[adabass]

Hi,

I am going to buy a car for my wife. We live in Pune and it will be mostly used in the city and the maddening pune traffic. Sometimes though we would like to have an option to do some excursions to destinations 200-400 kms away.

Some of our decision points are -
1. Safety (ABS, airbags)
2. Drivability, manuevarbility, parkability (Pune city traffic.. need i say more)
3. Mileage (should return good mileage returns but is not a make or break factor)
4. Price (Budget upto 5 L - can be stretched about .5 L if needed)
5. A.S.S - cheap spares and maintenance.
6. I will also drive the car some times and I am 6'2".

We are currently almost decided on i10 asta - Are there any other cars we should be thinking about?

[sachinj12]

Why not consider the Ritz/Swift ZXI? The K=series engine is extremely refined and provides decent FE

[sajo]

Adabass, May I recommend the Ford Figo 1.2 (Petrol) Titanium ?

It has got excellent all round visibility , a nice steering , and at 5,00,180 rupees on the road Pune, comes loaded with Airbags, ABS, electric everything, and a pretty decent stereo.
Ofcourse, its a bit underpowered, which is also the reason I am not buying one, but offers terrific value.

[sebastianjoseph]

We just got the I10 Sportz Automatic, its going to be driven by wifey. Wife loves it, I love it. AT is a big big boon in the Pune traffic.

Cost me 5.06 L + 13000 for insurance. I did not take insurance from the dealer is I was getting it much cheaper when I approached Tata Aig directly. the 13K insurance is with an addon package http://*******.com/yhxn7gnwithout the addon it was bout 11k and that is 5k cheaper than what the dealer was giving me.

Discounts I got 4K corporate 16k cash (i.e. in place of the free insurance) and a free remote locking worth 3.5k.

The AUTOMATIC is amazing

Originally Posted by adabass

Hi,

I am going to buy a car for my wife. We live in Pune and it will be mostly used in the city and the maddening pune traffic. Sometimes though we would like to have an option to do some excursions to destinations 200-400 kms away.

Some of our decision points are -
1. Safety (ABS, airbags)
2. Drivability, manuevarbility, parkability (Pune city traffic.. need i say more)
3. Mileage (should return good mileage returns but is not a make or break factor)
4. Price (Budget upto 5 L - can be stretched about .5 L if needed)
5. A.S.S - cheap spares and maintenance.
6. I will also drive the car some times and I am 6'2".

We are currently almost decided on i10 asta - Are there any other cars we should be thinking about?

[iamback]

Just Test Drive the New Volkswagen Polo. It looks good and really comfortable and easy to drive and handle especially for women. As I also live in Pune, I know the traffic of Pune. So the Polo is good for the use in Pune. I have myself booked one.

Anyway, If you live in Pune then why did you set your location as Houston.

[ikoneer]

Try out the AT variant of i10, the price is only 50K more than the manual ones.

i10 AT is quite a fun to drive and am sure your wife would enjoy it.

[razor4077]

The i10 Asta meets all your requirements.
Lovely city car. Feels a little "light" on the highways. Since you're going to use this for some out of town trips occasionally, would suggest upsizing the tyres to 165mm. Makes a world of difference, as I have found out.
Are you opting for the AT or MT? AT would be easier to drive in the city, at the cost of about a kpl in FE.

[adabass]

Thanks for the inputs folks. I test drove the i10 along with my wife yesterday. It feels good and amazingly the rear legroom space was pretty good too - as much as i20. I have not looked at figo and polo as yet - but will do.

My wifey loved the i20 more than i10 but a little beyond our budget. We were tempted by A/T but since >90% of cars in the market are still M/T it would be difficult to drive any other car if required. To tell you honestly, we are recently back from US and we were driving an AT for the last couple of years - it is very comfortable, but coming back to India we know we have to make that switch to driving M/T.

I was surprised to know that i20 comes with 6 airbags! (the top variant) - Is there any other hatchback with the same safety standard?

I will definitely look at upgrading the tires if i buy the i10 - I also did feel they are a little small.

One basic question - In what ways is diesel engine better than a petrol - better FE or power?

I am driving my father in laws marina right now and am impressed with the way it pulls after 2000 rpm - thats why the question.

[iamback]

Originally Posted by adabass

One basic question - In what ways is diesel engine better than a petrol - better FE or power?

In VW Polo Petrol and Diesel both have 1.2L engine. The Petrol gives mileage of 17.2 Km/L but in Diesel it will give about 21 Km/L (As currently their are no details were reveled about POLO diesel and these figures are given by Dealer only.). Talking about the Performance these are the figures of Polo.
Polo Diesel :Power 75 PS @ 4200 rpm Torque 180 Nm @ 2000 rpm
Polo Petrol :
Power 75 PS @ 5400 rpm Torque 110 Nm @ 3750 rpm

As every one knows Diesel only kicks at higher RPM's

[ampere]

If its only for the city driving, and it never it goes on to the highway, I would say don't spend the extra money on i20. Take the top end i10 (ASTA) with the AT version. In fact the ASTA AT will take you near or more than 6L. T

The Sportz AT comes to about 5.4 OTR (in Bangalore). I find that to be an extreme VFM. My wife drives one.
Though it does not have ABS.

[poloman]

Polo has all the qualities to become a ladies car. But Highline with all safety features may be out of your budget.In my personal opinion i10 has become a bit jaded after so many new launches.

[Mustang.101]

Hi adabass, I think the i10 asta suits your wife & all your requirements but just check if YOU can comfortably drive it as you said you are 6'2" & may find this a tight squeeze.

Let me know when you check this issue.

[k!ng_@thur]

If you can avoid the highway part, i10, estilo, ritz all make sense. Given your height, swift might in fact be a tad difficult. I find it wierd to sit on the back seat and have my head touch the ceiling. All 3 have decent back/ boot space.

If you need the highway use, would suggest looking at the i20, Figo, Punto range. But then these are cars that are "men" cars (at the risk of sounding chauvinistic). Definitely will not touch the "cute" nerve.

[knp]

at any day, i10 is the best bet for your requirements. It suits well for city and highway driving too.

[Musicmaker23]

For city driving, easy maneuverability, parking ease, safety & a.s.s:
1. i10 Asta
2. Chevy Beat
3. Ford Figo
4. Ritz

in that order