[Anandg]

Originally Posted by ampere

The engine is the same. They have downgraded the 1.1L to K-Series 1L.

You mean new estillo is 100C greater than new Wagon R?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Anandg

You mean new estillo is 100C greater than new Wagon R?

A-Star, Estillo and WagonR all have the same 1L K-Series engine.
Maruti downgraded the old Wagon-R 1.1L to the new Wagon-R 1L K-Series.

[Anandg]

Thanks guys. All your inputs that are helping me shape my decision.
Now new contenders,for which i have to take a test drive today, from my list are:
i10 1.1 irde
spark
new alto
Ritz

Beat--- Any comments for this?
swift--- Any comments for this?
punto--- Any comments for this?
figo--- Any comments for this?

Kindly let me know more about other participants to give them a fair chance as well.

[sanju.iitm]

I would say you to stick to any vehicle with its top model at 4L(which has AC,Power Windows atleast front,fog lamps etc). So that you can use all handy features when required. May be if you look into Ritz or swift etc then you may just get the base model where you may not get many required features. I guess you got my point.

If you are comparing Estilo and Spark then I would say you can think of Spark coz I have faced some gear issues in Estilo in my friend's car (may not be the issue in other cars).

Finally I would like to say-You just stick to your requirements and the budget.The more is your requirement n so increases the price.Considering 4L budget I would say Estilo, Alto,Spark or i10 1.1(I guess its more than 4.2 on road) would be a good buy.

Good Luck

[Anandg]

Hi Sanju,
yes i agree with you. I just had a test drive of new estilo and ford figo;
1)Estillo vxi -- Was good to drive. Decent interiors. Looses power in 2-3grear with AC on. costs 4.3 lakhs. Come with all bells and whistles except Audio/abs/airbags.
2) Figo Petrol(basic model) -- 1.2 ltr engine is powerful. Space is much better. Ride more stable. But with only power steering and AC.

Some guys (not here) kept saying- stick to maruti for tension free service life blah-blah and do not go to hyundai/GM as they have poor service network,bad resale and what not. Is that really true?

Reply awaited.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Anandg

Some guys (not here) kept saying- stick to maruti for tension free service life blah-blah and do not go to hyundai/GM as they have poor service network,bad resale and what not. Is that really true?

@Anand - I'm not saying all of them are bad, there could be one or two centres in a city providing good service for Hyundai/Tata/GM. But from an overall perspective, Maruti has an edge due to their long presence & they WILL take complaints from customers seriously, less prone to common mistakes during service & less prone to misdiagnose issues. Most of their service centres are prone to do good job & even if one doesn't you still have several alternatives because of their wide network.

Also, if you get stranded any where on road, you're sure to find a M.A.S.S at a nearest town.

[Anandg]

HI Aargee,
That was not to refer you, but salesmen whom I met in maruti today. They started pestering me that do not go for GM/Ford as per reasons above. Ford/Honda has showrooms just behind them. I outright rejected their ideas but somewhere 1% this is true I feel.

[mkh]

I see that your drive is mostly for the highways, hence i do not recommend the 1.1 i-10.
I think now its a choice between the Wagon R and the Spark for you? i-10 is above 4 lacs and so are the rest. Else the i10 1.2 is a fantastic buy, even the Figo.
Spark: superb for its size- the ride is great, however you can feel the power drop when the ac turns on and the boot space is least. The ride was great though and also the sales support. The 3 year service free package is a great deal.
If boot size and rear seat space is a major concern- figo diesel is the best amongst the lot, but if not- i-10 is the best as per me.( if can shell out 5 lacs)
If you just cannot go above 4 lacs- spark is the BEST choice, no doubt. Looks much better than the Wagon R and also handles better on high speeds. But the highest end version will exceed 4 lacs On road in bangalore.

[Anandg]

Thanks MKH,
Spark seems a good vehicle here and I am getting inclined to it. I have to get a test drive today.

However no one pointed about Alto. Is that really bad for highways?

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Anandg

but salesmen whom I met in maruti today. They started pestering me that do not go for GM/Ford as per reasons above.

Typical sales people

However no one pointed about Alto. Is that really bad for highways?

Simple reason for the below

11) Price - in or closer to 4L bracket

Alto is 3-3.5 segment; Alto is not bad on highways, just that it has a smaller engine

i10 is good too; but remember always to take the top end variant on whichever make/model you choose.

[SirAlec]

Since it 75% highway, and its for a wife, I would say you increase a budget a bit and also add airbags and abs on the list. ALso is she image conscious. If you don't mind my asking.


I must say also have a look at Nissan Micra.

I am getting this for a 68 years former 60s supermodel foreigner friend, who also happens to be my client. Out of all the option she chose this over fiat 500. Imagine!

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by mkh

I see that your drive is mostly for the highways, hence i do not recommend the 1.1 i-10.
I think now its a choice between the Wagon R and the Spark for you?

How come i10 1.1 is not recommended for the highways, but WagonR and Spark are ?

I fail to see the reasoning behind this.

Rohan

[mkh]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

How come i10 1.1 is not recommended for the highways, but WagonR and Spark are ?

I fail to see the reasoning behind this.

Rohan

Looking at my post, i am also wondering! What i meant is this- between 1.1 and 1.2, the latter is more suited for the highways. Then i looked at the fact that budget is fixed at 4 lacs, hence the recommendation for spark. If budget can be exceeded, 1.2 is much more suited. Hope this makes it clearer!

[asdon]

Originally Posted by Anandg

However no one pointed about Alto. Is that really bad for highways?

I drive an Alto, and my requirements were almost same as of you with a little budget constraint(3yrs ago), if you compare feature wise, yes Maruti has compromised but in every other sense the car is a good one, with all respect to all car owners and claimed milage, I get 19 to 20kmpl in city drive, 22+ on highways. The car is a stable one on highways if you are doing under 100, you may check and test drive it, one thing is for sure, you will not regret

[sanju.iitm]

Originally Posted by Anandg

Hi Sanju,
yes i agree with you. I just had a test drive of new estilo and ford figo;
1)Estillo vxi -- Was good to drive. Decent interiors. Looses power in 2-3grear with AC on. costs 4.3 lakhs. Come with all bells and whistles except Audio/abs/airbags.
2) Figo Petrol(basic model) -- 1.2 ltr engine is powerful. Space is much better. Ride more stable. But with only power steering and AC.

Some guys (not here) kept saying- stick to maruti for tension free service life blah-blah and do not go to hyundai/GM as they have poor service network,bad resale and what not. Is that really true?

Reply awaited.

Incase you have liked Figo then go for it.Check the available thread on Figo in our forum. As far as service for Maruti is concerned I will not say that it is always tension free.I had major problem with 'Horn' since it was not working fine and Garuda service guys took too much time to replace it and finally I got frustated and complained it to Maruti. Finally it was attended in a day and a person came from maruti to apologise for whatever happened. Considering this I would say that all service is more or less same (may be Skoda is exception) and with more number of maruti service backup the company is floating.

So I would say incase you have spark or figo in mind then just go for it.Figo is always a good buy even if you get AC and PS its good for 4L.
Instead of getting confused or by asking which car is good better you fix 2 or 3 cars in mind and compare and go for it.

Incase only you and your wife would drive then I woould ask you to have a look at A-Star once to confuse you more (just kidding).


Good Luck with your search!