[cruise_control]

Hi all,

I need to buy a B/B+ segment car for my dad. Bigger cars are ruled out because its easier to maneuver smaller cars in Delhi traffic specially because my dad will be primarily use the car for short disctances within city and will go for highway driving only once a week perhaps. He does not like keeping a driver. He is currently driving an old Esteem which we want to sell off.

He has shortlisted Santro XS and Palio NV ELX 1.2. He did not like the others like WagonR, Indica, Zen and Getz. I have read various reviews about Santro and Palio and understand about differences in fuel efficiencies, ride comfort, ### etc. Our mind is changing often between the Santro and Palio. I am not going to drive this car as I am driving an Octavia currently. My questions are:

(1) Differences in maneuverability between Santro and Palio. Turning radius is more in Palio. So...

(2) I have read lot of horror stories about Fiat ###. Whats the scene in Delhi. Is there like a queue for getting a car serviced at Fiat's service centers? So, it takes many days to get routine services? What about parts availability etc. I am specifically interested about Delhi.

(3) BTW, the car will be driven very less - may be 500 km a month. So, keeping this in mind, whats better: Santro or Palio?

(4) We plan to keep the car for another 4-5 years

(5) Should we wait for couple of months more. I have some stories about more B segments cars to be launched soon. Anyone has any info on that?

thanks,

CC

[dipen]

Palio, overall is a good car, but maneuvering a Santro is much easier in traffic.

Palio being a lot heavy car, is not so great in maneuvering as the santro.
comfort is excellant in the Palio and the car is as safe as ROCK.
Palio has loads of space , which is an advantage, looks best in class.

plus considering the car will be doing just 500 km a month and approx 6000 a year , and the FE difference being just 1 to 1.5 km per liter less than the santro, the fuel would be abt approx Rs. 4000- 6000 more a year than the santro, which is really not a big deal I guess.

If finally u shortlist the Palio ELX, I would suggest u go for the Palio 1.2 Sport
coz , u get the following extras at an additional 25k
1. Sporty alloy wheels (same as in 1.6 GTX palio), which are really good looking.
2. Spoiler
3. Silver finished center console
4. FOg lights.
5. Better Fabric in the seats.
6. TAchometer.
7. Sporty pedals.
8. Leather wrapped steering and gear knob.

Service in Delhi is what I cant comment , fellow delhites would comment on it.
But I thing, what I know of is that Palio spares are not expensive. They are at par with the compitition.

[X-Machine]

I agree with dipen on this one.
Palio is anyday a superior car than the Santro.
Rock steady,great features,more power,affordable FE and ofcourse great looks too.
Santro would be smashed in comparison.
Cya.

[DCEite]

Well Santro stands nowhere in comparison to Palio....

And if for some reason u dont want to buy Palio... go for a WagonR VXI... much better overall package than Xing XS...

[amit]

I totally agree with my fellow team-bhpites. Palio is a far far superior product as compared to any of the other B/B+ segment cars. In fact, it's better than many mid-size cars too!
1. Santro is easier to manuvere in city. As ur rightly said, Palio has a wider turning radius.But that shouldn't be a reason for not buying a car! Personally, the only time i have found the manuverablity a problem, is while parking in tight spots in our congested pay and park parking lots. otherwise, day today driving is not a problem at all even in mumbai traffic situations.
2. Fiat after sales service is improving by leaps and bounds over the last 1.5 years. The company has been rated at no. 3 in the J.d.power SSI survey, higher than hyundai, so Fiat's efforts at improving the fiat ownership experience is improving. I can't comment on delhi service but I have been getting really good service in Mumbai.
3. Whether u drive 5, 500 or 5000kms/month, palio is better.
4. both cars will last easily for 4/5 years but due to better build quality palio will feel more new as compared to santro.
5. plenty to B,C,D segment cars will be launched in India over the next few years. How long will you keep waiting? Go for a car if u feel the need.
All the best!

[GTO]

Cruise control,

Just came home to see a brand new blood red Palio parked outside my neighbours house. Grey tints, 14" alloys and a spoiler is all it had. I spent 15 minutes just gazing at this car.

Buy a Palio for the looks alone...and preferably in the red (Is it Ferrari red?). Its much superior under the skin and all that....but this red colour looks astonishing!!!

GTO

[Rehaan]

Hi Cruise control,

Quite frankly, for the purpose that you require this car, i think that the advantages of the palio (which would naturally be a TBHP favourite) are balanced out by the sheer practicality of the santro.

There is no doubt that the santro is a much easier car to manouver, as well as park, due to visibility "issues" with the palio. (not to mention mammoth turning radius)
IF your father has no preference for the palio in terms of looks or solid build, i think that the santo would be a more sensible choice.

Im just presenting both sides of the arguement here, just so you dont think the santro is out of the picture.

cya
R

[normally_crazy]

hey pal ,

i read ur question and

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ] am not going to drive this car as I am driving an Octavia currently.

well so ur dad is gonna drive the car. i would say go for the santro, easier to drive in the city , a nice high driving position and peppy enuf to be with the flow.

i had a santro for 3 years and it still looked new when i sold it. depends on how u maintain the car ...

the palio looks better than the santro but the santro is easily THE MOST SENSIBLE CITY CAR in India today .

and hyundai service is damn good , not only in bbay but all over.

i say go for the xing.

cheers

[dipen]

Hey cruise control,

the best way to decide is :

Let yr father drive both the cars and let him decide , in which he feels more comfortable , if he can manage the palio easily at turns and parking , go for it, or else the Santro aint a bad car.

[F50]

Dont forget the traffic in Delhi ... never been there in 12 yrs but from what I have heard traffic there is worse ...
And as u said u r not gonna drive it ur dad is so ...

My Choice : Santro ... No need to say + points of Santro

[cruise_control]

Thanks folks! This gives me lot of inputs to ponder about. I will keep you updated with what we really buy. Cheers.

[lamborghini]

well let your dad drive both and buy what he likes...
the palio is more bigger, better looking esp i formula red sports version, safer , more reliabkle and better off on the highway
theres not much diff in FE
we havenot heard any complaints bout the palio in delhi yet its mainly banglore
the santro however is a much better car to drive in the city by our older generations and its a.s.s is better
the palio is meantmore for the ypunger lot specially the 1.6
so though being a palio lover, i recommend the santro for your dad

[amit]

hey i forgot to mention this in my earlier reply.
I found the santro a extremely uncomfortable car to drive and sit in. The 1.0 55hp santro is what i am talking about. The seats used to gimme a back ache within 20 mins of driving it and the weirdly positioned foot pedals gave me a pain in my right shin. No amount of adjusting the seats or my seating position changed this. It's surprising that santro owners don't talk about this. The car is a ergonomic disaster! Amazing that ppl have owned a santro for 5 yrs sometimes and have not noticed this!
Compared to that my matiz was a supermely comfortable car. Even the palio is great to sit in. I can just plonk myself in and drive it for 24 hours and not feel any discomfort.
Maybe Hyundai has changed the seats but i m damn sure the foot pedals are still oddly placed.
My advise would be for you and ur dad to drive the santro for at least 45 minutes.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]the weirdly positioned foot pedals gave me a pain in my right shin. No amount of adjusting the seats or my seating position changed this.

An old design problem with the Santros, which was pointed out by Autocarindia and Overdrive in the road tests. I think they may have solved it in later versions since it involved a simply "bend and modify" to the pedal rods.

Can anyone confirm that this problem has been solved?

GTO

[RJK]

Hey,
Since your dad needs to only drive from Point A to Point B within city limits my choice would be the Santro. Its easier to manoeuver & visibility is much much better than Palio & I know everyone will vouch for that. Palio has a high sill & it gives even me trouble(I'm about 5'10&quot Plus other virtues of Santro have already been mentioned. Not that the Palio is bad..fanstastic infact but in this case the Santro fits the bill just perfectly.