[jsrakkar]

From the owner of a 2016 Elantra, I can chime in with a few pointers that might help you:-

Bought 2016 1.6 CRDi SX (O) AT used in 2018. At that time, the car had covered 45000kms and over the last 3.3 years, I have put in an additional 48000. Current ODO standing is around 93500 kms.

Pros

- Build quality is superb; no squeaks or rattles so far!
- Ride quality also is quite good; handling is ok, not in the league of the Germans (Octavia/Jetta)
- NVH is superb; many people who have cars from higher segments have complimented this when seated in the car
- Very reasonable maintenance costs. Spare parts are reasonably priced and not much upkeep required, other than the regular 10k kms service. I recently had the 90k kms service done for close to 7000 only!
- Top notch safety (6 airbags) - and if I'm not wrong, this is/was a CKD build, so I don't think it'll have compromises in safety as we have seen with our Hyundai or Kia models.
- Ventilated seats, this deserves a special mention!
- 1 segment higher than City, though not much difference in snob value
- A lot of part sharing with other models from the Hyundai/Kia family, hence a lot of parts can be used Creta/Verna/Seltos (Personal experience)
- Looks very sexy (this is subjective)!

Cons
- No snob value
- The AT is the biggest chink in the whole mechanical package; it's not that it's bad, but it's no match with the DSGs, DCTs and feels slow. Though, no issues with the gearbox till now.
- Some parts (especially trim parts), which are specific to this car, are hard to source
- Rear seat is good for 2 adults and 1 kid/teenager only; 3 adults is a squeeze
- Luggage space as well as boot design isn't great

If you were to ask me, I'll definitely vote for the Elantra, just be mindful of it's shortfalls. In case you have any other questions, please give me a shout and I'll answer to the best of my knowledge.

Regards,
Jaspreet Singh

[Rajeev.Ayyappan]

I have a 2016 Elantra SX(O) AT 2.0 which has run 40k. Used exclusively for highway driving. I whole heartedly recommend it for your use case scenario. I am a very spirited driver and the only issue I have faced is brake change two times in 40k each time for 9k rupees. Probably due to my hard braking style. Other than that it is a beautiful VFM car for what it offers. Today's Honda is not the Honda of say 2015. My relatives are unhappy with Honda ASS and maintenance.

[fakenews]

Originally Posted by anb

Build quality, NVH & highways manners are average for Honda City. So Elantra would be a better option. Actually for most of your requirements, Vento/ Rapid makes more sense or you could wait for the launch of new sedans from VW/ Skoda.

Disagree only with that last bit, because 07CR is looking for a car that's reliable, comfortable for 5 people with a decent feature list. The German twins don't fit the bill on that front.

Reading GTO's City review; the car's highway manners are fine up until 120 km/h (nobody should be exceeding that speed anyway).

If you plan to keep your car for 7 years, it would make more sense to pick the newer one with fewer miles, although the Elantra would be a more complete and satisfying package. Its highway manners and NVH are better than the City's. D-segment >> C-segment.

Some 2020 City owners have reported the odd rattle or two coming from the left side of the car, so make sure to keep an ear out for that on your test drive.

Or you could try for a brand-new City V CVT (VX if your budget allows) and reap the benefits of a full warranty and no miles.

[anb]

Originally Posted by fakenews

Disagree only with that last bit, because 07CR is looking for a car that's reliable, comfortable for 5 people with a decent feature list. The German twins don't fit the bill on that front.

Reading GTO's City review; the car's highway manners are fine up until 120 km/h (nobody should be exceeding that speed anyway).

If you plan to keep your car for 7 years, it would make more sense to pick the newer one with fewer miles, although the Elantra would be a more complete and satisfying package. Its highway manners and NVH are better than the City's. D-segment >> C-segment.

Some 2020 City owners have reported the odd rattle or two coming from the left side of the car, so make sure to keep an ear out for that on your test drive.

Or you could try for a brand-new City V CVT (VX if your budget allows) and reap the benefits of a full warranty and no miles.

Requirements- That Honda City does not satisfy

2) Should have great highway manners. If the car is dynamically neutral, it's fine, but the high and low speed ride quality(yes need both!) should be good.

4) NVH should be good to very good. This includes the wind and road noise at speeds 100-120 Kph. Looking for a great cruiser, rather than a fantastic corner carver.

7) Build quality should be good. I am not expecting ecosport levels of solid build, but don't even want the Seltos like build.

Requirements that a new German sedan with 1.0 TSI engine and 6 speed TC AT many not satisfy

8) Should be niggle free and reliability should be top notch.



My comments based on GTO observations as well. Please read the GTO's observations fully.

"Insulation is poor. Road noise @ 120 kph on the expressway was prominent. I pulled over to check and sure enough, the rear wheel well is lacking any kind of insulation while the front has only bits of it. This kind of cost cutting isn’t acceptable in a premium 17-lakh rupee sedan."

"• Stability at 120 kmph & beyond is mediocre. Sure, straight-line stability is fair and there is no nervousness. But on any undulating sections of the expressway or dips on highway roads, it sure got bouncy with ample vertical movement. The bounciness is like that of any Asian sedan from even 10 years back. Or closer home, the earlier generations of the Honda City – this is something Honda needs to master as there’s clearly been no progress since the 4th-gen car in this area. Even city flyovers taken at speed bring that “light Asian sedan” feeling & bounciness. At high speeds, expressway crosswinds do affect it. I can tell you that the 2020 Creta has superior high speed manners (I recently drove it on the exact same roads)."

The build quality of Honda City is below average as well. It's no where near Ecosport. Build quality of City is closer to Ciaz than that of a Vento/Rapid.

Any ways it's meaningless to debate here as the OP is not interested in Indianised VW offerings.

[fakenews]

Originally Posted by anb

[b]

The build quality of Honda City is below average as well. It's no where near Ecosport. Build quality of City is closer to Ciaz than that of a Vento/Rapid.

I get confused, but when people say build quality are they talking from a safety point of view? OP says he doesn't want a Seltos-like build, so he must be talking about safety because the Seltos does use heavy-ish sheet metal.

In that regard, the City is one of the safest cars in the segment. Honda has proved that their cheap-feeling Amaze fares alright in a crash with a 4-star rating and a stable structure (something even the Tigor can't boast of).

It's safe to say Honda doesn't skimp on safety for Indian cars, At least they have the decency to provide headrests and three-point seatbelts for all rear passengers, unlike the Compass which costs twice as much. It might have a 'light build', but that won't take away from the safety.

But talking about the other popular definition of build quality, the City does have some ill-fitted bits in the interior, something you won't find in the Elantra.

You are right about the highway manners though.

[anb]

Originally Posted by fakenews

I get confused, but when people say build quality are they talking from a safety point of view? OP says he doesn't want a Seltos-like build, so he must be talking about safety because the Seltos does use heavy-ish sheet metal.

In that regard, the City is one of the safest cars in the segment. Honda has proved that their cheap-feeling Amaze fares alright in a crash with a 4-star rating and a stable structure (something even the Tigor can't boast of).

"7) Build quality should be good. I am not expecting ecosport levels of solid build, but don't even want the Seltos like build.
OP says he don’t expect Ecosport like solid build from others and Ecosport is not crash tested. What does it mean ? Sheet metal thickness?

[07CR]

Originally Posted by fakenews

I get confused, but when people say build quality are they talking from a safety point of view? OP says he doesn't want a Seltos-like build, so he must be talking about safety because the Seltos does use heavy-ish sheet metal.

In that regard, the City is one of the safest cars in the segment. Honda has proved that their cheap-feeling Amaze fares alright in a crash with a 4-star rating and a stable structure (something even the Tigor can't boast of).

Originally Posted by anb

"7) Build quality should be good. I am not expecting ecosport levels of solid build, but don't even want the Seltos like build.
OP says he don’t expect Ecosport like build from others and Ecosport is not crash tested. What does it mean ? Sheet metal thickness?

I want solid build quality. I mean the doors should have that heavy build and same should be reflected in the body panels. For instance, I could easily press the bonet of my dad's 2013 Honda amaze, with a finger. Even the bonnet was 2 finger light. For Ecosport, I always try to lift the bonnet with both my hands, just to be on the safer side (pun intended) If the car is 5 star NCAP rated, it's even better.

I checked the City, the build is definitely better than the Amaze we had, but doesn't come anywhere near what I expected. It's out of contention for now. And IMHO the seltos does not come anywhere close to the sheet metal build quality of Ecosport. It's better than the Amaze, but I felt inline with the 5th gen City.

That said, it does not mean the Elantra is finalized. I believe I should wait and check the XUV700/Astor (I do like the SUVs more) in person, and if budget permits (i.e. more like if the family agrees )can even buy the brand new versions of these cars .

Thanks all for chipping in.

[pta320]

'Honda still makes the best and most reliable engines ever'. And that's where City's pros ends.

The current gen City is nowhere close to what it used to be back in its 3rd gen and before. The quality has gone down and although engine and possibly the transmission (as long as it's not AT) won't create any issue , it's the other things that will start falling apart.

As far as reliability of the critical parts are concerned, City will still be a better option in the long term.

However, Elantra will surely be a lot more premium and comfortable as compared to City.

So if you are willing to spend quite a bit on the maintenance and repairs of a used car, get the Elantra. Else, a safer choice would be City especially since its brand new.

Some other used cars to consider :

1) Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8 petrol : Bullet proof reliability and minimal maintenance. These can run forever as long as regular maintenance is done.

2) New gen Honda Civic diesel (MT) : A very premium D segment sedan with amazing looks. The engine and transmission is very reliable and the car is leagues above Honda City in almost every aspect. The quality levels are great and so is ride and handling. Some people just go by the numbers that Civic has only 1.6l diesel but let me emphasize , the engine is tuned amazingly well and performance levels are more than needed. The fuel economy can bring even the hatchbacks to shame.

3) 2013-2014 Toyota Camry : A very premium car which is a segment above than Elantra. Also being a Toyota , reliability will be really good. The biggest cons is fuel economy.

Some cars to avoid :

1) Used Octavia/Jetta/Passat/Superb : Don't just walk away from them , RUN, if you value your money even a bit. These things can give you some serious nightmares and many many sleepless nights. 2.0 TDI has a faulty water pump which fails in almost every one of these engines with very little to no warning in as less as 25k kms. 1.8 TSI is an inherently weak engine with many points of failure and very expensive repairs as they age. The DSGs are absolute garbage and can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere and lastly overly complex electronics and even the basic parts are made overcomplicated which cost a fortune to repair. Sure in most cases numbers don't lie, but here they do, cause these cars produce quite a bit of bhp and can do some serious speeds in less time which misleads people into buying these cars only to see them fall apart right infront of their eyes as they age. And yeah, getting harrassed and ripped off by the Skoda ASS included in the package for free.

2) 9-10 year old BMW 320D/520D: Although much much more reliable than VAG cars even than Octavia/Jetta, the maintenance cost will be extremely high. The engine also has critical failure point of timing chain especially if the previous owner didn't maintain the car well and flunked with oil changes.

Good luck with the purchase.

[sjain2054]

Originally Posted by 07CR

I want solid build quality. I mean the doors should have that heavy build and same should be reflected in the body panels. For instance, I could easily press the bonet of my dad's 2013 Honda amaze, with a finger. Even the bonnet was 2 finger light. For Ecosport, I always try to lift the bonnet with both my hands, just to be on the safer side (pun intended) If the car is 5 star NCAP rated, it's even better.

I checked the City, the build is definitely better than the Amaze we had, but doesn't come anywhere near what I expected. It's out of contention for now. And IMHO the seltos does not come anywhere close to the sheet metal build quality of Ecosport. It's better than the Amaze, but I felt inline with the 5th gen City.

That said, it does not mean the Elantra is finalized. I believe I should wait and check the XUV700/Astor (I do like the SUVs more) in person, and if budget permits (i.e. more like if the family agrees )can even buy the brand new versions of these cars .

Thanks all for chipping in.

Hey so what did you eventually buy? I am also looking at a 2017 Elantra vs a 2019 Creta (both petrol) and roughly same price (11.5 lakhs vs 12 lakhs). Hence, asking.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

Hey so what did you eventually buy? I am also looking at a 2017 Elantra vs a 2019 Creta (both petrol) and roughly same price (11.5 lakhs vs 12 lakhs). Hence, asking.

Hi. I rejected both as the dealer refused to budge of the selling price. Instead got a 7 month old Kia sonet iMT HTX with 5 year EW bundled in. Got it at less than 1.75 L lesser price than the then price of same variant. Except the ultra strong build quality of ecosport (still it's not as bad as our 2013 amaze) this car fits to the T for my requirements (especially the easy ingress egress for parents).

For your use case, I will suggest to go with the Elantra provided both cars are in same condition. It's a D segment car afterall and feels simply a level above creta.