Shortlisted Elevate as one of the options for replacing my old SX4 (top-end manual petrol from 2009) after checking out a number of options based on the following requirements (captured in an earlier post
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...#post5787609): (Kia Carens Review) Quote:
- No sunroof: with apologies to all who like this feature, I think its insane in our climactic conditions (lots of heat, dust and rain), not to mention the consequences of failure
- Automatic: Preferably TC, CVT, but not DSG or AMT.
- Safety: 4-6 airbags, decent crash test rating, prefer headrest and 3 point belt for second row middle seat
- Space/ size: SUV/MUV that can sit 5 comfortably - 3 adults (son is 18 and the tallest at 6'), 1 15 yr old, 1 senior citizen - with a good amount of storage. Not opposed to a 7/8 seater as well, as long as its not too huge (for ref SX4 length x width is 4500mm x 1735mm). One main requirement is that if I'm driving, my son should be able to sit behind me in comfort.
- Ease of ingress, egress and comfortable seating: Me and parents both need this in spades, them due to advancing age and me due to back etc
- Fuel: Prefer petrol with hybrid or diesel, petrol only with auto being a recipe for huge bills
- Running: Mostly Pune city (~90%), with occasional highway runs to Lonavala, Mumbai and once a year further to Alibag, Goa. I think we do less than 10,000 kms per year
- No touchscreen for non-media controls esp. aircon (am assuming media physical buttons on the steering wheel). Don't mind if the switches look plain, they need to be tough and wear resistant
- Budget: I'm loath to paying anything over 20 lakhs on road
- Comfortable and solid suspension, good ground clearance and underbody protection to tackle the things that are called roads in/ around Pune
- Would prefer IR/UV cut glass, ACC, rear vents/cooled seats, rear charging ports, rear parking camera and wired Android CarPlay. IR/UV glass for obvious reasons (albeit the SX4 has a 70% transmission 3M film on sides and back and never been stopped by cops - no film in front). ACC, have got used to it in SX4 but the missing rear vents/seat cooling make life difficult in peak summer. Don't have/use a rear parking camera and can mostly reverse park without it, but wouldn't mind having one. Would like to use Android maps, media, phone controls over the manufacturer provided ones.
- Am perfectly fine not to have a large touchscreen, fully electric MID, 360 camera, ADAS, cruise control, TPMS, puddle lights, electronic seat adjust, auto-folding mirrors, auto wipers/ headlights/ IRVMs, progressive turn indicators, wireless charging/ CarPlay, and the extended laundry list of gizmos that are becoming common in cars (the apt term, I believe, is 'basic b*t*h')
- Quite obviously I don't care about the performance, just that it should be able to handle overtakes and ghat sections on highways with 4 + luggage without too much hassle
- Have used all past vehicles (Wagon R, Activa 0G, SX4) for 14+ yrs so want something long lasting, reliable and fuss-free
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I was narrowing down on the Carens but then after reading a lot about Turbo direct-injection engines I decided to add another requirement to the list - 'No TGDI engines' in order to meet the last requirement listed above (reliable and fuss free in the face of current petrol supply) given that the majority of use is for short-to-medium in-city trips.
So realistically that only left me with Ertiga (ruled our XL6 for reasons in the post above) and Elevate. After convincing the missus that we don't really need a 6 seater as we would only use that capability maybe once or twice a year, finally took an Elevate test drive ('ZX' CVT test drive vehicle).
First, mapping Elevate, specifically the V CVT 'R' version (highest version with no sunroof) against the requirements
- Automatic (CVT), no sunroof, no Turbo GDI engine, 6 airbags, headrest and 3-point belt for rear-middle seat, no touch-screen for non media controls, esp. AC - all good
- No crash test results as yet (India variant)
- Son can sit behind me comfortably, can seat three in the rear seat more comfortably than SX4 (not as good as Carens or XUV 7OO of course)
- Ease of egress/ingress at front is good due to relatively lower sill, a little compromised at the bank due to partly intruding wheel arch
- Comfortable and solid suspension, good ground clearance and underbody protection - check
- No UV/IR glass is a real shame
- ACC, rear vents/cooled seats, rear charging ports, rear parking camera and wired Android CarPlay - check
- Was very 'comfortable' and easy to ride with sales rep and 3/4 of us, including up and down a few steep sections where we tested the hill-hold (worked perfectly)
- Engine sound does seep in when you accelerate a little hard from lower speeds (didn't really get a chance to push it), otherwise it was fine
- Tried 'R' mode for a bit on the highway - was OK I guess
- Driver seat/ position a little poor as could not push it as far back as I want, had to lower the seat height which moves it back a bit. Also lower back support was not great
Few things I'm missing out on the 'V' version (due to my sunroof requirement):
- Fog lamps - can be really useful sometimes in winter
- Rear wiper - will miss this
- No ADAS or lane watch cameras - don't care about ADAS, lane watch would have been nice
- Alloy wheels - although the steel wheels have higher profile rubber which can only be good on Pune 'roads'
- Leatherette seats, door padding, gear-knob etc - meh
- Bigger touchscreen with addnl features - can live without it
- Auto-dimming IRVM, headlights, wipers, folding mirrors - will miss some of these but OK
- Some interior ambient lights - fine whatever, but will miss them
Other than the seat covers (official ones ~ Rs 35k) and alloy wheels I don't think anything else can be added later without creating problems so will need to live with that.
Coming to the pricing for the V CVT 'R' version - Rs 16.7 lakhs on-road in Pune, which includes the following (before any discounts etc)
- Rs 13.7 lakhs ex-showroom price
- Rs 1.7 lakhs registration
- Rs 39k - Honda assurance - need to get details on this, seems expensive
- Rs 12k for additional 2 years third-party insurance - as per the sales rep this is compulsory as per RTO. Is that right?
- Rs 14k - zero depreciation, engine protection, return-to-invoice - so these are not included in the 39k Honda assurance price above
- Rs 20k - 4th and 5th year, 80,000 km extended warranty
- Rs 15k - basic kit including mats, mud flaps, cleaning kit, key chain, mobile charger, emergency hammer etc
- Rs 5k - 4 year RSA
- Rs 6.5k - unstated 'handling' charges
Unlimited 7 year extended warranty can be bought for Rs 31k - which seems like a good deal compared to 20k for 4th and 5th year as above.
TBH seems to be expensive when I compare with the top-end automatic Ertiga but let's see what they share re discounts.
Two question

- What other insurance service provider have people used because the total insurance value is almost Rs 65k (Honda assurance + 2 year third party + zero depreciation, engine protection, return-to-invoice)
- And what are folks doing to mitigate the absence of UV/IR glass - this will be a real problem in the summers.
Thanks!