[gopalnt]

I am having Innova Crysta Diesel which I use it for long drives. I am planning to buy a 5-seater for city drives and I have this love for Panaromic Sunroof so I am looking at once such car that satisfies the above driving purposes.

Notwithstanding fuel prices comparison or car prices (I have learnt to make peace with both of them), question is that whether it would be better to buy a petrol car or get another diesel one? Will there be any long term issues owning only Diesel cars? Is there any advantage of having one petrol car along with an existing Diesel car?

[Researcher]

For pure city usage, it is better to go for a petrol than a diesel, as modern diesels require some amount of highway driving once or twice a month for burning off the deposits in the diesel particulate filter. Not all cars have a button for the manual regeneration process and in extended city usage, you may find the filter to be clogged up more frequently as it will not be able to reach the optimum temperature for self-regeneration.

Failure to do so can light up the instrument cluster and a mechanic at Tata Service Center even told me that BS6 vehicles may not even start without passing the internal emissions check of the vehicle. More sensors, more complications, and a higher chance of failure if not operated as intended. Even the Harrier BS4's manual has a page on maintaining higher rpms for 20 minutes for DPF regeneration. So unless you can manage that, I will suggest you to stick to petrols.



More details regarding this can be found here (BS6 Diesel Car owners - Your experience with DPF / SCR / AdBlue here) and here (Diesel DPF clogging due to short city commutes).

Additionally, it depends on the vehicle you're choosing. Marutis and Hondas will have smoother petrols than diesels. Tatas and Mahindras will have slightly better sorted diesels than petrols. You can swing either way with a Toyota, Hyundai, Ford or VW/Skoda. I prefer a heavier vehicle to have a diesel for the extra torque low down that helps in pulling the weight. For a light and agile vehicle, I will prefer a petrol.

[jetsetgo08]

If both cars are meant for purely city duties or shorter drives of within 10km range, then 2 petrol cars are a better option, one with only FE, ease of driving and another for fun to drive.

However, with the highway drives factored, a diesel car always trumps the petrol equivalents. Simply due to higher tank range. Most diesel cars, on an average can do 700-900kms easily on a full tank, if driven sanely.

My pick would be a petrol, diesel combo.

[Akshay6988]

Let's see what cars are offering panoramic sunroof in India -
Creta - Turbo Petrol Top Variant (SXO) or diesel top variant. It's a very good machine on highway as well.
Harrier - Diesel only. If you're ok with sub standard ASS and few niggles here and there, go for it.
Hector - though it is 5 seater, it does look like an MPV. It shouldn't bother you, as you already own a Innova.
Compass - Everything is great about this car except the price,but I see that is not issue here. I personally love the design over Harrier.
Apart from refinement, engine power there's nothing much big difference. Not considering cost factor here as you have mentioned it is irrelevant. I say go for whichever your family likes most.

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by gopalnt

Notwithstanding fuel prices comparison or car prices (I have learnt to make peace with both of them), question is ...

In that case, do not let vehicle fuel type be your selection criteria.

You can go like this:
1. Select a segment you like
2. Select a vehicle you like in that segment
3. Pick the best one from the engine + transmission combinations available in that vehicle

I see that you have a pretty good budget for this purchase. And almost every modern car these days has a decently enjoyable powertrain option on offer, right from the Magnite to the Korean twins. It's just a matter of finding the right car (w.r.t. comfort, space, etc.) with the desired feature set.

Petrol vs diesel; I don't see any major cause of concern if you can manage to religiously take the car on the highways, once a month, which I'm sure no car enthusiast would mind.

[gopalnt]

Thanks everyone. A question on 2 Cars - Hyundai Creta and MG Hector. Which one has better highway stability? While this car is primarily for city drive, just wanted to check what if I have a need it to take it on long drives.

[SaiSW]

Depends on what type of cars you're into.
If it's a large suv like the Harrier or Compass, then definitely diesel, you have mentioned that you are at peace with the fact that a large petrol suv will give you pathetic FE figures, but there's more than that, the tank range will also be pathetic.

If it's just a small car, I would recommend going for a petrol.

To answer the main question, I would recommend having a diesel and a petrol instead of two petrols.

[DDIS_RE650]

One EV and other diesel engine.EV can be used within city and for near by places.Diesel engine can be your highway cruiser.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by gopalnt

A question on 2 Cars - Hyundai Creta and MG Hector. Which one has better highway stability?

I wouldn't worry too much on highway stability. Both would do just fine. Since the prime use case is city drive, I'd choose Creta over Hector for the dimensions. Boot is good enough to do less than week long trips.

Only thing you'll have to live with is the poor FE of Hyundai petrols (I don't think Hector petrol would be any better either).

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by gopalnt

I am having Innova Crysta Diesel which I use it for long drives. I am planning to buy a 5-seater for city drives and I have this love for Panaromic Sunroof so I am looking at once such car that satisfies the above driving purposes.

5-seater + city drive preference + sunroof (am assuming more features will get added soon) = quite a lot of options on your plate!

You didn't mention a budget range - so you can start from a Hyundai, touch Jeep along the way and then can go right upto the Big Three Germans!
My pick would be, in this order: Sonet / Creta / Compass / BMW X1>Audi Q2>Mercedes GLA - assuming you may not want too big a car than this, which will then hinder maneuverability or parking in tight spots frequently in the city.

You also need to mention the type of travel - whether it will be single generally or with a car full of colleagues most of the time.

Please also consider the transmission (my pick would be the auto, for peace of mind & your knee/leg if you are driving).

Notwithstanding fuel prices comparison or car prices (I have learnt to make peace with both of them), question is that whether it would be better to buy a petrol car or get another diesel one? Will there be any long term issues owning only Diesel cars?

Having a petrol-powered car will definitely add that zip in your city rides, if that's what you like. Else, anything works.
These days, both petrol & diesel cars run the same distance with equal measure of long term happiness & woes.

Is there any advantage of having one petrol car along with an existing Diesel car?

Not clear on the question as such, but if you are trying to consider fuel types by citing matters of potential (non) availability at pump stations, then you need not worry. Hence, there is no clear (dis)advantage for one fuel type over the other.

Originally Posted by gopalnt

Thanks everyone. A question on 2 Cars - Hyundai Creta and MG Hector. Which one has better highway stability? While this car is primarily for city drive, just wanted to check what if I have a need it to take it on long drives.

Both will serve the purpose in almost equal measure.
Just that the Creta has been around for a very long time and is a known devil + lot of Hyundai service workshops as compared to MG, generally on most of the highways, should you feel the need.

[Cars4ever]

Originally Posted by gopalnt

Thanks everyone. A question on 2 Cars - Hyundai Creta and MG Hector. Which one has better highway stability? While this car is primarily for city drive, just wanted to check what if I have a need it to take it on long drives.

While the Indian models of both Creta (current gen) and Hector are not tested by GNCAP, we all know how poorly the Seltos fared with barely 3 star crash test ratings and unstable body shell. Since current gen Creta is on the same platform as Seltos, it is likely to perform very similar. Hector though not tested yet, could be better. If you can, wait for XuV 700 which is supposed to come with both petrol/diesel and expected to perform better in crash rating.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Given your requirement (details are totally inadequate though), I strongly suggest you consider the EV.

Definitely not another diesel, unless you do more than 1500kms/month just in the city alone in addition to your appropriate road runs of your Innova.

Choosing an EV will make you least bothered about fuel (prices, availability, quality) etc and make you more environment friendly.

Among the 2 you've shortlisted, it's definitely the Creta petrol Automatic for obvious reasons.
1. More pocket friendly (both initial cost as well as maintenance)
2. More feature-packed
3. Higher resale value
4. Easier and better to drive in the city
5. Handling is much better - for obvious reasons of its size
6. Better customer and ownership experience
7. Better service network
8. Better refinement, etc.

I definitely don't see any reason for you to consider the Hector petrol other than its size which is obviously not city-friendly.

[NarediAni7518]

Originally Posted by gopalnt

Thanks everyone. A question on 2 Cars - Hyundai Creta and MG Hector. Which one has better highway stability? While this car is primarily for city drive, just wanted to check what if I have a need it to take it on long drives.

We have a hector diesel since November 2020, and I can vouch for it for highway running. The car is super stable, however the suspension is soft, which results in vertical movements over undulations. The Diesel engine is adequately powerful & is a free-revving unit, so performance feels seamless. Also, since the hector is a much bigger vehicle & is much better built as well than the creta, your passengers will be much happier as hector has oodles of space all around. The after sales are good (however that depends on from dealer to dealer) and the MG customer care support network is super strong. I can vouch for the Hector from my personal experience. Go ahead with it !

[DDIS_RE650]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

Given your requirement (details are totally inadequate though), I strongly suggest you consider the EV.

Definitely not another diesel, unless you do more than 1500kms/month just in the city alone in addition to your appropriate road runs of your Innova.

Choosing an EV will make you least bothered about fuel (prices, availability, quality) etc and make you more environment friendly.

Tata Altroz or Nexon as EV and Hyundai Alcazar Diesel. If I had appetite and additional parking then with hands down my primary city car will be Nexon EV and keep Ertiga Diesel for highways.

[landcruiser123]

Shouldn't the title be - "2 Diesel cars or 1 Petrol and 1 Diesel car?"

Besides the regular breakeven calculation, my only 3 criteria for petrol engines:
1. Resale value - if you are holding this car for long it shouldn't matter. If you're buying used(like an Innova petrol), you can get good deals by bargaining hard
2. Likelihood of 10 year bans in your area
3. Segment - some segments (rule of thumb - heavier & larger cars) are traditionally "diesel only". Selling a used petrol example will be extremely hard. (Doesn't seem like this applies to you!)

I don't think think you should worry too much about DPF etc. You might potentially miss out legendary high-revving Honda i-vtecs if you own two diesels