[Aroy]

You can consider Duster AWD. It is tall seating, has excellent ride and a good GC. Headlights can always be upgraded with better beams/bulbs. Take a TD to see if it suits you.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by Voyager-1

XUV Automatic FWD/AWD - Good highway visibility, enough space for 5 adults, decent ride/handling and enough ground clearance. It doesn't offer the driving pleasure, handling, acceleration, fit and finish of the Octavia/Jetta. But, it is value for the money.

Potential candidates yet to be launched:
Hyundai Tucson - Planned launch in late 2016. Is it worth the wait?

Help me with your insights, folks!

My vote goes for the automatic XUV. Compared to sedans, it can take on bad roads easily. On highway runs it has more room for more luggage,better road presence . As rightly said it is VFM. If you are not in a hurry, you could wait for Tucson and take a TD atleast.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by Voyager-1

Help me with your insights, folks!

I am in the same boat as you. Looking for a good highway cruiser with sufficient ground clearance and preferably an Automatic. I am looking for only SUV's.

I am waiting for the Tata Hexa to launch as it fits most of my requirements, apart from this not many options other than XUV500 and Rexton AT.

[car.lover]

Originally Posted by dockap

Thanks guys. The head says Endeavor and the Heart says 3GT. The 3GT luxury line does not have SAT NAV i can manage with a 6k MMI but after spending 50 big ones there is no cruise control .Will take a decision tomorrow morning.

I drive a 5er and believe me, have used the cruise control a grand two times!
It is a feature that just doesn't make sense in the Indian context. Too many uncertainties and wayward fellow drivers.

Regarding your larger query - I too was finalising the GT. Ticks all the right boxes and is a Beemer to boot. Finalised the 5 because the dealer threw in a very very sweet deal. I would suggest go for the GT. Very good vehicle and not as common as the others on your list.

[Voyager-1]

Originally Posted by Aroy

You can consider Duster AWD. It is tall seating, has excellent ride and a good GC. Headlights can always be upgraded with better beams/bulbs. Take a TD to see if it suits you.

Thanks, unfortunately, it doesn't get a DSG or TC, but only an AMT, which I do not prefer.

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

My vote goes for the automatic XUV. Compared to sedans, it can take on bad roads easily. On highway runs it has more room for more luggage,better road presence . As rightly said it is VFM. If you are not in a hurry, you could wait for Tucson and take a TD atleast.

At the Auto Expo, the interiors of the Tucson were masked by Hyundai. I hope they launch it with the 2L Diesel engine and not the 1.7L diesel. I guess that XUV W10 would still beat the Tucson in terms of features.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I am in the same boat as you. Looking for a good highway cruiser with sufficient ground clearance and preferably an Automatic. I am looking for only SUV's.
I am waiting for the Tata Hexa to launch as it fits most of my requirements, apart from this not many options other than XUV500 and Rexton AT.

True, there are very few options. The Hexa comes with a body-on-frame construction and hence, I am not considering it.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

the Octavia maybe the best. Reason is that it comes with adaptive headlights which adjusts the throw based on speed and also has automatic leveling. So I guess you will find it very useful. Overall ,feature wise and quality wise also the Octavia wins.

After sales may be a concern though as compared to Hyundai, but the Bangalore dealers seem ok from the reports here.

I test drove an Octavia at 7:30 PM today to check the effectiveness of the headlamp. I took it to a state highway where there is a mix of stretches with some ambient light (light from street lamps, passing traffic) and pitch dark stretches. What to say, I came back disappointed . Here is my experience.

It has Bi-Xenons adaptive headlights of white color. The low beam is bright enough for normal city speeds. But, when I switch on the high beam, it was making only a little difference. Especially, in stretches with some ambient light, there was no difference. Our eyes gets used to the brightness of the low beam, hence they become less sensitive to the farther high beam throw. I wish there was an option to switch off the low beam and drive with only the high beam as needed. Also, when the white light overlays on the yellow ambient light, it simply isn't effective. I got a feeling that the regular yellow lights would have been more effective. In pitch dark stretches, the visibility was good, which I suppose, any car would match.

In the last few months, I had rented a GLA class (again, with adaptive Bi-Xenons) and a Fortuner. Drove both of them extensively during night and I found that the Bi-Xenons in the GLA weren't effective, in spite of the GC of 183mm. In the case of Fortuner, it was a totally different story - the night drive became the most enjoyable and stress free part of the whole trip. I attribute this to the halogen high beam of the Fortuner AND the high seating. I realized that this excellent night time visibility would make a huge difference in any long trip as one can start at 3 AM or 4 AM and cover few hundred kms easily before the day breaks.

I was eager to test the lights of the XUV and called for a test drive for 7 PM. They were like - "Saar, our test drives are only from 9 AM to 6 PM". I am persuading them for a night drive. I presume that with the high seating of the XUV and its halogen high beams, the visibility should be good.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by Voyager-1

It has Bi-Xenons adaptive headlights of white color. The low beam is bright enough for normal city speeds. But, when I switch on the high beam, it was making only a little difference. Especially, in stretches with some ambient light, there was no difference. Our eyes gets used to the brightness of the low beam, hence they become less sensitive to the farther high beam throw.

Just change the Xenon lights from 5000K or higher to 4300k and your issue will be solved. 5000K lights scatter, and hurt your own eyes this causes your pupils to reduce in size to adjust to the scatter. this reduces your distant vision.

Rahul

[anoop.nair]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I am waiting for the Tata Hexa to launch as it fits most of my requirements, apart from this not many options other than XUV500 and Rexton AT.

Super, I am also contemplating buying the Hexa. Does anyone have any pointers on the pricing?

[CkmGowda]

Originally Posted by Voyager-1

I am looking out for a diesel automatic in the D1 segment and I need all your thoughts to decide between Sedan vs SUV.

Potential candidates yet to be launched:
Hyundai Tucson - Planned launch in late 2016. Is it worth the wait?

Cars ruled out:
Elantra - very similar to Verna, with the same diesel engine.

Help me with your insights, folks!

What is your maximum budget? If you can stretch till 35 lakh, then you should definitely consider the new 2016 BMW X1. It has all that you want and more. Automatic diesel, power, comfort, luxury, ground clearance, visibility AND it’s a BMW. You can see the latest video review in Auto car website. It’s grown up from its current estate type avatar to a proper compact SUV.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by car.lover

I drive a 5er and believe me, have used the cruise control a grand two times!

You know, I used to feel the same till I didn't have it. Now, I find it extremely useful, and usable on our highways resulting in better FE, relaxed driving and most of all, the ability to hold on to sane speeds for a much longer time.

Is India a CC market? Yes, yes and yes, not in the cities of course.

[geotracks]

Originally Posted by CkmGowda

Automatic diesel, power, comfort, luxury, ground clearance, visibility AND it’s a BMW.

I am also considering a SUV / MUV type of vehicle sometime in the coming months. Very confused. The new upcoming Innova, seems to have automatic, diesel, comfort, GC, low maintenance (comparatively) etc. In the INR 35L segment, the new upcoming Fortuner seems to be a contender.

The BMW, what kind of yearly maintenance are we looking at. A colleague of mine has a Mercedes B class and spends around INR 35K for yearly service, so imagining BMW would be in similar ballpark. Spares would be expensive too, compared to Innova / Fortuner which Toyota is saying would be majority "made in India" to keep costs low.

What is the resale market / value like for a BMW compared to a Innova / Fortuner, say 5 years down. The GT really looks nice in the BMW website, not actually seen it though.

[Happysmiles]

Yes, I too have taken the desicion to get a SUV. Since I cannot afford to have a sedan and a SUV, I have decided to sell of my preworshipped 530d.
Off course, I have the Polo gt Tsi for daily commuting and some short highway trips.

We have planned for some really long drives the coming years, to some places with almost no roads.

Two years of ownership of the 530d was very satisfying. My heart tells me " don't sell the car". My mind tells me " time for a change, be reasonable, the car cannot go to places where the SUV can."

Hopefully I have made the right decision. More will be revealed soon.

[adithya.kp]

I have booked creta sx+ petrol. But am not impressed with dealership experience. I am seriously considering vento petrol highline. Can the experts tell me what is that I get i creta that i dont get in vento?. Not bothered about features like avn, rear camera, start button etc. My main criteria is comfort, suspension. In fact in vento, i get OEM seat and steering wheel. overall i will save about 2.5 lakhs. Btw this will be chauffeur driven car
Thanks in advance.

[shasha]

I like driving a sedan much more than an SUV . And I am very happy with my sedan- be it those long highway trips or short city darts. But, at times when I go for some shopping- like a bicycle or electric toy car for my son, a new washing machine , a new cloth stand etc etc- I wish I had an SUV/MUV. I agree that these are not things that you buy so often - yet the space ( especially vertical space for some tall things ) an SUV offers make one drool many a times.

[eagles_ts]

@ adithya - Vento doesn't have enough space in the second row for it to be a comfortable chauffeur driven car. Creta will work better purely from that standpoint.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Happysmiles

Yes, I too have taken the desicion to get a SUV. Since I cannot afford to have a sedan and a SUV, I have decided to sell of my preworshipped 530d.

Wow what SUV did you find that allows you to part with a 530d?! Enough suspense already
I have been firmly on the sedan side of this age-old debate but a couple of recent launches have made me look over the fence. The XUV500 AT and the new Ford Endeavour. However no budget means that I will probably continue with the sedan option for a few years!