[GTS]

Hello fine folks. I am planning to buy a new car in the near future and I want all you knowledgeable peeps to help me out. Before that let me give you some details about me, my profession and my driving requirements.

1) I am a Physician doing private practice in Chennai. I practice in my house (my study is the clinic) so there is no need for me to commute to my workplace. The car is going to be entirely for leisure travel.

2) I also do house calls in my area, but I use my battered old bike (KB100 RTZ) to do so. It is quicker, easier to park anywhere and more efficient in terms of money so that I dont have to overcharge the patient whom I am attending.

3) I currently own an old Maruti 800 (which my best friend teases saying its a Baleno

4) I am not interested in hatchbacks or diesel cars.

5) Which is the right time to buy a car (meaning when will the dealers usually offer discounts)

6) Though I plan to go with SBI finance (I am an account holder) for the vehicle, do you suggest any other good finance options.

7) My proposed driving requirements:
----once a week leisure trip within the city but only between 10pm and 12
-----four 200km (to and fro) trips a year
----two 1500km (to and fro) trips a year

8) Most importantly, the budget is between 5 and 6 lakhs. I am not one of those nauseatingly rich docs )))

Thanks in advance, hope I am not asking much!

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by GTS

I am not one of those nauseatingly rich docs )))

Since you're not one of those nauseatingly rich..suggest go through What car section. You'll find your answer for sure.

[jkdas]

Doc, Welcome to TBHP.

Petra, Fiesta 1.4, Baleno. Of these Petra maybe cheaper. Acccent is VFM, but a new one MAY replace the old one. Baleno is good, but a bit outdated. Esteem...too outdated. Think if you stretch your budget till 6.5, you can look at Fiesta 1.4 OTR and maybe the Aveo 1.4.

A car in this price range is the most debated and hence I suggest you to look for similar threads.

[nevertouchme]

hey doc,
Welcome to Team Bhp.
Check out IKon Flair.
4.69 lak is a steal deal
Jai........

[himanshugoswami]

Hi Doc,

For your kind of usage, I would unhesitatingly suggest the esteem lxi/vxi (depending on ur preferences for gadgets in the car).

It is a hassle free and very easy car to drive, esp in Chennai traffic, with a bulletproof engine.

[supremeBaleno]

GTS, you mentioned your budget and driving requirements (which suggest a car for the highways with only minimal use in the city). What about your other concerns like performance, mileage, maintenance costs, snob value etc ?

As other members suggested, the various options that fall in your budget are Accent, Baleno, Esteem, Ikon Flair, Petra (in alphabetical order). As @jkdas said, if you stretch your budget a bit, you can also look at the Aveo1.4 and Fiesta1.4. All of them are good cars in their own way, with certain strong points and some cons too. All you need to find is the optimum fit for your requirements.

Call up the dealers for a testdrive and they will bring the car to your clinic itself - check out all the cars and go for the one that fits best.

[revharder]

Originally Posted by GTS

7) My proposed driving requirements:
----once a week leisure trip within the city but only between 10pm and 12
-----four 200km (to and fro) trips a year
----two 1500km (to and fro) trips a year

thats roughly 6-7K kms per year.
and since you have made a budget of 5-6 lakhs only, and you are not a nauseatingly rich doc (!), i'd not ask you to increase your budget and to opt for costlier cars.
rather i'd suggest you to look only at:
Esteem, Flair, Petra, Accent, Gypsy!, Indigo(P), Marina(P).

but if u have a look at bigger hatchbacks too then i guess you have plenty of exiciting options wit you!
Getz, Swift, Indica will suit your kind of driving very much.

and one more small suggestion, do take a test drive of as many cars as you can before deciding upon!
and to get the best decision yourself, note down on a paper, the experience you had in a car while test-driving it!!
it'll help you in comparing the cars at your own terms and not on that of sales representatives at showrooms!

[arif_t01]

FOR
Petra - solid build, rigidity, excellent ride, low price
Esteem - reliability, maruti service, low price
Fiesta 1.4 - new product, good ride & suspension, good interior design (not quality of plastics!)
Aveo 1.4 - new product, good interior design & quality of plastics
<between Fiesta 1.4 & Aveo 1.4, i would choose Fiesta for the better ride, suspension,etc (i have a Fiesta Diesel)>
Ikon Flair - Value for Money
Baleno - performance
Accent - cheap service & parts

AGAINST
Petra - service, relatively expensive parts, low resale value
Esteem - outdated-can be replaced anytime
Fiesta - exterior design
Aveo - maintenance
Ikon - low resale value
Baleno - outdated-can be replaced anytime, exterior design, low resale value
Accent - maybe replaced, low resale value (for petrol)

if you want a new prioduct, go for Fiesta otherwise Petra is a good buy

[Floyd de Souza]

Doc,

Go for the Esteem with you eyes wide shut. The festive season is the right time for hard bargaining. For finance..look at two or three different financiers though in my opinion SBI could be the cheapest. To make it simple for you to understand, go for the option where downpayment+EMI's over the loan tenure is the least.

[bangboy]

Petra would be a good choice.You will never regret it.

[DRC]

Did anyone mention adventure.... Doc is looking for a leisure car. Whatt else can beat Adventure here!! err.. Comni??

[supremeBaleno]

True - it fits his requirements. And the adventure fits in his budget too. But then, FE would be quite low (there is another thread that mentions around 7kmpl recorded during a litre test conducted by the dealer).

[arif_t01]

i didnt put adventure as it costs 6.5L......his budget is 5-6L.....moreover i dont think, he will go for an estate body

[GTS]

As many of you have suggested, I think I will go for the Esteem--the Vxi version. Could you please fill me in on the resale value of the Esteem compared to that of the Ikon Flair? Thanks again!

[sivadas]

According to me Esteem is a pseudo big car. It will never give you a big car experience(especially in the back seat). But I agree, it is quite practical.