[ani_meher]

Yaris doesn't have 'plenty of room'. Infact people here have been comparing it with Ecosport and Verna, which have 2 person room at rear. I too didn't find Yaris good for space.

[Who_are_you]

Verna petrol don't make much sense, when you already own a Honda city.

I would suggest to wait for new Honda Civic (Planned launch in FY18-19).

[GranvilleDsouza]

If you are considering a cheaper car with everything that is value for money, why not the Ciaz?
Or, go for a used Jetta? You would easily get a petrol one for half the budget. Give the lateral upgrade thread a read

[Palaver]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Why not a Toyota Corolla Altis? I can't think of anything else had I been at your place.

Originally Posted by oil_burner

Why are you not considering the Toyota Yaris? It is a feature rich car and offers plenty of room inside the car. I hope this car will fulfill your checklist.

The Hyundai Elantra can also be considered and fits in your budget. The car is feature rich. The only downside of it being not too involving to drive. It surely is not a car for an enthusiast but is practical and offers plenty things.

As for Toyota's - I did go and have a look at the Yaris a few days back. It just feels very dated which is a very rare feat to accomplish. A car that was just launched feeling that way. The whole entertainment display/ system seems like a tablet that they procured and just stuck on. It doesn't look like it was made for that car. And if I remember correctly it didn't offer Android Auto or Apple Carplay. So, that was the end of that.
Even with Corolla, that car just seems so dated. I think that is the problem with Toyota, they are not with the times and seem to be lagging behind. Although, Camry hybrid seems like a good one (but thats going off topic )..
I guess looks and general feel of a car are very subjective, so maybe not everyone would feel that way but that's how I perceive it. And yes I am aware that Corolla is one of the highest selling cars in the world.

Originally Posted by GranvilleDsouza

If you are considering a cheaper car with everything that is value for money, why not the Ciaz?
Or, go for a used Jetta? You would easily get a petrol one for half the budget. Give the lateral upgrade thread a read

As for Ciaz - Isn't that due for an upgrade.. so can't really take a call on that as of now.
Jetta - They have already discontinued that in India.

Thanks for all the comments guys. Its nice to take in all these different perspectives.

[oil_burner]

I know I will be talking about a completely different segment in this post but why are you not considering cars such as the Jeep Compass, XUV 500, Hexa or Creta? Some of these cars are comfortable and provide decent space. Since you already own a City, a car from a different body type can also be considered. The Indian roads can be unpredictable and when going on long trips via new routes, you will have some confidence if you are driving a car with high GC.
I just felt like sharing my opinion. I know these are tall cars and are not so great to drive, but these cars can be considered.

[Palaver]

@oil_burner
There are a couple of reasons for not considering SUV's/compact SUV's-
1. I am basically a car fanatic.. and I believe that a sedan gives a more truer experience than a SUV. Love to drive, although the road conditions don't really allow us to truly enjoy a smooth ride (way too many potholes etc.) . In the past I have owned a few of these luxury cars but somehow I find them lacking when it comes to the luxury part of the equation. Import duties on these CKD units make them so expensive, forcing us to pay twice as much for half as many features as they would offer on the same models in other parts of the world. So, basically I have learnt to stay away from the luxury trinity (Audi, BMW, Merc) from bitter experience. (maybe I should write another post on the cons of owning one of these)
2. Due to their high ground clearance it is a chore to get in and out of the vehicle. This is especially true for seniors who find it excruciatingly difficult. Hence it's not really an option.

By the way, I wonder why is it that no one seems to recommend Octavia? Is it really not worth it..??

[Montee35]

I had been through a similar dilemma about an year n half ago. Did extensive test driving of various cars and a lot of reading on the subject and finally opted for Elantra, top end petrol automatic variant.

After owning it for over 17 months, let me put down my experience. As has been mentioned everywhere, it is indeed a feature loaded car, and I find all the features useful.

Apple car-play works very efficiently, but the only issue with apple is that there are no maps for India. So you cannot instruct Siri to navigate you to a place. This job is done well by android auto.

Elantra's intrinsic navigation system is very accurate as well. In fact, it often does a better job than even google maps.

Reverse parking camera is very useful. Especially the adaptive guidelines make parking the car a breeze even at tight junctures. There is crisp image quality even at night time.

Ventilated seats, although not a must have feature, are a real add on. It is very soothing to have your back and rear cooled off in scorching heat.

Other added features like smart boot lid, cooling glove box, shades holder, hill assist, 6 airbags, etc add to overall comfort and peace of mind.

Ride quality and suspensions are very good too. Nothing really to complain. Bumps and potholes are handled well. I mostly drive myself in the city, and am chauffer-driven on long drives. Driving in city is a breeze. Comfortable and enjoyable. The steering is light and responsive. Gearbox is well-tuned for driving in traffic.

On highways though, driving is not all that fun. You accelerate steadily and the car does good. Even at speeds exceeding 130 kmph the car is stable. (I seldom drive above 140 kmph). But if you want to suddenly accelerate, the car simply gets out of steam, even with sport mode. This is my biggest grudge against this car. Octavia is miles ahead in terms of sheer driving pleasure on long drives. For me, though, it is not a deal-breaker, 'coz most of my driving is in the city and on highways I'm mostly chauffeur-driven. The space and comfort on rear seats is good.

As for mileage, in city I get about 8.5 to 9 kmpl and on highways, I get about 13 kmpl. Not great, but acceptable.

I was always skeptical about build quality of Hyundai cars, based on my previous experience. But with Elantra, Hyundai has significantly upped the quality several notches. I realized this when once front bumper of my car was hit by another car and at a considerable speed. Had it been say, i10 or Xcent or Verna, the impact could have easily left a dent in the car. (My Xcent once had a prominent dent after being hit by a tennis ball by a school going kid playing cricket!) But despite the impact in this instance being significantly higher, there was only peeling off of the paint, and no dent at all!

So, all in all, I'm quite satisfied with my overall Elantra experience.

So today if I were given an option, would I reconsider my decision and choose an alternative? Well, not really. The choice in this segment is limited. With Jetta discontinued, the choice is between Altis, Elantra and Octavia. Even to me, like some other people in this thread, Corolla Altis seems dated, and never really clicked to my mind. Octavia has been my first love, and my heart would still go on to Octavia. German engineering, added features such as front sensors, memory seat position, bigger sunroof, paddle shifters etc and most importantly, sheer driving pleasure would tempt me to tilt towards Octavia. But the infamous DSG gear box, poor after-sales service (and I personally experienced very poor pre-sales service too), and added cost of a couple of lakhs would make me listen to my brain and opt for Elantra again over Octavia.

(Go for it buddy! Trust me, you wont regret.)

[Palaver]

Originally Posted by Montee35

(Go for it buddy! Trust me, you would repent.)

People only repent when they fail to do their homework. Regret is usually caused on account of a mismatch of expectations. When you know the extent and limitations of your purchase (car) then there is no cause for concern.

[Who_are_you]

Originally Posted by Palaver

People only repent when they fail to do their homework. Regret is usually caused on account of a mismatch of expectations. When you know the extent and limitations of your purchase (car) then there is no cause for concern.

Totally agree with you. When I bought my TB 500, everyone warned me about reliability and QC issues. I have faced many issues with the bike, but I still love it with all its short comings.

[xtremeshock]

Originally Posted by Palaver

@oil_burner

By the way, I wonder why is it that no one seems to recommend Octavia? Is it really not worth it..??

From the options I would highly recommend the Octavia especially the L&K with the Canton music system. I am advising you out of experience since I have owned 5 skodas, just booked by VRS.

Reasons for the suggestion:

• The diesel gearbox is more reliable than the petrol version
• Skoda's now come with a 4 year Warranty along with a maintenance package giving you that added piece of mind.
• Its a perfect highway cruiser, with the DSG, its just a gem just reads your throttle inputs perfectly. Cruising at 120kmph will feel like you are doing 80kmph
• One of the selling points being the massive boot space, trust me on this once you get used to this, the only likely option you will consider after this will be either the Innova or the Superb. Perfect for family weekend getaways.
• The rear seat though lacks under-thigh support, the Altis has a better back-seat than the Octavia, though the rear space is adequate.
• The driving position is just spot on, with numerous options, you will definitely have the perfect position.

I had owned a LAURA L&K M/T for more than 9 years, here is the list of parts I changed, which should give you an indication the down-side and up-side of owning this car

• I have changed the Battery within 2 years of ownership
• Had to change the A/C compressor after 7 years of ownership, apparently my batch of cars had an compressor issue as they were not adapted to Indian conditions, I have heard that the new batch of cars have this issue sorted, other Octavia owners can comment, my friends Laura is now 7 years old which never faced this issue
• The cloth on the inside roof one day just fell down, cost me 10k to get a new one
• Regular stuff like timing belt, clutch + assembly, brake pads + discs, etc were all changed as per the instructions of the advisor
• Even-though the A/C went kaput, not once did it fail to start and gave me any issues on the high-way, overall felt it was a reliable car in that asp
• ect, maybe because I owned a M/T
• The Music system Amp failed me just outside the warranty period, however the service advisor changed it free of cost.
• The sunroof lining one day came-off during the rainy season left me with water filtering in without me realizing, needless to say it became a messy afair, cost me 4k to replace it
• The paint quality is top-notch, I never really took her for many Car Care products like 3M, just once or twice in the entire life, just after a regular wash still had a brilliant shine to it, not faded at all.
• The brakes always inspire confidence, this is really useful for those highway encounters. The L^K comes with enough airbags to keep you and the family safe.

I'm sure with a little bit more care from your side i.e. following the manual for parts that need replacements during the said interval and sometimes not listening to the sales advisor comes a long way to make your ride as reliable as any Hyundai or Toyota.

Overall I feel if you don't keep this car more than 6 years, you should be fine and you won't need to worry about most of the problems faced by me as most of them came after 7 years of ownership.

Best of luck

[Palaver]

Originally Posted by xtremeshock

From the options I would highly recommend the Octavia especially the L&K with the Canton music system. I am advising you out of experience since I have owned 5 skodas, just booked by VRS.

Best of luck

Congratulations on your booking the VRS. It's a great choice and maybe when you get it, you can share your ownership review as well. Will be looking forward to that.

As for my own experience with Skoda, it's not been that great. Had quite a horrid time with all the problems that bugged us from time to time. That is one of the biggest reasons that kept me from opting for it besides the infamous gearbox issues. Would have loved to get the manual to bypass the gearbox issues I suppose, but if memory serves they only offer the 1.4 in the manual trim. Rest is all auto. And with the style trim priced above 20L OTR is hard to justify buying it. I mean it's truly a choice of someone who simply loves to drive and have fun with his or her car. Now, although I like to think of myself as someone who fits that profile, I still was having a hard time opting for it over some of the other more practical choices available.

As for driving pleasure, I have had some nice experiences with my previous cars so I guess that was not the biggest priority on the list. Maybe next time around I might reconsider Skoda, by then they probably would have received another facelift/ or maybe hopefully a new upgrade. So till then I guess I would have to hold off on getting a Skoda.

Despite really wanting to buy it, I still opted not to. Oh well, until next time... Who knows maybe then I would be considering getting a vRS. One can hope

[Accent Martin]

I own an Octavia 1.8 TSI since jan 2016. It's an amazing car to drive ; no doubt .
One fine day in July 2016 the car didn't start and the reason being battery failure . Sent the car to service centre to get the battery replaced under warranty. Sometime in early 2017 the second battery too went . This time I didn't go to service centre and instead got a new Exide battery with DIN 64 (I think). Car drove beautifully well but at times the sunroof used to rattle which I didn't bother much . Car continued to drive beautifully.
One fine day in August 2017, the most feared message popped up - 'Gearbox error' . I was able to start the car but only the odd gears would engage (1-3-5). Drove to service centre , and after diagnosis it appeared it was the mechatronics failure and they got that replaced under warranty. Had dropped my car there for a week. During this time I was given another Octavia as a loaner car. Once I got my car back, It again continued to drive beautifully.
Yet another one fine day I noticed colour change in the left DRL which had become pale and I ignored as that's not any showstopper. Later gradually the colour became orange and so did the right side DRL. It's then I decided to get that also replaced under warranty.
I have enjoyed driving Octavia till date, love the space, the engine note, the pull, quick gear shifts, handling on corners. For the price that one pays, Octavia is an excellent car to drive but this comes at cost . Cost being you live in fear of whether the car will break down again! Not sure if this is true for all German cars.

Other cars in this segment lack the soul. Overall I feel Octavia is the best in the segment if you are an enthusiast. If not, then any other car will do and you will have peace of mind.

[Palaver]

Originally Posted by Accent Martin

I own an Octavia 1.8 TSI since jan 2016. It's an amazing car to drive ; no doubt .

Other cars in this segment lack the soul. Overall I feel Octavia is the best in the segment if you are an enthusiast. If not, then any other car will do and you will have peace of mind.

Thanks for such a detailed ownership experience. No doubt, the Octavia is definitely an enthusiasts car. If you love to drive or rather live to drive then that's the car to get. And it's very refreshing to know, that even after all the trouble that it has caused you over the years, you still speak of it very highly (I guess that's how we guys are, pretty much everyone in this forum is probably like that).

But unfortunately, last couple of cars that I have owned have given me a lot of trouble over the years and this time around I guess I realised I had reached my limit. Just needed a worry free experience from owning a car this time.

But having said that, I reiterate - I just love the way you speak of your Octavia. Seems like you truly lo e that car and I wish you all the best with it. Happy travels!!

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Palaver

And it's very refreshing to know, that even after all the trouble that it has caused you over the years, you still speak of it very highly (I guess that's how we guys are, pretty much everyone in this forum is probably like that).
Just needed a worry free experience from owning a car this time.

I was in a very similar dilemma. Was looking for a new D-Segment purchase, except it was to be 95% chauffeur driven so back seat, good AC, peace of mind were vital.
With this in mind, ended up with the Corolla Altis.

Interestingly, we also had the Laura L&K with us at this time - but as rightly said, I felt it was a car better enjoyed by an enthusiast than for the back seat passenger, hence we got the Corolla instead of an Octavia.
However, the Laura when time for replacement - as a driver's car, I couldn't find anything better than the Octavia vRS which we booked (and cancelled when I found a pre-owned 328i).

The Elantra was kind of an in-between. It had the premium-ness & features lacking on the corolla; but also had the reliability and peace of mind missing with Skoda. It would have been a win-win were it not for the rear seat experience in which the Corolla excels.

Other options I would urge you to have a look at are the Creta & S-Cross. Yes, they're cross overs which you aren't fond off, but they're surprisingly easy and good to drive in our road conditions, have all the features, have excellent ground clearance and ride quality, and the ingress/egress isn't all that bad because well - they aren't proper SUVs.
In fact, the S-Cross in particular is so easy for elders & tall people to get in and out of, I wonder why we hadn't bought one earlier!

BTW, we have an S-Cross in our garage, and before buying one we were only looking at sedans primarily (with the exception of the Creta as Plan B). The S-Cross managed to impress more than the City, Ciaz, etc.
It's not as spacious as the Corolla nor does it have that executive feeling - but it presents a strong case for itself as an all rounder. Only issue is that there is no petrol, which is why I am also throwing the Creta into the list.
If not for TBHP I wouldn't have even thought of the car.

[Palaver]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

I was in a very similar dilemma. Was looking for a new D-Segment purchase, except it was to be 95% chauffeur driven so back seat, good AC, peace of mind were vital.
With this in mind, ended up with the Corolla Altis.

However, the Laura when time for replacement - as a driver's car, I couldn't find anything better than the Octavia vRS which we booked (and cancelled when I found a pre-owned 328i).

BTW, we have an S-Cross in our garage, and before buying one we were only looking at sedans primarily (with the exception of the Creta as Plan B). The S-Cross managed to impress more than the City, Ciaz, etc.
It's not as spacious as the Corolla nor does it have that executive feeling - but it presents a strong case for itself as an all rounder. Only issue is that there is no petrol, which is why I am also throwing the Creta into the list.
If not for TBHP I wouldn't have even thought of the car.

Those are interesting ideas. I already tried the Creta, and it proved really difficult to get in. As, for S-Cross to be honest it didn't occur to me, but now that you seem to put forth such a strong case for it, I would probably go and take a look as it has piqued my curiosity.

As for your choice of picking up a pretty owned BMW 328i over the vRS - if you don't mind my asking , how much did the BMW cost? The reason I ask is because I have already made a similar choice in the past but kinda regretted it later. Mostly because the resale value of the BMW just plummets considering that it now has 2 registered owners. Although, at the time I was just obsessed with the BMW and nothing else made any sense to me. Now that's what's called being blind in love