[Lij]

I am currently on the lookout for a new car. Although I know that a hatchback is all I need, but since I tend to keep my cars for donkey's years (well atleast a decade) what I have done is to -
1. Set a budget
2. Have the requirement set of what you want from your car
3. Make a list of all cars irrespective of the segment, based purely on the above 2 points and take a test drive.

Buy the car which scores the most. So maybe a hatchback is what I need, but if a sedan or a CUV will pull the right strings at the heart and falls within the stipulated budget then will definitely buy that.

But back when I bought the swift in 2006 it was different, I was smitten, just walked into the showroom with my dad and said we wanted to book a red swift, ye lelo cheque !!

[slamnos]

There are many factors that define the answer, like :

1. Whether is it my first car or additional/replacement
2. Who will be driving the car
3. Usage pattern
4. How long I intend to keep the car
5. What would be my next upgrade
6. What extent can I stretch my budget for a reasonable cross shop upgrade
7. Most important: Does it suit my personality

[anurag.somani]

Alas, In a similar dilemma currently -

We're looking for a compact hatchback for city-duty to replace our ageing Santro.
(Figo TDCi does the highway duty!)

Had zeroed in on Tiago ZX & everything looked great except for the mediocre petrol power-plant.

We also stepped in to the ford showroom next-door as well and took a casual TD of Ecosport.

Boy, was my wife smitten by the car!
Throw in the excitement of my 6 yr. old as well, & he's been researching on it all week long.

Cut-the-chase-short, we're considering all options on the table now - a compact hatchback; a mini-crossover & the quintessential sedan City.

Shopping with your better-half is tough business!

[Waspune]

I guess for the majority of us, the price range matters and not the segment. Nowadays the Indian car market has become so competetive that on a given price range, one can buy cars from different segments, thanks to the multitude of trim levels available. So for 9.5 lacs, I can get a premium hatch or a MUV, or a compact sedan, or a C-segment sedan or a compact SUV!

Having said that I would always select a segment and then narrow down to the one that pulls my heart strings. A year and a half back, when I was on a look out for a premium hatch, I had narrowed down to Polo and Punto and eventually bought Punto.

[PrasannaDhana]

I wanted to replace my safari dicor. So i went out and checked the following cars-

1. Innova Crysta
2. XUV 500
3. Safari Storme
4. Duster

You know what I finally booked? - A Renault Kwid 1.0

Partly because the first said 4 cars did not do justice to their inflated price tags, partly because Safari Dicor's resale value is pathetic and partly because the Kwid did pull my heart's strings. So Safari stays, but gets a cute little brother.

Most of us set the segment first, before we start the search. But many a times, there are cars in other segments that can pull our heart strings.

After all, we buy products that we love rather than the products we first thought would be the best. Just like online shopping in flipkart/amazon.

[King_pin09]

Originally Posted by smartcat

If you have booked a car recently, did you first pick a segment (Premium hatchback, Compact Sedan etc) first and then bought a car in that segment? Or did you first setup a budget (say Rs. 10 Lacs) and then test drove all types of vehicles across segments, before picking one?

If you haven't booked a car recently (but might do so in the future), would you take the "top-down" approach (choosing a segment first, picking a car from that segment) or a "bottom-up" approach (choosing a budget first, picking a car from any segment).

Nice perspective, I would agree.

However there is another category where the buyer's crave for a particular model brings them to the showroom. The following are the default choices for a specific purpose irrespective of what segment they are into.

Ecosport – Youthful and trendy.
Omni – Cargo, Ambulance
Kwid – Something different and better than usual.
Indica - Taxi.,
Gypsy - Safari van,

and so on.

[hareesh3395]

While looking for the replacement for his ford Ikon , my dad considered cars from c1 , c2 and compact suvs.
We checked out the aspire and amaze but eventually ruled them out for their disproportionate looks.
Honda city was not considered due to poor noisy diesel, Vento ruled out due to emission scandals. Duster had terrible interiors and very few safety features at that price point.
Finally short listed ciaz and ecosport, eventually bought the ecosport immediately after the massive price cut and his strong desire to remain loyal to ford. So in the end every decision comes from the heart.

[peterjim13]

Yes, naturally ! Simply because the need and budgets are the first things that come in to place.

Almost all the cars I have used, or the ones my dad has been using has been more around the budget + love for the car and then of course the rest of it.

1. If I remember we bought our old Omni E when our other option was a Maruti Zen or a Maruti 800
2. We sold our Omni for an Indica, where the other alternatives where a an Armada, Bolero or and Indigo
3. For an alternative car along with the Indica we had a set budget of around 10-12 Lakhs and we started with Scorpio, Sunny, Rapid, Vento and eventually falling in love with the XUV5OO.
4. I bought my Ecosport after having close calls with a Polo GT
5. Honda Jazz which has been booked now would only be the one with more focus as we were looking for an Automatic Petrol Hatch.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by peterjim13

5. Honda Jazz which has been booked now would only be the one with more focus as we were looking for an Automatic Petrol Hatch.

Rumours about the Hyundai elite i20 to get autobox and 6 airbags are doing rounds. Are you sure you don't want to wait a bit?

[peterjim13]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Rumours about the Hyundai elite i20 to get autobox and 6 airbags are doing rounds. Are you sure you don't want to wait a bit?

Yes, Infact I too heard about the same.

Was not impressed by the drive-ability of the MT Elite120. So not keen on waiting.

[AutoSphere]

Originally Posted by anurag.somani

Alas, In a similar dilemma currently -

We're looking for a compact hatchback for city-duty to replace our ageing Santro.
(Figo TDCi does the highway duty!)

Had zeroed in on Tiago ZX & everything looked great except for the mediocre petrol power-plant.

Have you tried the Tiago Diesel? It is awesome.
The only thing I miss is the split rear-seat for fold-down.

[theexperthand]

Yes - I cross shopped when i brought my car. The choices were Ikon, Cedia and Punto (Only criteria was the cars which pulls the strings of my and better half's hearts) and ended up with Punto at last.

Strangely, Linea was never a contender, though given the chance again, I will sure pick up Linea over Punto.

--Anoop

[drive2eternity]

Very interesting topic.

For me it depends on the individual + his/her requirement at that given moment.
When I bought my car, I decided the Segment followed by the Budget and then zeroed in to the car.

But a friend of mine recently made a purchase, and these featured in his short-list:
1. Thar
2. Benelli TNT600i
3. Pre-worshiped XUV
4. Harley Davidson Street
5. Polo GT

Eventually, he picked the Harley. For him, based on his budget constraints, the primary requirement was 'Street Presence'.

So he basically cross-shopped between types of vehicles, not only segments.

[Hayek]

Been there, done that - as those who have followed by ownership threads would know

In 2010, I started off considering a Civic, and then test drove the Fortuner, Accord and finally settled for the Superb.

In 2012, I was far more confused - between buying a car for my wife and using an attractive once in 4 year company car scheme. I test drove the 520D, 328i, 320D, Fortuner Automatic, Laura, Corolla, City, Jazz, Verna and Rapid before settling on a Vento Petrol Automatic (which incidentally was one of the first cars I test drove but in short supply back then).

Suspect I will be similarly confused when I upgrade the Superb (most likely next year)

[vantheman5211]

The name of the game will always be how much money you are ready to invest in the purchase, therefore - Budget

Once you get that out, you are ready to check which segments that fall into this budget and what is the basis of those falling there - Need = Segment

The need may then be influenced by the type of image you want to project. For example, a simple hatch back may do the trick if your running is 15kms per day on normal roads. However, that may not be the image you may want to project, so even if you can have a fully fledged Tiago for example, you may go for a bare bones Amaze (Sedan, H badge etc)

The "image" factor was the main reason we have had these compacts sedans and suv's creeping in the market.

Anyways, here was the shortlist when I actually went out with a budget of 8-10 lakhs to purchase a car. I actually had made up my mind to go pre-worshipped.

Cars I considered -

1) Cruze
2) Verna
3) Outlander
4) Duster
5) Superb

Eventually ended up with the Cruze due to the bang for the buck it offered me.