New Car Suggestions [5.5 - 6.5 Lacs]

[highpriest]

Alright, so my dad-in-law plans to buy a new car in the 5.5 to 6 lac [can stretch a little above 6L] range and I am seeking your suggestions. The choices are:

- Ford Fiesta 1.4
- Chevy Aveo 1.4
- Baleno Lxi
- Hyundai Accent [not very keen really, just for comparo sake]
- NHC [goes out of budget, oh well...]

So which one shall it be? The tried and trusted [and loved] Baleno or one of the new boys? The car will be purchased and used in Raipur, Chattisgarh. He will retire in a year or so and will mostly be driven around with him in the rear seat. Comfort, refinement, low running and maintenance costs are the main factors.

I am pushing for the Baleno but others in the family [read: the female variety] don't like it's looks that much. Another negative that is frequently pointed out is it's age and risk of obsolescence.

I've gone through a few other threads and understand that a few other members are in the process of making the exact same decision. Would love to know the factors that have gone into the decision making process. Specifically:

- Reliability
- Maintenance and service costs
- Cost of spares and availability
- After Sales Support [this car is not going to be in a metro]
- Resale [I know it's difficult to predict for the Fiesta and Aveo]

I've read the Aveo reviews here and I personally feel something is lacking in that car. The Fiesta looks to be a good package but is almost anonymous on the road, somehow lacks identity and character IMO. Will be test driving both in the coming week, so I hope to have a personal view on both the machines.

So what is it going to be? Help me out here guys!

Cheers

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by highpriest

- Ford Fiesta 1.4
- Chevy Aveo 1.4
- Baleno Lxi
- Hyundai Accent [not very keen really, just for comparo sake]
- NHC [goes out of budget, oh well...]

No doubt Baleno is a good car. No doubt its got excellent performance, no doubt its a maruti. But I have been tryin hard to put my point that now is the time Indians think out of the box.

I know the time is not far when 9/10 posts will be from baleno owners pushin ya for the same old car trying to help maruti outsell NHC.

But think logically. Ford fiesta is certainly a sales success now. I dont think resale will be a problem. yes it wont be as high as the jap cars in Japanese car dominated market. But Ford fiesta can pretty much hold its own.

Also look for CRDi if possible.

I cant give my views on Aveo in India but its a good VFM car here in N.America.

And the Americans sure know a thing or two about comfort.

Please do not use an entire quote for reply. Unless it's small in size. It increases page length for no reason. Thanks.

[highpriest]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

No doubt Baleno is a good car. No doubt its got excellent performance, no doubt its a maruti. But I have been tryin hard to put my point that now is the time Indians think out of the box.

Agreed. But he is buying this car as part of his retirement investment and that's the reason I want to suggest a car that is tried and tested rather than one that is totally fresh in the market.

Tell me this: If the Baleno gets retired in, say, a year, will service and parts availability be an issue 3 or 4 years down the line? Man, this is getting more difficult by the minute.

What about the Fiesta vs Aveo? Which one has the edge? Which is a more "sensible" buy of the two?

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

No doubt Baleno is a good car. No doubt its got excellent performance, no doubt its a maruti. But I have been tryin hard to put my point that now is the time Indians think out of the box.

@dev, I believe it's the Baleno followers in this forum that you are requesting to think out of the box and not Indians in general .. going by the sales of the car, compared to its competitors, it's Baleno buyers who actually think out of the box and go for it .. rather than the more 'popular' NHC, Accent, Ikon .. and possibly in the near future Fiesta/Aveo too ...

@highpriest .. your primary criteria it seems are these ..
cost, reliability and ease/cost of maintenance

all the cars you listed should be quite reliable
a few inputs from your side would clear some of your own doubts.
Service - Which are the 2/3 auto companies that have max presence in Raipur ?
Resale - After how many years, tentatively, will it be sold ?

For your F-I-L, the Accent could also be a peaceful buy .. dont discount it from your
enthusiastic viewpoint ! And when you go for the test drives, do check out the rear seats too, as that's where he would be spending most of his time !

Is the Indigo SX being considered ? Having a diesel, post retirement, would be lighter on the pocket.

[extreme_torque]

Between Aveo and Fiesta... its Fiesta anyday!

[Steeroid]

Interesting...we're now seeing a serious lack of choice in this segment, which used to be the price band of the earlier C-Segment. You either have aged products or those that are to be replaced, or low-end and probably stripped down versions of C-Segment cars that wanna-be C+.

I've been saying this for ages now and I will repeat myself - this segment is being neglected. 5-6 lakhs is a decent budget for a good compact car and we're seeing manufacturers wanting to pull the price band upwards.

We used to get decent 1.5 and 1.6 litre cars in this price band not too long ago - now we get 1.4s and the 1.6s go upto 7-8 lakhs. Not fair.

[Fiero]

nice to see resale and FE are not top priorities for a change ... so get down to what you want ... baleno's main plus point over the aveo 1.4 and fiesta 1.4 is its performance ... no comparo ... but if you're not really yearning for that extra performance ... then you might wanna consider better interiors and build quality , which the aveo and fiesta score over the baleno . maruti service is obvious . but ford and Gm aren't bad , in my personal expierince.

cheers !

[yogi1771]

can vouch for the ford service at shaman ford very good but not sure of wasan ford

[DCEite]

Do check out the Ford Fusion as well....

[speedbuster]

Baleno would be out of my list anyway, it has be a comparo between fiesta and aveo 1.4

Well, fiesta's rear seat are very upright, not very comfortable.
Aveo's seats are better than all the cars listed above.

Where fiesta scores over aveo is Ford v/s GM, whr FORD would win anyday in terms of spare part and service.

Since you are buying this car for ur dad, there is no point in looking at mere enthusiasm, be practical.

My vote be for Aveo 1.4

[Tech]

Well note that Ford Fiesta is offering only a warranty of 12 months and Aveo with 2 yrs warranty crashed out with only 1.5 stars out of 5. If you can live up with those issues, make your choice accordingly. The rear seat by default in Fiesta is comfortable but the head rest's default position touches neck's back nastily. Driver seat in Fiesta is very nice, you feel in command on road however the steering obstructs the road view only marginally. Aveo is a luxury car fresh interiors but a tinny and weak body which is not tough enough. The NHC has low ground clearance - where do you want to drive today? Some problems in cars have to be taken along. Probably Baleno though aging is more perfect in terms of what the car is meant for - driving. But many find its looks as dated / old. There's no perfect car just like gals !!!

[kpzen]

I just bought a Baleno Lxi some days back for 5.3lacs on road...Its worth the money spent....But considering your budget 6+ lacs i would recommend u anythin from Ford's stable Fiesta Fusion n Ikon 1.6(only available on demand) All great cars n assuming the car wont accumulate huge no of kms the maintenance wont be a big issue...The Aveo is mixed bag which has everything but nothing extraordinary ....It still needs some refinement....
My vote is for Fiesta 1.4

There's no perfect car just like gals !!!

Thats the situation of C segment right now.....


KP

[finneyp]

I guess you should consider Aveo 1.4, Fiesta 1.4 and Petra 1.6. Test drive all the three cars and decide! I would go for Petra 1.6! Good luck!

[Tech]

Somebody's already complained long time back about the low end torque of Petra 1.6
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nd-torque.html (How to improve lower end torque..)

Know your wheels first and then decide. Can you live with a dreary to move bag of metal?

The Swift 1.6 Sports in the above range whose performance is rated to be better than 10-13 lac cars may be worth waiting for. But it's again a hatch, a small car.

No car is perfect. No wonder people stretch a little bit more and end up with a NHC to get peace of mind, if you can live up with that low ground clearance (and keep an eye on low speed breakers), low power and torque and no ABS ( !!! for that much cost), Braking skidding and heavy weight moving around type movement but stable and comfortable luxurious rides, along with the Honda Badge. As per latest sales charts for C Segment cars for 2005 - 06 :

Indigo Marina - 39382 cars
Honda City - 37544 cars
Hyundai Accent - 30301 cars
Esteem - 21843 cars
Ford Fiesta - 13007 cars (may be most of these sales were Fiesta Diesel 1.4)
Baleno - 10096 cars
Lancer / Cedia - 2113 cars
Ford Fusion - 1937 cars
Aveo - 1395 cars
Ikon sales dropped - ( negative) 12080 cars

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by Tech

Somebody's already complained long time back about the low end torque of Petra 1.6
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nd-torque.html (How to improve lower end torque..)

Know your wheels first and then decide. Can you live with a dreary to move bag of metal?

You are grossly misrepresenting facts .... So I guess you shoudl know your wheels first. This is what was said in the post -

Originally Posted by DRC

Experts/Gurus here, need your advice, help..
Not that I am complaining about the lower end torque in my car (Petra 1.6EL)
But I really wnated to understand what contributes to the lowerend torque and top end grunt..

Go figure .....

To highpriest -
The Baleno is imho better than all the other choices you have. But seeing that this will be an investment, and that your dad will be in Raipur, why don't you look at the Indigo range? Once he has retired, I am sure the high price of petrol is going to pinch a lot. Diesel is the answer and I guess that in this price range the Indigos do a wonderful job.