[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Did you not consider the cedia ? The Lancer had a good back seat, i guess the cedia should be good too.

Cedia backseat isn't that great... thats the reason I didn't recommend it. Not sure why folks are recommending SX4. The SX4 backseat is as bad as the Cedia if not worse. The Magnum backseat by comparison is in a class of its own.

[HKP]

If you can afford a Honda CRV, then it will suit your requirements very well.

Else

go for SX4. Maruti-Suzuki gives less headache when it comes to servicing.

For the same reason you can ignore Ford and Lancer right away.

//hkp

[shuvc]

Let me try to look at it with cold hard logic

Your primary needs are: resale value, rear seat comfort, powerful engine, good a.s.s within 15L OTR. No Tata, No Hyundai, No HM,No Ford.

Rear seat comfort & powerful engine are characteristics of the car itself. With these parameters, your choice narrows down to
a. Magnum
b. Corolla
c. SX4
d. Civic

Comfort - IMO, Magnum is the best
Engine - Your dad will probably love the 30+ torque of the magnum against the corolla civic petrols. After all if he needs some petrol adrenaline rush, the 1.8TPi option is always there. Plus I don't think the SX4 will thrill him. The only problem with the Magnum seems to be turbo lag during city driving. But most of the rush hour driving will be taken care of by the driver.


Now lets come to A.S.S
GM has two dealerships
Toyota has one
Honda now has two
SX4 has five + MASS's.

Haven't heard of major horror stories (a.k.a Ford) for any of them. For GM, a colleague of mine who drives a Corsa, is pretty impressed with their responsiveness. You could also check with @Hells Bells (Aveo). Convenience wise Toyota is pretty far from your home, right ? GM, MUL are nearby. Windor Honda is faar away. Imperial should be nearby.


Finally lets do some mooolah calculation.
Mileage covered in 3yrs - 1000*12*3 + 2000*6 = 48000kms
(1000 every month for 3yrs + 6 trips of 2000kms each)
Assume avg petrol car mileage of 10kmpl
Assume avg diesel car mileage of 13kmpl

Cost of premium petrol for 3 yrs - (48000/10)*48.5 = 2,32,800
Cost of premium diesel for 3 yrs - (48000/13)*33.5 = 1,23,692
Fuel savings - 1,09,107

SX4 ZXi
OTR - 7,60,000
Resale loss - 3,04,000 (Assumed depreciation of 40%)
Petrol + Loss = 5,36,800

Corolla
OTR - 11,00,000 (approx, not top end)
Resale loss - 3,85,000 (Assumed depreciation of 35%)
Petrol + Loss = 6,17,800

Civic S Manual
OTR - 12,00,000
Resale loss - 4,20,000 (Assumed depreciation of 35%)
Petrol + Loss = 6,52,800

Magnum (top end with ABS Airbags)
OTR - 10,80,000
Resale loss - 4,86,000 (Assumed depreciation of 45%)
Diesel + Loss = 6,09,692

GM has free maintenance for 3yrs. Toyota also has this ? Not sure. MUL & Honda don't.


IMO, it boils down to the SX4, if petrol else the Magnum. If you let the head rule over the heart it makes sense to have an oil burner offset the expenditure of ripping the TPi.

Chalo lets go take a TD of both

[tsk1979]

Toyota has free maintenance + 6.02% interest. OTR works out to pretty low after all these discounts.

[Ricky_63]

IMHO Take a look at the Octavia Rider. There is an advt today in Delhi HT wherein they are giving 3 years or 60k kms free maintainance. So that takes care of the major issue of the Octavia - high maintainence. Back seat comfort not superb (depending on how tall the users are)

All other parameters are conducive to your requirement.

Cheers

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

IMHO Take a look at the Octavia Rider.

He's been there. Octy TDi sold a few years ago. Plus currently has a Rider TPi.

[animdas]

Do not forget the build quality, in which Optra drives home a, if not many, point vis-a-vis the Maruti's, Honda's & the Ford's.

Back-seat comfort is another aspect where Optra scores highly.

I have not driven the new Optra, however a thread in this forum suggests +ve. My experience with the old Optra is very very impressive.

In gist, Optra scores are:
Driveability: +ve
Back-seat comfort: +ve
Build quality: +ve
A.S.S: +ve @ B'lore, not sure about Cal
Mileage: 10 in my 1.6 Royale, not sure for Magnum

The old optra lacks in:
Gear shifts
Pick-up
GC

All the best!

[rahukulk]

Originally Posted by animdas

Do not forget the build quality, in which Optra drives home a, if not many, point vis-a-vis the Maruti's, Honda's & the Ford's.

Back-seat comfort is another aspect where Optra scores highly.

I have not driven the new Optra, however a thread in this forum suggests +ve. My experience with the old Optra is very very impressive.

In gist, Optra scores are:
Driveability: +ve
Back-seat comfort: +ve
Build quality: +ve
A.S.S: +ve @ B'lore, not sure about Cal
Mileage: 10 in my 1.6 Royale, not sure for Magnum

The old optra lacks in:
Gear shifts
Pick-up
GC

All the best!

The 2.0 ltr Magnum diesel is great on pick up , drive and gear shift for sure, dealers claim a mileage of 14-15 KMPL.

But the diesel does not come with free maintenance and warranty is 2 years on the diesel magnum.

Its great driver's car though and does make sense buying.

A.S.S is good and atleast you have option since there are two dealers in kolkata

[shuvd]

Thank you guys for the feedback. Had really bad net connection yesterday and hence replying so late. Sorry.

@ iraghava & HKP - Sirs, Accord and CRV are way over the budget. And new Accord is coming soon na?

@ mclaren1885, tsk1979, suman, reignofchaos, animdas, rahukulk - Sirs, Magnum ticks the most required boxes. But, GM service in Calcutta is iffy at best from what I've heard. That scares me a quite a bit as I regularly have to keep my fingers crossed when I service my Octy.

@ theMAG, vid6639, barry, akroy, planet - Sirs, MUL A.S.S. rocks! That again tilts the scale towards the SX4. Could you point me towards a long term report of the SX4? Can't seem to locate one on the forum.

@ samirsarkar, tsk1979 - Sirs, Toyota has only one dealer here and I'll be completely at their mercy. And my dad won't take it too kindly when the new Corolla is launched and he is stuck with an "old" model.

@ esteem_lover - Cedia is a favorite but dismal HM service keeps me away. Had a Lancer way back in 2001 and have suffered a lot. Plus razor4077 is suffering with HM service with his Project Phoenix.

[huntrz]

budget of 15L - for highway driving-comfortable rear seats- driving pleasure for your dad at times- good resale

man that has to be Octavia RS 1.8(TPi)

Though Magnum Optra also fits the requirements, though GM cars are not known for a great resale value..

[shuvd]

@ suman - Sir, I'm worried about resale value as I had a real tough time in selling our Elantra CRDi.

@ tsk1979, barry - The Civic has my parents floored. But, IMHO its overpriced for what you get. But, Hondas do hold their value well in the used car market.

@ TRANSAM - Diesel engine is not a must.

@ Ricky_63 - I still curse the day I sold the 1.9 TDi. Simply awesome car.

@ shuvc - Dada, are we going for the SX4 and Magnum TD today?

Will take TDs of both the SX4 and the Magnum either today or tomorrow. Also trying to find out about GM A.S.S. from Opel/Chevy owning friends(very hard to find). Guess I'll also call up the Toyota guys for a Corolla TD.

[tsk1979]

shuvd, GM has recently launched a 3 year maintenance package. Do check that you. Since thats the time you plan to keep the car, this 3 year free maintenance package suits you very well.
With your running you can go for Optra Petrol too, and not just diesel.

[shuvd]

Originally Posted by huntrz

budget of 15L - for highway driving-comfortable rear seats- driving pleasure for your dad at times- good resale

man that has to be Octavia RS 1.8(TPi)

Though Magnum Optra also fits the requirements, though GM cars are not known for a great resale value..

I already have the 1.8TPi in Rider trim. But, I use that car 99% of the times


@ tsk1979 - Will ask about the package today. Petrol Optra? Nah! Not fun to drive is she?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by shuvd

I already have the 1.8TPi in Rider trim. But, I use that car 99% of the times


@ tsk1979 - Will ask about the package today. Petrol Optra? Nah! Not fun to drive is she?

Octavia for a back seat passenger. I suggest stay away if your parents are more than 5"8/5"9 etc.,
As for optra, yes not fun, but VFM.
Verna is also fun(crdi) but I guess not to your taste. But she's got a great comfortable back seat.

[shuvd]

@ tsk1970 - Sir, the Verna Crdi is around 8.70 OTR (not sure about the variant though). Plus, 22k extra for the safety package. That puts her into the base Magnum territory. Hyundai service is good though.