[SilkDrive]

I have been employed for a couple of years now and have decided to take the plunge and book my first ever car next month.

Budget: 5.75 Lacs (not stretchable)

Contenders :
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Swift LDI, (5.76 Lacs on road)
Figo TDCI EXI, (5.65 Lacs on road)
Punto MJD Active (5.72 Lacs on road).

I have already ruled out the figo, although it is the most VFM proposition for me since most in the family are not too fond of its looks. And I am not too crazy about the ICE and central locking that i would get as a bonus in the Figo. I can manage to install these aftermarket within a couple of months of the purchase in the other cars too. However, I am having a keen ear towards suggestions and justifications in favour of the figo as well.

Well, now, the confusion is mainly between the Swift LDI and the Punto MJD Active.

Let me sum up my requirements and the detailed thought process behind narrowing down to the above 2 options.
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1. I am a little tight on budget during the purchase so looking at base models of both cars. I am not too bothered about the features but having a few is a bonus.

2. 70% of the time the car would be occuppied by me and my girlfriend (will be my wife after another six months ). Rest of the time my parents/friends would also be along.

3. Ride quality and comfort over long journeys is important since my father has lower back pains.

4. I intend to keep the car with me for a long time. I am looking forward to atleast 6 years.

5. The car would be used for office commute on weekdays (30 Km daily in all) and a little more on weekends. But whenever I get a long weekend, I plan to go out on drives and tours to nearby tourist destinations. (I love touring and this is one of the main reasons behind the purchase).

Thus average monthly running may not be more than 1000-1100Kms and may not warrant a diesel. But still over a 3 yr period, {the EMI + fuel cost} figure will be same for both and I would be happier with no need to worry about hefty fuel cost before a suddenly planned weekend getaway. So please do not suggest petrol alternatives.

With the above requirements in mind I did a comparo between the two. And findings are:
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1. I felt that Punto suits my requirements much better than the swift does in terms of comfort.

2. For the swift, i would have to shell out an additional amount on tyre upgrade soon after the purchase. Wheras in the Punto I could comfortably use the stock ones for their lifetime and then go for better ones. Would have to additionally purchase LHS mirror and wheel caps for swift. And the wheel caps, even from MGA, are not of the same quality as the ones that come from factory with VXI/VDI.

3. With the swift I would sorely miss the tacho. The punto offers some other goodies on this front like realtime FE indicator, etc.

4. I would get front power-windows in punto but not in swift.

5. The interiors of the 2010 punto appear to have with better quality plastics, and even though it is nothing to write home about, it atleast has a better look and feel good factor than the interiors of the swift.

6. I like the looks of both the cars, but i am totally sold off to the elegance and the beauty of the Bossa Nova White Punto.

I guess, I am giving an impression of having made the choice already !
Well, That is true.

But the reason behind posting this query is Swift has a great peace of mind associaced with it. It has proven itself and above all it comes from the Maruti stable. There is a promising A.S.S backing it up.

Since this would be my first car, and even my parents never owned or purchased a car, the experience would be totally new. There could be many areas about which, I may not have any idea at all and the dealers could take me for a ride.

Based on these facts my head is advising my heart to be calm and settle for the swift, resting assured that not even a newbie could go wrong with a swift.

I do not want to regret my choice from any aspect at all, after investing such a hefty amount so early in my career.

Could you pour in your expert advices that as a first time buyer, should i risk going in for a punto, or I would be safer sticking to the swift.

Thanks in advance!

[SpinWizard]

Hi SilkDrive, I completely understand your dilemma. But being part of this forum, I am sure you would have gone through many ownership experiences of the Punto.

As you have already said, Punto has much more to offer compared to the Swift for the price. Refreshing looks, Great suspension, Amazing steering feedback are all bench marks set by Punto in the Hatchback segment. I am sure going in for the Punto will not be a bad choice at all.

Regarding your fear of maintenance, it is quite simple, follow these steps:
1. Do a thorough check up of your Punto before delivery. Check out the PDI provided by Team-Bhp.
2. The service interval for the Punto is once in 15000 KM. Thus if you drive your car well, you need to visit the service station only once in a year. Compared to the swift which you need to service once in 5000KM.

Any product in the market will have certain defects weather you like it or not, having a small niggle here and there does not make a product bad. So my suggestion would be to go in for the Punto without any doubts what-so-ever.

[ashthedivx]

Why are you not listening to your Heart ?? Go for Swift LDI, however do try to squeeze in Ritz Diesel if you can. It is relatively newer model, newer lines and will be having a good resale then that of Swift in the long term. Rest assured with Maruti A.S.S. you'll never need to regret your decision

Best of luck mate.

[arun1100]

Punto will be my choice.

Second option is Ritz.

I would not prefer a Swift as its a outdated car and has a bulbous body which might not be comfortable for a newbie driver..

[Ajay_J]

If in your shoes, I would have seriously looked for a TATA MANZA. With your kind of running I still don't understand why you want to buy diesel. IMO, a newbie is always better with petrol than diesel. I probably would have looked for following 2 options if being safer is the priority (both in your budget) -

1) TATA MANZA (P)
2) Swift (KP)

Best of luck. happy hunting.

[DieselFan]

Swift or Ritz should be your choice as a newbie in car driving and this is your first car go for a car with zero maintenance worries. Maruti is THE CHOICE. Punto may give you good looks (Again looks is subjective), but may also give you nightmares in terms of maintenance. Also it is an established fact that Swift is a far better car for a enthusiastic driver than Punto.

[CliffHanger]

Personally I feel there is no match to Punto in this segment. Drive a Punto for a month, you would never be satisfied with any other hatch. You got to do that, to believe that.

Remember, you are not going to be a newbie driver for more than a month.

[arun1100]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

Personally I feel there is no match to Punto in this segment. Drive a Punto for a month, you would never be satisfied with any other hatch. You got to do that, to believe that.

Remember, you are not going to be a newbie driver for more than a month.

Very well said. Servicing a Punto might not be as easy as a Maruti car. But these days Tata guys are doing pretty good job. As you stay in Hyderabad, just ask some Hyd Fiatians on their experience about TASS.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by SilkDrive

3. Ride quality and comfort over long journeys is important since my father

1. I felt that Punto suits my requirements much better than the swift does in terms of comfort.

3. With the swift I would sorely miss the tacho. The punto offers some other goodies on this front like realtime FE indicator, etc.

4. I would get front power-windows in punto but not in swift.

5. The interiors of the 2010 punto appear to have with better quality plastics, and even though it is nothing to write home about, it atleast has a better look and feel good factor than the interiors of the swift.

6. I like the looks of both the cars, but i am totally sold off to the elegance and the beauty of the Bossa Nova White Punto.

Punto will be my choice if I were you.
Don't sweat too much about the A.S.S., it is improving.

All maruti LDis and LXis doesn't give you even basic features - check our gemithomas's thread on how he went ahead to buy Beat and then Figo after ditching Ritz LDi buying decision.

....and, here's the post!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchb...ml#post1744396

Things missing in Ritz LDi, hope its the same list for Swift LDi too.

- No Fog Lamps
- No Manual Central Lock (Punto has)
- No Rear Tray (Punto has)
- No Day/Night in cabin rear view mirror!!! (Punto has)
- No Tachometer (Punto has)
- No Wheel Covers (Punto has)
- No Wiring for Stereo (Punto has)
- No Internal Boot Release!!! (Punto has)
- No Steering Adjustment (Punto has)
- No Anything useful!!!!

[sdp1975]

I think you should have a relook at the Figo. Ask your family to have a look again - take them to the showroom. There's nothing wrong in the looks.

It's a fresh launch - and a great car for both city and highway driving - and Ford A.S.S is pretty OK.

[ms001]

out of the two i would suggest to for the punto active.
Dont worry about the A.S.S. most of the recent buyers are more than satisfied with that.
Swift is so common and it is an outdated design on indian roads.
Also considering the fact that if your are a new driver, you might feel uncomfortable with the huge trubo lag in swift.Punto has much better suspension , has more boot, cabin space and is a very comfortable car.

Myself being an punto mjd active owner i can vouch for it.

[SpinWizard]

ah !! there you have it, was waiting for the responses form the gurus, ms001 and sdp1975 both are happy Punto owners.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by SilkDrive

I do not want to regret my choice from any aspect at all, after investing such a hefty amount so early in my career.

Life's all about choices and irrespective of what choice we make, there will surely be either a slight tinge of regret (or more) about how it would have been if we had taken the other option.

You buy the Swift and given that you like the Punto, I guess you would be thinking every day about not taking the latter. You buy the Punto and if you have any serious A.S.S. issues, you might regret not getting the Swift.

But, since your post makes it clear that your preference is clearly for a Punto, go for it.

Originally Posted by SilkDrive

Thus average monthly running may not be more than 1000-1100Kms and may not warrant a diesel. But still over a 3 yr period, {the EMI + fuel cost} figure will be same for both and I would be happier with no need to worry about hefty fuel cost before a suddenly planned weekend getaway. So please do not suggest petrol alternatives.

More than the fuel cost, I think you should be worrying about some safety features in the car you buy. Since your estimated driving is less than what it takes for a diesel, I would suggest you use the money for getting a petrol car with ABS, airbags and the works. Petrol would only be some 15bucks more than a litre of diesel, but life is invaluable.

[ms001]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

More than the fuel cost, I think you should be worrying about some safety features in the car you buy. Since your estimated driving is less than what it takes for a diesel, I would suggest you use the money for getting a petrol car with ABS, airbags and the works. Petrol would only be some 15bucks more than a litre of diesel, but life is invaluable.

A very valid point do consider petrol options with safety features like abs etc.
you can have a look at punto 1.2 emotion .
It is huge VFM !!

[SilkDrive]

Well, thanks a lot to all of you for the prompt suggestions.

Following the suggestions, I would definitely include the Ritz in my list and value it above the Swift, if i am to bend away from punto towards Maruti. I have already casually taken opinion of family on Ritz and no one seem to have made much fuss about its looks.

But, owing to the mixed reactions, I am still finding myself neck deep in confusion, on the initial dilemma, i.e. whether to go ahead with punto or not.

Please keep pouring in all your views to guide me to the right path !

@Ajay_J : Thanks for your suggestion. I am currently not feeling very comfortable for a big car like the manza to start with!

And, since I am byuing on a 3 year loan, the EMI + fuel cost of a petrol and a diesel variant of the car would work out to be the same. So this means a no gain no loss position. But the advantage of a diesel would be that whenever, all of a sudden. i feel like going out on a long drive/weekend getaway, I would not have to give any second thoughts on hefty unplanned fuel bills.

Chances of such unplanned getaways are less, in hectic professional lives as mine, but the sense of freedom, that "i can run away whenever i want to!" is a continuous feeling and is priceless to me. That we would make me a happier person !

But on a serious note, even if i dont make many such trips, i still stand at a no loss point in 3 years time, and end saving some money after that period. Moreover, since i am talking 6 years, i do not actually know if my running would increase in future. So better to be prepared, for what time has in store for me!

@ashthedivx : I am feeling honoured to be discussing and getting advises from so many senior BHPians. Thanks for the suggestions ! But i think i have not been able to present my dilemma correctly to you! Actually its the heart, that is longing for the punto and the head is ruling towards a maruti.


EDIT:
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I now take back my comment about my increasing confusions..! I have already started feeling more relieved with the majority of votes towards the punto. Nothing at the moment seems as soothing as the encouraging words of the existing punto owners!