[AirWind]

My vote is for the Magnum LT (re insist LT), a new car could cost you ~10.5L OTR, but since this is a model doubted to be discontinued shortly (although, i think GM will continue this car as it sells ~250/month and the same engine is in Cruze/Captia and hence will continue to be updated to BS V or whatever latest), it depreciates like a stink (40% in year 1). Use poor resale to your advantage, strongly recommend a pre-owned Magnum but since there aren't many in the pre-owned market, you may have to patiently search the market - save your enthusiasm for a couple of lakhs. All the best!

[shankar.balan]

a first class suggestion by Airwind - pre-owned is a great option. but as he says you will need to be patient and thus, save some money while you're about it, and yet get a very good car.

Originally Posted by AirWind

My vote is for the Magnum LT (re insist LT), a new car could cost you ~10.5L OTR, but since this is a model doubted to be discontinued shortly (although, i think GM will continue this car as it sells ~250/month and the same engine is in Cruze/Captia and hence will continue to be updated to BS V or whatever latest), it depreciates like a stink (40% in year 1). Use poor resale to your advantage, strongly recommend a pre-owned Magnum but since there aren't many in the pre-owned market, you may have to patiently search the market - save your enthusiasm for a couple of lakhs. All the best!

[xPK]

Hey AirWind, pre-owned optra was my first choice, unfortunately I couldn't found one (I mean nice one), rather I hardly see any diesel optra's out for sale in public forums

[AirWind]

Searh in Mumbai too, the resale values are more like 50%

BTW if size is not a concern, you can even get a Sonata Embera.

Originally Posted by xPK

Hey AirWind, pre-owned optra was my first choice, unfortunately I couldn't found one (I mean nice one), rather I hardly see any diesel optra's out for sale in public forums

[manikjeet]

i own a optra magnum and all i can say is that the power of the car simply speaks for itself

when i was buying a car last year i test drove Linea and optra on the same day

after driving the magnum everything else seemed to slow and linea took forever to reach 100

and quality of optra is way ahead of linea but feature wise linea emotion is ahead

[ashish22]

yes i agree with manikjeet. TD magnum and linea back to back and it will make the selection for you even easier. I suggest better TD magnum first and then the linea.

Linea also suffers from turbo lag but in gear acceleration is more responsive then magnum and thus making it more easier to drive inside city.

Interiors wise magum is ahead of linea in terms of the build quality as well as space.

[vikrantj]

One thing to consider is that Pune is a BS4 city and maybe sometime next year all pumps in Pune will supply BS4 fuel. Optra to my knowledge is not BS4 compliant and Linea is BS4 compliant. Looking at long term ownership I would think about Optra twice.

[xPK]

Guys, thanks a lot for your comments. You're really helping me broaden my view. You are the best. Now I'm sure I will concur this car dilemma pretty soon.

Originally Posted by AirWind

BTW if size is not a concern, you can even get a Sonata Embera.

Yup, that would be a good option too. I have already spread words in my friends about Embera, Elantra and Optra. Let's see how it goes.

Originally Posted by manikjeet

After driving the magnum everything else seemed to slow and linea took forever to reach 100 and quality of optra is way ahead of linea but feature wise linea emotion is ahead

Originally Posted by ashish22

Yes i agree with manikjeet. TD magnum and linea back to back and it will make the selection for you even easier. I suggest better TD magnum first and then the linea.

Hey Manikjit and Ashish, back to back test drives sound good. Last time I did was optra on one day and linea on next, but turned out insufficient to make any decision.

Originally Posted by ashish22

Linea also suffers from turbo lag but in gear acceleration is more responsive then magnum and thus making it more easier to drive inside city.

This might turn out crucial, but let's see how test drive II goes. Hopefully
I could sneak out of office early today!

[xPK]

It's been quite a busy schedule. work-work-work. Also the slowdown in market put "my car" on back burner. Anyway, I could manage back to back TDs of both vehicles last weekend. Chose to stick on crowded roads (partially in bumper to bumper traffic) this time, first the Linea and followed by Optra. I found Linea quite okay until I drove Optra. Optra, what can I say, I felt like one needs to tame this wild horse. But the lag was quite more than that of Linea and was quite evident almost till 2500RPM. Whenever I broke that barrier and before I could enjoy the awesome power, I had to break hard and downshift immediately. And man, that was quite annoying. Though I'm looking for a car to much quite a few highway miles, I have to spend 5 out of 7 days in immense traffic. And Linea was really easy to drive in city, unfortunately I didn't found that until I test driven Optra. So finally I have decided to go for Linea (the upkeep cost and city driving comfort kind of played crucial role here), thought it was really hard to give up on immense power. Also it would be quite easy on my pocket as I was literally stretching myself out to reach for Optra (blessing in disguise you can say ).

[amit_mechengg]

i think i might put few words here, as i went into similar confusion few weeks ago.
i test drove, vento, cruze, magnum, honda city, altis diesel which created huge confusion for me.

1. Cruze : if you got money, no second thought go for it.

2. Magnum : awesome engine, dash seems boring, even the steering response, resale value is not good and on end of life cycle- looking at GMs future i think spares will be problem for this car.

3. Vento: did not get the fell of modern car from inside, quality of plastics is great, but the small windscreen dint make me feel that i am sitting in a sedan, when i started the engine it made hell lot of noise and vibrations creeped in the clutch pedal, but engine is very powerful. Skoda and VW being same entity i preferred staying away from them. the dealer didnt give any committment over the delivery period. said 4 plus months.

4. Honda city: quick, fast, smooth fabulous. dead steering, floats at high speed and dint feel safe. felt as if i am sitting in maruti, flimsy and delicate. but its one of kind reliable japanese machine. has good resale and brand value.

5. Altis diesel: every part of toyota has a class of its own, but was way beyond my budget and i hate the looks of altis. engine felt underpowered for price we pay.

6. Linea: gorgeous, nothing beats her in looks department. loads of equipments, value for money, best in class handling and ride quality.
but engine is not so quick, but very much managable. best for city and highway cruising is not a problem at all.
interiors are pathetic. lack of quality. even my alto has better plastics on ac vents etc. but i was able to neglect that for time being. it has a very good mileage and engine is smooth. fiat service is becoming very good and i have very positive vibes about that. even the CEO and VP care at individual customer level.

my travel is from pimple saudagar to magarpatta city. i.e 28 kms through traffic.
no wonder i had no other option than a Linea 1.3 MJD Tuscan Wine.
Expecting delivery on monday. did PDI and Pooja today

[Sathya_sc]

Originally Posted by xPK

So finally I have decided to go for Linea (the upkeep cost and city driving comfort kind of played crucial role here), thought it was really hard to give up on immense power. Also it would be quite easy on my pocket as I was literally stretching myself out to reach for Optra (blessing in disguise you can say ).

Am sure you will enjoy every bit of the Italian Queen. I had a Linea MJD and I clocked ~28k in 1 year which I never dreamt of doing. My actual running was only 10k per year (Had a swift with 25k on the ODO at the end of 3 yrs).. but my Linea became so addictive that I spent most of my time with her.

Enjoy and have a good ride for thousands of miles!

[xPK]

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

1. Cruze : if you got money, no second thought go for it.

2. Magnum : awesome engine, dash seems boring, even the steering..

3. Vento: did not get the fell of modern car from inside, quality of plastic..

4. Honda city: quick, fast, smooth fabulous. dead steering, floats at high..

5. Altis diesel: every part of toyota has a class of its own, but was way..

6. Linea: gorgeous, nothing beats her in looks department. loads of..

Dude, these are the exact my feelings about those cars.

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

my travel is from pimple saudagar to magarpatta city. i.e 28 kms through traffic.
no wonder i had no other option than a Linea 1.3 MJD Tuscan Wine.
Expecting delivery on monday. did PDI and Pooja today

Hey good to know that. So monday is the big day. By the way it's the same color what I'm looking forward to. Do post photos of your car ASAP. I haven't seen Tuscan Wine Linea yet. I saw that color on Punto and just loved it. By the way, you bought it from pandit or mycar?

Originally Posted by Sathya_sc

Am sure you will enjoy every bit of the Italian Queen. I had a Linea MJD and I clocked ~28k in 1 year which I never dreamt of doing. My actual running was only 10k per year (Had a swift with 25k on the ODO at the end of 3 yrs).. but my Linea became so addictive that I spent most of my time with her.

Enjoy and have a good ride for thousands of miles!

Thanks buddy. Whenever I pass by my parking lot, I can see (imagine) one there.

God, I wasn't so much smitten even when I got married. I seriously hope that my wife doesn't find it out.

[Mindgrinder]

whats with arm rest of linea and magnum btw?

[amit_mechengg]

here you go. this is during my PDI. i think a good glossy polish will do wonders on this color

[xPK]

Originally Posted by Mindgrinder

whats with arm rest of linea and magnum btw?

I found the one on Magnum pretty good. I could actually use it. For Linea it was very weird (rather pretty useless), I could hardly rest my arm.

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

here you go. this is during my PDI. i think a good glossy polish will do wonders on this color

That's one hell of a beauty.