[Goldenboy]

Hello doc&drive!

As the requirement is primarily for a city car, I would suggest a Figo AT, which should come close to your budget and has 6 airbags and a lot of other safety features.

If you really want to stay within the budget, then I would suggest Tiago or Tigor AMT (you would have to compromise with the jerky gearshifts). I believe with AMTs that once you drive them enough, you can adapt your right foot to reduce the jerkiness (at least this was my experience with my Celerio AMT).

If you absolutely want a smooth AT and good build and safety, you would have to go used.

[GoCool]

Ford Figo would be a good choice for your need, however if she is just starting to learn driving you can look at i10 AMT as well because it will be easy to accept and adapt to the roughness in it. You need not worry about Fords long term service support yet. We must fairly get spares because these models are available already for past few years. Ford is safe, fun to drive and slightly cheaper to maintain. i10 has got better looks(if you like that new Hyundai face) and finish. She is mostly going to like i10!

[Gurudatta Nayak]

You may also look at Ignis AMT (3 Star NCAP). The AMT shifts may not be as smooth as Santro/Grand I10 but it can fulfill the Convince of Automatic for City Drives. Ignis a great car for women driver with reliable engine.

We have Ignis Zeta AMT and are happy with our purchase decision. We get 15- 18kmpl in city driving conditions.

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by doc&drive

Let me start this topic by thanking you all in advance.
It was last month i decided to purchase a city car for my wife, who is a debutant.

Mate, don't even bother looking at the new car market, especially since your wife is a newbie driver. The used market has great deals on all cars and it should be easy to find one.

My choices:

1. VW Polo
2. Honda Jazz CVT

[zing007]

Chevrolet left India 5 years ago still people are using those cars for Ola taxis because they are still able to service them and you are worried about Ford leaving. Even if Ford leaves you will still get spares and service.
In terms of driving dynamics, stability etc. Ford would be better anyday. Further, the Ford AT has hill assist and other safety features which will be helpful.

[AJ56]

Personally I’d look at Ford and VW Polo/Vento (or Rapid) only considering safety and driving pleasure. Get extended warranty for peace of mind. Pre owned if being considered, then the Brio/Amaze are great little city cars, i20 paint has issues long term so won’t recommend it, otherwise it’s a great car. Also avoid manuals, since primary use is inside the city. For new drivers I’ll agree with others here and say pre owned is the way to go. Cheers.

[Time_Machine]

Tiago/Tigor ought to be your choices if safety and budget both are priority. If you do wish to spend more, besides the Figo AT, you can also look at Honda Amaze CVT. Its got 4 star GNCAP rating and its a proper automatic. Dont be fooled by the sedan form factor, this is a sub4m vehicle, not too bigger than i10 or Figo. Same goes for Tigor. Its time we rejected auto makers who treat us as second class citizens dishing out 2 star rated products.

[Mickey1986]

I would recommend Tata Tiago.. I have been driving diesel ecosport since long but recently got my hands on tata tiago Petrol Automatic. Driven it for 300-400km and the car doesn't disappoint much.. yes the lag is real if you come from Diesel experience but than you get what you pay for. Its livable and you wont miss much.

I felt the built is solid and features are decent. Yes it doesn't comes with long list of features but does the job.

Another car would be Ford Figo again due to the build quality and my trust on Ford. I know about the rumors around but if they aren't true than they are one of the most trusted car makers in terms of build quality.

Rest 2nd market is wide open if you are willing to go that route.

[prasanna_indaje]

Had similar requirement in 2014 and below is the roadmap I followed:

1. 2014 to 2016 : Bought a preowned Santro Xing AT. Beautiful car, excellent VFM and expensive to maintain (high fuel consumption and maintenance bills)

2. 2016 to 2020 : Exchanged Santro for a Wagon R AMT and regretted that decision for next 4 years. Jerky shifts, pre-mature clutch wear and random niggles did not help to have good ownership experience. Positive sides were comparatively higher FE and lesser maintenance cost. This car helped to take a decision to avoid AMTs in any future purchase.

3. 2020 Onwards : Ford Figo 1.5 AT

(Both Santro and Wagon R fetched excellent resale value and I did not lose much in exchange)

[haisaikat]

I would recommend considering Triber AMT, the RXT EASY-R AMT trim will be marginally above 8 lakhs OTR and its essential feature packed along with being 4 Star rated on NCAP. The only downside being it is not a fast car, with 0-100 timings in 22 seconds range for AMT which is 5 seconds slower than the MT timings of 17 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaeY509tUb0

[RPRIME95]

Go for the Tiago AMT. My family has had one since December of 2017. Since your wife is new to driving, she will not experience any jerks in shifts. The jerk is when the car shifts up a gear at relatively high speed without throttle lift-off. From driving it daily, you will know to modulate the throttle for a smooth shift just like we know to modulate the clutch in a manual. In this budget, there is no safer car that also ticks a lot of boxes on the features list.

Figo AT is good but you will be paying a lot over your budget to get the feature set you need like top notch safety and the aforementioned Automatic gearbox. Remember, torque converters are not as efficient as AMTs. I regularly get 18-20kmpl on highway and 15-17 kmpl in the city on the Tiago

[silverado]

Originally Posted by doc&drive

it should be an automatic and a solid build car with good on safety. I fixed a budget of 6 lakh OTR here in Kerala.

IGNIS AMT Delta variant.
It has 1.2 petrol and has Euro Ncap 3 stars.

[salluks]

I am in the exact same situation and ford Figo seems to be the perfect fit as well except for 1 thing that's holding me back, its real-world milage is apparently only 9 kmpl which seems too low.

[dhruvritzed]

Go for Polo comfortline TSI AT, it will solve following purposes better than the others probably:
1. Much better resale value than Figo.
2. Torque converter, so reliability issues have almost subsided, much better technology than AMT.
3. Comprehensive Warranty plans available.
4. German build quality so you won't miss the X1 much
5. Has almost all essential features
6. Turbo 1.0 TSI is much better and a hoot to drive compared to the boring NA motors.


Cheers

[TejasV]

I currently drive the nios amt asta. It's a great car for city driving. Yes the ncap ratings are an issue if you are going on long drives but as a city roundabout I was okay with it.

Ford seems like a great alternative but I'd bet my money on Hyundai for service and resale.

Nios gives me 12.5 consistently in the city and about 16 on the highways.