corolla at 8.14 lacs ex showroom,buy or not? EDIT: Now Bought

[inder]

Guys i am planning to buy a sedan with a budget of 8 lacs OTR.had shortlisted city exi,sx4 vxi/zxi (not decided) and optra 1.6 base.
just wanted to know the prices of corolla aswell.so contacted the dealer.he sent me a corolla for TD and stated that company is offering a discount of 1 lac on the ex showroom price(9.14), i.e 8.14, OTR wud 9.03 lacs.base model
I TDrove the corolla and found it better than city and sx4,havent driven the optra as yet.
has anybody purchased a corolla or optra (both base) recently.plz provide me the discounts offered.can i bargain for more in case of corolla,say 8.5 OTR.I dont mind stretching my budget for a bigger car.
PS:i know corolla is due for upgrade.

[RROD]

is this in bangalore

[sj_koova]

I think you are referring to the HE version. I have driven corolla (base) for few days (do not own one) and was disappointed with its performance on Highways. It drives pretty well (Silent and smooth) if you stick to 50-70 kmph. This should be your TD experience.
The moment you race it to 80 or above the car starts loosing its handling and driving becomes rough and unpredictable.
The basic version is too basic for it's class I feel. No goodies, just like NHC.
If you really want driving pleasure, this is not your car. For your budget you have better choices that a decade old version of corolla. Why don't you try Cedia and Optra Magnum. Mitsubishi and Chevy cars handle well at high speeds.

[inder]

no its in nagpur,are they giving the same discounts in bangalore??

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by inder

can i bargain for more in case of corolla,say 8.5 OTR.I dont mind stretching my budget for a bigger car.
PS:i know corolla is due for upgrade.

Ofcourse you can bargain more and you must ! 1 lakh discount has been on for quite a while now i believe, start calling up dealers in other cities too and get rates to haggle your local dealer a little more.

IMO, the corolla is a no-brainer in choices you have. Corolla is in a higher segment than the cars you mentioned and price is pretty close to them, so i'd zero in on the Corolla.

[vkochar]

It is a brillaint car for that money. Go ahead and buy it. You will not regret your decision.

Base Model only lacks all the Comfort & Saftey features - Alloys, Fogs, Airbags, Music System etc.

Engine and everything else remains the same. Even the 4 Discs around are present and so is ABS.

It is a bit outdated though and would definetely be discontinued in the coming months for sure as they are launching the Axio now.

[BUSA]

You can go ahead with the Corolla, it wont be discontinued, since Toyota plans to sell it as the Corolla Altis after the launch of the New Corolla.

[vasudeva]

Corolla at 8.1 is a steal, and is in a different league than City and other similar, because of the extra power, comfort, and space. But 8.1 is ex-showroom. On road will be around 9. This must be HE. If you can go 1-2 lakh higher, go for H2 manual or H3 auto. Trust me, I drive the Corolla, and so far it has been as claimed.

Optra is decent and comfortable but petrol lacks power, and Optra may not have a good resale. Plus FE is a lot lower than manual Corolla.

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by BUSA

You can go ahead with the Corolla, it wont be discontinued, since Toyota plans to sell it as the Corolla Altis after the launch of the New Corolla.

New Corolla will be closer looking to New Camry also.

[suman]

I would say its a good buy at that price - PM Vasudeva for more details of pros & cons of owning one

EDIT: Vasudeva has already spoken, bang on cue!

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by suman

I would say its a good buy at that price - PM Vasudeva for more details of pros & cons of owning one

EDIT: Vasudeva has already spoken, bang on cue!

In one year (admittedly early days), so far no cons and no conning by dealers either. The ownership report is in the long term ownership thread.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by BUSA

You can go ahead with the Corolla, it wont be discontinued, since Toyota plans to sell it as the Corolla Altis after the launch of the New Corolla.

On this, it is not certain what will happen. Toyota is not known for selling too many 2 models of the same segment, but this is India. I may say something and something else may happen but on history, Toyota is known for its efficiency, and 2 models may cannibalise each other. Plus, 2-3 models in same segment is American style, but not Toyota or Honda. For Altis, we can track Corolla's production figures. If it stops before Altis is launched (2-3 months advance warning will be there in prodn. figures), then old Corolla is out.

For Altis, there may be glitches in the initial months (as is the case with nearly all cars). I am conservative and always prefer to buy after the initial rush. That would make it around mid-2009 for new Corolla's virtues and faults to be known and corrected.

[vasudeva]

For 9 lakhs, you will get the performance but not the trinkets. If you can, stretch it by 1-1.5 to at least H2. The alloys, stereo, climate control, airbags, ABS are worth having. It is a 1-time investment and Corolla should last long. You will definitely earn more in the future and maybe after 1-2 yrs, you would have wished that you had bought H2 or H5. You cannot install climate control, airbags, ABS in the aftermarket.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by sj_koova

I think you are referring to the HE version. I have driven corolla (base) for few days (do not own one) and was disappointed with its performance on Highways. It drives pretty well (Silent and smooth) if you stick to 50-70 kmph. This should be your TD experience.
The moment you race it to 80 or above the car starts loosing its handling and driving becomes rough and unpredictable.

Are you sure about this. I drive it at 100 kmph on Gurgaon expressway, and have so far not broken any bones or died. 50-70 kmph is achieved before the Indica has even time to change into 3rd gear. 100 is achieved before the auto driver has even started from the red light.

Where were you driving.

[ram_hyundai]

i feel sx4 zxi would be a better buy as it has more features and lower price.the price of parts are lower than the corolla and i hope your area the dealer for maruti would be good and then you can expect a good service from them too.you would be a premium customer for maruti as it is the costliest of all marutis except the grand vitara.

ram