I have gone through almost all the reviews and comparison threads on team-bhp forum in last one month and have been doing research about which car to buy. In the end i think i wanted to have opinion of folks to help me decide which hatchback i should buy for wife who has recently learned to drive.
Mods: Please move thread to appropriate section if needed.
History:
My wife has recently learned to drive car and she is comfortable driving on decent roads. Still when it comes to Delhi peak traffic she has hard time driving around on main roads. Recently she has got job so we are planning to buy
second car for her daily activity.
Existing cars:
We already have VW Vento Highline TDI at home for 5 years and Vento will be the car which will do most of highways. In all these years there has never been any kind of accidents or insurance claim so its still like brand new (Apart from few painting some kids made when it was parked).
We also have Santro at home which is 13 years old
maintained very nicely so in very good condition. Currently wife is using it to get more comfortable while driving. Once we buy new car Santro will be going to brother.
Requirements from new car (Priority wise)- Since wife is still new driver i want to buy safe car. It should atleast have driver side Airbag (I am short listing 2 Airbag + ABS variants of models if they exist)
- Maintanence and spare part cost should not be high. After owning Vento i am little worried about it.
- When i initially started i had 4.5L in mind but i think i can strech it to 6L but dont want to go beyond this.
- Since daily driving is going to be less than 20-30 KM (Monthly 400-500KM) so petrol makes more sense.
- Manual Transmission. Wife wants to learn MT and she is ready to spend more time and put more effort learning it but she does not want to restrict her self to driving Automatic only. However AT is not out of the question completely and test drive is pending for same as well. After test drive of Celerio AT it will be her decision without me interfering in it.
- Do not care about internal creature comfort like Push button start, Music systems, Auto climate control, Steering mounted control, boot space, back seat space, rear power window etc etc.
- Do not care much about FE. Since it will not be driven more.
Rejected cars which we have checked: Wagon R: Good car but wife did not like looks. Seems like WagonR is not famous among ladies.
Hyundai Eon, i10: They have excellent interior compared to competitors but I am not too keen on interiors. If we exclude interiors than they seems not so VFM option. Lacks safety feature and even if driver side airbag is there competitors are giving it for lesser price.
Brio: New platform Brio is coming next year so do not want to buy older version now. Is it good enough reason to reject a car?
I20/Jazz: Variants with ABS+Airbag were either out of budget and they are not compact hatchback so again not comfortable driving around.
Etios Liva: Middle MID was turnoff and somehow this does not attract me. Wife also did not like this when we checked in showroom.
Tata Cars: Brother has Manza and we have seen Tata A.S.S. first hand. Do not want to go through same experience so no Tata this time.
Polo: Out of budget and already own vento so do not want to buy Polo as maintenance is heavy.
Datun Go: NCAP rating is bad and this car does not give anything excellent to be shortlisted.
Nissan:Landlord has Micra and A.S.S. is week area.
Punto: Good car but emotion variant is out of budget.
Swift: Dated looks. I would rather buy Baleno Delta than Swift ZXI
Please feel free to post your suggestion if i have rejected any car prematurely. I would definitely take another look if you suggest the same.
Shortlisted cars: Baleno: We test drove Baleno twice. Since it has ABS + 2 Airbags on all variants and its backup by Maruti A.S.S. Its Delta variant sound like good VFM car. However wife did not feel comfortable while driving it due to its bigger size/dimensions. Visibility from driver seat was also a concern. So most likely dropping it from list.
Alto K10: Test drove once. Liked the car for easy to drive factor in city but i have doubts about safety so dropped this.
Kwid: Good package compared to competitors. I have no issue it being 800cc car since for city driving it would be sufficient and wife is not so enthusiastic driver. It has driver side Airbag however there is no news on structure integrity and strength. Waiting period is not so much issue as well since we can wait 4-5 months. Overall its good choice and easy on budget as well. Wife liked the looks also. However since i can stretch my budget and safety is my main concern, i am certain its not as safe as following 3 cars so Kwid is last in my short list as of now.
Grand i10: Selecting Asta (O) variant which has 2 Airbag + ABS. After discount etc it would be little over 6L on road New Delhi. Hyundai has good A.S.S. as well. overall its proven car. During test drive i did not find anything bad about it. Engine was good to drive in city.
Ford Figo Titanium 1.2:Has safety features and looks are good. People commented that Petrol engine is not so good but while test drive i think this engine has good enough power for city and would not be slow for wife for whom kwid 800cc was also fine. As far as structural safety and build quality goes i think Figo is better or this was the case with old one but new one is not so good in terms of build quality when compared to grand i10, Celerio etc? I think she liked EPS light handling. Overall Figo is top runner in short list. Only worry is maintenance and spare part cost. Since i will keep car for more than 5-6 years so this is only concern. Visibility was bit issue but she was most likely comparing with Santro (which has very good visibility all around).
Celerio AMT: Liked the internal space and was easy to drive as well. Apart from figo, grand I10 this is also a good option. Infact if we plan to go with AT than this is the only option.
So in the end i am confused among following cars
- New Figo Titanium
- Grand i10 Asta (o)
- Celerio ZXI AMT
Please suggest and provide your opinion
Some of the questions i have
- How costly Figo maintenance is compared to Celerio, Grand i10. I am planning to keep car for more than 5-6 years and want to have peaceful A.S.S. experience
- Should i wait for Maruti to launch ABS + Airbag as option in Celerio AMT ? Even right now Zxi AMT does not have ABS.
- How does Grand i10 compares in term of safety with Figo? Is it a VFM package? i don't want to spend money on interior candy features
- If i take Zero-dep insurance and car is in accident than is everything covered? airbag etc etc