[adi.mariner]

Hello BHPians. My Sister-in-law needs an automatic Car for pure intra city use (specifically in Pune only). Her budget is 4-6 lakhs and the car can be new or used, only criteria being a hatchback and should be reliable. A search online shows 2016-17 Hyundai Grand i10s are being sold at around 6-6.5 lakhs. The positive point being that they have torque converter gearboxes. However, a new Renault Kwid AMT is available almost at the same price. Which would be a better buy considering one is a proper Automatic and the other is an AMT? There are MS Celerios available which are cheaper but not considered because of having an AMT only.
All suggestions welcome.

[vishy76]

I would not suggest the Kwid AMT. It's jerky, very unrefined and poorly built. Period. All this is coming from someone who has owned this car for 5 years. I bought this car for 5.5L back in 2017, today the prices have crossed 6. I don't find it worth that tag at all.

I would suggest you look at pre-owned cars. If you are open to this option, you have a wide range of choices and also have the option of getting a torque converter or a CVT. Few that come to my mind:

- Nissan Micra CVT: Perfect city hatch. Compact dimensions, quirky looks, a fairly peppy engine paired to a CVT gearbox that is perfect for city commutes. A few drawbacks that I can think of are the interiors, which do look a bit drab and fuel economy

- Honda Jazz CVT: Do check if some of the early cars are available for under 6L. I see a lot of these here available for as low as 5.5-6L. The second gen Jazz seems to be heavy on depreciation unlike older Honda's. It has a bulletproof 1.2 ivtec, excellent interior space and a smooth CVT GB yet again. Downsides include the size which is on the larger side for a city hatch and fuel economy.

- Maruti Suzuki A-star: Wild car entry to this list. The A-star can actually serve as an excellent fill it, shut it and forget it beater. It's got a butter smooth 4-speed TC, excellent reliability and is backed by Maruti's after sales network. Downsides include the quirky looks, which I personally hate and the fact that most examples you will find now would be too old.

Another car to look out for is the previous gen Hyundai i10. Do beware though, these cars suffer from cooling coil, steering rack and EPS module issues though they were very well equipped for the time and had a creamy petrol motor mated to a 4-speed TC.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

Hello BHPians. My Sister-in-law needs an automatic Car for pure intra city use (specifically in Pune only).

Based on my interactions, women generally don't like used cars. What I would recommend:

- Santro AMT Sportz (top variant). Slight increase in budget, but one of the smoother AMTs in the market. Good entry-level car.

- Grand i10 AMT Magna. Couple of thousands more, but will be worth the bump. Top choice.

- WagonR & Ignis AMTs can be considered. Maruti has continuously improved its AMTs, although Hyundai AMTs are noticeably smoother due to the electric actuators used (Maruti uses the more conventional hydraulic variety).

Ask her to test-drive all and pick whatever she's happiest with. Might entail going over budget by 1 - 1.5 lakhs, but no big deal considering the impact on EMIs and that these cars will prove more reliable in the long run than a used out-of-warranty car.

[Arun_S]

As GTO stated, go for a brand new car, women don't like used cars.

WagonR\Ignis - Inspite of being conventional AMT's these 2, would be my top choice, as they both offer good road clearance\viewing. Women like that a lot.

[tracerspiff]

For this price range, I would suggest the latest Celerio. I had the same apprehension about the AMT but the new gen Celerio is surprisingly smooth. For low mileage city usage I think the Celerio is the most VFM car.
Take a longish test drive and decide for yourself.

[RaghavEvoX]

My sister was in the same situation and similar budget.
She wanted a comfortable automatic car within 6 lakhs to ride within the city.

Started with Kwid, Santro & Tiago but finally ended up buying Grand i10 Nios AMT.
It is one of the best AMTs out there and you will have no regrets buying it for few thousand extra EMI.

More importantly, she is very happy with the purchase decision.
My simple take on buying cars - buy whatever maximum budget that you can afford and keep it as long as possible.

[neil.jericho]

For below Rs 6L, you should be able to get a pre-owned Honda Jazz V with around 20 - 30K kms on the odometer. Its perfect for in city usage. I own one and really struggle with deciding what to upgrade to next.

Given Hyundai's patchy record, I would suggest that your sister in law stays away from them. I think Dr Crazy Driver has summed it up perfectly in this post (Hyundai India - The occasional serious quality lapse and apathetic manufacturer response!).

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

Hello BHPians. My Sister-in-law needs an automatic Car for pure intra city use (specifically in Pune only). Her budget is 4-6 lakhs and the car can be new or used, only criteria being a hatchback and should be reliable.

If she is OK with AMT, the Maruti S-Presso can also be another contender:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...resso-amt.html (Ownership Review | Millennium Falcon lands | Story of our Maruti S-Presso AMT)

[Maverick Avi]

New Celerio has one of the best AMT from Maruti stable. I own 2020 Wagon R 1.2 AMT and am very pleased with its in city driving experience. Celerio's AMT being better should come close to Hyundai in terms of smoothness.

With old cars the only risk is you never know what you might be getting into. No one would want a lady getting stranded due to some snag midway and calling you for assistance(you would be the 1st person coming to her mind since you recommended her this option ). Celerio is complete peace of mind option for years to come. Wagon R would have been been my 2nd recommendation but women rarely like its styling.

[GandalfTheGrey]

Unpopular and often overlooked choice - Maruti Ignis AMT.

It's a fairly decent car, and a decently fun to drive one too while delivering 16+kmpl in city. I'm sure you'll get a good deal on an Ignis for your price range. If you manage to find one at a TrueValue, then you'll also be getting 1 year of warrant. We got our Ignis Delta AMT in 2020 from TrueValue, and we're very happy customers. Excellent service and zero niggles so far.

Cheers!

[VikramCS]

I can confidently recommend Honda Jazz CVT. It's reliable, comfortable, spacious, suits city usage very well and you can get a good one for 6L. One can't go wrong with Jazz CVT for the stated requirement.

If she's a new driver, going down the used-car route is relatively better - lesser heartaches/anxieties (no need to worry too much about getting a scratch/minor dent).

If she absolutely wants a new car, Santro AMT/Ignis AMT may be a good choice (my two former colleagues bought these and have no complaints).

Good luck.

[Excommunicado]

As some of the esteemed BHPians have mentioned above, women like new stuff. I will be very frank with you brother, none of the new cars with automatic transmission cost anything less than ₹7.5 lakh on-road Pune.
Now if you can convince your sister-in-law for used cars by telling her the advantages viz.
i) Affordable
ii) Low Depreciation
iii)Low Insurance
Then you/they will enjoy shopping with multiple choices at your/their disposal. Just giving some of the absurd ones I saw on Olx
1) 2009 C class (C200) 58000km for ₹5.35 lakhs
2) 2008 5 series (520d) 89000km for ₹5.55lakhs
Above two examples were quoted to just give you an idea of what you can get in the used car market. I hope you strike the best deal.

A Jazz CVT in my book will be great!

[ms001]

If she's ok with a used car, i10/Grand i10 makes for good value.
She will find the conventional TC/CVT gearboxes much smoother and pleasurable to drive as compared to any small engine AMT car.

We recently got a pre-loved i10 Asta(not grand) automatic with sunroof, ABS, airbags, steering mounted controls) from H-Promise (Hyundai used car division), for my better half who was forced to consider driving due to the extremely unreliable and unavailable Uber, Ola cabs.

Would highly recommend "H Promise" for Hyundai cars, based on my personal experience. They have much better pricing, car condition and transparency as compared to cars24, spinny etc, also they provide Hyundai warranty and 1 free service.

[turbowhistle]

Originally Posted by ms001

We recently got a pre-loved i10 Asta(not grand) automatic with sunroof, ABS, airbags, steering mounted controls) from H-Promise (Hyundai used car division), for my better half who was forced to consider driving due to the extremely unreliable and unavailable Uber, Ola cabs.

Interested to know the year and how much you paid for it? Old i10 and even the first gen grand i10 has proper TC gearbox which is effortless to drive at the expense of fuel economy but overall robust cars.

OP I will also suggest the same route, find a user i10/grand i10 with TC gearbox and get a complete service/detail done including transmission fluid changes.

[CarWorld]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

Hello BHPians. My Sister-in-law needs an automatic Car for pure intra city use (specifically in Pune only). Her budget is 4-6 lakhs and the car can be new or used, only criteria being a hatchback and should be reliable.

Hello adi.mariner,
One of our fellow bhpian is selling his less than 3 years old and less than 10k km run Santro sportz amt in Pune itself. Check below link if you are interested.

https://www.team-bhp.com/news/upgrad...v-dark-edition