How I got a sweet deal on my new Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Hybrid

Finally, I thought if I couldn't buy an EV, a Hybrid was the next logical choice as I didn't want to buy a guzzler and could not buy diesel due to NCR.

BHPian Love4Cars recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Finally after a long wait of 25 days post booking, got the delivery of my Grand Vitara Zeta Plus Hybrid today!

Coming from a Diesel Ecosport the car is super smooth and silent. My requirements were:

• Fuel: Petrol / EV
• Transmission: AT for sure coming from Diesel MT after driving AT for 6 years
• Good Resale as I change cars more frequently due to Car lease
• <span >Six Airbags must have, Pano sunroof was somewhat necessary (Wife's wish), Ventilated Seats (my wish), Isofix Seats must have, Auto IRVM, Android Auto and Carplay
• Body type: Most likely SUV with good GC thanks to potholes and speed breakers in Gurgaon
• Decent Space for 4/5 with Weekend luggage capacity

Alternatives considered:

1. Nexon Fearless Plus DCA: Considered for build quality and long features list. Nexon was also considered when I bought Ecosport back in 2021. However, the niggles and issues reported for DCA stopped me from pulling the trigger. Also, it really wasn't an upgrade and wife wanted Pano this time.
2. Sonet HTX D AT: Was considered for Ventilated Seats and the VFM variant with same Diesel AT as much bigger and expensive cars like Creta, Alcazar, Seltos and Carens. However, the safety rating stopped me. I never suggested Seltos /Creta/Sonet to my friends because of safety. It was time to walk the talk.
3. Honda Elevate: Has a good test drive with excellent seating position. However, only ZX has 6 Airbags when I booked. I found ADAS not so useful. Also, missing Pano even after buying a bigger car
4. Astor: Excellent build quality and long list of features but with poor resale and not so good FE and engine, this was dropped.
5. Seltos and Creta were not considered due to poor Safety Ratings
6. Kushaq / Taigun: Great safety but no Pano. Also felt that 1.0 AT was very expensive for 6 Airbags top end. I have owned Polo GT TSI 1.2 DSG so buying 1.0 AT at current prices seems robbery. 1.5 ATs with 6 Airbags were out of budget. I missed Skoda online sale else may have bought Kushaq or even Slavia 1.5 Style DSG.
7. Kona and XUV400: Tried considering an EV but wife and my brother were dead against owning to range and remotest possibility of getting stranded with Kids. Perhaps my next car will be EV having 450-500 Km range. Also, EVs are very fast evolving and there will be so many better and newer products in near future which will affect current EVs resale.

Why Vitara that too Hybrid?

Like many BHPians, I am sucker for good deals. This was a 23 Make Vitara with a known dealer from whom I got Jimny Zeta AT for my dad in Dec'23 (12.8 on road).

Got a Zeta Plus Strong Hybrid (Ex 18.43) for less than Alpha AT (Ex 16.91). Both had similar feature list with 360 Camera, Leather Seats extra in Alpha AT and better MID, HUD in Zeta plus.

At this price, getting a Hybrid seemed a great deal and went ahead with buying a 6 month old car. I did get the car inspected from Zekardo and the report was all good. The car was in Showroom basement parking since Dec and only had 21 Km on Odo.

Finally, I thought if I couldn't buy an EV, a Hybrid was the next logical choice as I didn't want to buy a guzzler and could not buy diesel due to NCR.

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