[drmohitg]

How is even the Jetta in your price band. AFAIK the DSG is offered only in the highline trim and that costs close to 22-23L. After the excise hike it will only cost more. Why don't you take a look at the Cruze?

Alternatively opt for a Vento with DSG gearbox.

[ishlinea7260]

The only fun to drive car automatic diesel that almost fits your budget is Octavia Ambition DSG.

Vw never offered DSG in Jetta in any variant except the Highline , chances are they might continue the same ideology with the new model.

Also if they price Highline DSG similar to Octavia Elegance that would again retail ~27 lakhs on road!

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

How is even the Jetta in your price band. AFAIK the DSG is offered only in the highline trim and that costs close to 22-23L. After the excise hike it will only cost more. Why don't you take a look at the Cruze?

Alternatively opt for a Vento with DSG gearbox.

It is most definitely out of my budget now but the previous one was within the margin of +/- 3 lakhs. I did consider the cruze, Haven't taken a TD yet but had second thoughts because of resale. If you look at my signature you'd see that i haven't had a car for longer than 3 years

[amansanc]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

Well my assumption is based on the pricing of the current generation Octavia. It was around 26 lakhs OTR for elegance and 23 lakhs OTR for ambition before the excise hike. I'm being told Skoda has upped their prices by 4% so that would mean an OTR of around 27.5 lakhs for the elegance

So assuming the Jetta would be priced closed to the Octavia

Bangalore prices are totally crazy man!! In that case you need to increase your budget

Cruze would be a good option only if you don't mind the lesser safety features. Its got only 2 airbags (compared to the 6 in Jetta/Octavia).


P.S. Why don't you consider a pre-owned car?? You might get a F30 3 series in your budget.

[Sheel]

As you move up the ladder (segment wise) be prepared to take a hit as far as resale goes.

Elantra & Corolla, are there AT diesels for them?

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

It is most definitely out of my budget now but the previous one was within the margin of +/- 3 lakhs. I did consider the cruze, Haven't taken a TD yet but had second thoughts because of resale. If you look at my signature you'd see that i haven't had a car for longer than 3 years

Exactly what I thought. The Jetta highline was 20+ in NCR region. Hence Bangalore prices were bound to be closer to 25L.

As far as resale is concerned, I really doubt if the Cruze has any worse resale than the Jetta. Infact for a D segment car, Cruze's resale value is pretty decent and if I compare it to my Altis, there is not much difference. However a D segment car does depreciate very fast and hence stick to something else if resale is on your mind.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by amansanc

Bangalore prices are totally crazy man!! In that case you need to increase your budget

Cruze would be a good option only if you don't mind the lesser safety features. Its got only 2 airbags (compared to the 6 in Jetta/Octavia).


P.S. Why don't you consider a pre-owned car?? You might get a F30 3 series in your budget.

The Cruze has 4 airbags now. pre excise it was around 22 lakhs, Now you know how crazy the prices in Bangalore are Finding a F30 or even an X1 in the Bangalore used market in my budget is a herculean task

Originally Posted by Sheel

As you move up the ladder (segment wise) be prepared to take a hit as far as resale goes.

Elantra & Corolla, are there AT diesels for them?

Elantra is out because it has the same power output as the Verna and a boat probably handles better. The Corolla comes in A/T only in petrol sadly .Might have made a lot of sense otherwise

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

It's been a little over 8 months since we started looking for an upgrade to our 2012 Honda City A/T. The requirements chalked out were pretty simple ( or so i thought ) in order
...
...
Looking forward to valuable suggestions.

As others mentioned, the options are quite limited in the given price range. A few options I can think of:
1) Wait for the facelifted Jetta, and see if VW offer DSG option with the TDI Comfortline variant
2) Octavia Ambiton TDI DSG
3) Move within the same segment, get the Vento Highline TDI DSG.

All the above 3 comes with a minimum of dual airbags, ABS and ESP. Jetta will have the additional cover of extra airbags.

[RishiSuri]

Hi zombiedriver,
I would recommend to go for a test drive of the cruze and preferably try 2 types of driving. 1) on empty road check the power of cruze how it churns out those horse power and speed from 0 to 100. the engine sound, the turbo kick. You will enjoy it.
2) driving in a busy street to see how it behaves in low gears / low speeds.

I have been driving cruze for last 2 years and haven't had any issues with the car despite some silly ignorance by Servicing team (no issues in the car yet).

In addition what I would also recommend is when shortlisting the cars mentioned above along with cruze, do check the servicing cost/ spare part costs as well. As a car might be comparatively cheaper initially but if the running and servicing turns out to be expensive, then you might repent saving few thousands initially for spending much more in maintaining it

[phamilyman]

Here's a contrarian thought.

With petrol prices being where they are - why not enjoy the (expected) petrol prices for another six - twelve months, save up more and then buy the Jetta highline or so?

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Here's a contrarian thought.

With petrol prices being where they are - why not enjoy the (expected) petrol prices for another six - twelve months, save up more and then buy the Jetta highline or so?

Its a logical thought but i forgot to mention the Honda City is being used by my wife who's studying, She finishes in a couple of months. Its a TN reg and i don't want to bring it to Bangalore. Would ideally want to get the new car before she gets to Bangalore

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

Elantra is out because it has the same power output as the Verna and a boat probably handles better. The Corolla comes in A/T only in petrol sadly .Might have made a lot of sense otherwise

The Elantra really isn't as bad as you might think. Far better than the Verna and i20. It comes with pretty neutral handling a bit soft but still well poised, with the steering responding well and weighing up quite adequately. It is just a little lacking in the feedback department.

Otherwise, if you're willing to wait or part with a lesser trim level, then Jetta and Octavia are your only options.

[ToyotaFan]

I believe you should go in for the VW VENTO or SKODA RAPID Diesel DSG. I know they cost only 13-14L OTR and won't be an upgrade on all fronts compared to the city but will give you better resale and will be easier to maintain. You can invest the money saved and invest it to buy a German luxury car after a couple of years. The D segment in India has shrunk precisely due to this logic and I think it makes sense.

[zombiedriver]

I gave a thought to stretching my budget to about 35 lakhs and turns out I am still in the same quandary. I had almost finalized the top of the line BMW X1 but when I went to the dealership for final negotiations our choice of color had been sold out. This seems to have become the norm for me, every time I think I have my car they stop making them 😀. I don't like the fortuner one bit and I find myself out of ideas yet again

[urban legend]

Just checked out the nearby Volkswagen showroom for the new Jetta. I am getting a test drive on next sunday. The display car is coming by 19th. The autocar review on the net says the facelifted version has minor but good changes like cosmetic updates in the front end and tail-lamps; flat bottomed steering wheel and some new colours. The engine is even more smoother and less noisy too it seems. Maybe they have improved the sound dampening.The sales person did 'nt disclose anything but was willing to accept 50,000 as booking and promised me the first car to be delivered by them.