Spark 1.0 LS vs Santro GLS - Need to decide before Price Hike

[FirstCamry]

This is my first post. I am Newbie in this site. Accidently stumped on this site while searching for reviews for cars. Found this site amazingly helpful and just got addicted to this site. It’s overwhelming.

Advice needed.
I am kind of torn between Spark LS and Santro GLS. I have read great reviews of Spark, but those are dated in year 2007 when the price was way high. The cons were mostly about the price but now GM has considerably reduced the price. I am offered Spark LS at 3.47L On road and Santro 3.75L on road in Chennai. Both includes ( AC and Power Steering ) . Santro has PW too. And of course Spark comes with that 3 year warranty thing.

Things which I am looking for
FE (will be driving 20 km per day)
Looks (Exterior/Interior)
Resale Value (As I am planning to sell within 2 years)
After Sales Service

Thought of buying a used car but my wife doesn’t like that.
Don’t want to buy an Alto as we already have that in our family.
Also I have never driven a manual car. Or should I say I have never driven a car in India.

[mjothi]

The last 2 point suggest to go for Santro. Although little outdated, it sells even today. You should have no issues to sell it in next 2 years.

[karanraheja]

@ First Camry - I guess among the two Santro should be the best choice.
Inspite of being quite a dated model it should return you a good resale.
Any chance of diverting the option to i10? I heard i10 Magna is around 4.1 OTR . i10 Era( Base) would also be a good deal. Im giving you the option of i10 since its a new car, better interiors, better looking . Cheers.

[SumitB]

If you prioritize resale and A.S.S. then you need to get the Santro. Dated allrite, but trusted and tested.

[FlyingSpur]

Everything except the resale value : Spark . Even if you're going to sell it within two years, the warranty will still be valid for the second buyer which will definitely be an incentive.

[GTO]

The Spark is much better to drive buttttttttttttttttttttt

Resale Value (As I am planning to sell within 2 years)

GM India always manages to kill the resale of its cars....in recent times, there have been so many (and inconsistent) changes in the Spark's pricing that even BHPians have ended up confused. The Santro will be a safer bet here.

[aditya.86]

The santro has been tested and has survived in the segment inspite of tough competition. Plus the i10 is not doing so great in the domestic market. among the 2 the santro will be the better option.

[S_budhiraj]

Even the Spark has got the front 2 power windows in LS as Santro GLS....

Spark for all the following Reasons:-
Better car to drive.....
Got ride quality as santro has a bit bumpy ride....
New as compared to santro (Old and to much to see on roads)....
No A.s.s tensions for 3 years.....
And as a survey the resale value of the GM models have increased as compared to few months...reasons improvement in the products, Services and sales...

Note from the Team-BHP Support : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.

[phamilyman]

Why not a Santro AT?

Santro is trumped on all counts, except the resale.

[aaggoswami]

My Answers are in bold

Originally Posted by FirstCamry

This is my first post. I am Newbie in this site. Accidently stumped on this site while searching for reviews for cars. Found this site amazingly helpful and just got addicted to this site. It’s overwhelming.

Advice needed.
I am kind of torn between Spark LS and Santro GLS. I have read great reviews of Spark, but those are dated in year 2007 when the price was way high. The cons were mostly about the price but now GM has considerably reduced the price. I am offered Spark LS at 3.47L On road and Santro 3.75L on road in Chennai. Both includes ( AC and Power Steering ) . Santro has PW too. And of course Spark comes with that 3 year warranty thing.

Things which I am looking for
FE (will be driving 20 km per day)
Spark has better fuel effeciency than what Santro can give. Please mention the split up of city and highway use.
Looks (Exterior/Interior)
Each and everyone has his or her own personal preference of looks.
Goes to spark here.

Resale Value (As I am planning to sell within 2 years)
Santro will hold up a lot of value. Santro wins here

After Sales Service
Santro again wins, but then spark spare prices are lower than santro.

Thought of buying a used car but my wife doesn’t like that.
Don’t want to buy an Alto as we already have that in our family.
Also I have never driven a manual car. Or should I say I have never driven a car in India.
Go for Santro Automatic( If you can affrod ). Its great.

Slightly offtopic, but necessary: One of my friends was coming to Baroda from Anand by trian ( 36 km distance, and he studies in Vidyanagar near Anand). He somehow fell off the train ( he was asleep just minutes before the incidence occured ) as soon as he awoke and tried to figure the time left. he fell off and his right leg below the knee was run over by train wheels and hence cut off.
Now recently he bought Santro Automatic by my advice ( Wagon R was too expensive ). He gets 16kmpl on highway with one person and luggage ( very little ) and AC on always. In city he is getting 9kmpl with mostly 1 person and AC on.

[FirstCamry]

Thanks you all for your responses. I was getting inclined towards Spark until I started reading all the replies.
If we are calling Santro outdated now, I am afraid that 2 years down the line Santro will become historic ? Will it have still good resale ?
My initial choice was always Santro then I read some horrendous Long term possession threads about Santro's crank shaft/engine failures.

@Karan - i10 is beyond my budget . Even if I will for 3.75 santro , I will be stretching my budget.3.75 is max I can go .

@Phamilyman - I was told by Sales guy that AT has a long wait. And guess its over my budget too.

What if I remove Resale as one of factor ( probably I will it to me Dad ).
Would Spark be then become favourite ?
Still undecided !
Worst part - I cant to a TD because I am really not confident driving .

[phamilyman]

Camry, here is the litmus test in my opinion:
a. Push both cars to 100 hear NVH.
b. Belt yourself up in rear seat and take it over bad roads - REALLY bad roads.
c. Start them up and try to listen to the engine idle - atleast with spark!

PS: The cashless service advantage really helps.
PPS: IMNSHO: Resale will only be a trifle lesser - atleast in Delhi you have MANY sparks on the road - its pretty common so *** and resale in 3 years you wont mind.
PPPS: No matter what anyone says about Santro, the car IS on death row. The only question is when Hyundai pulls the plug (had i10 taken off, it would've been off by now). And that WILL screw resale values.

So in effect, combine a much lower purchasing cost, free services, fantastic overall package of spark with the FACT that Santro is on its last legs, and you have a clear Winner, esp if you are willing to live with a 10-15k resale differential in 3 years or are passing it on.

Lastly, get a TD. You didn't let your dad select the bride and just say hello on the marriage day, didja?

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by FirstCamry

Thanks you all for your responses. I was getting inclined towards Spark until I started reading all the replies.
If we are calling Santro outdated now, I am afraid that 2 years down the line Santro will become historic ? Will it have still good resale ?
My initial choice was always Santro then I read some horrendous Long term possession threads about Santro's crank shaft/engine failures.

@Karan - i10 is beyond my budget . Even if I will for 3.75 santro , I will be stretching my budget.3.75 is max I can go .

@Phamilyman - I was told by Sales guy that AT has a long wait. And guess its over my budget too.

What if I remove Resale as one of factor ( probably I will it to me Dad ).
Would Spark be then become favourite ?
Still undecided !
Worst part - I cant to a TD because I am really not confident driving .

If you remove the resale factor, then Spark wins pretty easliy. You are from chennai, so as it is large city, you wont have problems regarding After Sales and Service, so Spark wins then.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Camry, here is the litmus test in my opinion:
a. Push both cars to 100 hear NVH.
b. Belt yourself up in rear seat and take it over bad roads - REALLY bad roads.
c. Start them up and try to listen to the engine idle - atleast with spark!

PS: The cashless service advantage really helps.
PPS: IMNSHO: Resale will only be a trifle lesser - atleast in Delhi you have MANY sparks on the road - its pretty common so *** and resale in 3 years you wont mind.
PPPS: No matter what anyone says about Santro, the car IS on death row. The only question is when Hyundai pulls the plug (had i10 taken off, it would've been off by now). And that WILL screw resale values.

So in effect, combine a much lower purchasing cost, free services, fantastic overall package of spark with the FACT that Santro is on its last legs, and you have a clear Winner, esp if you are willing to live with a 10-15k resale differential in 3 years or are passing it on.

Lastly, get a TD.

If the resale part is thrown out of the window, then clearly Spark wins. Santro has a bad rear ride quality. Relase might be good, but then the thread starter is ready to compromise a bit here. Spark wins.
better Fuel effeciency, better looks and not so bad service wins it here.


PS: in october 2005 when hunting for a midsize car, we went to GM for Corsa ( our heart was here for build, but was about to be discontinued ). GM was one of the best showroom experience ( sales guy dealing with us, test drive included ). I dont think its that bad, but only the presense ( quantity of service centres ) is less. spares cost are not that much.

[ravibhat]

I suggest Spark, The reasons:

Don't care about resale value because Santro will be out dated car in 2 years compared with Spark which is still new car in the market.

Spark package is very good and it has excellant ride and cute looks.

Santro front seats are too low and pedals are in not godo position so driving for tall person (5.10) is issue where as spark has better seat position.

Santro bumps a lot in rear seat in bad road.

But Santro is tried and tested model and one can trust this car for sure. But still Spark is good choice right now.

Regards,

Ravi.

[mezereo]

Originally Posted by FirstCamry

Thanks you all for your responses. I was getting inclined towards Spark until I started reading all the replies.
If we are calling Santro outdated now, I am afraid that 2 years down the line Santro will become historic ? Will it have still good resale ?
My initial choice was always Santro then I read some horrendous Long term possession threads about Santro's crank shaft/engine failures.

@Karan - i10 is beyond my budget . Even if I will for 3.75 santro , I will be stretching my budget.3.75 is max I can go .

@Phamilyman - I was told by Sales guy that AT has a long wait. And guess its over my budget too.

What if I remove Resale as one of factor ( probably I will it to me Dad ).
Would Spark be then become favourite ?
Still undecided !
Worst part - I cant to a TD because I am really not confident driving .

hey FirstCamry, I have a spark and its a gift to my dad. im happy that I bought this car. few of my colleagues and friends bought santro's, wagonR's just a week before i got spark.
Now they all think why didnt they get this car instead. This will never let you down. build quality of GM is prety good.