[CtrlAltDel]

thanks for the advice and info guys! from this and after speaking to a few others today, it looks like the race it between Getz and Fabia, with Swift as the dark horse! the only reasons why I am not wholeheartedly jumping for Swift are (1) I am not impressed by the back seat (2) too many Swifts in town - almost as ubiquitous as an Alto or M800!

About Getz, last time i checked with 2 of the showrooms in town (in December) there was no test drive vehicle, the waiting period was around 3 months (6 for SwiftD) and the most indigestible: the dealers' demand that I pay them 100% in advance and wait for delivery...if the similar situation continues I would have to rule out GetzD with a heavy heart.

now, to muck up things further, I am quite taken by the suggestions from some people to look at petrol cars too since they say the advantage of diesel fuel's lower cost evens out with petrol in the 3-5 years and that the petrol engine would give me lesser headache in that time.

I know the advantages of petrol vis a vis the diesel but it requires a serious change of mindset on my behalf. the fact is i drive around 900-1000 Kms a month. at the current fuel rates (petrol 51/- and diesel 36/- in hyderabad) the diesel cost is almost half that of petrol considering the fuel economy. I also feel that the CRDI engines of the diesel cars I am eyeing would be as smooth/refined/trouble-free as their petrol counterparts.

what is your take on this?

I saw the article that talks about how to calculate the actual cost of ownership, but I am unable to see how to apply it in my case.

since I have till april-may to make up my mind, I have decided to leave it open to consider good petrol engines too if I am convinced enough!

[androdev]

diesel rocks. vfm or not. arguably they are more fun to drive for regular drivers.

and you dont have to include "stop and wait in queue for refuel" in your daily itinerary which is a royal pain with petrol cars.

modern diesels beat petrol in every dept except refinement and hi-rev nature.

higher maintenance costs = history.

Audi TT coming in diesel btw ;-)

[NIP]

i highly recommend the ford fusion if price isn't a criteria. here's my thread on the car.

[sassid]

Go for the Swift. It ticks most of your boxes and is an extremely satisfying car to own and live with.

If appearances matter there are enough and more ways of jazzing up your ride.

• Alloys and Tyres - A definite need
• Exterior customisations and addons - All the way from stickers to Autopsyche (and the like) customisations
• Pete's tuning box - To give you the getz crdi like performance in a car that handles far better that the getz can ever

All this at a price still lower than the Getz and with the comfort that when you want to upgrade you will still get a better deal that you would with the Getz or the ford.

Fabia is out of the world as far as the interiors and the engineering goes - but buy it only if you are not going to drive it. If you have tried the swift you will not want to drive the fabia- At least thats the way it gets me. My dad has a fabia diesel the elegance.

[undead]

i say Getz CRDi , coz , its got good space at rear , comfortable for long journeys , good power when you are overtaking in emergency , good build quality.