[Swaroop77]

At your price point the options have been given. Swift, i10, Stile etc. If your wife is the one driving, then let her do the deciding :-). Seems you are "back seat driving" before buying!
On a serious note, the relative safety you experience when you are driving a car depends a lot on it handling and stability in highway speeds ( more than 70-80 Km/hr). My personal experience decided the same for Swift over Santro ( I had driven both before buying). Swift "felt" more planted than the Santro. With a flexible budget and love for highway driving, I went for Swift. But i10 will be lot more maneuverable in Pune traffic and if you do not intend to do much highway driving then i10 will be a good bet.

Test drive of both is highly recommended.

[blue_pulsar]

Swift and i10 should be your choices in my opinion.
Swift clearly a bigger car than i10, good black interiors, better handling at higher speeds and most importantly, an enthusiastic engine that you'll love to drive each time. However, in your budget i guess you will get only the LXi. It is really worth it if you can stretch to VXi.
i10 has good biege interiors, good Santro's tweaked engine, but I personally felt engine is a little unenthusiastic(I'm not saying underpowered). You can go in for Magna variant with your budget.
Now some people suggested the Stile 1.1. I have not driven the 1.1, but people who have driven, please tell me, doesn't 1.1 engine/57bhp feel too underpowered for a ~1000kg car? (Am just asking, no bashing please. Too many Palio fans out there )

[sfilinto]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Fiat is very costly to maintain and is not so fuel efficient compared to above.

being the proud owner of a palio I would disagree with that statement & would certainly be interested in knowing the experiences your friend had with his / her Palio.

[Anju]

Choobak,

Which one did you choose finally ?

we might wanna know..

cheers
Anju

[DCEite]

I would say go for i10 or wait for Suzuki Splash.
Also WagonR is a decent buy in that range.

[greenhorn]

I know I've been quite the indica fanboi lately, but just wanted to add a few points.

Originally Posted by choombak

Hi,

I am trying to make a decision for my first car (and a new driver that I am), and would like pearls of wisdom from senior team-bhpians' out here. Some of the points that I am considering are -
1. Budget - upto 4.5l OTR

Indica turbo? economy and performance !

2. Safety - will mostly use the car for city driving in Pune, but also weekend trips to nearby destinations (~100 kms.). Since this will mostly be highway driving, I want a car that holds onto the road at speeds of around 80kmph, and does not fly-off when a truck passes by. Also, if possible, I wish to see better impact-resistance on the car body (I hear that old Fiat Palios' were built like a tank).

While its not built like a tank, it IS built like a truck

3. FE - Daily driving will be 40 kms., and weekly will not be more than 300 kms. What is a better recommended FE? I guess I am okay with 10-12 kmpl.

mine gives 14, and its diesel!

4. Seating - comfortable enough for 4 people for weekend drives.

seats 5 easily. you'll be spoilt!

5. Kid friendly - Don't know if such a thing exists, but I have an year old daughter, and any kid-friendly feature will help.

well, it has child locks at the rear, guess most others cars do as well. the centre seatbelt should fit small kids better

6. My wife will drive the car mostly.

the car does feel a bit heavy- the pedals , the gearshifts , the steering , all feel much heavier. and the front visiblity is an issue...

anju discounts the indica citing performance and after sales service. well, tata after sales is now the same as fiat after sales service , so its the same , and performance , while not in the same league as the mighty 1.6 palio, is still quite competent ( I'm talking about the turbo here)

a bit OT : why does the OP have a 0 post count ?

[Eddy]

1- Swift
2- i10

Amongst others, please do think about and TD these two cars before you arrive at a conclusion. Got for a family TD and decide.

[snaronikar]

We are giving suggestions. But where is the thread starter? No replies from him. Choombak, are you there ?

[choombak]

Firstly, apology for suddenly vanishing - I do honor the time of everyone who has replied, but some personal commitments made me ignore the "car purchase" thing for sometime now. Anyways, back to the topic...

My wife has started taking TDs', and the first one's were Palio Stile Sport 1.6, and Indica GLG 1.2. Since she will mostly drive it, it is her final word that counts (not mine). She also learned car driving on a Santro Xing, and here is her report:

1. Indica GLG 1.2
- accelerator, and clutch felt heavier
- car had some vibrations (TD car?)
- AC is more powerful

2. Stile 1.6 sport (since 1.1 was not available)
- Good pickup (almost a rocket)
- front leg space for the driver seemed crumpled, as the steering column had a big volume as compared to the Indica.
- AC was weak as compared to Indica

She feels that both cars respond slow to the accelerator, and the clutch (I guess that is fine, as she has Santro as the baseline). But at the pricing, Indica has a lot more features than any other car (I liked the lamp in the boot - kinda helpful at nights when you are pulling out stuff).

Next on the list are Santro, WagonR, Spark, and i10. Shall post them on Monday or so. I have also suggested her to TD Indica DiCOR - grapevine says that it has FE of 20 in city, and 23 on highways, though I doubt it.

I have a couple of queries:
1. Is Indica GLX 1.4 Xeta better to own than GLS model?
2. Comparing the higher cost of diesel cars, is it a must to make the fuel cost calculations? (kms/day, and the breakeven time needed to recover cost for diesel, etc.) Personally, I feel DiCOR is much refined, and a good engine, and Indica DiCOR should be a good car to own.

Thanks.

-choombak

[mobike008]

Choombak, good to see you back. Palio 1.6 is mostly for a enthusiastic driver. Since your purchasing the car for your wife. Look for something which is not too powerful, petrol guzzler and facing difficulties for A.S.S

Indica, in my opinion would look quite odd for a lady to drive, that is the only problem i see otherwise its a fine car.

For a lady, i think the ideal cars would be between a Santro, i10, spark ( my favorite, especially in fluorescent green-made just for a lady)

Regarding petrol vs diesel, if you intend to do 1500km in a month and plan frequent out of town trips, diesel will surely make sense. Otherwise, don't even think about it.

[choombak]

<i> Indica, in my opinion would look quite odd for a lady to drive, that is the only problem i see otherwise its a fine car.</i>

Actually a black Indica looks neat, and hey, if my wife likes it - who is to question! ;-) I guess the main reason why Indica seems to be a non-ladies car is because of its cab image.

-choombak

--
You drive cars? I drive cameras' - Nikon Coolpix, Canon S1 IS, Nikon N75 SLR.

[somebodystopme]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

Vikram is right!!! Wagon R has wife and kid features and it has quality. It comes in many variations and is in your budget. Tata Indica is a little suspect quality-wise. Swift is not really a wife/child vehicle and visibilty to the rear is not so good. It has good quality and a great diesel motor however. Wagon R also has lots of glass and good visibilty. Alto (Maruti) might be a decent choice also and can be had for just under 3 lakh, I think.

Some say swift has very Bad built qualit some say built quality is good? I have read so many threads here only which states swift being abd quality product for Indian consumers where are all those people now??

I myself like the looks of the car but cancelled it out because of comments that i read here. Someone with enough Knowledge Please explain.

[choombak]

After TDing many cars, I have finally decided to go for a Palio Stile SLX 1.1. Got it from B.U.Bhandari, in Pune, for 3.98 OTR (with 13K march disc, and 8K corporate disc). Am also getting mud flaps, door mats, and Garware sun control film as free accessories. The color is Furnace Red (closer to maroon). Thanks for all those who helped to make me a choice.

-choombak