[vishrutjai]

Is it worth spending on the Hyundai Elantra over the Honda City.
Some Background and Considerations:

1. Has to be a sedan as it will be used by my grandparents(in their 70s) so SUVs out of contention
2. It will mostly be driver driven
3. Very few highway runs(once in 3-4 months)
4. The new octavia is out of my budget

[hridaygandhi]

Honda City has one of the best back seats in the segment, and for day-to-day chauffeur-driver runabouts, there is no reason to stretch for an Elantra. Although a little pricey, the 5th-gen City is a well-packaged car. There is a reason a decent number of them get sold despite the trend moving onto 'SUVs'.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by vishrutjai

[*]Has to be a sedan as it will be used by my grandparents(in their 70s)

I wonder why?

If 70+ - All the more reason to get something they can just walk into! Low slung sedans are hard on the knees and not very senior citizen friendly.

Compact crossovers (Skoda Kushaq/Hyundai Creta), MPVs (XL6/MG Hector+ - ease of entry and nice captain seats for the middle row as well), tallboy hatchbacks (Honda Jazz) etc make a good case for themselves here.

[TrackDay]

The Elantra goes head to head with the Civic from the Honda stable and will definitely be a better car compared to the city. But since the car is for your grandparents who will be chauffeured around, the City will offer them adequate comfort and convenience. Do take them for a showroom visit to see if they will be comfortable with ingress and egress with the rear. In our neighborhood and families, senior citizens love the ertiga for it's rear seat. If sedans are not a must, do check out that option too.

[AYP]

It is from the D segment onwards that we in India, start to see truly global products with nil or minimal 'optimisation'.

The Elantra is a segment above the City and as long as you are fine with spending the extra money on maintenance/service and are fine with the low resale value of the Elantra, you should go for it.

The Elantra's strengths(better engines, better build quality, features, opulence etc.) more than make up for its cons vis-a-vis the City. And the cons of Elantra are not technically cons and have more to do with the low market acceptance of the D segment sedans.

Your grandparents deserve to be seated in a well made, truly global D segment sedan. Push them towards the better car. Do not allow them to settle for an inferior one.

[vishy76]

The Elantra is a great car no doubt, even though the facelift has assumed a rather controversial styling, and the fact that the 1.5 U2 CRDI is shared with lesser Hyundai's unlike a proper D-segment sedan, that should have a larger engine to set it apart. All said and done though, it is the only global D1 sedan within reach for most as listed by many here.

If you are open to pre-owned options (which I genuinely think you should be since it's D segment sedans we are talking about), I would strongly recommend the Toyota Corolla Altis. Bulletproof reliability, hassle free service and above all, an excellent rear seat. It is the quintessential chauffeur driven D1 segment choice for those who seek reliability and a hassle free ownership experience.

Lastly, you do mention your grandparents are 70+. I suggest you look at the Innova Crysta GX 2.4 manual and even the Maruti Suzuki XL6. Both are great cars in that regard. The latter especially should offer monocoque like ride quality with ease of ingress and egress along with a comfortable rear seat. You will also end up saving a good amount of money in the end. Of course, it does come with the trade-off of not being a proper global product nor as premium as the Elantra or even the Altis, but it's worth considering.

The City is a great car with a very good rear seat as well, but as I said before, if you have the moolah, spend it on an Elantra or even better an Altis. There's simply no comparison between a C segment and a D segment sedan in my opinion. Both are poles apart in terms of engineering prowess, build and safety, though feature lists are more or less the same.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by vishrutjai

Some Background and Considerations:
- Has to be a sedan as it will be used by my grandparents(in their 70s) so SUVs out of contention
- It will mostly be driver driven
- Very few highway runs(once in 3-4 months)
- The new octavia is out of my budget

Since the car is for use by septuagenarians, you'd be better off going with a vehicle in which getting in and out is easy. Two options:

1. Maruti XL6
2. Toyota Innova Crysta

Two more cars that you can examine are the S-Cross and the Seltos.

However, if you're fixed between the City and the Elantra, go with the City.

[GTO]

The Elantra is a full segment up in almost every way, but I don't think you need it for the intended purpose. The Honda City will do just fine as it has a lovely back seat and good space.

I would strongly recommend the MG Hector to your grandparents. Easier ingress & egress, lovely backseat, soft ride quality and very pleasant interiors.

Originally Posted by vigsom

1. Maruti XL6
2. Toyota Innova Crysta

Agreed with XL6, but not Innova, man. Ingress isn't easy for aged people in most body-on-frame UVs due to their high floor. Source = my 77-year old Mom.

[Shreyfiesta]

The City itself is enough to meet your purposes. City's cabin is extremely spacious and airy, but low seating position really makes ingress and egress difficult for senior citizens.

Elantra is good option for below ₹ 25lakhs without doubt. In your case, I see no reasons for stretching budget to buy an Elantra. Also, it belongs to the more premium D-Segment sedan category.

If you are interested in pre-owned cars, try to get a nice Octavia 1.8 TSI. Nowadays, even well-maintained examples are available in the second hand market for ₹ 17-18lakhs.

[anjan_c2007]

A fifth generation Honda City any day needs to be preferred over the Hyundai Elantra. The rear seats offer a good comfort level. It's easier on maintenance front and also sells many more units than the Elantra. The reported sales as in January 2021 (a better month pandemic wise) are Honda City 3667 units vis a vis Hyundai Elantra 32 units only. The latter is placed in the next higher Honda Civic segment as GTO has rightly pointed out.

With these sparsely selling models, there's always the problem of spares availability at the service centres. Especially with Hyundai, since the Santa Fe and Sonatas requiring some critical spares were grounded for a long time at the authorised service centres causing miseries to their owners. We have a few threads here on such issues.

The Maruti XL 6 could be an alternative for consideration too.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I wonder why?

If 70+ - All the more reason to get something they can just walk into! Low slung sedans are hard on the knees and not very senior citizen friendly.

Compact crossovers (Skoda Kushaq/Hyundai Creta), MPVs (XL6/MG Hector+ - ease of entry and nice captain seats for the middle row as well), tallboy hatchbacks (Honda Jazz) etc make a good case for themselves here.

There is a problem with crossovers due to the height of the cabin with respect to ground level.
Elderly people especially with knee problems have difficulties when 'climbing' into the SUV, and 'stepping' down from there.
As per my own experience with some elderly folks, they always prefer low slung sedans, just because it is easier for them for ingress/egress.

[RedTerrano]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

If 70+ - All the more reason to get something they can just walk into! Low slung sedans are hard on the knees and not very senior citizen friendly.

It works the other way as well. My parents (both ~80) find it easier to get into my WagonR than the Terrano which has a higher ground clearance.

I would suggest OP's mom and dad try out both vehicles to gauge their ingress/egress comfort levels. Much depends on their height, weight and joint conditions.

[AKSarkar1]

I would pick the City over the Elantra on any given day.

From what you have described, the city will definitely make the cut and there is no need to jump a segment for the same.

If you will occasionally drive the car and want the car to feel a little more special rather than just being a workhorse then you might consider getting the upper-variants of the City which have decent tech and features to play around with.

I feel the current generation of the City offers much more VFM over an Elantra. Hope this helps

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by vishrutjai

1. Has to be a sedan as it will be used by my grandparents(in their 70s) so SUVs out of contention

So-called SUVs (most of them sold in the market today) are hatchbacks or wagons that are raised and inflated. I'd suggest looking at the MG Hector, XL6, and Hyundai Alcazar. They should be easier to get into compared to sedans.

If you must choose between the City and Elantra, please go ahead with the City for the intended purpose. I'd chose the Elantra only if the novelty factor is important - although the H City is a darn good car commanding quite a premium.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Is it worth spending the extra money for the Elantra over City? Most definitely. Do note that the City’s rear suspension is particularly bouncy and its high speed behaviour is the worst in its class and price range. It’s a good car to be chauffeured around in town but you don’t want to be in that back seat on highways. Cars like Creta and Nexon have far better highway speed manners. Having adjustable rear headrests and pull up sun blinds will also matter.

Considering this is a vehicle for grandparents, I’ll strongly suggest that you go for crossovers. Ease of ingress and egress is much better, while highway speed stability and back seat ride comfort will also be as required. Think Creta or Kushaq or even Hector. If you are insisting on sedans, go for the Rapid instead of City. Elantra is an excellent car but it is pretty low and will be difficult for them to get in to and out of.