[we_pull]

Dear all,

If there was ever a more confused state of mind, I would love to steer clear of it, as with the task of choosing a car, i must have exhausted all the neuron needed to handle confusion.

So i have a City - 2014, V MT Diesel. The company lease expired this month and with GST playing spoil sport skewing the cost-benefit completely to the negative, and the perils of driving a MT in Delhi, i made up my mind to shift to an Automatic - Petrol. My running in last three years has been and average of 12 K a year.

Well, with a budget of 20-25 L i thought it should be easy but alas. I think after looking at the options between the brands such as Hyundai, Toyota and Mahindra (not going with Honda now), i shortlisted Corolla and XUV 5oo. I know you must think they are two completely different segment cars, but heck i don't really mind.

Family has seen both - they find Corolla (top end) similar to City in terms of space, though it is much better built, is much safer (top end with seven airbags), drives like a charm and definitely has a premium feel associated with it, especially in NCR where people like SUVs very much (look at the number of fortuners on road here). Where it lacks it is things such as proper information system (no android auto etc.), rear-side vents, front sensors etc. We also looked at the Yaris, and apart from the smaller size (from both city and Corolla of-course), it is a cool car.

When it comes to XUV (W 11 AT), everybody liked the space on offer - we are a family of four, and may have one or two drives in a year, where more than six people be travelling 500k+. The car is so well loaded with everything but doesn't have that reassuring sense of built quality (am i wrong here?) Similarly the plastic quality inside, and that really planted feel on the long roads and corners that a Sedan provides, is just missing. The ride quality at the back appears to be bumpy as well, comparatively - family also thinks so but seems to be bitten by trying something new

I think safety, ride comfort, ease of drive, peace of mind, are things that i value - probably comes with Corolla but the monkey mind also thinks about trying a SUV and feel the change (and not go with an old car - Corolla). I drove both on the same roads for 30+ KMs and just can't make up my mind. Those who have the XUV love it and those with Corolla just don't want to give up on it. One is a SUV that seems to be going strong although may get a new version altogether very soon - the other is a tested sedan which also may change in a year or so. One is a body type that makes sense on Delhi roads and the other is very reliable in the long run.

Please suggest what do you think - will be very grateful for your inputs. I will be booking this week. Thank you.

[AYP]

Originally Posted by we_pull

Please suggest what do you think - will be very grateful for your inputs. I will be booking this week. Thank you.

Why don't you try something like a Tucson and get the best of both worlds. With the discounts running around, you can get the diesel mid-variant automatic within a small distance of your budget and the petrol automatic within your budget.

Between the XUV and the Corolla, I'd suggest the Corolla because of its overall finesse w.r.t. the XUV, which though is a great vehicle on its own. Basically both the XUV and the Corolla have their own merits and demerits. You need to decide in whose favour you want the scale to tilt. I see that you are not happy about some of the misses in the Corolla and the fact that it may be replaced by a new model soon. In that case, why don't you consider the Elantra. It has a proper infotainment setup, has much more features and is a newer car than the Corolla and will not be replaced for another 3-4 years(not counting the facelift).

The Innova Crysta can also help your family for those long travels. Not interested in it?

[we_pull]

Originally Posted by AYP

Why don't you try something like a Tucson and get the best of both worlds. With the discounts running around, you can get the diesel mid-variant automatic within a small distance of your budget.

Between the XUV and the Corolla, I'd suggest the Corolla because of its overall finesse w.r.t. the XUV, which though is a great vehicle on its own. Basically both the XUV and the Corolla have their own merits and demerits. You need to decide in whose favour you want the scale to tilt. I see that you are not happy about some of the misses in the Corolla and the fact that it may be replaced by a new model soon. In that case, why don't you consider the Elantra. It has a proper infotainment setup, has much more features and is a newer car than the Corolla and will not be replaced for another 3-4 years(not counting the facelift).

Thank you very much. None of the dealerships here have a Tucson and would really stretch the budget (Since I started with 20L). And it is really not finding any takers. On the Elantra - it's good, but between the two i am tilted towards the Corolla - may be because, the real world mileage of Elantra appears to be pretty low as compared to Corolla. And it looks so much like the Verna

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by we_pull

Please suggest what do you think - will be very grateful for your inputs. I will be booking this week. Thank you.

Unless you absolutely against considering Honda, please have a look at the new CRV.

[we_pull]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Unless you absolutely against considering Honda, please have a look at the new CRV.

Yes - on my mind - but it appears that the 1.6 D AT will be north of 25L.

[AYP]

Originally Posted by we_pull

Thank you very much. None of the dealerships here have a Tucosn and would really stretch the budget (Since I started with 20L).

That is indeed true. Since you are open to petrol automatics, you may want to look at the petrol automatic Tucson which will fall within your budget but will be a fuel guzzler.

Originally Posted by we_pull

On the Elantra - it's good, but between the two i am tilted towards the Corolla - may be because, the real world mileage of Elantra appears to be pretty low as compared to Corolla.

If the mileage is the only real concern, then do remember that you can get the Elantra diesel SX(O) AT for the same price as the Corolla petrol VL, not taking the discounts into consideration. And hey, both the Verna and the Elantra look great don't they?

What about the Innova Crysta?

[we_pull]

Originally Posted by AYP

That is indeed true. Since you are open to petrol automatics, you may want to look at the petrol automatic Tucson which will fall within your budget but will be a fuel guzzler.



If the mileage is the only real concern, then do remember that you can get the Elantra diesel SX(O) AT for the same price as the Corolla petrol VL, not taking the discounts into consideration. And hey, both the Verna and the Elantra look great don't they?

What about the Innova Crysta?

Thanks AYP. I will look in to Elantra again. Not going for Crysta - wifey finds it a cab... though i do understand that if wants to be driven it is a great choice... i will be driving myself almost all the time....

[kbishwa]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Unless you absolutely against considering Honda, please have a look at the new CRV.

My bet, Honda CRV, if not gets bombed, will definitely get an overall lukewarm response. Reasons:

1. Under powered engine (I hate these companies who don't even provide a version with higher capacity engines, like Hyundai does). An XUV 500 would be far better at almost half the price.

2. Looks no where near the 30 lakh costing SUVs. In any case Honda has been a benchmark in producing bad looking models, even the City doesn't look that good.

3. Worst 3rd row, why 3rd of seat after all. Better buy a five seater like Tiguan or Tuscon or even the upcoming 5/7 seaters from Tata.

Sad...

[iFuel]

Well, I can tell you that we have the Elantra Petrol AT and the Plush new XUV 500, both in my family. Dad went looking for a nice sedan, compared corolla and Elantra and went with Elantra for the better features vis-a-vis the price between the two.

I recently bought a XUV500 W11 Manual. My heart was set on it for 2 years so I planned and waited and when the new one (Plush) came out, went out and bought it.

To be honest I have been driving everyday in it for the last 3 months, have clocked 3.5K KMs and I just love it. Power on tap, excellent low gear pull, no turbo lag, bumper to bumper Delhi traffic. People no longer want to honk me out of the way, that I love the most. I used to drive a swift ZDi before this. And everyone wanted to run over me. Of late I think I have attained nirvana driving to and from work everyday. I am no longer bothered by anyone on the road, and to think I used to curse and swear everyday in my swift. Such a drastic shift, I just didn't know I would be at peace on Delhi roads.

Ride and handling is top notch, it takes up the bumps and undulations in its stride like a piece of cake. Just a tad bit bumpy at low speeds, but when you are above 60 it doesn't let you feel anything. Excellent NVH, great features and I like the sunroof a lot too. Haven't used it much, but for now and then when my son wants to feel the wind poking his head out of it. On rainy days I love the water drops that fall on it.

Have travelled in dad's Elantra also and it is a pleasure as well, mostly been a rear seat passenger. Lovely ride quality, excellent features on offer. The ventilated seats are awesome, acres of space. I haven't driven it much at all, but for maybe once or twice on a short 5-6 km run.
No experience with the Corolla, so can't say anything for it or against it.

But in all honesty, if I was to buy a vehicle again, it would be the XUV 500.

[prithm]

Big thank you to jesrani, mtnrajdeep, arao, tirthankard77, Guna and all TeamBHPians for providing your valuable feedback.

W11(O) AWD - Drizzle Silver finally reached us today.

Odo was 14 Kms. VIN was decoded as July 2018. Will follow up with more pics later.

[jesrani]

Went to Ahmedabad a few days back. Drive was excellent, though 5000kms service was not yet done.
However need to share a couple of news which were bit disturbing.

First was burning of an XUV on the NE1. We saw the car burning as we went along the expressway. At that time did not realize it was an XUV, saw it in the papers the next day.


Then in Ahmedabad a friend shared a picture of his friends XUV which had got hit by a Nilgai (large animal). The Nilgai survived but there was lot of damage to the XUV


Made me wonder whether the car is really as safe as meant to be.

What are views of others regarding the safety of the XUV5OO.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by jesrani

Went to Ahmedabad a few days back. Drive was excellent, though 5000kms service was not yet done.
However need to share a couple of news which were bit disturbing.

First was burning of an XUV on the NE1. We saw the car burning as we went along the expressway. At that time did not realize it was an XUV, saw it in the papers the next day.
Attachment 1805643

Then in Ahmedabad a friend shared a picture of his friends XUV which had got hit by a Nilgai (large animal). The Nilgai survived but there was lot of damage to the XUV
Attachment 1805644

Made me wonder whether the car is really as safe as meant to be.

What are views of others regarding the safety of the XUV5OO.

I won't blame manufacturer only for fire incidents, would discount M&M as one off/ exceptional case.

Regarding the Neelgai accident, it is clearly evident that the passenger box is intact & the crumple zones have absorbed the impact. To my untrained eyes, it appears that there's no damage to front axle, again which is a good sign for me, as I believe had the axle been damaged or moved back, it would have intruded the cabin, harm could have happened.

Be confident in your XUV & enjoy same speed 👍.

[drchernish]

Did the front airbags open in the above XUV involved in nilgai accident?

[jesrani]

Originally Posted by drchernish

Did the front airbags open in the above XUV involved in nilgai accident?

Not sure, possibly not

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

I won't blame manufacturer only for fire incidents, would discount M&M as one off/ exceptional case.

Regarding the Neelgai accident, it is clearly evident that the passenger box is intact & the crumple zones have absorbed the impact. To my untrained eyes, it appears that there's no damage to front axle, again which is a good sign for me, as I believe had the axle been damaged or moved back, it would have intruded the cabin, harm could have happened.

Be confident in your XUV & enjoy same speed ��.

I agree with your views, feeling more confident. Thanks

[swiftnfurious]

Safety is not where the vehicle keeps it's shape & panels intact during a collision. It's how much of that impact is not transferred to the passengers (by absorbing those forces by the panels in bumper / bonnet etc).

This simple thing can be demonstrated if you run into a concrete wall - since the wall doesn't deform (to a noticeable extent), most of the impact is passed back to you making your condition serious.

This is exactly why the concept of crumple zones come in, which absorbs a lot of force of collision and doesn't pass it back to the passengers. In modern vehicles, one of the focus point is also on how the engine is dismantled and fallen to the ground on impact, without moving back and crushing the front passengers.