First car - Santro/WagonR/Alto/Estilo/Indica/Getz Prime/Spark/Palio 1.1/i10

[mobike008]

UVA or Palio, both are equally strong and nice looking cars, all other cars shortlisted have been around too long. UVA may have a slightly better A.S.S but, i am not sure about that. TD both these cars and go with what the heart says

[DCEite]

Mod note: Threads merged.

[Nimz]

@ Bombatt - congrats on your black Spark.. maybe on the streets of Bangy if I see your Spark then my SParky would wink too..

Pls note - mine was the first spark on the forum and hence reserve the right to call my Spark as Sparky not to mention I paid 50K more

[sudarshansarma]

Go for the Spark. With the new reduced prices its a really good b uy. Its solid, safe, economical and contemporary, unlike the oldies in the segment including the estilo which had been on sale in Japan for over 4 years!

[Vishesh]

I personally own a santro non-erlx 2004 model. To say the least, its a brilliant car !!! I mean, its perhaps the only small car which you can revv to the moon and enjoy the roar of the smooth engine..its one small car that you can brake madly and then again floor the throttle to get the same boost again..despite its tall-boy design it tackes corners and high speeds w/o a jiffy and is in fact more stable than most other non tall-boy design small cars..it has a robust suspension that'll last you more than the car and renders it brilliant highway hi-speed stability (but its a bit too hard for the city speed breakers, but nothing you cannot live with) ..has great seats and is reasonably roomy. Now with the new erlx engine, the engine response and efficiency is even better than what i get. The only problem - high-ish service and maintenance costs. But thats OK when you get so much out of a small car !!!

However, one advice - do have a look at the spark as well.. but dont choose anything else except the santro or spark !!! i mean it !!!

[dr_aryan]

palio is really value for money, esp. now with the 52k discount they are offering.
the car is really sturdy and beautiful, do check it out.

[rajahamsa]

How about the expected Pa? Is it worth waiting for? Any insights into the Pa?

[openroad]

I am planning a road trip in my alto from Mumbai to Kollur next month. Thought of Mumbai - Belgaum and the Kalghatki bypass road to Karwar and follow NH17 till Kollur. This seems in jeopardy after hearing the state of NH17. Incidently, this stretch used to be very good in 2002 when I last made the trip in my 800. Is there any better alternative?

[ujas]

i booked my santro gls black yesterday 3.94 onroad mumbai after discounts from shreenath hyundai . i live with my family but this is my first car. myself, my wife and 1 month old baby girl will only occupy the car. i think this is good value for money as similar specs i10 is 50k expensive.

[Raibat]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

IMO you should go for Santro Automatic.

Pros -
1. Good car with very limited maintenance expenses ( I had a santro and was a gem for nearly 60 K KM). Don't be fixated on Maruti because in bangalore Triedent Hyundai service is best in class.
2. It is a tallboy. It is a great advantage for begineers like you and for ladies (Your wife will also use it).
3. It is automatic and much easier to use in Bangalore traffic (First timer and easy to adopt to bumper to bumper slow traffic also it will be highly beneficial for ladies to quickly adopt to driving).

Cons -
1. Can accomodate only 4+1 child. But this should be fine as you will be 4+1 99% of the time. for the other 1% of the time "Swalpa Adjust Maadi".
2. 1 to 1.5 KM lower mileage compared to manual. Small price to pay for the convinience you get out of automatic.
3. Slightly overpriced - 4.64L on road but you get discounts and freebies of about 20 L.

I'm driving a Santro Xing Automatic for a little less than years now. Never managed mileage more than 8 with AC and 10 without AC. A manual Santro gives about 14.5 in the same driving conditions. Had a 999 cc Santro LS (2000) for six years with a FE of 12 -13 before i changed to the Zing A/T. Was under the same understanding as difference of milage should be around 1 to 1.5 .. shocked with the results. The cost of the convenience of A/T has become too high. I have even read some posts where people claim to get a FE of 6 . Hyundai service claims 8 is what is expected. The 2 yr old elantra 1.8 GLS my parents drive gives FE of around 10 with AC under driving conditions which are much worse..

[kkcha]

Hello Team-BHP,

Actually across this wonderful forum googling for indian car reviews.
I
I'm planning to buy a car in december. my budget is around 4 lakhs.
My options are WagonR DUO/Zen Estilo/ Santro Xing. Personally i like the Wagon R, but i heard tht "splash " would be replacing this shorlty.Heard tht santro Xing too is a good value for money car. however i don like its interiors(particularly its dashboard) as much as wagon R's or the estilo's(their dashboard's are really good).

Please throw some light on these three choices...

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by kkcha

I'm planning to buy a car in december. my budget is around 4 lakhs.
My options are WagonR DUO/Zen Estilo/ Santro Xing. Personally i like the Wagon R, but i heard tht "splash " would be replacing this shorlty.Heard tht santro Xing too is a good value for money car. however i don like its interiors(particularly its dashboard) as much as wagon R's or the estilo's(their dashboard's are really good).

The WagonR wont be replaced by Splash but the Splash will be positioned in between Swift and WR. Thats the same thing Hyundai did, positioning i10 between Getz and Santro.
IMO you should seriously consider the new entrants viz Chevy Spark and i10. However if you are the conservative types willing to go only with tried and tested product, choose between WagonR and Santro.

[vkochar]

My personal advise would be the Santro Xing - Simply because it is the best small car in the SMALL CAR SEGMENT, also rated the same by all Car mags.

I have driven all sorts of small cars available here BUT Santro wins in all aspects. The next car or EQUALLY GOOD is the WagonR. Also a very good car.

In the new car launches you have the i10 - Magna priced around 4.00 Lacs ex, I have TD the car and it is quite a nice car BUT I would pick the Santro.

[kkcha]

thank you vary much for ur advice DCEite and vkochar...

[tushar79]

Originally Posted by kkcha

Heard tht santro Xing too is a good value for money car. however i don like its interiors(particularly its dashboard) as much as wagon R's or the estilo's(their dashboard's are really good).

Santro interiors' quality has gone down drastically. Combined with the fact that Hyundai is offering lesser discounts, I would say WagonR now has the edge.

You can also look at Spark, which has no danger of being phased out anytime soon.

If you HAVE to buy in Dec, bargain hard and cash in on the year-end deals.