Replacing my Baleno MT: Exploring new & used options in 8 lakh budget

Really liked the premium feel the Toyota Yaris offers. And I liked the smooth riding experience in the city and decent highway performance.

BHPian anoopvk268 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello,

Planning to replace my 2017 MT Baleno petrol as the Bangalore traffic is worse than pre covid times. My daily usage is 50-50 between highway and bumper to bumper traffic.

Requirements:

• Safe car
• Smooth gear box
• Budget around 8L
• Happy with a used car
• Might move to an EV/bigger car 2-3 years down the line

• So far I have looked at these cars
• Ford Ecosport : Excellent driving dynamics, spacious. Worried about the resale value after 2/3 years.
• Toyota Yaris : Really liked the premium feel the car offers. And I liked the smooth riding experience in the city and decent highway performance. Again worried about the resale value of a discontinued flop model.
• Polo 1.2 DSG : Excellent car in this segment, worried about the DSG reliability
• Ameo diesel DSG : Worried about the DSG reliability
• Honda Jazz : Practical care with lots of space, smooth gearbox. Did not find a good used automatic yet.

Please suggest me good alternatives or if I am missing anything from the list above.

Here's what BHPian bijims had to say on the matter:

The cars you considered are each worthy of consideration in their own right:

• Ford Ecosport: The car has an excellent build, good ride and handling and is a worthy car to buy used. However, with Ford having already exited India, resale value would plummet further in 3-4 years.
• Toyota Yaris: The Toyota Yaris is a really good car with the same engine and gearbox combo as is in the Middle East, It performs decently and is a reliable car too. The Yaris would be available for a bargain today and I don't think you should be worried too much about resale value, considering the price you pay for it today is much less compared to the cost of it when new.
• VW Polo 1.2 DSG: The 1.2 DSG Polo is a fun little hatchback, but the older the DSG gets, the more chances of higher maintenance and reliability issues popping up.
• VW Ameo Diesel DSG: Similar case scenario as with the Polo, however the Diesel DSG will be fun and frugal too.
• Honda Jazz: A spacious, no nonsense, reliable hatchback, definitely worth considering.

Other cars worth considering are the Honda Amaze CVT (as already mentioned specifically by other members), Honda City etc.

Here's what BHPian raptor_diwan had to say on the matter:

Since you're looking for a smooth gearbox and an automatic transmission, you can consider options like the Baleno CVT or the Nissan Magnite CVT.

Tata Tiago is worth considering as well. But with AMT some may find the shifting experience to be slightly jerky compared to a CVT.

Here's what BHPian Bala02 had to say on the matter:

Have you considered Honda Amaze CVT? Though it's frugal, the engine is a gem and it's a nice car. CVT gearbox is also good. If you stretch your budget a little bit, you can get a new car which will have more resale value when you sell it.

Here's what BHPian revsperminute had to say on the matter:

City CVT, 2017 onwards, up to 50k Kms, try to find a ZX model for the added feel-good features.

There, short and sweet answer to your question.

Here's what BHPian AJ56 had to say on the matter:

Look for 2013 2.4 Accords. You’ll get plenty around 6L, has all your needs covered, is much better built and safer than the severely underpowered Amaze, I prefer it in fact over the Amaze in traffic as I can close gaps much quicker. Also Amaze has very poor headlights, almost impossible to drive at night at higher speeds.

Even fuel efficiency, one area where one might assume the smaller car should win, Amaze is slightly worse off. When driven to achieve the same amount of acceleration, Accord is more fuel efficient.

For highways as well, you get ESP which Amaze lacks and 6 airbags (Amaze gets only 2), in addition to 5 star NCAP and IIHS scores.

Jazz has the same anaemic 1.2L engine as the Amaze, best avoided.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.