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-   -   Chauffeur-driven / Comfortable Sedan under Rs. 10 Lakh (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans/122571-chauffeur-driven-comfortable-sedan-under-rs-10-lakh.html)

Hello guys!

My father in law is looking for options for a Chauffeur driven Sedan.

To give you a background, he has a Honda City (dolphin shaped) & a i20 Asta petrol which is about 2.5 years old.

He is planning to sell these cars and buy a new car for my mother in law.

The average running per month would be around 700-800 kms. It would be used by her only.

The cars looked at till date are the Fluence, Skoda Rapid, Altis to name a few.

The purchase would be done in the next 2 months max.

Requirements:

• Should be diesel.
• Good fuel efficiency.
• Good rear seat comfort.
• Decent power.
• Should be in the range of 8-10 lacs (could be extended a bit)
• Should have all the safety equipment
• Easy to maintain

I have suggested the Nissan Sunny, which I think suits him best. I mean it is going to be Chauffeur driven hence bells and whistles are not needed. It is a complete workhorse :D

Your thoughts are welcome.

It has to be the sunny, there's no car in the segment which can match sunny in terms of comfort / space. It's a Diesel, Fuel efficient, safety equipments are standard on the car, awesome rear seat and easy to maintain, The car has decent power as well :)

Tell him to look at the sunny and I am sure he will be sold. The space, comfort which sunny gives is no match with any other car in same segment. The only thing which works against the sunny is, Boring driving experience- Which he doesn't need.

If it has to chauffeur driven, then it has to be sunny. Tell him to TD rapid/Vento/Sunny and I am sure he'll go ahead with sunny.

Good luck with the decision.

Cheers,
Sameer

No brainer. Sunny.
Or else Tata Manza or Altis.
If style is important the Fluence. It has loads of it. And has a road presence too.

chauffer driven: Sunny is your best choice, followed by Manza.

I would suggest a corolla altise. The peace of mind and hassle free ownership this car gives coupled with reasonable space and equipment and you have a winner on your hands.

The Sunny's rear seat is almost as comfy as a recliner sofa!
No doubt about it as the best choice for a chauffeur driven car at the price band named.

Altis diesel G variant costs around 16.8 L OTR. It's way over the budget which he has mentioned in his post :)

Plus, sunny can do 85% of the things, which Altis can that too at 65% less price.

Cheers,
Sameer

Fair enough. I just dont like the way the sunny looks. Plus the interiors are seriously drab.But they did manage to position it as a VFM product. So i guess you right , given the budget , it does fit the bill .

Yup I agree. It does look odd.
However, it is a severely practical and compelling choice given what it offers against your enunciated needs and price considerations. A friend of mine has one and having sat in the rear of that car,I can tell you it is really something else inside. Acres of space. And I am 6 ft 2 inches tall and quite wide too. Really comfy and supportive in the back. Ideal chauffeur driven vehicle from a purely functional comfort point of view.

As you and most folks have rightly said, the Sunny fits the bill here, I'd say the same too so it really seems like a no brainer! But do make sure your father in law does a TD of the Sunny as well as others so he really is convinced it's the right choice.
However, on the "Easy to maintain" requirement I'm not really sure - would be better to check with other owners. Also not sure about the service network and support currently available for Nissan. But for this, everything else is a GO :)

Looking at the average monthly running, should it not be a petrol car or is the high petrol prices making your FIL tilt towards diesel. IMO no point in paying extra 1-2L for the Diesel. Looking at the most imp reqmt of chaffeur driven, I guess Tata Manza fits the bill and ticks all the reqmts(even the first one). The other things that should go in the favour of Manza are good service network, affordable maintenance costs.

Also now is the right time to buy the Petrol sedan with rush of offers/discount on the anvil.

If the odd looks of sunny are a put off, maybe taking a look at Manza might be worth it. It does not look odd, but comes with Tata baggage. That being said when i checked one out it looked miles ahead in terms of fit-and-finish and QC as compared to my earlier experiences with Tata. To me it did looked close to its competitors in terms of fit-and-finish and general QC. Rest only owner will be able to tell.

You have mentioned the price range of 8-10 lakhs, and then we have Fluence and Corolla Altis in the discussion :).

As many mentioned, Sunny looks like the ideal candidate here, but if budget permits, my recommendation will be the Fluence E4 D (aligned with your FIL’s choice). It is quite luxurious, very well loaded in terms of safety and comfort features, and has an excellent back seat. It’s a proven engine, and most of the reviews say that it is quite good to drive after the recent update.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...a-et-al-2.html

Check out this running thread. Its better to skip out the Fluence/Altis and go ahead with the Sunny/Vento/Rapid range. They are similarly loaded, comfortable, almost equally spacious and carry a significantly lesser price tag. As others have mentioned, Sunny would be the best bet to be chauffeured around.

As a second opinion, how about a pre-owned Altis Petrol? Your FIL's running is less, he can make do with a petrol. You can get a '09 or '10 or '11 sample in very good condition between 5-7.5 Lakhs. He can end up saving even more.

Ignore this idea if your FIL is strict about a new car.

I would also suggest the Sunny. It has loads of space in the back is much more refined than the Manza. Interior quality is also not bad.