Thanks for the overwhelming response overnight for my first post/query on the forum
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Originally Posted by androdev You sure seem to know the pros and cons really well. Here is when you can afford to "stretch" to buy a next segment car:
1. You are an experienced and safe driver so that your chances of fender/bender accidents are low. Accidents are a very costly affair and you better be a good driver not to face it. Zero depreciation etc will cover you for a very short duration (if at all) in the case of a used car.
2. Your usage is not in congested places so that you get to enjoy a bigger and more mature car. |
The car would be primarily for my father who is retiring soon. He gets mostly chauffeured to the office but drives around for short weekend trips (very rarely) and market roundabouts at times. His age along with facing long-covid means he struggles with manual drives and finds it "Hectic". Hence going for an AT and the apprehension around a discontinued D-Segment vehicle. For solely my personal use, I would have taken the plunge.
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Originally Posted by narayans80 If your usage is low and intend to keep her around, I would suggest the Corolla over the City. Here's my reasoning, based on my ownership of the 10th gen VL-AT: - The comfort is definitely a huge step up.
- The additional size hardly matters with an AT. I drove from day 1 after a 5 year hiatus from daily driving. I've taken the Corolla AT on gullies, that I wouldn't dare take the MT S-Cross I currently drive, which is a good 300 mm shorter.
- Yes the spare prices are tear jerkers, and this is why I wouldn't suggest if you are a high miler.
- The boot is small? This was the only car, my wife had full freedom to pack the way she wanted for a 10 day trip, and we didn't need to keep any stuff in the cabin. So much so, she had her eyes set on Ciaz over the S-Cross at the time of replacement.
- Both are low GC vehicles. So both are fit to be tarmac terrorists.
- That gen of City isn't synonymous with QC Honda was famous for. There was a dedicated thread for it.
- Petrol Corollas are resale disasters. You might get it at a low price now. At the time of resale it'll fall steeply again. The person who will buy from you would be the 4th owner.
- The history is very important. You might have to have a close eye before sealing the deal.
- FE will be acceptable with CVT. If you've set the expectation as petrol and CVT.
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Thanks for sharing your experience - this heps a lot. Yes, the usage would be fairly low - around 200-300kms per month regular (more if any trips planned). For some of your points:
1) I found the comfort to be similar to City - in my mind I couldn't find a clear winner in this regard. However, that's some achievement to match City's famous rear-seat comfort which a couple of segment-above cars struggle.
2) This is encouraging if it drives like a C-segment.
3) So far the biggest concern
4) It is small (470L) compared to City's massive 510L. You can accommodate an entire village in it!
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Originally Posted by subbarp My inputs:
2014 is just an year. I drive a 2006 Corolla. Have had long periods of no use during the pandemic and have had no issues.
Depends on what you prefer, the features and the price point at which you are getting the cars (and of course their relative condition and service history).
The newer vehicle would have more gadgets and would be more contemporary. The older one less so. But if you go by sheer size, comfort, power and ability the go to most places without a worry I would pick the Corolla. Drives as good as new.
However keep in mind that Corolla is a discontinued model and while I have had no issues thus far on spares, this could be a challenge in future. I am also not familiar with the mileage differences between the 2 cars, so cannot comment on that aspect.
Thanks. |
Thanks a lot for the inputs. I'm too aware that these machines are built to outlast (even its human, haha!) and need very minimum upkeep. I have heard the only thing that needs frequent replacing are the break-pads especially for the AT - and they do cost a bomb! I have also heard that the aftermarket spares are quite effective for a fraction of the original price. Any particular experience with these?
Larger GC over the City can be a huge bonus - however, the City's 165mm is quite adequate and doesn't scrap the bottom easily.
Toyota said spares availability is not an issue for this version of Altis as it was a fairly successful product. Prices are also in-line with other D-segment cars. He mentioned the
Toyota Protect - a 10 year warranty + Zero Dep program by Toyota: do you have any idea about such a program?
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Originally Posted by landcruiser123 Corolla, eyes closed. And install an Andoird Auto/Apple CarPlay enabled HU.
I'd prefer a higher segment car with lesser features 9 times out of 10 (The one time I wouldn't is probably when you suggest a relatively older Elantra or discontinued models like the Fluence.) Besides the numbers related to the engine, space, etc, the intangibles like better NVH, ride & build quality matter a lot to me. I'd pick the Corolla in your case unless you have another "badi gaadi" (higher segment vehicle) at home. Imagine turning up at a wedding or a 5-star hotel in a Corolla (vs a City.) |
Wow, when you put it that way I almost feel like closing the deal RIGHT NOW! My heart keeps screaming what you said, but my head seems to be pulling right in the opposite direction
I did consider the
2016-17 Elantra, however, got such bad vibes from even the Hyundai reps that I completely dropped the idea. One of them suggested to strictly stay away from that generation due to it being an extremely low-selling product > parts are very difficult to source > ridiculously expensive spares and waiting time if anything goes wrong.
@Mods: Can you please help me out by putting up a Poll to the thread. Thanks.