[sriviswa]

Facts:

I live in chennai. I am looking to buy a sedan for the taxi segment for around 7 lacs. Now, Dzire (old model) has entered the scene - only white LDIs are available at 6.53Lacs on road. I can get one within 15 days .

I have called Mahindra dealer for the Verito price. They are yet to call me back. From the website, the D2 base version costs about 6.01 lacs ex-showroom. With taxes, it should come to about 6.75 I think and till Mahindra calls me or till I go to them, I wouldn't know about waiting periods.

I have driven the swift LDI on the highway and loved it and safely guess driving the dzire should be good too.

I have not test driven the verito yet but have travelled in both dzire and logan as a passenger. I did not like the ride on the dzire (back row middle seat) and found it very tiring. I do not think I will want to travel very long distances in the back seat of a dzire even though I am only 5'6". The ride was much shorter in the logan - so can't say much about the ride. The space was good, but the finish inside was hardly appealing and everything looked very basic and cheap.

Please help me with the following:

1. Which would the customer prefer for city rides and on the highway?

2. Which car would be more VFM from a business point of view?

3. If I were to drive this car occasionally with family on long drives, which one should I choose? All of us are very lean and both me and my wife are short too. My elder son at 15 is already 6' and younger son at 8 is already 134 cms.

4. Living in chennai, should A.S.S be a crucial factor in the decision making?

5. Should I consider resale value as part of the process and if yes, would it make a big difference?

6. I have not considered TATA cars (indica/indigo) as reliability comes high on my priority list (since I will be driving this car occasionally and know nothing about fixing them ). And I think VISTA/MANZA are not yet offered for the taxi segment.


If I have missed out any vital points to consider, please feel free to add. Thanks in advance to all of you.

A note for the MODERATOR. I did a thorough check under 'What car - Sedans' and did not find a suitable answer (maruti dzire being a new entrant taxi segment) and hence this new thread - kindly reroute if I have missed it.

[sriviswa]

Sorry everybody. This thread is a non starter and my sincere apologies for that. After receiving no replies from Mahindra, I finally called them again this evening. And I was shocked to find that the verito is not yet offered as a taxi

Having seen Logan more as a taxi, I naturally assumed that it would be available.

MODERATOR: Please take appropriate action.

[teamveevee]

Since you are in Chennai, not sure what kind of taxi business are you planning. The choice of vehicle depends on type of business. Are you trying to contract with Corporates? Tie up with high end hotels? Or a normal taxi parked at a stand.
Right now the one that gives most return on investment is Indigo-eCS (considering your income does not depend on the car you choose). The lowest operating cost and most fuel efficient. The majority of the new taxis i see in Kerala are Indica/Indigo/Vista. Few Veritos and Dezires.
Since you do not like Tata, my choice will be Verito, as it is more comfortable and more sturdy.

[pganapathy]

The Verito is far more comfortable than the Dzire in the back seat. Leg space is way better and the seating ergonomics are good.

The Dzire's biggest advantage is Maruti's A.S.S. A friend who is an employee at a Mahindra showroom told me the mentality and approach of the majority of staff there is that of a government employee. Sad but true. Therefore, check out the local Mahindra A.S.S and if it is good then go for it.

The Mahindra is definitely the tougher car here and will definitely ride bad roads better than the Dzire.

Overall, I have to say the Verito is more comfortable at the back for passengers. The Dzire though is perhaps more comfortable at the front.

The best advice I can give you is to TD both cars and sit both in the front and back and take a long city and highway drive before deciding which car to buy.

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by sriviswa

Please help me with the following:
1. Which would the customer prefer for city rides and on the highway?

Out of these 2, its Verito for better space and ride compared DZire.

3. If I were to drive this car occasionally with family on long drives, which one should I choose? All of us are very lean and both me and my wife are short too. My elder son at 15 is already 6' and younger son at 8 is already 134 cms.

Again Verito will be more comfortable cause of its better ride and space.
Drivers point of view, VDi any day

5. Should I consider resale value as part of the process and if yes, would it make a big difference?

Resale depends on how well you maintain the car. VDi will fetch slightly more money when you sell it but I would also check the initial cost difference to conclude resale value.

I would say, evaluate Indigo eCS TDi.

[Turbokick]

Please help me with the following:

1. Which would the customer prefer for city rides and on the highway?

Back seat comfort and ride quality = Verito.
3 at rear is more comfortable in Verito

2. Which car would be more VFM from a business point of view?

Verito again. Cheap spares and very low maintenance costs. Engine is workhorse.



3. If I were to drive this car occasionally with family on long drives, which one should I choose? All of us are very lean and both me and my wife are short too. My elder son at 15 is already 6' and younger son at 8 is already 134 cms.

Headroom is a problem with dzire at back for tall passengers.


4. Living in chennai, should A.S.S be a crucial factor in the decision making?

Subjective. Maruti in general will be better.

5. Should I consider resale value as part of the process and if yes, would it make a big difference?


Depends upon your usage and period of ownership. If you can recover good money by commercially using it then why worry for resale !
Dzire will have superior resale though.

6. I have not considered TATA cars (indica/indigo) as reliability comes high on my priority list (since I will be driving this car occasionally and know nothing about fixing them ). And I think VISTA/MANZA are not yet offered for the taxi segment.

Alright. But total cost of ownership will be least with TATA.


7. If I have missed out any vital points to consider, please feel free to add. Thanks in advance to all of you.

Dzire honestly will not appeal the taxi market much for following reasons :
- it isn't as rugged as a verito or CS. Not meant for constant abuses : engine,build and suspension
- rear seat space is critical. Dzire loses here.


Why you should also consider indigo :
- Significantly cheaper than even Verito. Recovering money and making some will be quicker.
- Niggles will be there but Tata's service and spares are very cheap in comparision. Roadside assistance will be there for Tatas
- Tailormade for taxi market : frugal engine,good ride,price and space.

[sriviswa]

Note from Mod : Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another! Also, avoid quoting entire posts as it may inconvenience small-screen and mobile users. Thanks.

To be honest, I am still evaluating how best to use my car. The current plan is to tie up with someone like Fast Track and use it for personal uses over weekends. And I am trying to fast track the car purchase only because of the impending duty hike on diesel cars post budget.

Originally Posted by HammerHead

Out of these 2, its Verito for better space and ride compared DZire.


Again Verito will be more comfortable cause of its better ride and space.
Drivers point of view, VDi any day


Resale depends on how well you maintain the car. VDi will fetch slightly more money when you sell it but I would also check the initial cost difference to conclude resale value.

I would say, evaluate Indigo eCS TDi.

Since verito is out of the game and based on your advice, I will definitely consider the Indigo-eCS. Dzire is almost certainly ruled out because they don't offer a choice of variants or colour.

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Please help me with the following:

...frugal engine,good ride,price and space.

Yes, I will consider the Indigo eCS (as replied to Hammerhead). Not bidding TA TA to TATA yet :-)

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by sriviswa

......And I was shocked to find that the verito is not yet offered as a taxi

Indigo CS is the way to go!

BTW are you planning for a fleet of cars or just one? And will it be on a yellow board?

[theexperthand]

I am not sure how people are doing it - but I have seen many veriots with yellow board @ banaglore. In fact, the first verito I saw on road was a taxi.

If I was looking for a taxi and I have a choice, I will pick verito among the Dzire and verito.

[sriviswa]

It will be yellow board and only one car to begin with.

Yeah. My frequent visits to b'lore could be one of the reasons for my post w/o checking the facts. But in Chennai, they still haven't approved veritos for taxis. Which is very strange. They have already built themselves a solid image in the taxi segment. Are they trying to undo this?

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

I am not sure how people are doing it - but I have seen many veriots with yellow board @ banaglore. In fact, the first verito I saw on road was a taxi.

If I was looking for a taxi and I have a choice, I will pick verito among the Dzire and verito.

If I had to choose between the Dzire and the Verito, it would be the Verito. Dzire's rear seats can't match Verito's space and leg room.

[patil]

Verito anytime and though it is not on your options list why not the Manza. Dezire would not be as suitable as the Verito or the Manza for taxi. Manza offers the best back seat in its catagory and even the catagory above it. The verito back seat is close to the Manza though not as comfortable as the Manza. Maintainance wise also the Manza now has 20K service interval so you will have to make less rounds to the service station and run the car more.

[amit_mechengg]

If you are targeting the taxi segment, then i suppose you can better invest in indigo CS models. They are VFM and provide quick return of investment.

You can now also look at Dezire CS. Its cheaper and offers luxury too.

[RadiantKarma]

I'm nowadays seeing a good number of Etioses (both diesel and petrol/CNG) pottering about the town as taxis. For the combined requirements of space, reliability and balanced ride quality, this seems to be the best bet - whether Verito is available or not. Else, from customer's perspective, Indigo is better than the old DZire for space and ride quality. It's VFM too, though reliability is another matter.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Have seen a couple of Etioses as taxis here, but not more than that . With how things are going, IMO DZire is not going to be a taxi very soon, given its very long waiting period.