[in_pursuit]

I have been reading several topics of discussion in here and one issue of being "very tall" in choosing a car.

However, I have a problem of different sorts. My father (58) and I (27) are both new to driving and are on the shorter side (5'3") and are having trouble choosing our "first" car. We are family of 3, and would occassionaly would need to seat 5 (all of medium /small builds).

The main consideration for us would be (in that order)

1. Road Visibility (considering our height)
2. Ease in maneuverability (both of us are beginners, and father is 50+)
3. Good Feel of the car / interiors (we dont usually replace our vehicles for long long time)
4. Price range in and around 5 Lakhs
5. Usage is primarily to commute to work (20KM /day approx) in Bangalore traffic.

We were initially planning to buy a Spark, but were disappointed by the poor interiors and also, did not seem the type of car we would want to "own" for long.

Do guide us on the same .... Getz 1.1 / I10/ U-VA or any other?

[Technocrat]

In my opinon i10 suits the bil perfectly for you..

Getz & Uva are too big for your requirement I feel plus I think they might be less Fuel efficient than the i10.

p.s. This is where I miss the Alto VXi :(

[Jorge]

Other than the poor interiors, exactly why did you drop the idea of buying the spark? With a budget of 5lakhs, the following cars are available:
Pre owned: Accent, Honda city, Innova etc.
New: Palio, UVA, Getz, Swift, i10, Indigo
Alto, M800, Spark, Santro, Estilo, Wagon R, Indica
Next year's model: Splash

The first thing to narrow down here is the size of the car.
Since the primary use of the car is within city, a smaller turning radius might be an important criteria, for parking purposes.
Turning radius of less than 5.0m: M800, Alto, Spark, Santro, Estilo, Wagon, Honda city
I am not sure about the turning radius of the other cars, but Getz, Palio and UVA have 5.0m-5.1m turning radius.
Between the Spark, Santro, Wagon R and Estilo, there is very little to choose between the cars:
[SIZE=2]
Santro has the most responsive engine.
Spark has the best ride comfort and the quietest engine.
Wagon r has the most amount of space.
Estilo has the best combination of space, ride comfort, and engine
responsiveness.

[SIZE=2]Santro has the least ride comfort.
Spark has the least responsive engine.
Wagonr is the least fuel efficient for long distances.
Estilo has the worst combination of gear shift, cabin width.
Both wagonr and estilo have the noisiest engine.
Estilo and Spark are the most fuel efficient.
Hyundai service is the best.
Maruti after sales service is the most widely available.
Wagonr and Santro are the oldest.
Estilo and Spark are the newest.

[SIZE=2]The Spark front seat is the smallest and A/C is the worst.
But it comes with tubeless tyres. Cabin space is comparable to Santro and Estilo, but probably a bit more. Boot space is the smallest for spark.
Spark is the shortest in height and hence most stable on the highway.

So that is the comparison in a nutshell!!! Pick any of them, you can't go wrong with any of them, except maybe Spark, since GM is still not a company that we can trust in India. Not yet anyway. They phased out the Corsa and the Matiz is already a discontinued brand.
[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]

[ram_hyundai]

you can still opt for the alto lxi.take a test drive for both alto and i10.take a long td with your family.then decide on either of the cars.

ram

[in_pursuit]

Originally Posted by ram_hyundai

you can still opt for the alto lxi.take a test drive for both alto and i10.take a long td with your family.then decide on either of the cars.

ram

Ram,
Don't you think the Alto has a relatively lower ground clearance plus the fact that it isnt a car that I might want to own for long......

I forgot to add that, I might want to occassionally hire a driver to commute about 350KM.

[achopraa]

Man...U r comparing the wronge cars....
i10 is in league with spark/wagonR/Estilo/Santro/palio/Indica.
Whereas Getz/U-Va/Swift are in a different league.

Though both of the above leagues will suit your requirements only difference being buying from League 1 will give u top model and league 2 will give u the middle model.

Now comes the part of choosing the "Right" car.

Since your main points include the feel good factor "interiors" and fuel efficiency, I would suggest i10 as it undoubtedly has the best of the interiors and is also fuel efficient.

Negative would be that it does not have a height adjustment in the driver seat so I would suggest you to better have a test-drive and judge for yourself.
i10 also has the best in the class steering(Motor driven PS), which gives a better handling of the car.
You can go for i10 Magna which will costs around 4.22 On Road-Delhi.

In case you are looking for the second league, I personally preferred U-Va to Getz though swift is also a good option. (Confused.....don't be)

But again to keep the basics right....Firstly test drive yourself to see how comfortable YOU are in driver's seat. No point in buying a 5L car when you are more comfortable and have better grip in a 3.5L car.

[sqwall]

It would be worth your while to check out the WagonR as well.
It a has excellent road visibility.
Strike out Getz from your list as road visibility is not great.

Cheers

[rravik]

You can go for i10 Magna which will costs around 4.22 On Road-Delhi.

Wow!! I paid 4.27 for i10 Era in Pune. You lucky delhiites .

[humyum]

Although u say the height factor will play a role why dont u keep a pillow below while driving?That will almost negate the visiblity problems u might have because of height.
And since ocassionally u would need 5 people to be seated in the car.Getz 1.1 and swift should fit your requirments.Although visiblity problem can be adjusted with a pillow if u like it that way.
Otherwise Wagon R.Its pretty big and can seat 3 people behind with ok comfort.

[Technocrat]

Alto has sufficient ground clearance for most of the terrain that you would drive on (Its better than the old Zen). SO do check it as well will be much cheaper too

@achopraa : There is nothing class leading about the Motor Driven PS, Even the Alto has this & its known as EPS

[in_pursuit]

Originally Posted by humyum

Although u say the height factor will play a role why dont u keep a pillow below while driving?That will almost negate the visiblity problems u might have because of height.
And since ocassionally u would need 5 people to be seated in the car.Getz 1.1 and swift should fit your requirments.Although visiblity problem can be adjusted with a pillow if u like it that way.
Otherwise Wagon R.Its pretty big and can seat 3 people behind with ok comfort.

Yep, keeping a pillow is what I did consider, and probably would end up doing. But, was looking at an option to avoid it if I could.

WagonR is something I did not consider as 1) I dont like the looks of it at all. 2) have also read a lot about its gear shift being one of the worst.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

@achopraa : There is nothing class leading about the Motor Driven PS, Even the Alto has this & its known as EPS

i10 has the lightest set-up i have come across (May be NHC, but i havent tried it)!

Which is a real help in the city , but SCARY as speeds go up!

[Technocrat]

Why is its scary> the power to PS gets shut after some speed I think its 60kph but I am not sure.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by in_pursuit

Yep, keeping a pillow is what I did consider, and probably would end up doing. But, was looking at an option to avoid it if I could.

WagonR is something I did not consider as 1) I dont like the looks of it at all. 2) have also read a lot about its gear shift being one of the worst.

Yeah gearshift is bad as compared to other cars.And as technocrat said try the alto.No pillow needed+fantastic Ac+electronic power steering.Seating 5 will be a little congested though and u ll get it for a shade over 3 lakhs for the lxi version(top most)
@technocrat- yeah it shuts down after 60.

[snaronikar]

Looks are subjective. But if you consider the visibility & other dynamics, I still prefer WagonR. The FE is around 14kmpl in coty and on h/ways it would be around 18 kmpl. I owned it previously and have driven most of the cars. For your height, I feel WagonR suits the most and it also fits in your budget. Take a TD of this and other cars and then decide.