Help me decide a car below 6L

[windsurfer]

Hi,

I agree that this topic has been discussed a lot of times. But some of the cars in my list might not have been discussed. I have a Indica DLX 2003 which has done about 49K. I am now planning to sell this and go in a for a C segment car.

My list includes -

Baleno - Like the power. But interiors are crap. I don't like the blower and temp. control knobs.

Indigo - Nice car but I guess that i will not get the performance I need.

Petra - Like this as well. But not sure about After Sales Service and also maintenance (somebody was telling me about expensive spares).


Adventure - Does it really give 8kmpl in city?

Fusion - Like this car a lot. But is very expensive.Somebody mentioned 1.5 lakh discount on this. is this true? With such low sales, what will happen to it in future? Also, the prices of the spares???


Accent - Only getting GLE for 6L.

Aveo and Fiesta - Way out of my budget.



Also, if i have missed anything you are most to welcome to suggest it.

Cheers
Siva

[kpzen]

Accent or Baleno...!!!

Both very practical n simple cars n buy Baleno only if u can bear the looks but i assure u the engine , AC n seats compensates for it in a big way....

KP

[nevertouchme]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Also, if i have missed anything you are most to welcome to suggest it.

Siva

Well, you have missed Ford - Ikon 4.69 is a steal....

Jai

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by nevertouchme

Well, you have missed Ford - Ikon 4.69 is a steal....

Jai

Ya its a great car(very comfortable/solid built/great handling) but i never had confidence in its brakes.....That scares me..

KP

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Baleno - Like the power. But interiors are crap. I don't like the blower and temp. control knobs.

Go for it if you dont mind the dated looks. Great engine, okay car. You'll love its city driveability.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Baleno - Like the power. But interiors are crap. I don't like the blower and temp. control knobs.

True, the interiors are nothing to write home about. I am not sure how the controls are in the new Climate controlled version (Vxi). But then it would cost you more than 6L.

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Petra - Like this as well. But not sure about After Sales Service and also maintenance (somebody was telling me about expensive spares).

There are quite some happy Petra customers on this site. With Tata in the picture, A** might not be a problem.

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Adventure - Does it really give 8kmpl in city?

I remember reading that the FE is not as low as made out to be. This is one nice car and maybe you should try this out too. Check for the FE with owners on this forum.

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Fusion - Like this car a lot. But is very expensive. Somebody mentioned 1.5 lakh discount on this. is this true? With such low sales, what will happen to it in future? Also, the prices of the spares???

Another good car. I also read about huge discounts on this one.

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Accent - Only getting GLE for 6L.

There might be a new Accent (Verna) coming out soon. So, maybe you could wait a bit to check that out also.

[neoonwheels]

Go for FIAT Adventure.... Its looks awesome... and yeh we have many ppl reporting more than 8 KMPL in city. FIAT-TATA tie up is working to be a good deal.. If you want any further info on FIAT adventure and After Sales Service, you can join us at "PalioUsersIndia@yahoogroups.com" and the guys on this forum will me more than happy to help you in betten Petra and Adventure. I own Palio 1.2 NV Sport and its an awesome.. Service had never been an issue. Join the group and we will help you out...

Cheers
Abhijeet

Palio 1.2 NV Sport/Pune

[revharder]

under 6lacs you can have following C-segmanet cars:

- Fiat Petra 1.6
- Ikon Flair 1.3
- Hyundai Accent GLE
- Maruti Esteem VXi
- Maruti Baleno LXi
- Maruti Versa DX2
- Indigo LX TDi
- Indigo Marina LX TDi


among B+segment you have following options:
- Hyundai Getz GLX
- Fiat Palio 1.6
- Maruti Swift ZXi
- Indica DLX Turbo
- Ford Fusion
- San Storm!!

i've tried to put all options in front of you, and it is upto you to decide!

and regarding suggestion/recommendation, i'd say that in C-segment, it boils down to Ikon Flair, Maruti Esteem and Indigo/Marina.
as per me Baleno, Accent, Petra, Versa are out!

in B+ segment,
Getz, Palio, Swift, Indica Turbo are very good, and San Strom is out!
Ford Fusion is a good vehicle to drive and to be driven in but be ready to shell out extra money over spares as they are available after lot of waiting time and are quite costly.

so, waiting for your decision!

[S Pathak]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Ya its a great car(very comfortable/solid built/great handling) but i never had confidence in its brakes.....That scares me..

KP

Have you driven one lately? Wonder how bad the brakes can be to "scare" somebody!

Well, the cars I have owned and driven include Ambassador, Santro, Zen and an Ikon (nxt version). I have not noticed any drastically poor braking on the Ikon as compared to the other cars to scare me. And I drive regularly in city traffic and also on highways during weekends at reasonably high speeds. Guess one gets used to a car pretty soon.

Slightly OT I guess, anyway, my 2 cents.

[kvish]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

Hi,

Adventure - Does it really give 8kmpl in city?

Siva

I am getting 10.5 in Bangalore traffic....20% AC.... I heard from the dealer that another owner is getting 11.5...however, one needs to note that it is dependent on the way you drive.... I "try" to keep it below 2500rpm at all time...

In all you will surely get more than 8... This is one car you should have in your list..

Bangalore's weather is back to what its known for.... :-) no AC needed!!

[revharder]

Originally Posted by S Pathak

Have you driven one lately? Wonder how bad the brakes can be to "scare" somebody!

Well, the cars I have owned and driven include Ambassador, Santro, Zen and an Ikon (nxt version). I have not noticed any drastically poor braking on the Ikon as compared to the other cars to scare me. And I drive regularly in city traffic and also on highways during weekends at reasonably high speeds. Guess one gets used to a car pretty soon.

Slightly OT I guess, anyway, my 2 cents.

very well said.

there is nothing to worry about brakes on a Flair.
although they might feel less powerful to some people, but to most of the owners/drivers they gives nice feel.
so no need to worry abt that SCARY feeling!

[windsurfer]

Thanks for your response guys. I think i am dropping fusion from my list. Though it's a great car but due to low sales,i will have problem with spares. Don't want to get stuck with a great car waiting for spares.

Regarding the Ikon, it does not even have some features that my DLX has. For ex. - remote boot release (i need this), not very powerful (only 70 bph). I am not complaining here but anyday it is a stripped down version of 1.6 nxt (which I loved).

Don't like Esteem and Versa.

Accent GLS is the car what I want but is again out of my budget.

Indigo is good but will I get the performance I need. At least somewhere near flair is accepted. The biggest problem with my Indica is driving in bumper to bumper traffic. With growing traffic in hyderabad, i would not like to get struck with a bigger car and no pickup. I will take a test drive this weekend. Would love to pick dicored Indigo though.

Baleno/Petra are very good in performance department. But only thing i am looking at is TCO. Spares is the major concern.

And no B+ segment cars

I am actually surprised that we do not have good choice for 6L. Most of the models are outdated. There have been no new releases in this price bracket for sometime now. Is 6L not enough for a C segment car?

[neoonwheels]

I wonder why you are dropping idea of Adventure. Believe me its a wonderful and value for money car.. I agree it is big but still powerfull enough to get you out of the city traffic. I ve driven it and believe me it is a Beast.. It has very macho looks (Though its a subjective) and perhaps the best looking station wagon.

Dont worry about the spares and After sales service. FIAT spare parts are no more very costly. On top of that Palio, Petra, Adventure share lot of common spares so there wont be any waiting...

I will suggest you to take a test drive and you will be agreed why I am pushing it..

About Petra: It is again one of the good value for money entry segment sedan available. Has great stability at high speeds and is solidly built. It will make yu feel like it will last forever. The new Petra has new exciting features like spot on reading lamp at rear, tilt steering etc. Again spares will not be a problem.

May be you should visit some TATA-FIAT dealer which will bring some confidence in you to go ahead with FIAT car

[windsurfer]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

I wonder why you are dropping idea of Adventure. Believe me its a wonderful and value for money car.. I agree it is big but still powerfull enough to get you out of the city traffic. I ve driven it and believe me it is a Beast..

Sorry for not being obvious Neo. I have not dropped it from my list. Just did not metion in my previous post. Only thing which is dropped for sure is Fusion. I love Fiat cars. But the way they are treating indian operation makes me sick. Right now even their web site is not working. beat that.......

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by S Pathak

Have you driven one lately? Wonder how bad the brakes can be to "scare" somebody!

Well, the cars I have owned and driven include Ambassador, Santro, Zen and an Ikon (nxt version). I have not noticed any drastically poor braking on the Ikon as compared to the other cars to scare me. And I drive regularly in city traffic and also on highways during weekends at reasonably high speeds. Guess one gets used to a car pretty soon.

Slightly OT I guess, anyway, my 2 cents.

Yes I recently drove a Flair around the hills in Himachal n on my way back through Ambala - Delhi had few high speed stretches......total around 800kms i think thats good enough to give an opinion...
The brakes might give u good stopping distances but the feel u get is not good at all....
A couple of times when i braked the car gave me a feeling as if its accelerating instead of a retarding thats what scared me..!!! Imagine doing 140kmph n u need to brake suddenly n the brakes give u that feel.....

I totally agree with u every car has different brakes n it takes time to adjust but i cant agree that it has the best brakes in the segment....Also its not just me i've heard this thing from many Ikon owners....

KP