Sonata or Civic or wait

[shatrughna]

Dear friends!
need your help to decide. I am confused between-
1. Sonata CRDi - AT - 2007 manufactured. Price on road 16.52( offered 1 lakh discount). Like electrically adjustable seats, lumbar support,But sceptical about low resale value and 4 speed auto, no MP3 player but has a cd, cassette and radio.

2. Civic- S AT - not available and V AT is costing 13.56 on road- no discounts. Like paddle shifter & 5 speed auto tranny. But its petrol driven , low ground clearance and low torque as compared to sonata crdi AT and doesnt have a cassette player.

Accord - 2.4 AT - not available in stock. hence, choice is limited to Sonata and Civic. Skoda and Toyota not considered as I dont like them.

Please, help with your advise. Also please, let know if automatic scorpio is expected in Apr 2008 - source driveinside.com.

Sonata dealer wants me to commit by tomorrow with token - hence, this is urgent.
Thanks.

[diabloo]

There is nothing urgent. There is no demand for Sonata (they sold around 25 last month). Even if you delay, you will get the same discounts. So relax and make the decision at your pace.

Originally Posted by shatrughna

Sonata dealer wants me to commit by tomorrow with token - hence, this is urgent.

Do a search. Some people have claimed to have got discounts around 2 lakhs.

[androdev]

other than new accord, is there anything worth waiting for in near future @ your price range?

i probably would pick sonata among the two. i prefer diesel and its executiv-ish looks to the sporty civic. resale will be bad, so depends on how long you intend to keep it.

Entry level Laura is a serious contender, not sure why it is out of the picture.

[shatrughna]

Hi Androdev! I am looking for an Auto tranny and its not available in lower trims of Luara. They have discontinued Rider AT and Elegance AT too plus maintenance cost of all Skodas are much higher than Hyundai and hondas.
@diabloo- 2 lakhs!! thanks. will search more.

[snaronikar]

I second diabloo's opinion. Discounts galore for this car (sonata). It depends on how you discuss and squeeze every paise out with the dealer. Anyways, the sales is not so much for thi car.

Camry would have been a better choice. But I do not know why you don't like Toyota.

[akshay1234]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Camry would have been a better choice. But I do not know why you don't like Toyota.

the camry costs about 25-27lac OTR.

[shatrughna]

Akshay said it rightly. Camry is clearly out of budget and moreover, there is no Toyota and GM service centre in Navi Mumbai. Ford, Maruti Tata and Mahindra have nothing to offer in auto transmission. Choice is restricted to Honda ( CRV again out of budget) and hyundai too only sonata is available. Luckily sonata is diesel else choice could have been either CIVIC or City. Accord is not available currently though I could extend the budget as per current model prices(17.2 lakhs OTR). New model I think will be pushing it again out of budget.

[shuvc]

Depends on which compromise is lesser for you.
1. Can you live without electric seat adjustment and lumbar support?
2. Can you live without a cassette player?
3. Can you live with a slightly low ground clearance?
4. Can you live with the low petrol torque?

Financially the Civic will probably be cheaper. You save 3L upfront. My guess is that a 2-3 yr old Sonata will sell for the same price as a 2-3 yr old Civic. So you save some more money in resale value. These savings should more than cover for your extra petrol expenses. Unless you plan to log tens of thousands of kms every year.

[csentil]

Why is the Accord 2.4 AT out of stock? I thought sales of Accords were pretty good.

Being a civic owner myself I'll go with shuvc's assessment. If you are primarily a City driver the civic would be a better choice.

Btw why's the cassette deck so important? :-) I too have a lot of old cassettes...

[nicejits]

whats is this Question ? - Civic ( Honda brand) always

[Sahil]

Have they stopped manufacturing the Accord already to launch the new version ?!

The Sonata deal is rubbish, even if you get a 3 lakh discount its not a good deal.

I suggest you wait for the new Corolla and if budget permits new Accord !

[shatrughna]

Thanks everyone. The opinion here is very clear in favour of Honda. I guess I cant go against the considered opinion and advise of friends here.
@ Csentil - yeah - I luv old songs on my cassettes and I dont find Mp3 / CDs of many of those I have collected in last 2 decades, hence, I will have to make some arrangements in whichever car I go for. I bought Verna ( exchanged for Accent CRDi) for this reason that it also had a cassette player.

@Shuvc: when I used the electric seats in laura during test drive- I just loved it so much that I wish my next car has this feature. its addictive in laura with lumbar support also being electrically adjustable.

Low ground clearance is a big pain and I just hate the thud and screech sound it makes when it bottoms out. but there is hardly any choice. I guess if economy and re-sale value is the factor apart from brand- then I would now also look at Honda city CVT and if I can live with it - I ll go for CVT else, Civic. In any case, I am keeping Verna CRDI for weekend fun drives- till I get either scorpio automatic or Vitara auto in exchange for Verna but that will wait till May 08 ( need SUV for monsoons).

thanks everyone. Will keep you all posted.

[shatrughna]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Have they stopped manufacturing the Accord already to launch the new version ?!

The Sonata deal is rubbish, even if you get a 3 lakh discount its not a good deal.

I suggest you wait for the new Corolla and if budget permits new Accord !

yes . this is what the dealer said that he cant make any commitments for automatic accord. They only have manual accord 2.4 left in stock. they are taking bookings for new model but time lines and prices are non-commital.

I need to buy a car almost desperately (my wife is threatening to make me 'bekar' as she is having tough time commuting to her office) and I also always wanted an automatic transmission car.
Though Accord has all the charm and was almost considering to buy after comparing the deal with sonata diesel and found accord a better value but then the dealer broke this news about non-availability till uncertain date.

[trrk]

Hi shatrughna,

> I luv old songs on my cassettes and I dont find Mp3 / CDs of many of those
> I have collected in last 2 decades, hence, I will have to make some
> arrangements in whichever car I go for.

You can use a walkman and FM transmitter if you can live with a little bit of wires dangling around.

[Technocrat]

People What exactly is wrong with Sonata? I mean initially everyone said it lacks Diesel, when Diesel became available people still talk bad about it..

I mean The Car looks a whole lot bigger than a Civic, is Diesel & comes with more goodies.

As long as shatrughna intends to keep it for long & munch miles why shouldn't he go for it unless of course he wants only city use & less driving then the xtra Ls don't justify

This is a genuine question is there something wrong with the car ?