Exactly this is the same thing that is going around now for me. A sedan within 10 lakhs!!!!
Disclaimer- This may be a long thread, but certainly hope that it may be informative. Also no offense meant to any cars owner who own any of the below mentioned cars which I may have not liked and criticized. It is my personal opinion only and I am no Automobile expert. Amends are welcome.
Current status - My Manza QJD is doing its duty perfectly fine. We require one more sedan, exactly in the same C1 segment.
The choices that we evaluated are as follows:
Honda Amaze diesel - Honda could have just kept quiet instead of having designed such a car. My great brand image towards Honda is completely shattered. I had a look at the car yesterday completely. I was really disappointed. Before reaching the showroom, i had an understanding that only interiors are bad in Amaze, rest is fine, but the same completely changed after seeing the car.
TD of Amaze diesel- The engine was responsive, no turbo lag, very good torque, pulls easily at lower speeds in 2nd/3rd gear.
But the sound of the engine is very annoying and seriously pathetic. The sound intrudes into the cabin violently. This is a very big letdown. Plus there is a bit of humming sound at higher gears at lower rpm, which is really very annoying at least to me and this is one of the major reason why I sold my i10 too.
Also the rear seat comfort was not great and my family members said 'we cannot travel for long distance in this car'. May be they are over expecting after having traveled in Manza for close to 30K kms. So Amaze dropped out of the list.
Tata Zest- We did not evaluate the Zest, as we are already having a Tata car and do not want one more trouble
Hyundai Xcent – Seriously didn’t like the design of the car. Also 1.1L was something puny to me. Sometimes I feel 1.3 MJD itself less powerful for my choice, so the lackluster 1.1 was not even taken for evaluation.
Plus I am very pessimistic about the maintenance cost of Hyundai, as I had already an i10 for which I was spending like I owned a Benz. Also the Hyundai service is definitely not lighter on wallets. So strictly no Hyundai in my garage.
Toyota Etios- Did not evaluate because none of us in our family really liked the Etios, though it is good car.
The theme of the above is that none of the C1 segment cars fits our requirements. So had no choice but to move upwards to C2 segment.
The following are the cars which I evaluated in the
C2 Segment:
Honda City – The only petrol car that I evaluated because Diesel was way beyond my budget.
Yes this is a Honda product. The sharp lines of the car really make me love this car a lot. I have always admired Honda City all gen models. The car is class apart, very nice and comfortable front and rear seats. However, there was certainly a lag in 3rd and 4th gear at reasonable low rpm speeds. Some what my inner sense said, this car is not worth for 10.7L on road. So dropped this out of the list.
Volkswagen Vento – I have always liked the simple and gentle looks of this car. Somewhat white and blue looks very appealing to me. I got to understand that the 1.6 TDI motor has been replaced with the new 1.5 motor with the same bhp. This is on par with the same downsizing by Skoda too in Rapid.
TD of Vento
I test drove the 1.6 TDI motor. The car very nicely pulls at very low speed in the second gear itself. It is really a torque king. I sometimes get very frustrated with my Manza which houses the 1.3 MJD. Off course, Manza power delivery is more linear compared to Dzire. There is sudden surge or whoosh, but not like that of Dzire .
The Vento ride quality is good, it easily swallows away big potholes and the ground clearance is pretty good.
The really liked the staff in the Volkswagen showroom at Singasandra, Bangalore, they were courteous and I could take the car for more distance than the traditional test drive distance. However felt sorry for a Customer who was screaming at the top of his voice for the delay and frustration created by the VW guys for his car that was promised to be delivered which did not happen.
Coming back to Vento, I understand that certain stocks of 1.6 TDI still exists and there is a good amount of discount, say close to 50K on the final price. Plus if you negotiate more, you may end up with more discount and accessories.
Skoda Rapid- Immediately after Vento, I wanted to TD Rapid. Though I don't find any appreciation for Rapid on this forum , I should say the car is a clear winner. I really liked the interiors. The Ambience version has almost everything in it except the automatic climate control and few other very small features. Overall the engine noise was very much under control when compared to the Vento. In Rapid I drove both 1.6 and 1.5. I really did not feel anything different. However, some what I felt a minor lag in 1.6 in 3rd gear and 4th gear at slightly less rpm as compared to 1.5. I will have to drive the 1.5 again to confirm this. Apart from this, the ride quality was great.
The pricing of Rapid is very competitive. Some good discounts may be possible if you push hard the Sales Guy. I understand that no 1.6 TDI is available in stock currently and Tafe Access is selling only the 1.5TDI. Overall for the time being, I am fixed with Rapid


. However, I do not mind evaluating the Ford Ecosport and Renault Duster as well though it belongs to a different segment all together with slightly stretching my budget.
I am yet to TD these two cars. But for the time being its Rapid.
Also one interesting conversation which I had with the sales guy of Tafe Access is that I was discussing about the A.S.S of Skoda and its horror stories. But the reply given by the Sales Guy was quiet impressive. What he said me is that, the Rapid is manufactured in India predominantly and there shall be no delay in availability of spares when the car hits the service center as compared to other models. He gave an example that the front bumper of Rapid costs 3.5K including painting etc as against Octavia which is 25-30K which has to be imported. This is possible because, the Rapid is completely manufactured in India. I really do not know the validity of this statement, but it is pretty convincing to me. Plus I came across some good service feedback by a Skoda owner on the forum. Also the Sales Guy was stating that the service cost of Rapid should be cheaper than the Vento. Currently they offer 15K kms/ 1 year service interval in Rapid which is good as compared to Honda and Hyundai.
Hyundai Verna- No Hyundai as stated earlier. Plus this car was outdated.
Renault Scala - I personally liked the car. Could not get a TD as the car was not available. My people at home did not like the car at all. The interiors looks very dull. Neither the sales guy was keen in exhibiting his car nor i was interested to dig deep on it. But however i understand that there is some amount of cash discount available on the car.
As stated earlier, i shall TD the Ford Ecosport and Renault Duster soon and update my experience shortly.