[bijims]

I am writing this post on behalf of a friend who owns a 2011 Alto which is nearing the 15-year mark. Considering his daily running, a Diesel car (preferably a sedan) seemed to be the best choice, After a lot of looking around the used car market in Thrissur, Kerala and nearby, we came to find out that the following cars were available in this budget (around 3.5 to 4 lakhs):

1. 2014 to 2015 Honda Amaze VX Diesel MT

2. 2013 to 2014 Honda City Diesel E MT

3. 2013 to 2014 VW Vento Comfortline MT and DSG / Skoda Rapid Diesel MT

4. 2015 to 2017 Nissan Sunny Diesel MT

5. 2015 to 2017 Ford Aspire Diesel MT/ 2014 Ford Fiesta Diesel MT

6. 2014 Maruti Swift Dzire Diesel MT

7. 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel LTZ AT

8. 2013 to 2014 Toyota Etios Diesel MT

9. 2016 Hyundai Xcent Diesel MT


All of these have run less than 1 lakh kilometres and are in great condition, However, my dilemma is which one to go for, My priorities are cheap to maintain and high mileage and because of that reason, I don't think the Cruze fits the bill, the Japs are more or less in line with my requirements, however, I am not sure on Ford or the Germans but their engines are great. I also found some Fiats in this price range but since they have exited India just like Chevrolet and Ford, I don't know if getting a used one makes sense.

Please let me know your opinions on this or should I consider other cars besides the above, any help is greatly appreciated!

[Sensible_Speed]

Honda diesels have cheap maintenance and bomb-proof reliability. Nissan, VW, Chevy and Ford will cost you a little extra if they break. I'd suggest go with either Honda diesels. You can also look at the Dzire diesel if you want the ultimate stress-free ownership, but the Hondas come with better safety features, such as ABS and airbags standard on the variants you have listed. This was from a time before ABS was made mandatory in all cars, so everything except the top variant of the Dzire will not have it.

[//M]

The best reliable diesel sedan in this budget would be a Toyota Etios diesel. If you can find one in decent condition, go for it. Else a Honda City diesel or an Amaze diesel should work just as fine.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by bijims

Please let me know your opinions on this or should I consider other cars besides the above, any help is greatly appreciated!

This is a very high level check - for evaluating heavily used cars, kms on the odometer and brand are just the starting point. Given all of these are close to 1Lac kms, your decision needs to consider
1. Past servicing history & records
2. Condition of the wear & tear parts (tires, brakes, etc.)
3. Key parts replacement (timing kit, suspension, etc.) if already done
4. Insurance / Accident history
5. Number of owners and type of ownership (lease vs individual, etc.)

To answer your superficial question
Etios > Dzire > Amaze = City > Figo Aspire > XCent > Fiesta > Vento & Skoda MT > Cruz > Vento DSG.

[bijims]

UPDATE

I have also encountered a fine example of the Fiat Linea Emotion 1.3 Multijet from 2015 and it looks in great shape, running shy of 1 lakh kilometres and looks as good as new. Because the 1.3 MJD was the most popular diesel out there, is this car worth considering over the others?

Now coming to the other parts like servicing, parts, replacements, insurance, accident history and number of owners, all have proper service records done only from the dealership, major parts have been replaced as and when due, and no accidents at all and insurance hasn't been claimed yet and all are first owner cars. All the cars have newly replaced tyres and brake pads as well, so mostly it's a level playing field there I brought a friend of mine (mechanic) to inspect the cars and had a test drive too and all of them were great.

[SaiSW]

I own a Figo Aspire diesel, with close to one lac kms on the odo. I had an itch for a fun diesel project car about 3 years back and acquired the car from a close contact with about 40k kms on the odo.

This car has been absolutely reliable over the years, touch wood. Maintenance is dirt cheap, it's even cheaper than my friend's Dzire diesel. Parts availability still is not a concern for me, and in my state the number of service centers have only gone up after 2021.

Easily returns ATLEAST 20 kmpl on the highways despite my not-so-optimal driving style, returns 24-25 on a more sedate style. Returns 15-16 in the city.

Service cost hasn't gone above 6k till now. Actually, I say 6k because one service cost me about 5.8k, if it wasn't for that one, service costs are below 5.5k. Pretty significant portion of that is labour, if you select wisely there are good FNGs now who have the knowhow to handle Ford and VW 1.5 diesels. So it can be even more cost effective to maintain if you are familiar with a reliable FNG.

Only parts I've replaced are wear and tear items like tyres, brake pads, filters etc.

And I haven't even gotten to the best part about the car - it's performance. It has been about 10 years since Ford launched this car and it STILL, in bone stock avatar without any remaps, outperforms 99% of mass market cars on the road. With a map, it's a different story altogether. One of the best engines we ever got in the Indian market without question.

[bijims]

From the above, we concluded that we would not be going for the Cruze, Expensive car, expensive maintenance and Chevrolet has left India quite a while back with parts availability an issue.

The Xcent was rejected owing to the lower displacement engine, DSG cars were outright omitted due to the chances of failure, the Etios is a good car but as barebones as it can get, moreover power and torque figures are also quite low. The Swift Dzire was deemed too basic and wasn't approved by the family (Etios and Dzire's Taxi image wasn't helping either)

The Aspire and Fiesta have caught our attention and are possible contenders, I had a query on these and hope ones in the forum could help, although both have a similar 1.5L Diesel, the Aspire produces 10 bhp more power and 11 Nm more torque, is it just due to the tuning or are these engines different altogether.

The Sunny is a viable contender too with the 85bhp engine shared across with the Duster, and we having a good experience with it.

The European looks, Great build and quality of the Vento and Rapid Diesel Manuals have caught our attention as well and we loved these cars, great power, torque and overall great dynamics as well, definitely a contender.

The Diesel City and Amaze have the same engine, with the City being available in base spec and Amaze in top-spec in our budget, the City makes more sense for the space, but he Amaze makes more sense on the pocket. Both are worthy contenders and our in our watchlist.

We came across a wonderful Fiat Linea 1.3 Emotion Multijet Diesel and boy is it a great car, a bit long and wide, but the car is spectacular, too bad Fiat shut shop, but the car has impressed us quite a bit.

[nimishlalwani]

Having owned both the Linea and Cruze of the same age for 15 years, the Cruze is easily more reliable. Linea has a lot of electronic issues. The diesel engine is good but not as maintenance free as the Cruze.

Linea though has better rear seats and rides better. But with the power that the Cruze has, it’s not even a competition. Get the Cruze!

[RunSam]

I feel the S-cross will be a worthy contender as well, with great build quality and bulletproof reliability. I would recommend the 1.6 if you can live with higher service costs.

[kadanaJ]

This might be a fortuitous coincidence, but I'm currently looking to sell my 2011 Corolla Altis D-4D.

It's extremely reliable (typical Toyota), it's a diesel, and gives pretty great fuel economy.

But it's MH registered, so I don't know if there would be a lot of hassle to get the registration transferred.

Anyways, DM me if you're interested.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by bijims

8. 2013 to 2014 Toyota Etios Diesel MT

I have an Etios, so my bias is clear
If you decide to go for the Etios, do ensure its the facelift model and not pre-facelift

Easiest way to do this -> Turn on the parking lights and check if the speedometer has a black/blue background or WHITE background.

Avoid the white background Etios. That white light will annoy you a lot at night.

The engine itself is great and works well. Spares etc are easily available and no major issues

[i74js]

Originally Posted by bijims

I am writing this post on behalf of a friend who owns a 2011 Alto which is nearing the 15-year mark. Considering his daily running, a Diesel car (preferably a sedan) seemed to be the best choice, After a lot of looking around the used car market in Thrissur, Kerala and nearby, we came to find out that the following cars were available in this budget (around 3.5 to 4 lakhs):

The one strong car that you must evaluate is EcoSport (its not a sedan though). Robust build, reliable and delivers great performance. You can get 2018 - 19 models below 5 Lakhs and 2020 onward (Euro 6 model) for 6 - 7 Lakhs

[Mukunthan91]

My suggestion is to go ahead with Toyota Etios or Honda Amaze diesel. Buying a vehicle with proper service records is a must for peace of mind. Please ask for the service records of the vehicles.

As an owner of a Toyota Etios Liva 2017 model, I can say that Toyota will be easy on pocket and will offer fuss free ownership.

[facelyft]

We are a family of diesel-darlings. Swift, Dzire, Verna1.6, CIty1.5iD-Tec, BMWX320D. The first two were sold after running close to two-hundred-thousand kilometers. We are still holding Verna, City and X3. Absolute work horses.

City deserves a special mention here, more relevant to your question. Ageing so gracefully, five-plus years and nearing a hundred thousand kilometers. Always a trustworthy companion; the sheer simplicity of this machine is worth every penny. Gives us 20+ KMPL when we are cruising at 90 KMPH. With so-many battle scars (thanks to chaotic Hyderabad traffic) in the recent past, we enrolled herself as a beater car. Whenever there is voting to replace a car in our garage, City would be the last one.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by bijims

...

The Aspire and Fiesta have caught our attention and are possible contenders, I had a query on these and hope ones in the forum could help, although both have a similar 1.5L Diesel, the Aspire produces 10 bhp more power and 11 Nm more torque, is it just due to the tuning or are these engines different altogether.

....

The Aspire engine has a different Turbocharger along with a tune and hence the additional power. The older 1.5 TDCI used a TEL/Borgwarner Turbo and the 100bhp version shifted to a Garrett.

With the Fiesta, non engine parts could be an issue since the car hardly sold. You are safer with the Aspire from a piece of mind point of view. The Fiesta has the solid build of a true Ford though !