[vasanthn21]

look at the November sales of Spark and Nano.

Spark is selling 4 times as much as Nano!

Also, there is a new thread on why Nano is selling in low numbers.

[pradipk]

Still Nano is the best. See my reply for each points:

1.I am looking for a good city car.
Nano is better than Spark

2.Usage for going to office, running around for groceries, bank etc. Nothing else(No long distance drives).
Nano is the best

4.But I want the car to last long say 6-7 years.
Though Nano is new to the market, I can say none of the car gives any kind of trouble at least for 4-5 yrs for the normal usage with regular maintenance.

5.Resale value is not important.
no issues for either of choice.

6.Both cars are within my budget.
no issues for either of choice.

7.I liked the looks of both these cars. So not interested in other cars.
no issues for either of choice.

8.I am not interested in image etc as I don't need to prove anything to people around me. Should be good and comfy car carrying me around in the city traffic, summers, rains, time constraints clogged roads, traffic jams, etc. My city drives last 20 to 30 km one way.
For traffic jams, Nano is the best answer.
Considering the drive just calculate the savings due to milage difference. I am ready to accept the difference if it doesn't matter .

9.I give more importance to practicality and longevity of the car.
Same as point 4.

10.Myself or other family members including women could be using this car.
Need to believe that Nano is easier to drive/park/drive compare to spark.


In terms of engine power spark is better but that's not a question here. Otherwise if you think on space, comfort, AC nano provides well for normal city usage.

[NetfreakBombay]

I think GM was selling cars with free 3 years maintenance.

That makes Spark a good choice.

[jeevmenon]

If some one gives you X car with free maintenance for 3 yrs will it tilt the balance in your decision to buy a car? I have always wondered. I mean max Rs 300 per visit. Filter/engine-oil every alternate visit and a wash! Max 8 to 9 visits. What does this give you? Rs. 3000/- You are paying in lakhs here, people. IMHO its just a cool thing, feel good factor for people. I compare it to getting food on the flight. Rs 200/- for the food and Rs 10,000/- for the flight. But still I take flight X because it gives good food We have an other poll thread about Alto vs Spark where the discussion is why at all are we comparing more than which one is better. Go for the Spark if you have the money. Its a car.

[NetfreakBombay]

Second year (24 months / 20k) service alone is more than 2k (All oils, wheel balancing + alignment + rotation).

[Ajaybiz]

My 2paisa about Nano after using it during my home town visit, loved the tall design very easy to get in, comfortable for 5 people, very good AC along with lots of cabin noise, poor pickup, top gear is too tall, you have to breath the fuems coming out of battery as its inside car, no power steering and front wheel touches the body if taken full turn of steering(Tata need to solve this not accepatable problem), very unstable above 90 kmph.
Spark any day better then this Tata crap.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

If some one gives you X car with free maintenance for 3 yrs will it tilt the balance in your decision to buy a car? I have always wondered. I mean max Rs 300 per visit. Filter/engine-oil every alternate visit and a wash! Max 8 to 9 visits. What does this give you? Rs. 3000/- You are paying in lakhs here, people. IMHO its just a cool thing, feel good factor for people. I compare it to getting food on the flight. Rs 200/- for the food and Rs 10,000/- for the flight. But still I take flight X because it gives good food We have an other poll thread about Alto vs Spark where the discussion is why at all are we comparing more than which one is better. Go for the Spark if you have the money. Its a car.

unless its a toyota or a honda, you are bound to have other expenses. I have a 36k run indica and a friend of mine has a 48k run spark. My maintainence has easily exceeded 60K over 3 years, and his spark had a lot of stuff that was changed too - ball joints, suspension bits, corroded exhaust. a mirror he broke himself, and he has not spent a rupee for maintenance. for a 3L car, I think that's pretty significant

[supremeBaleno]

@sridhga, there does not seem to be any specific requirements that stand out in your list which could tilt the balance towards either of the cars. The only points that sound important are a car-life of 7 years and practicality.

Most cars today would easily last the Govt. mandated life of 15 years, with basic maintenance and if there were no accidents. And as far as practicality is concerned, the Spark is the obvious choice.

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

If some one gives you X car with free maintenance for 3 yrs will it tilt the balance in your decision to buy a car?

You have a point. But there is a reason why GM is the only manufacturer offering this on their cars - the bad customer experience with the Opel brand of GM. Without touting this maintenance plan as the USP, GM would not have been able to get even half of the current sales. So, it did tilt the balance for many. But I would think that is being smart and careful.

[idea]

My vote goes for Spark - Anyday eyes closed. I am already using one and know difference between two.

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

If some one gives you X car with free maintenance for 3 yrs will it tilt the balance in your decision to buy a car? I have always wondered. I mean max Rs 300 per visit. Filter/engine-oil every alternate visit and a wash! Max 8 to 9 visits. What does this give you? Rs. 3000/- You are paying in lakhs here, people.

If that's what it is then why there is no such option on other similarly priced cars or some with 'higher' price tag? Why can't those 'super reliable' low on maintenance type of manufacturers have such a offer?

To have a free maintenance that too for 3 years is a welcome move. Its an assurance from the manufacturer that you wont have to pay anything for 3 years.

[jeevmenon]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

unless its a toyota or a honda, you are bound to have other expenses. I have a 36k run indica and a friend of mine has a 48k run spark. My maintainence has easily exceeded 60K over 3 years, and his spark had a lot of stuff that was changed too - ball joints, suspension bits, corroded exhaust. a mirror he broke himself, and he has not spent a rupee for maintenance. for a 3L car, I think that's pretty significant

60K in 3 yrs on an Indica! Wow! Thats indeed a big amount. I am very eager to know the split. The number here is 22K run in 14 months. I just picked up one of my initial bills and what do I see:

Filter A-OILENG - 64
Motoroil - 186.67

for which they dont charge me since its free for the first 3 yrs. So this bill from the KLN dealer goes to GM for reimbursement. Correct ? Or am I wrong? I dont remember any bigger bills in the last 14 months.
Maybe they did not write the wash service. How much would that cost? How do they recover it from GM?

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Without touting this maintenance plan as the USP, GM would not have been able to get even half of the current sales. So, it did tilt the balance for many. But I would think that is being smart and careful.

But why dont people then think - anyway their service is poor, whats the point of it being free.

Originally Posted by HammerHead

To have a free maintenance that too for 3 years is a welcome move. Its an assurance from the manufacturer that you wont have to pay anything for 3 years.

Its just purely playing on the minds. Its already played on some of the people here.

40% of free maintenance period over and hardly anything spent so far on maintenance. Touch wood. I still cant see the arithmetic. I am missing something here. Sorry, if I am jumping the gun or being hasty here. Or maybe the remaining 60% eats up a substantial amount. Either way its good I feel. If I dont use it, the car has stood out well. If things get replaced, well then atleast I have new parts.

Latheesh/Sparkled: If I may ask, can you add up your bills for the past 15 months or so and let us know?

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

60K in 3 yrs on an Indica! Wow! Thats indeed a big amount. I am very eager to know the split.

There is a big thread for his Indica experience.

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

I just picked up one of my initial bills and what do I see: Filter A-OILENG - 64 Motoroil - 186.67

I see a disconnect here. Most cars would have an engine oil sump of atleast 2-3 litres. For 186.67Rs you could barely buy a litre of oil. Or is GM just topping up the oil instead of replacing it ?

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

for which they dont charge me since its free for the first 3 yrs. So this bill from the KLN dealer goes to GM for reimbursement. Correct ? I dont remember any bigger bills in the last 14 months.
Maybe they did not write the wash service. How much would that cost? How do they recover it from GM?

You are right - any free service expense including wash is reimbursed by the manufacturer (works same way for all cars). In this case, the oil/filter etc is also reimbursed by GM.

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

But why dont people then think - anyway their service is poor, whats the point of it being free.

Apart from service being poor, the Opel experience was characterised by expensive maintenance, which became known to the public. That was why GM did away with the Opel brand and brought in Chevy (ofcourse most of us are aware that it is just another of the subrands under the GM umbrella). So, it was apt that they try to play a service-is-cheap theme using the 3-year plan.

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

Its just purely playing on the minds. Its already played on some of the people here.

IMO, the plan is good and it works (for GM), as reflected by the sales. I admit to being lured by the plan enough to consider Spark for my in-laws. But since we use our cars for a decade and more, I thought, "What after 3-years?".

[khoj]

Not flaming any make here but never heard of a Spark burning up, though the Nano is now being provided with some upgrade to sort out the burning issue. Spark still scores in terms of structural strength, bigger engine, internationally proven mechanicals and underpinnings and now the three year all inclusive service + warranty package and at the end of it all there is the (in)famous TATA A.S.S.


EDIT On the issue of longevity and life after the initial three year honeymoon with GM, there are two sparks and one Optra in my immediate circle that are definitely older than our own four year old Aveo. All of these cars are in great condition with neither a squeak nor a rattle.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

IMO, the plan is good and it works (for GM), as reflected by the sales. I admit to being lured by the plan enough to consider Spark for my in-laws. But since we use our cars for a decade and more, I thought, "What after 3-years?".

So what makes you think that you wont have to spend a paisa on a Maruti or a Hyundai after 3 years? Any car will start giving niggles after 3 years, so your worry about "what after 3 years" is quite baseless. So unlike the earlier generation Indicas all the other cars irrespective of the brand have been on an average quite trouble free and have easily lasted way beyond 3 years if taken care of properly. Yes there have been instances of lemons here and there and a few cases of bad service, but the overall quality of cars these days is pretty good across all brands. No matter what make, you cant really ignore any car for the fear of it breaking down or poor quality after about 3 years of use.

[abhinav.s]

I would have loved it if they only charged me this much when i got the oil changed at 1000 kms.

I was charged around 1000 bucks for just the oil and oil filter.

Of course the whole oil was drained and replaced with fresh oil and I was there near the car during the whole process. So it was not just a case of topping up the oil.

So not sure how come you are only charged 186 for motor oil.

Water service is about 200 bucks at the SVC here in Bangalore.

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

60K in 3 yrs on an Indica! Wow! Thats indeed a big amount. I am very eager to know the split. The number here is 22K run in 14 months. I just picked up one of my initial bills and what do I see:

Filter A-OILENG - 64
Motoroil - 186.67

Coming back to topic: For the OP's use, both the Nano and Spark would serve the purpose but Spark would be better since it does everything the Nano does and in a much better fashion. If used with a light foot in the city even the Spark can return a mileage of 14kmpl.