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-   -   Help me decide: Automatic Car under 20 lakhs (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans/85107-help-me-decide-automatic-car-under-20-lakhs.html)

Dear all

Am new to the team and have thoroughly enjoyed reading many views and reviews.. now need help in identifying a vehicle under rs. 20 lakhs in the NCR please:

The basic guidelines are:
- definitely need to have automatic transmission!
- will be self driven; hence driving comfort is very important
- A S S has to be efficient; don't have the time or the inclination or the money to chase people to get after sales

Now, I have checked out the following cars and my quick comments:
- Chevrolet Captiva LTZ - driving experience was good but the family wasnt happy with 2nd row of seats - bad posture and aircon wasnt effective; concerned about their after sales
- Hyundai Sonata AT - driving experience was average; concerned with the badge value
- Toyota Corolla Altis - driving experience was average; interior space is limited

Experiences and Recommendations would be highly appreciated.

Please post in this section - Sedans - Team-BHP

If you checked out Corolla Altis, check out the cruze as well. As soon as i drove one, i knew i would be getting one, however going by "interior space was limited" on the altis, i doubt you will go with cruze.

Do you want a SUV or a sedan? First decide that, or else you will be really confused.

Check out the Accord and the Endeavor, i have both of them and am quite satisfied. Not going to recommend Superb because of A.S.S. and fortuner for the waiting time.

The Laura A/T would have been the best car for you if it didnt have that Skoda badge! If you can find a good dealer, its a good choice.

You should look at Scorpio AT. It is automatic and fantastic in terms of comfort and space. Some people don't find the driving position to be very comfortable, check that out yourself.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, check out Honda Accord. Lots of space and great engine.

How about the Civic V AT. It is about 15L on the road. A five speed box and quite economical as well. According to some sites the new R18 engine has been designed esp. to match it.

I bought mine on 1 June and an delighted.

The way i see it you do have a few more options than you mentioned -
1) The Endeavour A/T - Great engine, good 5 speed transmission, but not so good ride for the rear seats.
2) The Cruze A/T - Same engine as the captiva, 6 speed gearbox which is great for cruising, but can be short on space according to some.
3) The Laura A/T - Brilliant DSG gearbox, 140bhp engine, but again can be considered small.

I'd recommend the civic AT. It's a free revving car with a wonderful AT box. Space and comfort are also quite good. I am not sure about *** in NCR, but it's generally good. If you can stretch the budget a bit, you should check out the superb..(atleast take a test drive).

Best Options around 20L+-:

1) Superb AT -
2) Accord AT - 170 bhp
3) Endy AT - 163 bhp
4) Laura AT - 2.0 diesel 140 bhp
5) Captiva AT

In no particular order - not necessarily less than 20 in range of 18-25 OTR.

3 Options:

Civic A/T
Jetta 1.9D A/T
Corolla Altis A/T

If you are open to almost new cars, look for 2008+ Accord A/T, CR-V A/T and Superb A/T.

From my TD experiences before I bought my car, I would rate the AT cars below 20 lacs in the following order. I did not try Cruze.

Jetta>Civic>Corolla.

Jetta with DSG, clearly excels. Of course it is a Diesel and much more expensive than the other two. Corolla is a good VFM car with respect to features, but AT is lame, IMO. I finally settled for Civic AT which has a 5 speed AT with paddle shifts.

Since you have clearly mentioned you want reliable after sales support, Skoda and VW are out.

The only cars left after this are:

1. Chevrolet Captiva AT: Pick it up, if you want a softroader over sedans listed below. Comes with same Engine and Gearbox as the Cruze.
2. Chevrolet Cruze AT:The cheapest diesel here, comes with very good engine and well sorted 6 speed AT, good fun to drive but disappoints on rear space and cheap looking interiors.
3. Honda Civic AT: Great fun to drive car with very good AT box. You may not like the low seating and low GC.
4. Toyota Corolla Altis AT: Comfort focussed car, not the best to drive and comes with only 4 speed AT.
5. Hyundai Sonata CRDi AT: Most comfortable car this side of 20 lac rupees but i would not recommend it because it is at the end of its lifecycle hence would be a depreciation disaster. The 4 Speed auto with widely spaced ratios and narrow powerband feels annoying to drive at times.

VW does not offer automatics on any of its cars anymore, at least till the new generation DSGs are launched. Also the Jetta now has a 2.0 crdi engine (same as the passat) but it puts out 110bhp.

I wonder how much of the low ground clearance issue is a myth. When I questioned some of the people it came out that the issue was with 4+ persons, and that too at speed. In any case they have modified the mounting points for the rear dampers in September. Before I bought mine I took the car on a TD over the speed bumps in IIT Kanpur at my normal (as in Santro/ Accent) speeds and had no problems whatsoever. These ahve been discussed in my Alabaster Silver AT and Civic maintenance threads.

Low seating is about the same as in the Altis.

One plus point - the AT is high geared, and the US EPA rating of the AT is 1 mpg higher than the manual for highway driving!

Honda claims to have optimised the engine for the 5 AT gearbox.

Do not take a TD of the Civic, you may be hooked!

Thanks...
Honda Civic is out bcoz of the low seating and GC.

How do you rate the Chevrolet After Sales?

Are there any cars due to be launched, that one should be waiting for? e.g. Hyundai Santa Fe

I do not have first hand experience with Chevrolet but from what i have heard from Friends, relatives and BHPians the spares are priced well and they have very good maintenance packs.

Since you want an AT there are not many cars expected. Hyundai has been delaying Santa-Fe launch for years, i am sure they might be re thinking about launching the Tucson instead. The new Sonata is expected to be launched in 2011.

I have had excellent experience with Hyundai till date, the pricing of spares for their luxury cars is very cheap compared to the competition.

Skoda Laura AT is the best AT car this side of 20 lacs but the spares are very expensive and Skoda dealers have a bad reputation. Testdrive Cruze and Captiva to check whether you like these cars.