[blackwasp]

Maruti WagonR

What you'll like:

• Unbeatable practicality, with a value-for-money price tag
• Spacious interiors. Ingress & egress are effortless too
• 340-liter boot has almost doubled in size (compared to the old WagonR)
• Awesome 4-cylinder 1.2L engine costs just Rs. 20,000 more than the 1.0L
• Suspension offers a more compliant ride than the outgoing car
• Features such as the touchscreen head-unit, underseat drawer & well-priced 2nd airbag
• Maruti's fuss-free ownership experience & excellent after-sales service

What you won't:

• Interior quality is budget grade. The Santro is in another class altogether!
• Thin & tinny sheet metal. Car feels lightweight when driving as well
• Lousy NVH package. Insulation is quite poor
• AMT – although improved – cannot match the Santro AMT’s smoothness
• Road manners make it suited to the city than the highway. Keep your speeds in check
• Some misses like no alloy wheels, missing rear speakers & useless rear headrests
• Superior Ignis isn’t priced too far away, especially after discounts

Review Link (Maruti WagonR : Official Review)

Hyundai Santro

What you'll like:

• Excellent quality & refinement. Truly impressive for this class of car
• Smart, practical & well-designed cabin with a chilling air-con & nice audio system
• 4-cylinder goodness in a segment full of 3-cylinders
• AMT with electric actuators is easily the best-in-class; this is the most sorted AMT in India
• Suspension offers a compliant ride & neutral handling
• Features such as the touchscreen head-unit, reversing camera, rear air-con & more
• Hyundai's fuss-free ownership experience & excellent after-sales service

What you won't:

• Pricey! Top variants are undeniably expensive
• Quirky front-end styling will polarize opinions
• AMT unavailable in the Asta variant with dual airbags. Also, it’s not as smooth as a regular AT
• Missing equipment – no alloy wheels, a fixed steering position & useless rear headrests!
• Rear seat is better suited to 2 adults rather than 3
• After dealer discounts, the superior Grand i10’s price is too close

Review Link (Hyundai Santro : Official Review)

Tata Tiago

What you'll like:

• Great styling. A very chic-looking hatchback at a value-for-money price!
• Tata has put in a lot of effort on quality and it shows. No signs of cost cutting at all
• Solid build & construction, unlike most of its flimsy competitors
• High quality, well-designed interiors. Lots of storage and a useful 242 liter boot too
• Suspension offers excellent ride comfort with neutral handling
• City friendly nature: light controls, agreeable ergonomics & good driveability (both engines)
• Amazing 8-speaker Harman entertainment system. Sounds top class
• Feature list with 2 driving modes, parking sensors + display, cooled glovebox, full MID & more

What you won't:

• Mediocre 3-cylinder engines. Petrol, especially, is unimpressive
• Low refinement levels. NVH package has many holes
• Rear headroom is tight. Also, a rare Tata hatchback that cannot seat 5 (best for 4)
• Concerns over long-term reliability, more so of the freshly developed engines
• Tata's after-sales experience remains a gamble. Service quality is far from that of Maruti & Hyundai

Review Link (Tata Tiago : Official Review)

The Tiago JTP: Review Link

Maruti Celerio

What you’ll like:

• The cheapest Automatic car in India. VXi AMT starts at merely Rs. 5.13 lakhs
• Celerio AMT is a breeze to drive in the city. Has 'manual mode' too
• Well-packaged cabin. Decent legroom, excellent headroom and a 235 liter boot
• K-next engine has peppy performance & good fuel economy
• Suspension offers neutral ride quality & predictable handling
• Maruti’s excellent after-sales service & wide dealer network

What you won’t:

• VXi trim is poorly equipped. Only ZXi makes sense
• AMT lacks the refinement & shift-speed of conventional ATs
• 3-cylinder 1.0L against competitors that have smoother 4-cylinder 1.2L engines
• Flimsy build & economy-grade quality. NVH levels could be better as well
• Manual variant is overpriced
• The Celerio AMT currently has an extremely long waiting period

Review link (Maruti Celerio : Official Review)

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Hatchbacks Section. Thanks for sharing!

Quoting my post from the Official Review:

Originally Posted by GTO

As an overall product, the Santro is indisputably the pick. Not only is it better built, has superior quality & higher levels of refinement, the Santro feels more stable @ 100 kmph cruising. I drove both at high speed & the Hyundai did handle things better. That said, I am a total engine guy and for self-driving / a personal car, I would buy the WagonR over the Hyundai. Reason = that jewel of a 1.2L petrol engine. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed driving & high-revving this breadbox around Mumbai over a weekend. Cabin space & boot size are two other advantages of the WagonR that I don't care as much about, but the masses will.

On the other hand, if I was looking for a car for the family to use or an Automatic, it would be the Santro. Superior overall car + a smoother AMT.

[TusharK]

Like most cars, the Tiago has a few rough edges, more so than its main rivals - the Maruti WagonR and Hyundai Santro.

Yes, the 3-cylinder engine isn't the most refined of the lot, but having lived with it for more than 1.5 years now, I don't really notice it much. The driveability is good both on the highway and in city traffic. The gearbox could have been better but the shift feel has greatly improved after the 2nd service.

I still believe that the Tiago offers more bang for your buck. Although, I wouldn't recommend the AMT.

As for aftersales, I haven't had any issues with reliability or service in almost 7 years of Tata ownership. May be, I have been lucky.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I would pick the WagonR, in this competition.

Sit inside one, and the space available is certainly a level above the other two prime competition - the Santro and Tiago. Infact, the others make me feel like sitting inside a small car, which is not the case inside the WagonR. The K12 engine is also the best among the lot, plus the quality and equipment list is also not a big differentiator as earlier.

PS: Would have been easier to recommend if these products were tested for safety, but as things stand - none are!

[sharktale]

I would pick the WagonR, in this competition.

The new WagonR, though boxy, looks very well-proportioned and screams cabin space due to the large windows and airy cabin. The Tiago is a great hatchback in it's own might, but cannot trump the WagonR in it's "workhorse appeal", which is what many buyers (including me) would have thought of in that price range.

I believe this range of cars is the preferred choice of first time buyers, who'll have long term projection for the vehicle. So, buying a product which is more pocket friendly and has better spares availability shall be the preferred choice.

I myself, have recommended this car to a couple of friends, who wished to make a purchase in this segment. Also because they are 6ft+ and this car would make life a wee-bit easier .

[Thermodynamics]

Both Santro and WagonR are time tested super hits. I like both but voted for Santro for quality of interiors.

I also like the looks of Tiago, inoffensive neutral elegant styling like Polo, perhaps unfair to compare here because it is not essentially a Tallboy.

[haisaikat]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Maruti Celerio

• The cheapest Automatic car in India. VXi AMT starts at merely Rs. 5.13 lakhs

I think you tried to mean here the cheapest automatic in the segment, right? This is because Nano GenX, Alto K10 and Datsun Redo Go offer even cheaper AMT hatches than Celerio in 3-4.5 lakh ex-showroom price range but segment wise they are all lower than the likes of Celerio and Santro.

[extreme_torque]

I will pick up the Tiago simply for the safety that it provides and the looks. Maruti's arent built well and that is putting it lightly.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

I think you tried to mean here the cheapest automatic in the segment, right? This is because Nano GenX, Alto K10 and Datsun Redo Go offer even cheaper AMT hatches than Celerio in 3-4.5 lakh ex-showroom price range but segment wise they are all lower than the likes of Celerio and Santro.

This is taken from the official review. The statement was valid at the time of writing the review and hasn't been corrected later.

[SJM1214]

A middle-class family going for their first car, what do they want in their first car? It's simple, lots of space, mileage, proven brand and good looks. New Wagon R ticks all of the above boxes.

As CrazyDriver mentioned, Wagon doesn't give feelings of a small car. It's a good looking car with the right combinations of engines.

Voted for Wagon R.

[aaggoswami]

Voted for Wagon R.

While it may not radiate the feeling of good build, its an overall improvement over its predecessor. Ease of ingress and egress, effortless maneuverability, compact dimensions, impressive space and now a humongous boot for its class, overall visibility and best of all a not so eye watering price tag point towards a value oriented proposition. Indians love something that has good value quotient. Availability of that fantastic 1.2 and automatic options mean even more ease of driving in sea of senseless traffic.

[BoneCollector]

I've voted for Wagon R. If I've to pick amongst these, I'll gor for Wagon R with 1.2L engine. I've a 2012 1L engine Wagon R with us and that would be the reason for picking up the Wagon R again and rejecting the 1L variants.

I'll list out my reasons.

Pros for Wagon R -

• Highly practical city car with occasional highway runs.
• Great boot space.
• Gem of an engine (1.2L K series).
• Maruti service due to its ease for me.
• Ease of egress-ingress for parents.
• High seating position with good visibility all around.

Cons for others -

• Tiago - It looks good but appears smaller than Wagon R. The Tata service is very poor at my place. Someone known to me working there discouraged me earlier plus a couple of bad experiences while getting my Uncle's Nano serviced.
• Santro - Having owned the Xing earlier, I did not like the new design. Plus again, the service is very poor here.
• Celerio - No offence to current and prospective owners, I never liked this car. Plus the horrible 1L K series engine for city drive.
• Ignis - This was in consideration at one point of time but lost the race when new Wagon R was launched. I would take it if it's for my personal use but not for my parents.

[Pancham]

I am currently looking for a B1 segment hatchback for my mother. I have a fair bit of experience with Hyundai having owned one for almost 9 years. Hence it is a known territory for me. So I went and checked out the Santro yesterday and liked it quite a bit. There were no test drives given since I went after 6 PM, however, the interior build and overall feel was really good. I was confused about the AMT or Manual but this one will mostly be chauffeur driven hence manual would work alright.

However, going by the positive reviews of the Wagon R, I plan to go check it out today.

Anyone knows how good the back seat of the Wagon R is? My mother is approaching 70 and would want to have a comfortable back seat over everything else.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Anyone knows how good the back seat of the Wagon R is? My mother is approaching 70 and would want to have a comfortable back seat over everything else.

My understanding based on feedback from elders in the family who have traveled in our WagonR is that the rear seat is fairly comfortable especially for shorter drives within the city. The seat also has an almost upright seating position with the seatback tilted just a bit, not a steep recline. Also, the higher GC means they can comfortably climb into the car unlike low slung seats in other hatchbacks and sedans. However, I will suggest you get the car home for a TD so that your mother can check if ingress/egress and seat comfort are to her liking.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Anyone knows how good the back seat of the Wagon R is? My mother is approaching 70 and would want to have a comfortable back seat over everything else.

I drive a previous gen WagonR and the best part I like about it is the space in it and being able to walk in-out of the car. But I would say the rear seats are not the best place to be in. First, the seat base is pretty hard and can be tiring. Second, given the body roll and limited suspension travel range, travelling on bad roads is not a good experience. So if the travel is going to be over longer distances (>10 kms/day) over bad roads then look for something more comfortable.

Tiago/Santro might feel more plush due to softer suspension and better padded seats. So I would suggest please take your mother on test drive along possible routes/road conditions that she will encounter regularly.