[sandeep108]

I have test driven both the Polos 1.2 & 1.6, both the Swifts, Zxi/Zdi and Jazz. This is for my better half and mileage being low, I finally settled on petrol, though the Zdi was a hoot to drive.

My views:

Polo 1.2 - out of question.

Polo 1.6 - quite nice, very good deal going on right now with 40k or so off (more if you opt for insurance off as part of the package). But the driving experience somehow was 'heavy'. Almost everything lagged / happened with a delay - whether acceleration, braking, clutch, etc. Very good ride, probably even better than Swift, decent space, but lacking in goodies generally. Gulps gas like there are trillions of mashed dinos waiting to be discovered.

Swift - very nice package and VFM. Deal breakers are - interiors - all shiny black and chrome simply appeared ghastly. The boot is simply too small - in a pinch if we need to go anywhere, a couple of small bags is all it can take. No split rear seats either. Simply impractical.

Jazz - As ACI feels, it appears so do I, the best all round petrol hatch. Wifey drove it for 2 min. and simply fell for it. She can peacefully treat it like her storage cabinet.

It was a close call between Polo 1.6 and Jazz, I probably may have chosen the Polo, but one has to obey if you know what I mean...

[morphique]

Originally Posted by sids911

Here is the breakup: (Insurance off and Exchange bonus is part of their Rs 40,000 off bouquet)

OTR 705937
Insurance off: 16048
Exchange Bonus: 15000
Corp Discount: 10000
Total Discount: 41048
Final OTR: 664889

Hey sids, I checked the quote I had got from BU Bhandari, it mentions INR 26486 for Insurance while in your quote the insurance amount is INR 16048.
I checked from Bajaj Allianz, also got a quote from Vidyut Motors, it is close to 25k as per both. Any clue why your insurance quote is so low?

[sids911]

Originally Posted by morphique

Hey sids, I checked the quote I had got from BU Bhandari, it mentions INR 26486 for Insurance while in your quote the insurance amount is INR 16048.
I checked from Bajaj Allianz, also got a quote from Vidyut Motors, it is close to 25k as per both. Any clue why your insurance quote is so low?

Agree. 25k seems to be more like it. Now that you told me, I dont know why SA would give me figure as low as 16k. i am going there today to get an official quote, please let me clarify and come back.

[frequentflyer]

Originally Posted by sids911

Agree. 25k seems to be more like it. Now that you told me, I don't know why SA would give me figure as low as 16k. i am going there today to get an official quote, please let me clarify and come back.

You can transfer your 'No Claim Bonus' to the new car to get a stream of low premia over many years if you 'transfer' your old car - not necessarily sell it - if you get what I mean! It makes a sizable difference to the Insurance premium which is shooting through the roof these days!

[manjot1912]

Help needed guys!!

Could anyone here please tell me as to why I should NOT buy a Polo TDi over a Swift - D?? I really want some practical advice and the main area to be considered is the performance.

Feature wise, I'm comparing the Swift VDi with the Polo TDi Comfortline. Prices are 6.4 lacs and 6.7 lacs OTR respectively.

The story is (a common one), that I've already booked a Swift VDi on 1st September and now I've have been quoted a waiting period of 5 months minimum. So, I've started to look at other options and the Polo is my next option.

What do you all say? Should I wait that long?

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by manjot1912

Help needed guys!!

Could anyone here please tell me as to why I should NOT buy a Polo TDi over a Swift - D?? I really want some practical advice and the main area to be considered is the performance.

Feature wise, I'm comparing the Swift VDi with the Polo TDi Comfortline. Prices are 6.4 lacs and 6.7 lacs OTR respectively.

Performance, I would say go for new Swift VDi, BUT for this statement from GTO in his review of Swift will keep me away from LDi/VDi variants. You may verify the same urself.

• Mediocre brakes (LXi / LDi & VXi / VDi). Inadequate for emergency braking conditions

Now 'why not Polo diesel', its not a performance oriented engine!! No way I'm saying Polo diesel is a bad car to own. Apart from FE what else can you expect from a 3 potter?

Looking at your choice of 'performance diesel' (Polo), I think you should first define what you mean by 'performance' so that we are on the same page

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by manjot1912

Help needed guys!!

Could anyone here please tell me as to why I should NOT buy a Polo TDi over a Swift - D?? I really want some practical advice and the main area to be considered is the performance.

On the other hand - Why should you buy a Polo Tdi over Swift VDi

Better quality interiors - may be 2 segments above
Probably marginally[?] better ride & handling package
Snob value

Also please note that Polo will have a higher TCO too over Swift. If you are looking at a performace diesel hatch, currently Swift holds the place I guess. If you want better performance, try out the diesel tuning box for another 30K !

[manjot1912]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

Performance, I would say go for new Swift VDi, BUT for this statement from GTO in his review of Swift will keep me away from LDi/VDi variants. You may verify the same urself.

Now 'why not Polo diesel', its not a performance oriented engine!! No way I'm saying Polo diesel is a bad car to own. Apart from FE what else can you expect from a 3 potter?

Looking at your choice of 'performance diesel' (Polo), I think you should first define what you mean by 'performance' so that we are on the same page

Thanks HammerHead. Yes, I did fail to define what I actually meant by performance. I did not intend to just look upon the performance of the engine. I wanted to know how the cars perform with respect to ride, handling, suspension, etc. And my only chance of going for the Polo would be only after all the Maruti Dealers fail to give positive response towards availability of the car. Till then, 1st preference - Swift.

Thanks again for your inputs.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

On the other hand - Why should you buy a Polo Tdi over Swift VDi

Better quality interiors - may be 2 segments above
Probably marginally[?] better ride & handling package
Snob value

Also please note that Polo will have a higher TCO too over Swift. If you are looking at a performace diesel hatch, currently Swift holds the place I guess. If you want better performance, try out the diesel tuning box for another 30K !

Thanks swiftnfurious. A very close friend of mine owns a Polo TDi Highline and I have driven it for many kms. I was impressed with the ride quality but I really think the car needs better rubber. The size of the tire is ok, but it makes noticeable amount of road noise. Not an issue. But, the new Swift impressed me more in the handling department.

Really appreciate your help. Thanks again.

[funkyp]

Guys i am in a dilemma over the petrol vs diesel hatch fight:

My search for a hatch to replace my aging '99 Honda City started with booking the Jazz. Couldn't take delivery due to circumstances, though booking still intact.

Insane increase in cost for petrol has me worried even though my running is currently only about 1000km/ month, mostly in the city.

Finally decided to TD the swift ZDi (wifey wasnt too keen on the swift earlier) and was impressed. excellent engine, nice to drive. Loved the re-designed interiors. Found lots of traffic noise filtering in though (the super thin glass maybe?). Have any of the owners faced any more rattling issues?

Drove almost all other diesel hatches including figo, pulse, micra, i20, fabia, punto, but would favour the swift over all these.

End point: if it has to be a diesel, the swift ZDi. If a petrol, the Jazz x.

+ve swift: fun to drive, nice interiors, low cost of ownership, good resale
+ve Jazz: Super smooth, big on space, well put together, premium.

-ve swift: space/boot. mostly will be 2 people using, but when parents visit will pinch not having the jazz, rattles (old one was famous for it), too common

-ve jazz: Cost of ownership, resale not sure (has been a market dud until now), petrol cost in future.

Currently, Jazz X is 7.35 OTR and Swift ZDi is 7.66.

Can expect both to be delivered in April.

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by funkyp

Guys i am in a dilemma over the petrol vs diesel hatch fight:
..
Insane increase in cost for petrol has me worried even though my running is currently only about 1000km/ month, mostly in the city.

FWIW, I started out to buy a car thinking that my monthly running would be only 500-600 kms per month. In the mere 5 months I've owned my Figo, I've already clocked 7000 kms! Mainly due to the sheer driving pleasure of this car, and also because of not having to worry about mileage and rising petrol costs.

I would advise you to get a diesel anyday over a petrol car.

[rider60]

as for the over all package offered product wise the order would go like this

Diesels:

Punto 90HP > Polo > fabia > figo.
(none of the other hatches for me unless may if new fiesta hatch or chevy sail comes along)

if petrol then this is the order:

polo 1.6L > fabia 1.6L > punto 1.4L none others at the moment.

well it is so for two reasons

number #1 except maruti and hyundai, all other service centers have their short comings as in not as good as either of these two atleast currently.

number #2 THIS is purely my opinion, based on my own personal experience with cars, i dont want to buy another tin box car, i dont mind paying say 50K to 1lac extra for a well built sturdy strong car over any more tin boxes.
For me the thing is not just bling and features that a car offers to make it a premium car/hatch, it has to be solid too both build wise and mechanically.

[why punto over the others in my list?, the feature list, national engine with VGT, mod capability and so on over the others.]

P.S. if some one whats to get a drift of what i am talking about, or better yet have first hand experience then i strongly suggest you open up the bumpers of a swift and punto/polo and take a picture for future reference as well, i am sure a set solid percentage of people with this comparison would have second thoughts on buying a swift or a similar car(tin box).
or better yet mildly punch one of these car's doors to understand the build, be advised the swift's(may be even figo's) might end up with a dent while either of the others would not be affected.

I could go on but let me stop here.

Disclaimer: i am not here to start a debate on how bad a swift is or which cars are tin boxes but i have had really terrible revelations and the intensity is what is being shown here, it is even more hurting because i am stuck with the car for more than a couple of years now since these revelations and i still have to wait for may be another year before i get rid of it for something better.

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by rider60

as for the over all package offered product wise the order would go like this

Diesels:

Punto 90HP > Polo > fabia > figo.
(none of the other hatches for me unless may if new fiesta hatch or chevy sail comes along)

Why not i20 MT 1.4 Diesel? I believe its a good hatch compared to its 1.2 MT Petrol sibling.

[rider60]

Originally Posted by _raVan_

Why not i20 MT 1.4 Diesel? I believe its a good hatch compared to its 1.2 MT Petrol sibling.

read my above post again, I20 is not mechanically fit to handle all the power it produces, what is the use of all the power if the car doesnt handle/articulate accordingly?

there has to be a right balance between acceleration, handling and braking in car which this car lacks.

and yes to me it is still a tin box car build-wise despite being one of the costliest hatch backs being offered, you see for a similar price another manufacturer is providing a much better build quality. A good combo of substance+form=Premium Hatchback is the equation i would expect to qualify as an ULTIMATE PREMIUM hatchback car.

EDIT: There is a flaw/short coming with the engine tuning of this 1.4L diesel albeit it seems to be tuned to get max Fuel efficiency(for ARAI rating) while sacrificing city drive-ability as in frequent change of gears.

Test drive the new 1.4L I20 the 6 GEAR version i mean, you will find the gears are a lot taller than desired, the turbo would kick in at 2K rpm, this makes the city drive-ability more tedious than most competition. My cousin got a RaceDynamics Box and it behaves much better than in stock form because the power starts to come in at a lower rpm.

Originally Posted by rider60

number #1 except maruti and hyundai, all other service centers have their short comings as in not as good as either of these two atleast currently.

number #2 THIS is purely my opinion, based on my own personal experience with cars, i dont want to buy another tin box car, i dont mind paying say 50K to 1lac extra for a well built sturdy strong car over any more tin boxes.
For me the thing is not just bling and features that a car offers to make it a premium car/hatch, it has to be solid too both build wise and mechanically.

[prashant316]

My ratings go this way:-

1. Polo
2. Swift
3. Jazz
4. Punto
5. i20
6. Fabia
   
   I can fit in Figo, i10 and a few others in between but they are not really premium hatchbacks.

[prithvi53]

The jazz in my opinion is the best overall car in the segment. it's the most comfortable to drive and it's pretty quick too especially when you rev it up. The quality of the interiors feels like it belongs to one segment above. Even the base model has airbags and ABS as standard. After honda dropped the price if the jazz it's definitely worth it.