Deeply disturbed and utterly confused. EDIT : Bought Civic!

[shuvd]

Hello all. I'm in a big dilemma. My father needs a car.
Average monthly running would not exceed 1000Kms and my parents will be the main users.
The car will be mainly chauffeur driven in Calcutta with my dad taking the wheel on weekends. Also, there will be some highway travel involved every 5-6 months, max 2000Kms (round trip).
Rear seat comfort is a priority but so is a responsive engine (my dad tends to rip his car at night). Good A.S.S is a necessity as most Calcutta dealers try to rip off the customers. Plus, there are no stand alone garages to service modern machines.
The car will be with us for at least 3yrs and yes, resale value is somewhat important.
Air bags and ABS are a must, while fancy frills are not.
Cars short listed (price/segment wise) are:
Maruti Swift ZXI/VDI with ABS and SRS
Maruti SX4 ZXI
Optra Magnum
Honda Civic S (manual)
Maruti Grand Vitara (manual) But, 2l petrol, AWD and 1600Kgs. Will have the friendly neighbor hood pump wallah on speed dial!
It is a strange list maybe but thats the dilemma.
Ford is ruled out because of horrible A.S.S.
Want to stay away from TATA as we had had some terrible experience with the Sumo and the first generation TCIC Safari.

Did I miss anything? As you can see, budget is flexible but, 15 L OTR is the max ceiling. Sorry guys for such a long post. But thats how things stand right now. Shoot.. and thank you all in advance.

[mclaren1885]

Optra Magnum followed by Swift Vdi would be my choice. Though I am not sure how good resale of Optra's are.

[theMAG]

Reading abt horror stories of other cars in the recent Kolkata floods, I'd reckon a car with the most seamless A.S.S is crucial. That and other requirements that you mentioned point toward the SX4.

[tsk1979]

Back seat is important?
Out goes the Swift
I guess the Civic and Magnum are good choices. Both are comfortable and reliable cars.
In Resale I assume the Civic will score.
There is the Toyota corolla also, and you get free maintenance package for 60,000kms + 6.02% interest rate.

[vid6639]

I would leave out the civic for kolkata roads. better to go for a bit sturdy car. I know the way parallel parking is done in kolkata. lol.

The SX4 is a good choice so is the magnum. I am not sure about the GM service in kolkata but it wasn't any great shakes when my uncle had the corsa.

[samirsarkar]

Looking at your requirements, I would suggest the Toyota Corolla H2 or H5. The car has a wonderfully responsive engine, is extremely reliable, has a great seating comfort and quite fuel efficient. The car is perfect for both the driver and the driven. Your dad will also be benefitted with the lumbar support for driver's seat sadly missing in the Civic. Though the Corolla is slated to be replaced next year, knowing the bullet-proof reliability of the car, I do not see it losing its resale value by that much. Toyota also boasts of a very good *** which is better than GM or Honda any day.

Your budget can allow you the H5 with some frills like auto headlamps etc and still save on the lot but I think the H2 will suit you perfectly and you can use a part of the balance money to fit in parking sensors and leather seats if you want to do so.

[barry]

Hey... was wondering if the roads in and around Kolkata are really that bad??? If they have many of those belly scraping speed brakers.... you should stay away from the slightly (lower slung) seadens esp. the Civic. The SX4 would be the best bet in such a scenario. However, it the roads that the car would traverse are decent .... My pick would be the Civic... Thats one car that oozes personality besides being a dream to drive, scoring on back seat comfort and a much better resale value!!!

[planet_rocker]

going by the looks - i think the sx4 is not that bad - but you gotto TD the sx4 more (with your dad in the rear seat) and get to know how it handles. the Maruti A.S.S. is quite good in Kolkata (be it Jalan, Auto-Hitech, Dewars, Mohan, etc).

i think you can go through the reviews of the sx4. i think couple of members from the group can help you out. @godfather, memo45, mclaren1885, c3po / v1p3r, others (sorry forgot your nick) can give you a review.

second option will be Corolla (you havent short listed it) - i think driven and karan can help you out.

[iraghava]

How about the Accord since rear-seat comfort & a responsive engine are a priority?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by iraghava

How about the Accord since rear-seat comfort & a responsive engine are a priority?

Much above the 15L OTR ceiling.

[akroy]

I suggest simply go for a maruti !!! Now it is upto ur choice whether u go for Swift D or SX4 depending upon location of driving, parking, menaeuvering etc...
Dont put your old parents into headache by going for a non maruti in kolkata...Still there is a big difference between Maruti and Others in ***...

Abhi

[suman]

Originally Posted by shuvd

Rear seat comfort is a priority but so is a responsive engine (my dad tends to rip his car at night).

Optra Magnum

Bingo! Not sure about Chevy A.S.S. at Kolkata though. Why are you so worried about resale values, as long as you enjoy the overall ownership experience?

[reignofchaos]

Since the biggest requirement is a comfortable rear seat, I suggest an optra magnum. It has more than enough grunt for the weekends too .

[TRANSAM]

if youre specifically need diesel magnum is the way to go.otherwise sx4 all thew way, keeping in mind your a.s.s requirements

[esteem_lover]

Did you not consider the cedia ? The Lancer had a good back seat, i guess the cedia should be good too.