I am planning to sell off my trusty 3.5 year old Corsa to a friend..I wouldn't have even considered selling it but he is the one who has talked me into it :P
I have had a brilliantly good time with the car from the day I picked it up from the showroom and headed out to Chail (Shimla) the next day till this date when I clipped it across the Bangalore- Chennai highway this Sunday under heavy torrential rains when pretty much half the cars had stoppped by the side
But perhaps it is time to move on to something new, as he put it which brings me to the next qstn.what next?
Here is my take on some of the cars I test drove Y'day and today
A) Honda City ZX (Non VTEC):
Pros: Good resale, trustworthy brand, decent ride, very low NVH (Noise & vehicle harshness)
Cons: 77bhp only :( doesn't feel too responsive, more expensive than the other choices (at approx 8L on road ) in Chennai
B) Ford Fiesta 1.6 Zxi (Petrol)
Pros: Looks good, decently powerful, nice handling, Has sold a lot (given the large number of Fiesta seen on the road) which (possibly) means it should be a good car....Reasonably priced
Cons: Not sure of the Ford service quality + Don't find the car too exciting also. slightly high NVH levels
C) Hyundai Verna Xi
Pros: Looks (to me) the best of the lot, Nice drivetrain, responsive engine, somewhat exciting to drive
Cons: Slightly overpriced for the car it is (7.1 on road), sloppy steering, sloppy interiors, Also, why isn't it selling?, there are hardly any Vernas seen on the roads!
D) Chevy Aveo
Haven't test driven it as yet so can't really comment, planning to take a TD tomorrow, but any comments appreciated
E) Now if that wasn't confusing enough, I made an interesting discovery today that the
lancer (Not the cedia) 1.8
(122bhp) petrol automatic is priced at 6.97L ex-showroom in Chennai (Which is the same as 1.5 Petrol Manual...funny...isnt' it?)
Unfortunately, the sole Mitsubishi dealer in Chennai has no test cars for that currently and doesn't know when (if ever) hewill have one...
In terms of sheer VFM, the lancer looks quite droolworthy, but then the Lancers' sale stats aren't exactly confidence inspiring, and I have exactly no clue what the FE figure , amintenance costs and the over all trustworthiness of the vehicle would be like
Just for the record, I am looking for a vehicle thats fun to drive, has a nice responsive engine, has a great suspension and low NVH (Coming from a Corsa) and handles well..Fuel efficiency is a consideration but not a very big one as long as the FE isn't too bad (say ~10 with AC in the city)
Size, interior space etc. is not a consideration at all...As the vehicle normally will have no more than 2 people in it
Also, i did search around on the forum before posting this as I could not find any other post that sounds as confused as mine :ashamed:
Oh and BTW I had posted a similar thread before in March when most of the recommnedations were in favor of the Aveo..However, certain I couldn't make a final purchase back then due to some other personal commitments ....ANd since a lot has changed on the automotive scene in the last 8-9 months, I though creating a new thread may be better than bumping up the old one