[Dippy]

Its a no brainer here . The Accord 2.4 AT fit your requirements to the T. Rear seat comfort is very good. Super reliable machine and fit your price bracket perfectly. The new CRV will overshoot your budget by a few lakhs.

@theMag: The Optra Magnum does not come in AT

[ravibhat]

Sonata comes with Diesel with At option now. you may look at it as well.

Hyundai Motor India

[entropy]

Wow .. so many responses in such a short time !! team-bhp rocks !!
So clearly the choice is between Embera/Accord and the consensus seems to be Accord.

I'm more inclined to Embera due to the following
- More VFM (for Petrol) after the price-cuts and dealer discounts
- No major difference feature-wise between these two cars
- Have personally found Hyundai A.S.S to be a lot better than Honda
(Owned a Santro Xing XO for few months and the service guys were simply great contrary to the poor service and attitude I have to face with
Fortune Honda here . The car itself though is absolutely great without any troubles)
- looks, somehow I like current Embera shape better than Accord.
- Read carmags reviews etc and seems Embera generally scores better in
rear-seat comfort (interiors are bit tacky though). Need a longer
test drive over rough patches to validate this.

Given above would it be a blunder to go for Embera. Budget is not a problem but I just want the best possible "overall" deal (not only price based). Are there any Embera owners on this forum that can share their ownership experience (Searched but got no hits in the longterm ownership forum). I hope that should help clear my mind and some FUD I have about this particular car.

Thanks again guys for all your suggestions.

[ravibhat]

I would like to tell you one more thing about these Embera or Accord, I used to see 3 years back Embara every day in front of my office, When it rains heavily water level will cross 2 feet that time this driver had parked Embera in the place where water entered into his car,

He went out to have tea and was careless or didn't knew about water logging. When he is back he realized car is about float and damage was done by that time bill came to around 5 lacs and it took 4 months to repair the car because dealer said few parts they need to order.

However this will be same case with Accord too I feel in this situation but I wrote this comment just to help you in future if something go wrong getting it back with on road will take sometime because dealers don't stock the spares. This was in 2005 now I don't know.

I suggest you buy the car which you like rather than giving importance to who gives better sales because at the end of the day every service centre sucks one or other way.

Regards,

Ravi.

[caliper]

Could somebody explain why it is that high center of gravity means tiredness? I don't follow.

Wouldn't it seem that you are more isolated from the road, and hence less tired?

Also, don't the lower cars feel the bumps in the road more?

Finally, in the higher cars, aren't the seats a little higher, so you can sit as you would normally sit in a chair, instead of with your knees in the air?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by caliper

Could somebody explain why it is that high center of gravity means tiredness? I don't follow.

Wouldn't it seem that you are more isolated from the road, and hence less tired?

Also, don't the lower cars feel the bumps in the road more?

Finally, in the higher cars, aren't the seats a little higher, so you can sit as you would normally sit in a chair, instead of with your knees in the air?

i think he means that due to higher cg the car would have more bodyroll. but that doesnt make you feel more tired.

i agree with your other 3 points.

[caliper]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

i think he means that due to higher cg the car would have more bodyroll. but that doesnt make you feel more tired.

i agree with your other 3 points.

OK, thanks. Granted you usually have bodyroll in taller vehicles, but that would perhaps make you feel naseous, not tired. But even that should be a function of driving style, right? I mean, know the limits of your car, don't drive like a Ferrari, don't take the corners so aggressively, and you and passengers should feel OK.

Doing that would probably be a lot cheaper than buying a new 10L car.

I've driven an Innova diesel, and it feels like a dream. Somebody else said it's like a plane ride. Better, in fact, since you probably get more legroom than on cut-rate Deccan Air.

[ravibhat]

Yes Caliper thats how I make my driver handle Innova, If we go full blast we get tired with SUV/MUV, we should be carefull in narrow roads or ghat sections. Innova has least body roll but again it has little bit compared with sedans.

I agree about legroom of Innova compared with about AirDeccan but now tied up with King which will make AirDeccan come close to Innova.

Regards,

Ravi.

[entropy]

Originally Posted by caliper

OK, thanks. Granted you usually have bodyroll in taller vehicles, but that would perhaps make you feel naseous, not tired. But even that should be a function of driving style, right? I mean, know the limits of your car, don't drive like a Ferrari, don't take the corners so aggressively, and you and passengers should feel OK.

Doing that would probably be a lot cheaper than buying a new 10L car.

I've driven an Innova diesel, and it feels like a dream. Somebody else said it's like a plane ride. Better, in fact, since you probably get more legroom than on cut-rate Deccan Air.

Thanks for the tip. Will instruct the driver accordingly. My initial comments were from my own experience of several trips made over the same route of about 400 kms several times on Innova and City ZX. At the end of the trip, everyone in general felt the ride in Innova as a bit more exhausting. Don't know the exact cause, could be more body roll, bad driving style whatever . The average speeds were more or less same for both the cars.

Coming back to the topic of this thread, can any Embera owner **please ** give their ownership experience. It would greatly help me to make an informed/educated purchase .. Else probably it is going to be Accord simply because no other choice exists in this range.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

I used to see 3 years back Embara every day in front of my office,

There was an Embera 3 years ago?

[iraghava]

Entropy - The problem with the Embera is basically two-fold. One the Image (read as lack of snob factor) & two, the resale value. Apart from that it's a good car. Thing is due to the low desirability factor (both of the car & the brand) the car has not sold well at all (this is why you get it cheap & get good discounts) and that affects the resale big time.

If these things are not a factor on your list then please do go for the car, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

[manson]

Only if Hyundai had launched the Embera with the CRDI heart at the time of its launch, it would have surely done a lot better.
Entropy, from what ravibhat has mentioned, you might want to confirm that the next door hyundai dealer stocks most consumables for the embera, this should mostly not be a problem with the accord though.
Given a choice, i'd simply pick the embera due to that sheer advantage in terms of running costs.

manson.

[dockap]

Hey man i would say since u are not bothered about image and resale value its the sonata embera diesel/petrol u should go for ,we have a older sonata gold and except for the FE and resale value the car rocks absolutely no repair or maintainence except for routine serviceing and since u are looking for rear seat comfort no car can beat the sonata(i know of a rich man who switched over from his merc to a sonata after sitting in one and he must be owning a 100 cars)
we have had the car for 5 1/2 years and no problems so far

[dockap]

also if u are looking for a second hand sonata ours is for sale u can check the section of the forums under indian car market

If comfort is so important, you might want to change the tires of your vehicle, whichever vehicle you decide to get. Makes a big difference.