[tharthecar]

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to look through.

I'm looking at buying a Luxury car for the second time, but for the first time after joining Team-BHP. I thought, why not get advice from the experts out here. Putting out a lot of detail, just so that you can best help give advice.

Budget:
Upto 90L on road in Pune. I'd imagine that translates to upto 75L ex-showroom. Like every Indian, I'm looking for "good vfm". So I don't mind going down to as low as 45L if it's a better value

History:
Cars I've owned so far, and my experience of them as a reference point. We've always preferred sedans. Also, let me apologise for selling the cars in 5 years. Hadn't learnt from the Team-BHP then. Will fix that mistake now

1. Tata Indigo (2004-2008): First car in the house. Entry level, did it's job. After 4 years, it couldn't survive - emission issues, transmission issue
2. Skoda Octavia (2006-11): My first car, if you would - after I learnt driving. Luuurvveed this car. Lived with me for 5 years, which involved extensive highway drives. Always a happy camper, and still reminds me of my happy, carefree college days
3. Audi A4 (2011-2018): It was a fun car to drive. Good, smooth, low NVH. Ground clearance (120 mm) was an issue
4. Skoda Superb (2018-now) (and not planning to sell until it hits a decade. Hope GTO will be proud). Again great car experience. Probably a bit sluggish given its heft, but I liked it. No mush, always ready for a long drive, or a daily commute. Ground clearance was great, never found a road, however broken that I couldn't cross

Use Case:
Use of this car will be very limited. In fact, given the size of the car, and the size of Pune's streets in the core city, it'll never be used for city drives. It should be a good garage queen - with low risk of rusting due to non use. We'll bring it out once a week for sure
My use will be to use the car for long drives - say once in a month.

Features we value:
I'm one of those who don't really care about BHPs and 0-100 times - rarely will I test them.
I'm looking at good comfort for my parents both on highway and the city in our pothole ridden roads. Good NVH, with low sound coming in. Even in driving, the comfort features matter - like auto hold, or electric parking brakes, good infotainment system that works well with Android Auto. Auto headlights, wipers, auto dimming outdoor mirrors (BMW doesn't have them :'()
It has to be a sedan. But a ground clearance greater than 120 for sure. I know the Superb worked well for me with 165 mm ground clearance. So, somewhere in the 140 odd range I guess. I want to be able to go to hill stations with their broken roads without worrying about my car. Won't do any offroading, of course
In terms of driving, it'd be nice to have a car that, once in a while, on a good, curved, open road, brings a bit of a smile to the face. Octavia, Superb, and A4 have all done that for me, so I presume it's not a very high bar.
Planning to use the car for 10 years if all goes well

Consideration Set:
My set, so far. Happy to add some if I've missed

• BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine
• Audi A6 (will take the A4 if it's a better value)
• Mercedes C/E-Class, whichever works out to best "value"
• Lexus ES (it's a fight - mom doesn't want Japanese, but I like the long life, and the higher mileage of the hybrid)
• Skoda Superb (mom is dead against it, she doesn't want the same car over again. But I've loved every Skoda I ever bought, and I feel it'll be a very good value for money)

I know luxury and VFM don't go hand in hand. But I am trying to optimise for VFM, while still being in the luxury category.

Again, thank you for taking out the time. Let me know your views.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Originally Posted by tharthecar

Budget:
Upto 90L on road in Pune. I'd imagine that translates to upto 75L ex-showroom. Like every Indian, I'm looking for "good vfm". So I don't mind going down to as low as 45L if it's a better value.

Dear tharthecar,
Good to hear you are on the look for some good car. Especially given your consideration looking for a luxury car to drive your mother. Reliability and dependability are paramount when looking out cars for aged parents.

My suggestions are:
1) Volvo XC40
2) Volvo S90 - based on your love for sedans
3) Lexus ES300 - based on your love for sedans
4) Lexus NX350
5) Mercedes Benz GLA220d
6) Mercedes Benz GLB220d

I would suggest you to stay clear from Germans as far as possible. The Japanese might be boring to look but their reliability and solid functioning is one thing every oem has to learn and implement. Hear from Narayanan Sir and you will change your mind on Japanese cars.

Let us know what you decide to purchase and share your buying experience as well.

Warm Regards,
Sathiya Narayanan. S

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[TheFonz]

My 2 cents, I would advise you to consider SUVs. If comfort is a priority, especially on pothole-ridden roads, then SUVs should be the way to go.

Moreover, you already have a sedan in your garage that you like and might I say what a superb sedan it is.

In terms of options, I will leave it to others to advise as I'm not best placed to do so.

[CoconutCar]

Would recommend to check out 3 cars
1. Volvo S90
2. Lexus ES
3. Toyota Camry Hybrid (VFM, comfortable)

I digress from the opinion of buying an SUV as backseat comfort is your priority. Stick to a sedan. Lexus/Toyota and Volvo have soft setups that will give supreme comfort to your parents.

If I was in your place I would have purchased Volvo if an ASC in my city was good and present.

Otherwise I would have purchased a Camry Hybrid.

Regards

[buzzy_boy]

You're roughly working with the right set of cars. Upgrading from the Superb is going to difficult. Top contenders should be the 5-series, and the E-class. Do note that the next gen versions of these cars might launch next year, so might be worthwhile to wait. Also test-drive the A6, the Lexus, and the Volvo, and pick the one that suits your family's needs.

Are you open for pre-owned? If so, might consider a good 530d.


Left field options: why not the S5, and the EV-6 if you're open to EVs. You can ignore the M340i due to the stiff suspension.

Again, take good long TD's and go with the one your parents like the most. They deserve the right to decide!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by tharthecar

Like every Indian, I'm looking for "good vfm". So I don't mind going down to as low as 45L if it's a better value

Innova Hycross or Kodiaq are your VFM choices. Both punch way above their weight, are comfortable and will offer easier ingress / egress as Mum ages. More VFM? Camry.

It has to be a sedan

You already have a sedan. Now, get a crossover.

BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine

Great choice, if you want to have fun too . Comfier suspension and LWB gives it improved legroom at the back.

Lexus ES (it's a fight - mom doesn't want Japanese, but I like the long life, and the higher mileage of the hybrid)

Take her for a test-drive in one. And while in the Lexus showroom, take a spin in the NX too.

Won't suggest the EV6 or any other EVs, as you want to do a lot of highway driving & the charging infrastructure just isn't there yet. Talk to any EV owner after a highway trip and 100% of them will purely talk about charging experiences, while I'd rather speak about the roads, scenery, corner carving, dhaba food, waterfalls etc.

Audi Q5 & A6 are worthy options if the discounts are good.

You & your Mom need to go out and do a lot of test-driving . Enjoy the process.

[lemedico]

A pre owned Vellfire would be good for your garage. Or hold up a bit and wait for the new Carnival next year.
With age, one certainly appreciates the higher seating position compared to a limousine. And these two cars don't even have the high step ingress/egress.
Do consider an MPV rather than another limo

[GoBabyGo]

Hi tharthecar - I think BMW 330Li or 330Ld suits your requirements. It has perfect balance of luxury, comfort, driving pleasure & excellent space at the back. Since you own Superb, you know the value of rear seat space.

Do check out the festival offers, may be discount + maintenance package schemes bring down the price by 5 lacs or so.

[Cresterk]

This is a car for your mom so it would be wise to take her preferences into account and skip the Škoda and Lexus or you will never hear the end of it.

May I ask if a sedan was your choice or hers? I feel like a German crossover would suit your use cases better + older people love the seating position and ease of entry/exit.

If you are set on a sedan, I would recommend the 5 series or the Audi A6. A 3 grand limo if you want something smaller. The new C class is very nice but I faced ground clearance issues while driving it.

[Turbohead]

Here's a wild suggestion - a pre-owned Porsche Macan.
1) VFM because it's already depreciated
2) Can handle bad urban roads thanks to the ground clearance
3) Should perform and handle just like a sedan because it's a Porsche.

Wild and maybe impractical but if you're trying to make every weekend drive an occasion, I don't know what else to suggest.

[abaliga]

Mercedes GLA or Audi Q3 are my picks (Not including X1 as I cannot digest a 3 cylinder motor at this price), sedans for middle aged parents are ideally not preferred because of the slightly tricky ingress/egress, also, crossovers are not as long and are easy to manoeuvre in traffic.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Upon reading your requirements, the first name that pops into my head is the Lexus ES. The only catch is that you already have a large sedan, so ideally, you should be looking to get something different. If the purchase is not too pressing, you can wait for the new gen Kodiaq and Canival, both of which are expected next year.

[inwester]

Originally Posted by tharthecar

Upto 90L on road in Pune.

I'm looking at good comfort for my parents both on highway and the city in our pothole ridden roads. Good NVH, with low sound coming in. Even in driving, the comfort features matter - like auto hold, or electric parking brakes, good infotainment system that works well with Android Auto. Auto headlights, wipers, auto dimming outdoor mirrors (BMW doesn't have them :'()
It has to be a sedan. But a ground clearance greater than 120 for sure.

Let's get these two things out of the way first.

1) There are no VFM cars in India, in the luxury market.

2) To be honest won't recommend a sedan for your mother, especially since you already have a very good one, which is impossible to beat unless you spend ~3x of what it cost originally.

Don't know if this is still in stock, but if you can get a BMW 630i GT it can solve both issues at the same time, being high slung and a "sedan", and it starts around ₹72 lakh ex-showroom. It's a little old but one of its kind and would be my recommendation for you. It has a ground clearance of around ~140 mm.

Otherwise, my other pick would be the new Mercedes Benz GLC (GC of ~180 mm), whatever engine option you like, i.e. Petrol or Diesel. Its pretty feature rich, except for the poor headlights (no LED projector option in India), no full ADAS level 2, no keyless entry (now this one is ridiculous ) etc. The low speed ride quality also has taken a hit compared to the old one with the 19" wheels, but this is the newest car in the segment, where everything else is at least 5-6 years old now and probably in the last year of its generation.

• If you don't care for the resale value get the Q5 with tons of discounts. Could be VFM based on how much you're able to negotiate.
  
  
• If you like an overall package and decent driving dynamics get the BMW X3.
  
  
• If you want a really safe (comes with full ADAS suite w/ pilot assist) and boring car get the Volvo XC60. It also has the brilliant sounding Bowers and Wilkins audio system with 15 speakers. Not 100% sure, but I heard during this festive season there are discounts and a 5-year maintenance/warranty package that comes free with Volvo. Check it out.
  
  
• But overall GLC is the pick of the lot for someone who doesn't care about driving dynamics and wants the latest, albeit with some sacrifices.

Not easy these days shopping for a luxury car in India, good luck.

[shiv11bhargava]

Considering it's for aunty, this is my take.

1. Mercedes Benz E-Class. A petrol will make sense and it will just be a dream to travel in.
2. Volvo XC60, the complete package. Superb VFM.
3. Audi A6 40 TFSI, you get the best package and the best price?

[DrSumit]

Your thread title is fairly easy to address.

Luxury car for my mother = The best or nothing. MB it is.

My only suggestion is you drive the E with your mother before you drive any other car. Thereafter it'll be a matter of time...