[V12Doc]

I am trying to finalize on a Luxury SUV and need some Help here.
Requirements -

I am spending a hefty sum so everything


1. Mercedes GLS -

I like the size , space and the imposing looks of the car and alongside the snob value. It will probably hold a better resale value and is the only proper seven seater. It ranks 2nd after range rover in snob value. It is like the fortuner of luxury SUV, you can never go wrong with it and even if u go the resale is excellent.

Cons - The model is now dated and due for a new platform very soon, the interiors are nice but not Q7 Nice, Front looks very similar to GLE, GLC
and no Discounts offered maybe a lac here or there


2. Audi Q7

1. Fantastic Interiors and Interior Quality, Amazing Ride Quality, very very comfortable. Extra Refined Engine, the acceleration is amazing so is the space inside for 5 passengers. Current gen, not even a facelift is due. Virtual Cockpit is the highlight of the interior. The tech is current gen. A good discount available. Technology pack is loaded with everything you could ask for including upgraded infotainment system with better speakers

Cons

The size is small more like an estate wagon, looks are nice but not range rover nice, q7 lost its original snob value. Other than that a perfect SUV. it also has a lower model that could hit the snob value



3. Range Rover Sport

Now this came in from nowhere, the brexit is one mans loss but Indias profit. The car has excellent interiors, snob value is probably the highest, very very exclusive, interior quality is one of the best, Everything is amazing with the car. Exterior makes you drool every time it drives past. I go gaga over it. Probably would be the first in Town. The prices have come down so comes in Range ( ironic ) but still would be the most expensive of the lot

The tech on the car is previous gen ( No LED Lamps ) Infotainment system is slooowww It is due for a facelift next year ( better infotainment system is what i hear) The waiting time is 3 months what i have been told.

[mjumrani]

Why not have a look at the XC90? . I was about to book but have put plans on hold for atleast 2-3 months. Volvo Bangalore gave me good discount even before I made any down payment.

XC90 has its own share of quirky issues. One of the worst to me was engine noise. It's quite bad for a car which costs 80L +.

[//M]

If you are keen on a 7-seater, the next-gen Land Rover Discovery 5 is soon coming to India as per the JLR dealer in Pune. If a 7-seater is not a primary requirement, then the Range Rover Velar can be a very good alternative. The Velar looks as good as a Range Rover Sports (infact I feel it looks better), the interiors are beautiful as well. Plus it will be an all-new car that will hold its value well. As per the Kolkata JLR dealer, bookings for the Velar have already started and they are hinting a sub-90 lakhs ex-showroom price.

That said, the JLR aftersales and support have been irksome for few customers in the past.

[V12Doc]

Originally Posted by mjumrani

Why not have a look at the XC90? . I was about to book but have put plans on hold for atleast 2-3 months. Volvo Bangalore gave me good discount even before I made any down payment.

XC90 has its own share of quirky issues. One of the worst to me was engine noise. It's quite bad for a car which costs 80L +.

XC90 is going CKD very soon which means heavy price drops and Volvo Dealerships seem to be least interested in selling their cars. No discounting, no test drives and it has a 4 cyl engine At this price point performance is a must! The closest service center is 5 hour drive away

Originally Posted by //M

If you are keen on a 7-seater, the next-gen Land Rover Discovery 5 is soon coming to India as per the JLR dealer in Pune. If a 7-seater is not a primary requirement, then the Range Rover Velar can be a very good alternative. The Velar looks as good as a Range Rover Sports (infact I feel it looks better), the interiors are beautiful as well. Plus it will be an all-new car that will hold its value well. As per the Kolkata JLR dealer, bookings for the Velar have already started and they are hinting a sub-90 lakhs ex-showroom price.

That said, the JLR aftersales and support have been irksome for few customers in the past.

The velar is smaller than what i need. It is a cramped beautiful version of the range rover. Discovery 5 looks are meh its like range rover lights on a box.

[mjumrani]

Originally Posted by V12Doc

XC90 is going CKD very soon which means heavy price drops and Volvo Dealerships seem to be least interested in selling their cars. No discounting, no test drives and it has a 4 cyl engine At this price point performance is a must! The closest service center is 5 hour drive away

I haven't had issues dealing with Volvo in Bangalore. CKD XC90 is going to take a while (2-3 months atleast). There are no discounts straight, there is only direct bargaining and as said earlier I did get a sweet discount, other than being a noisy 4 cylinder engine it's actually pretty powerful. Ride quality is excellent. It does also have it's own share of foolish features like front seats have massager function with ventilated seats but rear seats get only heated function .

It's not a perfect SUV but it's far better than others. I had even considered the Cayenne and the Merc GL 43 AMG but didn't like it from chauffeur driven point of view, both of these are driver oriented cars and after sales of either is not even close to what Volvo charges for the XC90.

You don't visit service center on a monthly basis. A far service center should not be a reason not to buy the car.

If you are really interested in the XC90 PM me, I will inform the right people at Volvo about your bad pre sales experience and they will fix everything.

[Turbanator]

Volvo Dealerships seem to be least interested in selling their cars.

I was in similar position till last week and will share some of the experiences with the different brands, went to Volvo Gurgaon and Chandigarh. Gurgaon Dealership had a 4 Seater Hybrid as well S60-Polestar, I could have picked either of those & the guy took my number to revert. Days later someone called and offered a lac or so discount. Chandigarh Dealership sales guy spent all time in arguing how Volvo is better than BMW or Mercedes and all that. No one asked for contact details here.

Due to my work, I had to visit Ahmedabad and casually went to Porsche, guys there were better as they are working for long at that dealership. They had 2 Cayennes until last week and were willing to pass 10-15 Lac discounts. I made them an offer for a Black one they had and was decently loaded, this was around 5 lac less than they agreed. I would have gone ahead and bought but just to understand loadings, I used Porsche site to configure. To my surprise, all loadings were priced about 28 % higher than shown on the web. I sent them the built sheet and both guys went into huddle telling me that they will recheck and answer. 2 days later when I called them both of their cars were sold. Wonder if it's a norm with Porsche dealers on cheating on loadings or just that Ahmedabad dealership is an exception.

I too stumbled upon the idea to check with Landrover and called Ludhiana and Gurgaon dealerships. Both had 3-4 months waiting for sports but Gurgaon dealership had a white SE with a Panoramic roof from stocks against a canceled booking. I left back my number but no one came back to me. I think it might have got sold. But no one followed up to offer any explanation or tried to sell me something which is in transit or convince me to order fresh.

One thing which was common across all brands is very little followup's, either guy like me does not fit in their regular set of probable customers or they take a casually dressed person unfit to buy so expensive stuff. I believe Premium dealerships should start hiring sales guys only on commission like what happens overseas where car sales will virtually chase you into the coffin. Or should hire them with basic salaries and large incentives depending on sales. I found BMW dealerships to be an exception, their CRM is probably best. I called up a Delhi dealership with a different JIO number that has no records with BMW and got SMS/ Mails and reminders call asking on the status of their quote/ discussions.

Enough of rant., now coming to your query, of all the 3 SUV's you have listed I will tend to go towards Sports, you can configure SE with reasonable loadings and still keep costs under 1,25 Cr but remember there can be maintenance issues as reported by others. Another option will be Porsche Cayenne but mind it that it will be last year for this Model before new one's come next year. Do call Ahmedabad dealership and check current situation

If you drive more often than you should definitely consider X5 - M Sports, 2017 one's have newer touch screen based I-drive and also digital speedo. BMW has some great discounts at the moment, about 10-12 Lac on X5.

If you don't exactly need an SUV, check out the 7 series as well. M variants of last year are available with 18-20 Lac discounts and 2017 Signature with 15-18 Lac. Another combo can be new 530-D-M and an Innova Z to take care of those days when you have to travel on something rough (this is what I am planning if everything goes well)

[Sahil]

Dude, you are smitten by the RR sport, just got for it.

From your profile I see you are pretty young, the GLS and Q7 are more for something your dads age perhaps.

However, if you must consider other options they should be the Cayanne and X5 msport.

[ajmat]

Let me lay it out

Range Rover Sport - Great dynamics, great offroad ability. Electronics are a bit laggy and iffy. Long term reliability still a question mark. Dont get us started on their service! If ownership is a 3 year window - worth a look

Merc GLS - slightly outdated but very easy to drive considering size. Good for long journeys, strong rough road capability, robust mechanics, good for a long term hold. Lousy COMAND. May not inspire or outshine but what ever it has will work well and last. Also the one to have if you need to carry 7 people.

Audi Q7 - Tremendous ability, not as great offroad compared to GLS and RR Sport but better on road compared to GLS. Lovely interiors, best compromise. However, the sensible spare wheel takes up silly space. It looks boring, uninspiring and more like a big Audi station wagon. (old Q7 had a butch appearance). The other issue is that in a recent Overdrive expedition to Ladakh with Audi Q3 Q5 and Q7's, Both Q7's gave up the ghost and returned on flatbed trucks, rumour was due to DPF issues.

[Akshay1234]

Does your town have a JLR dealer? Asking since you mentioned it will be the first RR Sport. If there is no JLR dealer the rule out the RR Sport. If there is then pick it up if that is what you like. It is the best to drive out of the 3 you have mentioned, and also the most rugged.

The GLS I find looks very nice after the facelift. Even the dated looking GL interiors are somewhat updated and look fresher. In terms of space this has the other 2 beat, and can be considered a proper 7 seater.

Audis Q7 is the freshest, and feels more futuristic. But at the same time it feels too vanilla to me. With the S line kit it does look far better though. This wouldn't be my choice here.

As the others have mentioned, do check out the X5 M sport which is very well loaded and awesome to drive. Even the Cayenne which will be more on the expensive side, but it will give you exclusivity and great interiors too.

[V12Doc]

Bought GLS350 in white from Bangalore Dealership Akshay Motors. Excellent Hospitality and the fact that they did not take a month to give proper discount ( Deal was done on phone itself in 3 hrs ) The first time I drove the car was after buying it and I was mighty impressed by the ambience. Only negative I found was the fact that driving it the bonnet is exactly same as the decade old GL. Most practical car out of the lot for Indian Roads though and VFM at the price I got it for . Car should be here in a week.


Range Rover Sport - The base model has a waiting of 4 months and is very bare bones. Moreover I had a asked for a test drive, the representative came with a jaguar instead of a range rover. That was embarrassing and very unprofessional

Audi Q7 - They were the people who made my mind to buy a car by coming to my office but lost out due to the same old taking months to reach a price point. They need to realise every customer sees value for money and not just discounts. Its the customers that set the price point not companies in these segments. Time is extreme value of the customer who is spending such a big amount. 7 in person meetings (maybe more ) and we could not reach a price point. It went from writing the full price cheque of my offer that was 1-2 lac from their price to buying a GLS without test driving. GLS in comparison just took 3 phone calls and the payment was made.


X5 - there is probably no car for the BMW stable which I like. They still have the decade old interior, the car looks fugly and the interior doesnt give you the luxurious feeling. I feel it doesnt have the same snob value of a Q7 or a GLS

Cayenne - It is due for a facelift next year and it is too small for my liking.

[djay434]

What a coincidence, I was reading an article about MB GLS and then started searching about the pro/cons of the luxury 7 seat SUVs. Coming back to T-BHP I dug around and found this thread.

Check the comparison - https://www.carwale.com/comparecars/...4067&source=26

1. MB GLS 350D -
a). Mighty solid road presence and silky smooth (also tried and tested 3L v6) diesel engine
b). True 7 seater with sufficient luggage for a weekend drive with 7 seats in place
c). Tech - is OLD and last gen, not sure when the new Command system and dual screen setup of S-class will trickle down to the SUV range
d). Spare is a proper alloy, not a space saver so hopefully and a relatively/potentially long drive will be worry free - from a puncture point of view.

2. BMW X5 30d Pure Experience (7 seater) -
1. Harsh drive, limited 7 seater capacity
2. ICE is the best here (barring the Audi's superb cockpit view), easy to use and relatively new.
3. Surprisingly Cheap, compared with it's peers.

3. Audi Q7 45 TDI Technology Pack
1. Next gen ICE - nothing comes close, the BEST ICE in the luxury SUV segment, PERIOD!
2. Ugly, wagon like stance - absolutely no road presence.

4. Volvo XC90 inscription Luxury
1. only 2L engine in this range, no 3L or V6 offered
2. I couldn't find a safety feature missing in the other SUVs to warrant Volvo's badge of honour - safest car; in-fact the number of airbags on offer are 6, compare that to the segment most have 8 or even 9.
3. Vertical centre screen is odd to use at first, but I suppose one gets use to it on repeated use. Nothing outstanding in the ICE department - that's a good and a bad thing (best ICE = Audi, OK = BMW, granddad's ICE = Merc)

Do note the price comparison for above will be, on-road Gurgaon
1. Merc = INR ~95L
2. BWM = INR ~84L
3. Audi = INR ~95
4. Volvo = INR ~1Cr

Now coming to RR Sport SDV6 SE (there is cheaper option just about 1Cr too, but you don't want that - you need a more decently equipped one) - this comes close to the 1.20Cr mark so there is a slight increase in the dough you cough up.
Pros -
1. You have ARRIVED in this world - you show up and people notice
2. Everything else on the road feels poor, not to mention you look down (quite literally) at drivers around you
3. Can spec to true luxury standards

Cons
1. Reliability is still a big question mark
2. Fit and finish is still not upto to German standards (you can curl up in posh leather, but still hear rattles on the switchgear or the centre console)
3. No 7 seat option - don't know how high this point is on your priority list.

Somehow I feel Merc GLS 350d is the best option here.