a lot of pune buyers have been quoting the 39L price point that has happened for our tbhp member in Mumbai. Will update on experience post the drive.

[One]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

We asked Hyundai for the Elantra but were told that it has been discontinued.

This is news to me, did he say it is discontinued or will be discontinued? Because so far atleast, I thought it was selling (albeit in less numbers though it is a wonderful car and feels more plush than a City)

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

That said do correct me on the above if i am mistaken and if there is a likelihood of an even more grim scenario presenting itself.

Yes, that's enough to keep you covered for the maintenance part provided you don't end up with a lemon.

Out of the German trio, Bimmers are generally considered more reliable and pocket friendly, although I have no experience to back this statement. Whichever one you go for, try to opt for the maximum possible warranty and consider going for some service package.

[rahulkumarin]

Originally Posted by sunilch

Welcome [formally] to the forum

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by sunilch

Its a wonderful car and except for gizmos, hardly anything has changed in the new one. So better keep this too as a beater.

Unless we get something with similar attributes as in seats 5 comfortably, takes in loads of luggage and is relatively fun to drive we do intend to keep the City. Prime candidate for replacement is the Gen 5 City albeit in automatic variant.

Originally Posted by sunilch

For your usage, stick to Petrol cars. Modern diesels are silent and refined relatively but for you they make no sense. Petrol engines are way more refined and pleasure to drive too. More so since you have had an experience with the iVTEC. And these days you can take any car to Spiti. A 4x4 is not needed and you can always rent one for those few times in your life.

Well, my father is a petrol head and so was I. That said with my recent experience with the bmw's and also the merc's I am shifting towards the diesel in preference. I have yet to experience the bimmer 330i so i will reserve comment on it but oh man, the audi a4 was such a horrible experience ( i finally understand what sedate driving perhaps implies ) in terms of driving characteristics that it put me off petrol if i am going to the pseudo luxury segment (No offense meant to anyone but personally i did not find luxury or opulence in any car that i have test driven so far)

Originally Posted by sunilch

From your list, Only the City and Camry will be good cars for your family and usage. Backseats are just pathetic for the rest of the cars. Either the leg room is bad or the headroom is non-existent or the ride is very firm for all other cases. Creta will be ok for you given you have mentioned that everyone in your family is 5'7" or shorter.

Option1 (Get X1 + City) will give you the required driving pleasure, brand recognition and comfort.
Option 4 (City + Creta ) will give you all the comfort and convenience in the world and you can easily rent any modern luxury car when needed.

So you are good with any of these from your list.

I gotta give it to you here buds. You have hit the nail on the head proverbially speaking. I had not read this earlier and after our A4 experience ( read underwhelming taken to a different dimension) these are the two exact options we have narrowed ourselves to. There is a third option of GLA220d 4matic +City as well that we are currently considering.

The common denominator in all of these is the City and since its available for immediate delivery, we are going to sit tomorrow and perhaps get the car home ( unless some last minute surprises spring up).

Originally Posted by sunilch

But then if you want something special, non easily seen on road and want to feel special when you ride (worth your hard work all these years) - Camry is a great car to buy. So you can try to explore a Camry and Creta combination.

The problem with this combination is that both will require 4+ months to actually get anything home and hence for now this has been put on a back burner. To be fair also disappointed with pre sales of both, one brings a shoddy vehicle and the other is not even available for test drive for the entire city of Pune.

Originally Posted by sunilch

Though I am surprised at your choices so far as hardly any car has a small footprint

Hahaha. A relative thing but when we meant small footprint we just meant no 7 seaters/tall SUV's can be considered and that is also the reason we are discounting the bmw 3 series ( my father found the beak too long).

Originally Posted by sunilch

Audi - Try to explore the A4 from another dealer in Pune or do ring up dealers in Mumbai. Mumbai dealers are aggressive and they will give you good deals. But Audi experience will nearly same as that for Skoda. So a Superb or Octavia too can be explored. Better to check Q3 as well, since you have already checked X1 as well.

Got the test drive done and it was the most underwhelming experience. It is probably an apples to orange comparison but after bmw and merc diesels the audi petrol made me appreciate the honda city further.

Originally Posted by sunilch

Among used cars, the options will be endless in your budget but like you said, you will need time and patience for those.

Agreed and next time around I will go that route.

Originally Posted by One

This is news to me, did he say it is discontinued or will be discontinued? Because so far atleast, I thought it was selling (albeit in less numbers though it is a wonderful car and feels more plush than a City)

Yes, I was told it has been discontinued and they are awaiting a refresh (makeover) which will be due in 2022.

Originally Posted by self_driven

Yes, that's enough to keep you covered for the maintenance part provided you don't end up with a lemon.

Out of the German trio, Bimmers are generally considered more reliable and pocket friendly, although I have no experience to back this statement. Whichever one you go for, try to opt for the maximum possible warranty and consider going for some service package.

If you get a lemon make a lemonade. Bring social media in and for those out of control scenarios there is always the brotherhood of team bhp. lol

Warranty for maximum period is what is now ingrained in me thanks to teambhp but service package will i am guessing depend on our expected running. If it justifies the same will go for it eyes closed.

Thanks for such wonderful suggestions and feedback to everyone.

[car_guy1998]

Originally Posted by rahulkumarin

Greetings Everyone,

Since this is my first post here, allow me to introduce myself . I am choosing to do so outside of the Introduction channel as it is relevant to the question at hand.

Hi Rahul,

Welcome to the forum. I would suggest you to go for City+Creta combo as it will work out cheaper and reliable as well.

And, I feel you should keep the 3rd gen City, which you own now as it is the best built City among 5 generations.

If you are going for 5th gen City, I'd suggest you to stretch the budget a bit and get VX or ZX CVT as these variants have extra 2 airbags over V variant as well as sunroof, LED headlights/foglamps (available only in ZX) and sunroof. No doubt, V CVT is a good variant, but I still suggest you to have a look at these two variants.

[AJ56]

If I was you honestly I wouldn’t sell the City just to replace with another City, if automatic is required then replace your City with the same model but with an auto box, you’ll lose maybe 50k at best and come out with a reliable beater car at almost zero cost.

Now coming to the main car, stick to petrols for their smoothness and superior exhaust note. I’d suggest test driving the 530i and E class followed by the ES, I think it’ll come down to the 5 vs ES since you don’t seem to require the lwb variants be it the 3 or the E as per the post above. Don’t let anyone convince you that a Camry is nearly anywhere as nice to drive as these as they are built better with much nicer interiors and better craftsmanship. If you’re selling after 7 years just get extended warranty and rest easy you’re not likely to run into major reliability issues (the only advantage Camry has over the Germans). Wildcard you can also consider the XF but personally I find it’s too old at this point. Cheers.

[rahulkumarin]

Firstly, we booked the City V CVT on Saturday and are hoping to do our PDI later today and get the delivery done before end of the week (provided everything checks out).

Originally Posted by car_guy1998

Hi Rahul,

Welcome to the forum. I would suggest you to go for City+Creta combo as it will work out cheaper and reliable as well.

And, I feel you should keep the 3rd gen City, which you own now as it is the best built City among 5 generations.

If you are going for 5th gen City, I'd suggest you to stretch the budget a bit and get VX or ZX CVT as these variants have extra 2 airbags over V variant as well as sunroof, LED headlights/foglamps (available only in ZX) and sunroof. No doubt, V CVT is a good variant, but I still suggest you to have a look at these two variants.

City+Creta as you have said is the most practical suggestion undoubtedly.

Now coming to why I chose the V instead of VX/ZX

Pros
-----

1. My mother does not like sunroof's. Ya, you heard that right. Fair to say even i don't like the moon roof's. Either it has to be panaromic ( in which case I can deal with the additional headache a sunroof might bring) or none at all.

2. One of the most important reasons however was the smaller size rim with higher sidewall depth in V vs VX/ZX. I personally figured this would lead to a better ride quality. We will also be swapping the donut with alloys ( 8k is what the Honda guys quoted for it). This technically was the reason we stuck to V instead of VX.

3. We get to be creative with the cover (airbag compliant) as our current ride ( 9 yrs old) feels better then the top variant one. (My father cannot tolerate any compromises in terms of look and feel or condition of anything)

Cons
------

1. Misses on 2 additional airbags and that to me is the single biggest drawback of the V.

2. The ZX front lights were liked by everyone but i felt the throw and also fog/rain visibility will be an issue. Hence why ZX was rejected.

3. We really liked the lane watch camera's and we are currently hoping there might be a way to get that with the V model ( not a must have but a good to have feature in my opinion)


So all in all we went with V simply because it allows us some flexibility to make our ride customized and besides the 2 additional airbags there was not much else we really wanted as a standard add on.

Originally Posted by AJ56

If I was you honestly I wouldn’t sell the City just to replace with another City, if automatic is required then replace your City with the same model but with an auto box, you’ll lose maybe 50k at best and come out with a reliable beater car at almost zero cost.

Now coming to the main car, stick to petrols for their smoothness and superior exhaust note. I’d suggest test driving the 530i and E class followed by the ES, I think it’ll come down to the 5 vs ES since you don’t seem to require the lwb variants be it the 3 or the E as per the post above. Don’t let anyone convince you that a Camry is nearly anywhere as nice to drive as these as they are built better with much nicer interiors and better craftsmanship. If you’re selling after 7 years just get extended warranty and rest easy you’re not likely to run into major reliability issues (the only advantage Camry has over the Germans). Wildcard you can also consider the XF but personally I find it’s too old at this point. Cheers.

While the city is great in the 3rd gen version, a lot of the driving of the car happened with multiple chauffeurs during the 9 year period. Also i feel that at 50k+ there are issues which will start coming in ( currently there are none) and that will play spoilsport with our experience.

If i had the time to spend for used cars I would rather direct that on the merc/bmw where the cost savings would be worthwhile. Not really keen on buying a second hand City at this point of time considering that prices of second hand cars are currently really high. Might as well just buy it fresh off the oven. (colloquially speaking)

About the second car : The confusion persists. GLA was the top competitor but the dealbreaker is that there is no rear armrest. The car will be chauffeur driven a lot with 1 person at the back and this is something unacceptable for a 55L car ( no discounts on the car). We are also considering the X1 seriously but GLA beats it in our scorecard ( subjective) on everything except bootspace and slightly floaty ride. The back up option of Creta is always there.