Utterly confused in choosing a new Sedan

[loving_alaap]

An different option.

Why not to consider a fully loaded Automatic 1.4 L i20???

A blessing in Bangalore traffic, yet with all premier outfits.

[kcnetid]

SX4 - maruti suzuki and its range of dealer network + over all VFM. The car is absolutely spacious - inside as well a boot. Seats are as comfortable as living room sofas.
Havn't driven it but marketed as powerful.

Fiesta - maybe but not as comfortable inside as SX4 and boot is slightly smaller I think.

I would not go with Manza as Tata is not famous for its build quality. Somehow excepting for the Safari and Nano, Tata vehicles evoke an impression of commerce and taxis. We own a Nano and the day is not far off when it will become the de-facto taxi in a lot of places. They have compelling business value but lesser personal ownership value.

Tata may be a good buy to save money but SX4 is also comfortable in your budget.
I hope Tata JLR gets us more exciting vehicles.

[DigitalDragon]

Originally Posted by kcnetid

SX4 - maruti suzuki and its range of dealer network + over all VFM...

Fiesta - maybe but not as comfortable inside as SX4 and boot is slightly smaller I think.

I would not go with Manza as

I went to Mandovi Bannerghata Road today. They did not have the new SX4 for test drive, which was OK. But their attitude was as if they are doing any favour by giving the car for TD and by selling the car to customer. Gone are the days when Maruti was renowned for good service - they have become adamant now-a-days. Same with Bimal too - again another experience which made me buy Santro rather than Zen in 2006.
And moreover SX4 ZXi w/o leather seats costs 8.88 L OTR. Why not go for ANHC then ?

Fiesta is equally comfortable as SX4; only slightly less spacious. I did a TD of Fiesta 1.6 S for almost 1 hour, took the car to NICE road. Went till 150 kmph and tried to check the braking. Awesome. It just stopped without any fuss. One strange observation on Fiesta - the doors are not auto locked when the engine is started. Anybody can comment on this ? I think this feature is there in any small car too.

TATA MANZA after a brief TD is ruled out. It's a good car for money though. I didn't find the driving pleasure - personal opinion. Somewhere it inherits the Truckish feel - something which I can't explain in words. Secondly the panel gaps are too large to miss your sight. Door internal handles look and feel cheap. But again I would not say a bad car - definitely it is more than worth the price. I did TD of both petrol and diesel.

Originally Posted by Mevtec

Hi ,I too have a 4 years old (naughty) kid of who wants to sit in the front always...

Thanks again Dr. Mevtec. I am in a dilemma now. My heart says go for it. Brain says NO. actually I have 2 daughters - 2 year and 3 months old. Pretty difficult for backside. Will try to find some factual data from accident cases to see the actual behaviour of Airbags.

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Try and get a car with as many safety features as possible - Airbags (all around), ABS, ESP, etc. you never know which one of them might save you from serious injury one day.

Oh, of the choices mentioned by the others - I would stick to the Linea Emotion+ and the Fiesta S (not SXi).

Thanks for the suggestion. A dumb question may be - what is ESP ?

Secondly is there any reason for S and not SXi ?

I TDve the Linea Emotion pack petrol today and found to be quite smooth. Some observations:
A/C was not working properly. Sales guy says some obstruction in the vents. God knows only 1 year old vehicle and this is the situation. Its a fact that if you press your clutch to the bottom most you will surely feel the rotation of the steering column. Thirdly as already mentioned in the forum many interior parts not only look but feel cheap too.

Originally Posted by KishoreC

As someone already suggested in this thread, if you like fiesta why not Fusion.

Personally I too found fusion a good car. Though I have not done a TD so far. Its the Ford people who are pushing Fusion to the back stage saying its not moving, why do you want to go for it sir ? Also it may be true to some extent that as Ford plans to lunch Figo soon in India they might phase out Fusion.

Originally Posted by loving_alaap

Why not to consider a fully loaded Automatic 1.4 L i20???

Good Suggestion. But AT will not give that joy of driving a powerful car. What do you say ?

[Archer2005]

Originally Posted by DigitalDragon

One strange observation on Fiesta - the doors are not auto locked when the engine is started. Anybody can comment on this ? I think this feature is there in any small car too.

I heard about the feature of doors auto locking when the car starts while I was getting my own Fiesta.

But I also heard of horror stories of people who got locked out their own cars inadvertently , viz in a running car, you get down to open the gate, and hey presto ! you are locked out of your car..

In the final analysis, I suppose the feature will not be a deal breaker when deciding on your car !

[Ravveendrra]

ESP = Electronic Stability Program

TCS = Traction Control System

The S is set up and tuned to be more sporty and driver oriented than the SXi.

If you did not fall in love with the Linea do not go anywhere near it.

Cheers,

[Moonraker]

Originally Posted by DigitalDragon

I went to Mandovi Bannerghata Road today. They did not have the new SX4 for test drive, which was OK. But their attitude was as if they are doing any favour by giving the car for TD and by selling the car to customer. Gone are the days when Maruti was renowned for good service - they have become adamant now-a-days. Same with Bimal too - again another experience which made me buy Santro rather than Zen in 2006.
And moreover SX4 ZXi w/o leather seats costs 8.88 L OTR. Why not go for ANHC then ?

Fiesta is equally comfortable as SX4; only slightly less spacious. I did a TD of Fiesta 1.6 S for almost 1 hour, took the car to NICE road. Went till 150 kmph and tried to check the braking. Awesome. It just stopped without any fuss. One strange observation on Fiesta - the doors are not auto locked when the engine is started. Anybody can comment on this ? I think this feature is there in any small car too.

I agree with you on Maruti dealership, i was given the same treatment when i went to ABT maruti in Chennai and the sales guy said all the TD cars have gone for a mela when i can see one Demo car standing outside the showroom and a sales person was with another customer showing the features in the car. He could have told me that it would take sometime, but he didnt.

The Autolocking feature in Fiesta is progammable and the procedure is given in the user manual. I did not want to change the setting because i do not want autolock feature to lock me out when i get down my car for fuelling or to open the boot for security check. If you want it the service center can program it.

[abhijeetgupta]

Originally Posted by vkochar

Considering your usage of about 8000 kms a year you relly do not need a Diesel unless you want to own a performance sedan like a VERNA CRDi.

I would recommend the Fiesta 1.6 SXi ( Top Variant ). It should cost you just under 8 Lacs OTR in Bangalore. It's an extremely capable and a good vehicle, well loaded and absolute fun to drive.


Forget the Verna Petrol and Linea. Manza I am not sure as I am yet to drive or see it.

I checked it in Metro ford for fiesta SXI, it is 8.22 L , may I know where did u chek it ?

[DigitalDragon]

Originally Posted by Moonraker

The Autolocking feature in Fiesta is progammable and the procedure is given in the user manual. I did not want to change the setting because i do not want autolock feature to lock me out when i get down my car for fuelling or to open the boot for security check. If you want it the service center can program it.

Thanks Moonraker for the information. What I was trying to know is when I am inside the car and start the engine, the doors should lock automatically, either immediately (like in my Santro) or after the car reaches 20 kmph (like in Linea). But it gets locked only when we lock it manually, either at driver side or passenger side, as per the dealer guy. Now can this be programmable ?

[jaganm]

I had the same dilemma and finally ended with the Fiesta SXi. It helped of course that I got a 70K discount as my wife works for an OEM of ford. I think the current value positioning for fiesta is tough to beat. From what I hear, the spares are no longer an issue as they have come down significantly in price. The only downsides are the relatively lesser rear seat space.

[car-go]

Generally you may not find ESP and TCS in the price range of Fiesta / SX4 / Linea / ANHC. But its advisable to look for at least airbags, ABS with EBD (electronic brake distribution) as standard safety features.
In SX4 auto-lock while starting driving happens when the car reaches 20kmph (unless you manually do it before you start) - not sure if something similar is there for Fiesta.

[Torque123]

Originally Posted by DigitalDragon

Thanks Torque. Any idea when the 1.4 Tjet (or Mjet) is expected to hit the indian market ? I heard fiat plans to come with a 1.6 Mjet.

The Linea 1.4 Tjet is expected in Jan 2010 or at the max end of first quarter of 2010. This info i got is from the "Linea coming with 1.6 MJD thread" in this very same forum. I am again saying if i were you, i would wait till the launch of Linea 1.4 Tjet and then take a call.
Also the auto lock feature in Fiesta is programmable. I have confirmed this from Metro Ford Bangalore long back.

[Moonraker]

Originally Posted by DigitalDragon

Thanks Moonraker for the information. What I was trying to know is when I am inside the car and start the engine, the doors should lock automatically, either immediately (like in my Santro) or after the car reaches 20 kmph (like in Linea). But it gets locked only when we lock it manually, either at driver side or passenger side, as per the dealer guy. Now can this be programmable ?

Yup. It can be programmed and the service center can have this enabled.

[inwester]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Try and get a car with as many safety features as possible - Airbags (all around), ABS, ESP, etc. you never know which one of them might save you from serious injury one day.

I don't think any cars south of 15 lakhs comes with ABS, TCS, ESP etc. It's only offered in Comfort line Jetta and L&K Laura. I think ESP is not even there in Honda Accord. So forget all that for 8 lakhs now.

Originally Posted by loving_alaap

An different option.
Why not to consider a fully loaded Automatic 1.4 L i20???

This is exactly what I was thinking. A modern car than the others that are being discussed here. I like the i20 even though the engine is not all that desired.

Out of the rest I wouldn't go for Fiesta no matter how brilliantly it drives. It's a really small car and people will cramp inside. Plastics couldn't be any cheaper than what they have used. This car has been out for more than 5-6 years and is really outdated. I think it's going the Ford Ikon route. They will still sell this in 2012.

Again, I don't know why SX4 is making all that fuss in India. It's one of the most unreliable cars they have made and you can read more about it in forums (check any motoring website from an English speaking western country). Also there is a problem regarding airbags in SX4 which they soon might issue a recall in the U. S.

Accent is probably the most reliable car in this range, but again its also a small car.

Linea in my opinion is the best car and VFM for your budget. Its bigger, lots of features and looks the best.

Chose wisely and good luck.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by inwester

Again, I don't know why SX4 is making all that fuss in India. It's one of the most unreliable cars they have made and you can read more about it in forums (check any motoring website from an English speaking western country). Also there is a problem regarding airbags in SX4 which they soon might issue a recall in the U. S.

I understand there was some Airbag Light problem because of passenger seat sensor (NOT AIRBAG PROBLEM).

BUT "one of the most unreliable cars", that's difficult to digest, any source of this information?

[jigbarai]

Fiesta or SX4.
Test drive both and pick the one YOU LIKE. You'll know for yourself.

Both are equally good and capable machines otherwise.