[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by BMW_Fan

Consider Baleno CVT, its far more superior than the AMT rivals.
Also you can wait for the 2022 Baleno, maybe it will come with new engine options.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Baleno or Jazz should be your top pick.
If you are open to used cars, the Brio is a lot more

Thanks Baleno was outright rejected by wife due to the looks. She feels it looks like bloated balloon. Reason for me rejecting is the current CVT comes with a slightly inferior engine. But thanks let me try that again. Cannot wait for new Baleno, as I generally get impatient after planning a buy and I am sure new one will command a good waiting period.
Jazz is definitely in the list and it’s getting more tilted towards that based on many feedback here.

Not looking for used cars - the prices are high here. Give an example last week one of my friend sold his 3 years old i20 petrol (25k mileage) for 7.5 lakhs (which he originally bought for 9.4 lakhs). It’s not worth.

Originally Posted by Herschey

Since you've upped your budget to 11 lacs, do not forget to try out the Nissan-Renault twins - the Nissan Magnite and Renault Kiger as well.

Thanks, strongly agree. They are indeed good choices and would have considered if it was the only car. With Octavia being continuously modified and in 6th year I am expecting more visits to service center for parts replacements and other mods and hence I am looking for something which is totally reliable and does not warrant any visits to service stations than regular service. And also a smooth ownership experience. With Renault / Nissan I am still not that confident, mainly on the support.

[wolfsnare24]

If you’re preferring automatics majorly for the sake of your left knee, I’d strongly recommend the i20 iMT.

I was one of the first bookings for Venue Sport iMT when it launched over a year ago now, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough. Of course, you’d probably be going for the same 1.0 Petrol Turbo in the i20 body, but the driving experience should be the same.

-No clutch pedal, so no complaints from your left leg
-Very engaging drive compared to fully autos
-Full control over shifting means you can keep the engine in it’s peppy range and avoid turbo lag
-Obviously quicker shifts than most other autos I’ve driven, so you don’t need to plan for overtakes on highways
-Just 20k more than manual versions compared to the 2L premium of DCT
-Most of the engine/electronics are the exact same as a manual transmission, so you don’t need a specialised mechanic to deal with your car
-Creeps in both 1st and 2nd gear, a major boon for one-pedal driving as it’s my daily runaround in Mumbai peak hour traffic

While I understand being sceptical of new technology, this has been in the market for over a year now, and I’ve personally had exactly ZERO issues and I’ve not heard of others having any either. And mechanically, it’s much simpler than DCTs or DSGs like the DQ200, so there’s simply fewer things that can go wrong. And with the 2022 Seltos Diesel being launched in iMT as well, this gearbox will have plenty of support for the future.

Do give it a test drive if you can, it might change your mind

[shivmarwaha]

I would suggest that you go for brezza Amt. Its about the same size as swift, just taller. Also comes with Maruti’s hassle free ASC and a high safety rating. It is a good buy before the infamous platform change.

[SoumenD]

I see the voting echoes my thoughts after looking at your requirements. Since you have reliability & rear seating space very high on your want list Jazz CVT is sort of a no-brainer. Moreover Honda provides extended warranty all the way upto 10 years

Its boringly reliable is what long term owners say. Personally it’s been only 2.5 years (12k kms) and I see why they say so. Its kinda fill it, shut it, forget it car. And even if you want to have a little fun(mind you that’s all it can), the paddleshifters in sports mode(3k+ rpm) do offer some interesting moments

Originally Posted by shivmarwaha

I would suggest that you go for brezza Amt.

Brezza AMT stopped with diesel. Now it comes with 4 speed TC only.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by wolfsnare24

If you’re preferring automatics majorly for the sake of your left knee, I’d strongly recommend the i20 iMT.
-Obviously quicker shifts than most other autos I’ve driven, so you don’t need to plan for overtakes on highways
Do give it a test drive if you can, it might change your mind

Preferring auto as my Octavia is a manual and need something more convenient for Bangalore traffic and the bad roads.
The new car wouldn't see highways and will be only used in the city.
Good to hear real life feedback on iMT. Test drive is definitely planned, though couple of showrooms do not have iMT turbo available for test drive. Need to check others over next couple of weekend.

Originally Posted by shivmarwaha

I would suggest that you go for brezza Amt. .

If I am not wrong Brezza has a 4 speed AMT. Paying additional money and getting 4 AMT against 5 AMT in Swift is something I am not comfortable.

Originally Posted by SoumenD

I see the voting echoes my thoughts after looking at your requirements. Since you have reliability & rear seating space very high on your want list Jazz CVT is sort of a no-brainer. Moreover Honda provides extended warranty all the way upto 10 years

Yes, its a very strong contender now and I am trying / pushing my wife to like the design. Will be taking a test drive of this soon

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

Thank you. Nios 1.0 Turbo is available only in manual, but I am looking for an auto.

That's news to me. I had found it listed on the site and assumed it was available

[sunikkat]

Update: Did test drives of Jazz and second test drive of Swift. These 2 cars are poles apart in the way it makes you feel.

Jazz: This car is very relaxed with butter smooth gear shits. It gives a feeling ‘why hurry’ take things lightly and slowly. Car is very airy with sun roof and beige interiors. Though lesser width than Swift, felt this is more spacious to sit 3 in the rear, also has more leg space. Felt better build than swift too. Test drive car had around 11k kms mileage and the paddle down shift was not working.
Now this has come on top of the list.
On downside the car is upright boring both inside out. Looks more like a van and those beige interiors are boring. Not a fun to drive too, infact not a car you want to push.

Swift: Totally opposite of Jazz. Very sporty black interiors and flat bottom steering. Space is less, or might be feel due to black interiors. Though CVT in Jazz is much better, the AMT here is not bad. Even the console lights, HU etc are more lively. The moment you drive Swift you feel like pushing it more, it is still fun to drive.
On downside the build is lighter than Jazz and the wife at back did not feel the ride much different from Alto.

After driving these 2 have dropped the idea of i20 Nline IMT as that is not our requirement and we also need a proper automatic than just No Clutch.

So now it’s Swift vs Jazz. The main thing going against Jazz is it might mostly be phased out in a year. So will try to push for some more discount. Will close on one of the 2 by November end.

Thanks again for all your feedback and this was very helpful in short listing

[kedar_GT]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

If I am not wrong Brezza has a 4 speed AMT. Paying additional money and getting 4 AMT against 5 AMT in Swift is something I am not comfortable.

The current Brezza petrol has the 4 speed torque converter vs the 5 spd AMT on the Swift

Originally Posted by sunikkat

Update: Did test drives of Jazz and second test drive of Swift. These 2 cars are poles apart in the way it makes you feel.



Swift: Totally opposite of Jazz. Very sporty black interiors and flat bottom steering. Space is less, or might be feel due to black interiors. Though CVT in Jazz is much better, the AMT here is not bad.

The way to drive the Swift AMT (if you are driving it and in a mood to have a bit of fun and to avoid any head nod) is slot it in M and do the 1->2 and 2->3 shits yourself with rev matching. Post this, just slot it in D and let the electronics take over. This sort of driving makes the AMT experience butter smooth.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by kedar_GT

The way to drive the Swift AMT (if you are driving it and in a mood to have a bit of fun and to avoid any head nod) is slot it in M and do the 1->2 and 2->3 shits yourself with rev matching. Post this, just slot it in D and let the electronics take over. This sort of driving makes the AMT experience butter smooth.

Thanks, that’s indeed a good suggestion.
Something to look forward if that becomes the final one

[sunikkat]

Well what a week it was. So many test drives, confusions and finally selection.

After last Sunday test drives I had shortlisted Jazz and Swift as the final contenders.

Jazz: While the drive was good with a smooth CVT, car was practical with lot of space I could not make peace with how equally boring the car is (no offence to any owners). The interiors was not at all for my liking, it looked like a van and dated. Though subjective, I am okay with old designs (infact I find Polo as the best looking car), but Jazz did not find appealing at all. The interiors were dull too, overdone with beige and even the HU felt outdated. Since I am planning to keep this for minimum 10 years, I knew I cannot live with it considering I hate the looks now itself. So Jazz dropped

Swift: Liked this car for what it is offering - sporty, fun to drive, good interiors, maruti service etc. But then went through multiple threads in Team BHP on AMTs and the concerns over it made me re-think. At 10.6 lakhs OTR for ZXI+ dual tone, did not feel it is value for money.

Frustrated with lack of choices (or being a confused mind) went for back to back test drives of i20 N Line DCT and Polo TSI. While I loved both the cars Polo TSI clearly came out as a winner in FTD. That coupled with the build quality, safety rating, the looks etc. made me think of booking it. Enquired about the availability but only Matt edition was available with 2 months waiting and upfront they told no discount. Other models seem to have 6 months waiting (not sure whether they were taking the booking). Also lack of space at rear definitely did not help, dropped Polo too.

While I really liked the N Line for what it is offering - balanced drive, good interiors, okay build etc. the OTR for DCT was 14.7 lakhs. IMT N6 was cheaper at ~ 12 lakhs but it missed out on many features and also IMT was really confusing and infact did not find much difference from manual.

Now I went back to the board and started thinking, 'What was my original requirement'? - 'An automatic car to be used only in the city with a budget of 11 lakhs'. And here I was deviating from my requirement and going different route.

Now that I liked the interiors of i20 and the premium feel and balanced drive thought of checking out i20 Asta CVT. The perception of i20 being expensive made me not considering this in the beginning. I checked the display car and the pricing was coming to 12.2 lakhs OTR. Now this is 1.5 lakhs more than Swift top end, but I am getting below over Swift -


1) CVT gearbox
2) 16 inch wheels with 195 section tyres
3) 10.2 inch screen with 7 speakers (Bose) and sub woofer
4) Full digital instrument cluster
5) TPMS
6) Much more spacious than Swift
7) Driver arm rest (sliding)
8) Premium hatch against Swift
9) Wireless charger
10) Slightly better built quality than Swift
11) Ambient lighting
12) Rear AC vents
13) Air purifier (though not a feature I look for)

Now for me the first 7 features itself is well worth over 1.5 lakhs difference.
On the flip side I am losing ESC and hill hold assist available in Swift. Badly miss ESC as it is available only with Asta (O) and CVT top end is Asta. Such a bummer I cannot have that. From a drive perspective Swift is much more fun to drive and feel more like a boy racer car. The test drive of i20 CVT was much better than I expected. The engine did not feel much underpowered. The drive was infact more like Jazz - very smooth CVT and very easy to drive. Go gentle on the throttle and feel a relaxed drive, but there is pronounced rubber band effect when you push.
Jazz at the same price as i20 and missing all those features did not help the case either.

Anyway all those CVT / AMT non turbo petrol hatchbacks were not fun to drive, so thought atleast let me enjoy the features while driving in the city.

Though this was a lakh more than my initial budget cap, I have booked i20 Asta IVT white colour and expecting delivery by end of Dec (hopefully).

To summarize last couple of weeks were eventful with test driving almost all cars in the market < 15 lakhs.

Thanks again for all your contributions.

[sunikkat]

Update:

Finally got i20 IVT Asta in Polar White colour yesterday. It took around 35 days for delivery from the date of booking. Pretty good considering the current challenges and waiting time. I was more worried about any potential price increase in January, as even a 12,000 increase in price would have taken the ex showroom price to 10 lakhs and inturn an increase of apprx 1 lakh on OTR Bangalore, due to additional taxes.

Even after booking i20, I kept trying for a Polo GT (though it lacked on features and space) in almost all showrooms in Bangalore and none had any stock of GT or Highline. There was a Comfortline available but was not interested due to missing features.

Couple of days in to driving i20, I would say car meets the requirements that I had laid out in the beginning. It is a great city car and I hope it stays reliable as plan is to keep it for 10 years.

Positives:

- Looks of i20 is growing on me and I like it, though I feel Polo is still the best looking hatch
- With the features and premium feel on offer, I actually feel it is VFM
- Easily the most spacious hatch, even more than Jazz
- Interiors look simple and very European. Love the black colour and the overall theme
- Interior quality is really good, though again I feel Polo has better quality interiors
- Very smooth drive and gearbox. NVH levels are impressive
- High speed drive, steering feel etc have improved much over previous generations

Negatives

- Good for a relaxed drive, picks up speed very slow beyond 90
- Though improved over previous generations high speed stability is still not impressive
- Build quality still not great compared to VW, Tata etc. Doesn't give that solid feel

Overall I am very happy with the purchase and life has become so easy driving in crazy Bangalore traffic.

@ Mods: Can you please edit the title with decision as i20. Thanks

[Hexathor]

Hello everyone,

I am planning to upgrade my father's Grand i10 Sportz 2015 car with an odo reading 55K km. He is 68 year old and he learnt driving when he was 55 year old. His first car was Alto 800 and second being Grand i10. He lives in a remote town with nearest service center of any major automobile maker at about 50 Km from the town.

Reason for up-gradation:

• No ABS, hard brakes
• Lower safety in Grand i10
• Small dents here and there which my dad does not like
• Want to give him a taste of Automatic transmission

Criteria in mind

• Strictly no Maruti (for safety reason)
• Parking station is not wide enough at my home and my dad who is not an expert driver can park Grand i10 easily, so we cannot go wider than that.
• Safety is utmost important: ABS, Airbags, good built quality must.
• Have to stay mainstream, eg buying a Renault car in my town will be like buying some alien vehicle.
• Average usage per year is 10,000 km so going with Petrol.
• Automatic transmission is must, he will be hesitant but I am sure he will enjoy it with time.
• Sunroof will be good to have for him to show off to his friends but I think in Rajasthan with lot of dust and extreme weather it will be unused. (suggestions welcomed)
• Budget around 10L OTR is fine.

Options evaluated, test driven and assessment

• Honda Jazz (VX CVT 10.5L OTR)
  +Hassle free peaceful ownership experience of Honda
  +Warranty up to 10 years
  +CVT was smooth, took a test drive
  - I don't know if Jazz will be there after 7-8 years and I think there won't be any market to sell the car after usage
  - Not so ergonomic ingress, egress
  - Back row seat felt so small, three people cannot sit in the back

• Tata Punch (Adventure Rhythm AMT 8.7L OTR)
  + Already have Nexon and Hexa, happy with Tata
  + Safety
  - Boxy shape, neither it is geometric nor organic.
  - Too many of variants to choose, creates more confusion
  - Not sure about future of this model
• Hyundai i10 NIOS (Sprotz AMT 8.5L OTR)
  + Tried and tested. My dad will be familiar but this is also a negative because he might not feel that he got an upgrade
  + I still find this car as the best sized car for elderly
  + Good and practical pricing
  - Didn't get test ride as the vehicle was not available but heard AMT is not that great.
  - Safety is still a question

Apart from these I checked Sonet and I hated almost everything of the car, Tata Tiago looks too small. Altroz, WRV do not offer AMT. My family members do not like name 'Santro'

Can anyone please suggest if my search is going in the right direction? Did I miss any other options? Please give your suggestions.

Thanks,
HT

[Hexathor]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

Update:

Finally got i20 IVT Asta in Polar White colour yesterday.

Congratulations for your new car.

Interesting to read how the Germans were engaged with the Japanese from the beginning and the Koreans hoisted the flag on the fort

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by Hexathor

Congratulations for your new car.

Interesting to read how the Germans were engaged with the Japanese from the beginning and the Koreans hoisted the flag on the fort

Thank you
Started with Indian (Tiago), was then firm on Japanese and then came Korean. Tried flirting with German but it was not interested in me (no Polo stock).

Jokes apart for my requirement i20 IVT felt the best and such an easy car for city use.

[Hexathor]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

Thank you
Started with Indian (Tiago), was then firm on Japanese and then came Korean. Tried flirting with German but it was not interested in me (no Polo stock).

Jokes apart for my requirement i20 IVT felt the best and such an easy car for city use.

Cool.

For me it is Indian Vs Japs. (Punch vs Jazz).
Jazz is winning so far. I am ok with its looks. My major concern is about future of this model. Lets see where do I land.