What car for 10 lacs?

[shbhrao]

hi a cousin of mine had a budget range of 10 lacs. He would use the car in the city and take it out for long trips once in 2-3 months.
last week he drove my Fiat petra 1.6 and was very impressed with it.
I suggested Fiat adventure to him. BUt considering his budget can the gurus suggest better and more suitable cars. One more Q., how about if he buys the petra remodifies it's interiors and gets wider tyres, -how much woudl that cost?

[esteem_lover]

what sort of modifications are you looking at, for the interirors ?? and why ?

[himanshugoswami]

if he wants to modify the interiors, tell him to go for the adventure. that car has attitude like none other this side of 20L.

Apart from that, for 10L he can seriosly look at the elantra CRDI or the toyota corolla.

however, at today's prices, a safari DICOR EX is a very tempting buy- approx 8.5 OTR! Use the rest of the money for some serious ICE!

[shbhrao]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

what sort of modifications are you looking at, for the interirors ?? and why ?

Hi modifications for the interiorsto make it look more plush, the petra interiors is not nowhere as sophisticated as let's say the optra- anyway that's just a thought, I am sure there are far better choices for Rs. 10 lacs.

[shbhrao]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

what sort of modifications are you looking at, for the interirors ?? and why ?

Yeah the petra interiors are not very plush like the optra etc. And I thought wider tyres would be better for rough roads-true or not??
Anyway the idea of modification was just a thought, I am sure like others have suggested, there a lot more nicer chocies for Rs. 10 lacs. It is just that he has driven other cars like the baleno, matiz, the honda etc () and he drove my petra last sunday from Mumbai to way beyond talegaon(he was visiting his daughter at Sahyadri school) and he fell for my petra- made me so happy with all his poitive comments about the car!

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by shbhrao

Hi modifications for the interiorsto make it look more plush, the petra interiors is not nowhere as sophisticated as let's say the optra- anyway that's just a thought, I am sure there are far better choices for Rs. 10 lacs.

i'd say buy the car which sports good interiors, instead of buying one which isn't and stripping it & changing it. this way you will have a more original look & these things are factory made for this particular car. why dont you suggest the optra ? or the honda city ? both have good interiors & they are good cars as well ?

[finneyp]

Two great choices under 10 lacs:
1. Fiat Petra
2. Chevy Optra

[ravibhat]

For the budget of 10 lacs

1. New Variant Corolla
2. Optra
3. Tavera
4. Elantra
5. Upcoming Verna

If he is more interested on Petra and can park 2 vehicles then he can try this idea too: Buy Petra Petrol (Modifications to petra not advisable since it won't make much difference) for highway use and WagonR DUO or coming soon Santro LPG for City use.

My thoughts thats all : )

Ravi.

[GTO]

If his budget is 10 lacs, his expectations are higher too. Why on earth would he settle for a Petra?

I would suggest the following cars to him:

1. Increase the budget by 15% and go for the Civic. Its the latest, and a fantastic allrounder.

2. The Optra 1.6 fully loaded. At 8.xx lacs on the road, its got great interiors, all the bells and whistles and again...is an allrounder.

3. If his running is a lot, ask him to test drive the Elantra CRDi. Though I have not driven this car at length, user reviews speak very highly of the car.

Not the Safari at all. Even at the newer price, since this gentlemans driving is maximum in the city. Does he need to carry a lot of people around? The Innova fits the bill then.

[shbhrao]

GTO, The gentleman in Q is CA who does not know too much about cars except for the ones he's driven, meaning he is not the type to do a whole lot of research, he just keeps it simple -gets what he likes. Jis wife called me up this morning and told me that they were thinking of buying a car with that budget, when i heard his budget, I had the same reaction, and I told her that there were obviously a lot more better choices. I posed this Q. here, since I have not done a whole lot of research for this segment. And after seeing the replies< I will convey the same to him. Yeah let him test drive the options that you have mentioned and take a decision!
BTW, I have not heard a lot of good things about the Corolla, they say it's not that great for Indian conditions!

[lurker]

Under 10 lakhs, I would go for the Elantra ! From the reviews posted on this forum, and my gut instinct says it is an extremely good VFM car.

BTW where is Ford Mondeo ?? I do not see any reviews on the Mondeo on this forum ? It costs similar to the Octavia and seems to be quite slick!

[kutlee]

No Cedia!!!!...what happened to this car? Where are mitsu lovers?

[sridhar24]

With a budget of 10 lakhs new cheaper variant Corolla Executive which is priced at 9lakhs looks to be a very good choice.

[subbarp]

Originally Posted by sridhar24

With a budget of 10 lakhs new cheaper variant Corolla Executive which is priced at 9lakhs looks to be a very good choice.

Price is not OTR - add another 1.5L or more for OTR. It will be near 10L or more not near 9L.

[DCEite]

I would say an Elantra CRDi suits the bill perfectly here.