Hi guys! Short background is in order first.
The last time i posted here, I had just decided to shift from my old Octavia to a new Civic (Yes! Its been a long time) Anyway, I happily used that car for 7 years with no incident and then bought a then new Ciaz, which i thought was great deal. Bad move! After suffering for a couple of years, I traded it in for a brand new VW Passat Highline last year. What a car! I really enjoyed it, a bit noisy , but the trim levels were awesome. We were all quite happy.
Fast forward 10 months into ownership, and we were returning home after the Easter weekend and we got into a horrific accident. Due to quality German engineering, my wife and kids were survived without a scratch and i just sustained a small wound on my head due to the cracked A-pillar. Suffice to say the car was a total loss.
Details of that incident, I will probably put in the appropriate forum after completion of all formalities.
So now, unexpectedly, we are in the market for a new car and of course there is a financial aspect to it all. We wanted to be in Passat territory.
I would've liked to get another Passat but my wife wasn't having any of it. One the accident memory, and the all black interiors (which she doesn't like). I decided against the Passat because the response of the dealer after the accident was totally surprising. They didn't seem to be interested in retaining the customer.
Skoda was out of the running after I had to literally beg them for a test drive, and the Kodiaq was surprisingly bad on the city roads where i do most of my driving. So I had to go a step up.
Test Drive Montage:
The service extended by all the below dealers were very good, and was very refreshing after the bad experiences @ VW & Skoda.
I did not test drive nor consider the GLA and Q3 at all due to their looks and lack of decent interior.
Audi A4 Technology: Equipment levels were very good. But the test drive vehicle was a Petrol (1.4L?) Drive was not at all good.
Volvo XC40 Inscription: Awesome looks and equipment levels. Interiors very classy. Wife didnt care for the high up seating position. Ride was a bit floaty. Gearbox not that great. AC was really struggling to cool the car. (Maybe a one off). Expensive and Volvo doesn’t do discounts.
Would’ve loved to try out the new S60 but it isn't coming to India anytime soon.
Volvo XC90 Inscription: What a car! Awesome. But too big and way out of our budget.
Toyota Camry: Nice drive, spacious. Quite comfortable. Equipment levels good. Let down by a hideous central console design. I think about 5-8 lakhs too expensive. It would have been a no brainer at about 40L OTR.
Mercedes Benz C220d Progressive: Nice looks, good equipment levels, a tad claustrophobic. I really dig the new looks and colours. Drive was good. Great gearbox. Don’t like the steering mounted gear selector. Spousal approval+
A bit expensive for our budget but we can stretch quite a bit to accommodate if required. The Prime variant comes closer to our budget. But i feel there are too many trade offs (smaller wheels, smaller sunroof, NO android auto, and only all black interior) where it loses its appeal.
BMW 320d Luxury line: The demo car was of the older outgoing model, and frankly I didn't care for it much. Roof seemed quite low. I was surprised, as I am a BMW fan and used to own a 316i (E46) and loved driving it. They are taking bookings for the new 320d (G20) and promising an August delivery, but I doubt it, as it hasn’t yet been officially announced. I like the G20 looks and trim but there are no discounts and it is about 6-8 lakhs more than the C220d Progressive.
BMW X1 s20d xLine/MSport: Really liked this crossover. Great drive, nice in between seating position. xLine is within our budget. Equipment trim a bit lacking i think. Spousal approval++
BMW GT 320d Luxury: Didn't get to drive it but checked it out. Really nice. BMW is providing really tempting mouthwatering discounts. I can get it slightly cheaper than the C220d.
Now the final decision has to be made and it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say I am going slightly mad. Maybe I am overthinking it.
My parents recently bought the C220d Progressive and my in laws bought the CLA200. So parental pressure is to buy the C220d. My dad says the X1 looks too much like the S-Cross (yikes!)
While I was going through the team bhp forums etc. I suddenly realised one thing: BS-VI!!
The C220d is BS-6 compliant. According to the internet the BMW diesels are not, now they have introduced the BS-6 compliant petrol engines. So in that case I will have to consider the X1 s20i xLine which is the only variant available. I guess that's why they are giving such hefty discounts on their diesels.
So what I need to know is how much of an issue is this going to be. I am hoping to keep this car for at least 5 years. If i take a BMW diesel, will it be difficult to sell it down the line? Would it be better to buy the s20i. I can’t find any reviews of that engine/variant online.
So what should I do fellow bhpians?