[funkydevil]

hey guys,

Im writing this thread on behalf of my friend, who is looking out to buy a car. He has a budget of around 19L . His priority is FE, ride comfort and good handling. The car will be driven by my friend and will be used within city limits most of the time with the occational out of town trips. And yes the car should be AUTOMATIC. His choice was deisel at first, but now he wouldnt mind a petrol either due to limited choice.

Now he has until july to purchase a car.

Choice no. 1 - Firstly, he mentioned the laura, but the aftersales service issue of skoda mentioned by tbhp members was running in my mind and hence it made me warn him about skoda. Plus i dont think it will come in the budget, correct me if im wrong.

Choice no. 2 - Seconly, He was wanting to take a look at the accord but i told him to wait as it will be getting replaced by the new accord soon. So any idea if it will launch anytime soon, and if so what would be the approx price. Im pretty sure tough it wouldnt be at what the current accord is running at.

Choice no. 3 - After all that he is now looking at the civic. It is a good car as stated on tbhp before and plus it costs much less. The car will be used by no more than 3 people. (So no worries about suspension problems)

So now, which other cars would you guys recommend other then the above mentioned ones within the specified budget. Im seriosly suggesting him looking at the civic since i dont think the accord will fit the budget. Again, the car must be an automatic.

Thanks all

[ramie2400]

I would reccomend the choice no.3 as ive test driven a civic automatic and its a superb car to own,but afaik the average of the car wont be above 7-9kmpl

[Akshay1234]

the accord will be launched by june. tell him to also look at the crv. i think it would fall in his range. he could also look at the grand vitara or the sonata auto.

[wilful]

The Hyndai Sonata Embera will fall within his budget and the car has an automatic option as well. The dealer network and after sales service should certainly not be an issue. The car is reputed to be comfortable and reliable also is a good looker - there is an issue with resale though.

[normally_crazy]

Funky, I think the Laura will surely be within the budget. As for the A.S.S , there are bad and there are good dealers.

[abhinav.gupta88]

Accord coming max by june mid
wait for it
will be a classic

[funkydevil]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

the accord will be launched by june. tell him to also look at the crv. i think it would fall in his range. he could also look at the grand vitara or the sonata auto.

Thanks for the advice guys. But CRV under 19L??? I doubt it, but he will surely go for it if available. Btw what is the price of the new CRV 2.0L. It is supposed to be cheaper right?? And yes he would use the car for at least 5 years, so resale too is another thing to be taken into consideration.

Any suv that would fit within this price bracket?? Other than the vitara.

[shuvd]

The new 2.0 CRV is not available with a slush box. But, it should be within 19.
Captiva and Endy are the only other SUVs within 19. The Tuc has been discontinued AFIK.
Laura DSG is amazing. Rear space is tight though.
Sonata 2.0 A/T is the best bet.

[vebmetal]

Unfortunately, it's almost as if the more expensive the car, the worse the FE. So if FE is of importance to your friend perhaps he should look at hatchbacks.

Or, does the Honda City come in Automatic? If it does, that would be the best combination of the factors you mentioned. And your friend would have enough money left over to really pimp out his car, including alloys, ICE etc.

[funkydevil]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

And your friend would have enough money left over to really pimp out his car, including alloys, ICE etc.

Wait till his dad hears this

Yes the city is available in automatic...but its FE isnt so different from the civic. I drive a city automatic and i get about the same FE as that of a civic .

[wilful]

Funkydevil - I'd be interested in hearing what you are getting in the CVT (I presume you have the NHC) - I was under the impression that it returned much better figures than the bigger Civic.

[funkydevil]

Originally Posted by wilful

Funkydevil - I'd be interested in hearing what you are getting in the CVT (I presume you have the NHC) - I was under the impression that it returned much better figures than the bigger Civic.

Well yes, I do have the NHC CVT, 2004 model.

I get about 7-9kmpl in city traffic with a/c on most of the time. I've compared this with another friends NHC CVT and a civic CVT and there didnt seem to be much of a difference in city driving figures, this despite the NHC being a much smaller car.

The NHC did however give a better figure when it came to highway driving. Gave about 14kmpl as compared to the civics 12kmpl.

[tsk1979]

The Civic Automatic is a lovely car to drive. Very ergonomic, and a very comfortable drive.
Since your friend'y budget is 19L I doubt 1-2 kmpl here or there will matter. And civic is coming much below the budget.
The only downside is low GC( if he does bad roads a lot) and poor rear seat comfort(atleast for tall people).

[maxbhp]

SKODA LAURA DSG 1.9 Pd
Pros
1.Nice ride
2.Good levels of comfort at front and back seats
3.Good looking
4.Quality interiors
5.Good perfomance (not great)
Cons
1.Expensive spares
2.Bad A.S.S
3.Resale value may come down soon
4.Unrefined Engine

Civic A/T 1.8
Pros
1.Awesome paddles (LOL!) can keep at hgh RPM's in gear without the fear of automatic upshifting.
2.Good looks
3.Good A.S.S
4.Way cheaper than budget allocated
Cons
1.High speed handling a bit so ~ so , I dont know whether its the case with me , I just found out while driving a manual one
2.Will kiss every speed breakers
3.Doesnt have great ride quality
4.Doesnt feel that well built quality vise .
eg : Check the silver finished plastic portion around the p.windows button on a 2 yr old car.

New Honda Accord

yet to drive one.

[Sahil]

New Accord bookings have begun...deliveries will start in a few weeks,i think offical launch is tomo.
Thats by far the best option.