[Lord Lucan]

I am in the process of deciding on my first car

Requirements
1. Fuel efficiency [Atleast 12Kmpl for petrol in City, expected running about 12K Kms per year 90% city, 10% highway]
2. Space for 5 people.
3. Ride & Build quality [Has to travel 1Km daily is one of the worst roads in Bangalore, max speed possible even if the road is empty is around 5-10 Kmph => the cars body should not start rattling]
4. A.S.S
5. Unscheduled Maintenance frequency - should be as less as possible [car should be trouble free]. It is Ok, if this comes at the expense of 15-20% higher regular maintenance fees when compared with the other cars.
6. Budget : 4 to 4.25L Ex-showroom
7. Will use the car for 3-4 years.
8. Will be self driven.

Cars shortlisted currently
1. Get Prime 1.1
2. Indica Xeta 1.4 [Concerned with its image]
3. Palio stile 1.6

I am NOT considering any car from the current Maruthi stable.

I have test driven the Prime, the ride quality is good, power adequate for city driving [But it requires more gears shifts compared with the Xing] , gear box is excellent, visibility is good, build quality better than SWIFT and space bigger than Palio. But I am concerned with the following
1. What is the FE of Prime 1.1? Can some of the owners please respond?
2. Ground clearance is 160MM is less compared with the other cars, does it means that I will have a lot of problems negotiating with the pothole filled bangalore roads? [TD was on ORR.]
3. With the new Hyundai offering codenamed 'PA' around the corner with Prime be a good buy? When is PA due?
4. Why are there not many Getz on the road? Is the model a failure in India?


Will TD the Xeta 1.4 and stile 1.6 and will update the report. What is the expected FEs of these who cars?

Is there any other factors that I need to consider

[tsk1979]

You can choose from Fiat 1.6 or Getz, if you are worried about indica image
Why did you not shortlist Getz 1.3
We have one of the first batches and the car is extremely robust. Does very very bad roads.

For real roughshod use we have a indica which takes abuse without complaints. The parts of the indica are cheapest, but then for both Indica and Fiat its tata A.S.S. which is not very good(If you compare it with hyundai).

So if you want power you go for the Fiat stile
If you want practicality and a "safe option" then Getz 1.1/1.3 is for you.

[bottle]

if you are going to be driving frequently in bumper to bumper traffic i would suggest against stile 1.6 (talking from a FE pov)

and yea how come you didnt shortlist the prime 1.3

[Lord Lucan]

Prime 1.3 is well above my budget , Ex-Showroom 4.9 L

tsk1979: What is your FE with 1.3?

[Strider]

Its a contest: Palio 1.6 versus Getz 1.3

Both cars are spacious enough for five people and engines powerful enough to lug five adults.

Palio has on better (than the Getz) ride quality, build quality, handling, and price but the Getz has better ***, mileage and retaining its value (i.e poor second hand value).

Despite its price premium the Getz will give better mileage and hold its value better, it is built well enough and satisfies all your needs well. My advice: Getz 1.3 (1.1 only if price is a problem, otherwise there really isn't any FE advantage to be gained, from what I heard).

~Strider

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Lord Lucan

Prime 1.3 is well above my budget , Ex-Showroom 4.9 L

tsk1979: What is your FE with 1.3?

You can get upto 30K cash discount on the 1.3 now.
As for the FE, I used the car for 1500kms brand new. Highway driving gave me around 14-15, and the current city mileage in bumper to bumper traffic is around 11-12 with AC.
Its the first generation getz 1.3 from 2005 Jan-Feb batch.
From all the hatches I have driven(Palio 1.2/Santro/Indica/Getz/M800/Alto) the getz has been the most comfortable with least fatigue factor.

[bottle]

driving a 1.6 is a lot less fatiguing than driving a 1.2 about seating for palio do take a long drive and judge since it doesnt seem to suit everyone. I like it dad hates it

[amit]

Originally Posted by Lord Lucan

Requirements
1. Fuel efficiency [Atleast 12Kmpl for petrol in City, expected running about 12K Kms per year 90% city, 10% highway]

Has to travel 1Km daily is one of the worst roads in Bangalore, max speed possible even if the road is empty is around 5-10 Kmph

The Palio Stile 1.6 will not give you your required mileage in those conditions. And I don't think the Indica Xtea 1.4 (Isn't it 1.2 now?) will either.

[Lord Lucan]

Originally Posted by amit

And I don't think the Indica Xtea 1.4 (Isn't it 1.2 now?) will either.

Xeta has 4 variants, the top-end is 1.4 and the remaining 3 are 1.2. The top end's ORR is 3.8L in Bangalore [Excluding the 20K cash discount] is real VFM

[abhilashvk]

Fuel efficiency [Atleast 12Kmpl for petrol in City, expected running about 12K Kms per year 90% city, 10% highway]

Ride & Build quality [Has to travel 1Km daily is one of the worst roads in Bangalore, max speed possible even if the road is empty is around 5-10 Kmph => the cars body should not start rattling]

Isn't both these statements against law of physics? usually the well built and heavy cars give 9 to 10 kms mileage in Bangalore city. Anyhow among the three i suggest Palio 1.6 for the build quality, but its 5.05 L OTR which is above your budget.

[Zappo]

I am not sure about the top end Xeta's (the 1.4 variant) FE figures. However all the 1.2 variants will easily give you around 13kmpl with AC in city provided you are not the zip-zap-zoom type driver who loves to chase all the tail lights.

Getz 1.3, as far as I know (basically two guys who these), will return you around 11.5 kmpl in city with AC. Not sure about the Prime 1.1 though.

Palio 1.6! Uh... now thats a mystery. We have members here who have even claimed 17+ kmpl in city (more than M800)! My personal assessment is it should give you between 11 and 12 kmpl with real steady driving. But then its another matter that 1.6 is not exactly meant for that...

[bottle]

with regular driving expect 10 in city for 1.6 it can drop till 8 or with good conditions 11.. i doubt it would give more than that in city. in highway its a differnent matter.

[ravikn]

Hi Lord Lucan

I would suggest you to go far stile 1.6 sport if you want the build and ride quality and planning to keep the car for 4-5 years minimum and as you get discounts upto 20K easily which comes OTR 4.8L Bangalore. Well the mileage in city would be a decent 10kmpl and highways 15kmpl (if you are around 90-100kmph)

Good luck

With Regards
Ravi

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Lord Lucan

Requirements
1. Fuel efficiency [Atleast 12Kmpl for petrol in City, expected running about 12K Kms per year 90% city, 10% highway]

Indica Xeta.

2. Space for 5 people.

All of the above.

3. Ride & Build quality [Has to travel 1Km daily is one of the worst
roads in Bangalore, max speed possible even if the road is empty is around 5-10 Kmph => the cars body should not start rattling]

Getz and the Stile score over the Indica. The Indica will start rattling.

4. A.S.S

Tata+Fiat will be under the same roof. The Getz is at Hyundai. Read dealership reviews posted by members in Bangalore for details.

5. Unscheduled Maintenance frequency - should be as less as possible [car should be trouble free]. It is Ok, if this comes at the expense of 15-20% higher regular maintenance fees when compared with the other cars.

Getz over the Palio and Indica.

6. Budget : 4 to 4.25L Ex-showroom

Think only the Xeta is close to an on-road price. The Getz and Palio are more expensive (I am not sure).

7. Will use the car for 3-4 years.

All of the above should last twice that requirement if maintained properly.

Originally Posted by Zappo

Palio 1.6! Uh... now thats a mystery. We have members here who have even claimed 17+ kmpl in city (more than M800)! My personal assessment is it should give you between 11 and 12 kmpl with real steady driving. But then its another matter that 1.6 is not exactly meant for that...

Whoa! Where is that Zappo? I'd like to see this post. I am sure a highway figure of 17 is possible then you wouldn't really be driving. City is between 10 - 12 kmpl highway should be between 13-17 kmpl depending on driving styles.

17kmpl in city is an exaggerated figure no doubt.

[phamilyman]

Indica Xeta is not bad. Like I said earlier, the family Xeta has now done close to 16k+ (almost 9 months). Of which about 5-8km are daily on extremely bad roads (ask any delhi wala of what he thinks about khanpur interior roads). 1.1-1.2 Rs/km with CNG. Petrol would be about 11ish if I recall right.

The car has only had some issues with the CNG lambda sensor (replaced under warranty), and some AC related minor hassle (again, under warranty). The only issue its had, is the exhaust needs regular re-tightening, thanks to a couple of unavoidable speed breakers near our house where even activa/pulsar bump their bums every now and then