[Xehaust]

Havnt read the entire thread but read the first page.

Gautam, going by whatever you have written, it sums up that you like the Etios purely for the fun to drive factor & prefer the staid design over the Manza. As for the Manza, you like it for the interiors & features it offers but are mulling over the Tata after sales & build quality/reliability factor.

Since you are in the same city (Mumbai) i can give you a brief on the after sales of both companies, having experience from each stable.
Having info from various sources, i too, had the same hesitation when it came to Tata vehicles. But last year, we got an Indigo CS in the family. Also have experience with an Innova since almost half a decade now.
With regards to the after sales & the build quality, Tata has improved. Yes, you should take precautions to avoid being stuck with a lemon, but just the kind of precautions you would take when buying a new car from any manufacturer. So that should give you some perspective on Tata. They are not the best, but yes, i do see them slowly progressing.

BOTH THE CARS:
Now, in terms of products, id prefer the Manza anyday. Not just for the features it offers, but also like you have mentioned already, the interiors & space. Though i agree that design is a very personal & subjective matter, i prefer the Manza in design as well. No offense to your design sensibilities, but the Etios looks exactly like a modernised Logan with lots of chrome bits thrown all over. But again, i repeat, design is very subjective & to each his own.

CLARITY OF VERDICT:
In terms of going purely on merit of product worthiness, the Manza Elan is a way superior package at almost the same price as the Etios. But, since your going to be driving the car, id say follow your heart. Since you like the drivability factor of the Etios, go for it by all means.
But on the other hand, if thats all you like, do bear in mind that that's the only thing the product offers you. The Manza on the other hand ticks all the other boxes while not being too bad on the drive front either including better NVH as already mentioned by you.

AFTER SALES & RELIABILITY:
As per your after sales & reliability concerns, you have already read about the toyota experience by customers & i agree with them, its not worth choosing the Etios purely based on thinking that the after sales is better. As for the reliability, a point to be noted is that the Manza uses the Fiat 1.3 engine which is also doing duty in an array of other cars & is an excellent engine to begin with. So your reliability concerns should be taken care of based on just that little fact.

Ill conclude with a small observation - both cars are value based products, but while the Etios looks & feels like a built to a price product, the Manza does not. It feels like a value proposition & does not show the - in your face - built to a price - feel that the Etios does.

Hope this post helps & id say no matter what others say, buy the car that you feel you will be happy with owning for the coming years.

[drsk]

This is the video from OD pre-launch review for Etios. They show the "famed" Toyota build quality on Etios in this.

YouTube - EXCLUSIVE!: Toyota Etios Walkaround on OVERDRIVE

[mohandas]

Originally Posted by gshanky

Check this out:

Checked both the links but none of them supports your claim. Am I missing anything?

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by mohandas

Checked both the links but none of them supports your claim. Am I missing anything?

I guess that is also the point . None of the obvious references mention anything about deriving anything from the Echo.

Additionally here is a press release that says

Bangalore, India, December 1, 2010—Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces that Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private, Ltd. (TKM), TMC's production and sales subsidiary based here, today started taking orders through dealerships nationwide for the "Etios"1, a compact car newly developed specifically for the Indian market.

full article - Toyota Unveils Concept Version of New Compact Car for India | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION GLOBAL WEBSITE

Additionally please share any links that you have which made you assume that Etios is derived from Echo.

cool?

[musicmanaman]

Went to the Toyota Showroom today and sat inside the Etios, and a few days back I was sitting inside the Manza, I do not know how these cars drive, however what I do know is Manza is way superior in terms of comfort levels, the seats are better and better levels of comfort, and the overall feel is much better than the Etios on the inside. Actually I never liked the Manza till the day I sat inside it.

[YaeJay]

I would go for the Manza. Yes, I do love toyotas but would still go Manza.

[alavandar]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Just wanted to point out that the etios is toyotas first attempt at a vehicle in this price range, so sure there are going to be a few hits and misses with the etios which will probably be ironed out in future variants. But toyota has researched the market needs in this segment very well and have done their best to provide something which will suit prospective buyers to the T. Pretty much like how ford has managed to do so with the figo. Really hitting the nail spot on. So my vote continues to stay with the etios

This was sated earlier. I suppose we are comparing a well laid out and matured sedan, manza with the first attempt for India of Toyota. I wonder why we are apologetic for foreign badges while over critical about an Indian product?

[danny25]

Very interesting read considering the varied inputs that have bee contributed by the readers.

Gautam109, Still waiting for your feedback. How were the test drives ?

[mdsaab]

Originally Posted by alavandar

This was sated earlier. I suppose we are comparing a well laid out and matured sedan, manza with the first attempt for India of Toyota. I wonder why we are apologetic for foreign badges while over critical about an Indian product?

As i mentioned in my first post on this thread. The manza is quite a car from Tata. And Tata has done well to improve it from all counts.
I am very proud of what are Indian manufacturers have achieved. And the products they launch are only getting better. The main reason why i am not too happy with Tata is because of the experience i have had with them. I am speaking only of the sales experience which left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Not making any excuses for toyota regarding the etios. I found it too be quite a car and was impressed with it.
Hence the recommendation from an overall ownership experience perspective.

[parsh]

I think, we got to take cognizance of the actual experiences of the Manza and Etios owners and start comparing vis-a-vis. There are indded quite a few concerns voiced by few people with Etios, Upgrade, RegularIndian, vebmetal, a few owner reviews trickling in on Toyota Etios page on Facebook, inspite of great engine and being a driver's car. It will be good time to see the various material/non-material aspects pin-pointedly discussed vis-a-vis with inputs from respective owners for all to understand what we are looking at. In the end, ofcourse a perspective buyer has to have his/her own discretion on those aspects and decide which one matter most. A tabulation/charting of various aspects will be good. This particular competition seems to be heating up like anything unlike others.

[sumannandy]

Regarding TATA A.S.S., they tend to overlook minor stuff which will make you go to the dealership again, although most of the times they will send a mechanic to your place or pick up and drop the car for free.

The feedback mechanism actually works very well. You can talk to the customer care, lodge a complaint, and be sure to get a call back and hopefully the problem will be resolved. They would not hesitate to involve the supplier if required.

Sometimes they would recommend to replace than repair, for which you would need to know few technical details and pursue for repair rather than replacement.

Parts are cheaper too.

I think with Toyota the service experience would not be the same. And teh parts may be expensive too.

But you may not need to visit dealership to repair something in the first place for many years with a Toyota.

If it was a country like U.S.A. where Toyota has a very good service network, for choosing between domestic and import, I would have recommended Toyota. In India, its tough choice.

I have not driven either of the vehicles. But I own a Tata safari which is doing good even after 11 years, although I had to spend quite some money on it over the past 2 years.

[alavandar]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

The main reason why i am not too happy with Tata is because of the experience i have had with them. I am speaking only of the sales experience which left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Not making any excuses for toyota regarding the etios. I found it too be quite a car and was impressed with it.
Hence the recommendation from an overall ownership experience perspective.

I had an Indigo Marina for three years and now a Fiat Linea for the past two years. Based on my five years and 60000 km plus ownership experience, not just from front end relationship, I can vouch for Tata and will recommend any time. I wonder how Toyota will treat its low end car user, that too when the volumes gets too high to handle.

[gautam109]

Hi guys, sorry for being a no show for so long. After lot of agonizing and despite overwhelming feedback for the Manza, I have decided to stick with the Etios itself. The final decision was as much based on sub-conscious factors as on explicit reasoning; will attempt to explain the reasoning to the best of my ability.

The Manza is really a compelling buy - a product that looks and feels premium, offers plenty of features and high degree of passenger comfort (equal to a Civic or a Optra IMHO) at the price of a economy sedan.

I weighed this against the better driving experience (handling, chuck-ability, high speed stability, smoother clutch n gears, superb low-end torque, thrill factor), "safety factor" of choosing Toyota (family was very convinced of this - more so than me) and in the end Etios came out ahead.

No doubt the Manza diesel leaves the Etios' torque advantage in the dust, but I can't justify a diesel financially + IMHO the other driving dynamics would still remain in Etios' favour.


Other factors which supported my decision:

1. GTOs unequivocal endorsement of Etios was a BIG factor in the decision - made a huge difference.
2. Arguably better build quality - even if one ignores the engine and gearbox (being fiat) one expects that Toyota chassis, suspension etc should be built to better. Not necessarily true - only time will tell. I wouldn't base my decision on this - but still a point in favour of Etios.
3. Lastly the family - who would be the major beneficiaries of Manza's higher comfort-levels - seem to strongly prefer Toyota. That led me to discount the passenger-comfort factor and focus more on the driver's-seat experience, where I found Etios coming out ahead.

Sheer inertia also played a role. Having booked the Etios and waited for it over 4 months was reluctant to cancel, go through the cancellation/booking rigmarole and then have another few month's wait on the Elan.

Got a call from Shinrai stating that allotment has been made, car dispatched and expected in the yard by April end. I'm to expect delivery in May 1st week. Have been asked to make the full payment upfront by Tuesday, 19th April. Have got an e-mail about the allotment and been told that final allotment letter with VIN and chassis number will come through within 1-2 days of payment realization. They say they cannot give me the VIN until my payment comes through. Is this normal / acceptable? Please do advise

I'll definitely be doing a PDI before registration and making full use of the T-bhp checklist.

[julupani]

I dont think you should be making full payments before taking up the car for delivery. What happens if the transport meets with an accident totalling the cars??

This is slightly odd, a dealer asking for the money the moment cars get dispatched from the factory. At least let it arrive to the dealer's depot, and get a single look at the car before making any payment, though I would not be making payment anytime before agreeing to take delivery of a particular car.

Sorry to say, but this is exactly the kind of high handedness you get to see from a dealer of a premium car maker.

[mobike008]

Guatam, its quite irregular that they are asking for 100% upfront payment and due to no fault of anybody sometimes things bound to go wrong and you will be subjected to unnecessary hassles to make it right ( like the example given : a freak accident)

It's always best to pay 50% upfront and pay the remaining amount after seeing the car in stockyard of your city or at dealership. Well, atleast thats how majority of car selling works except for unusually high demand products like for e.g : Fortuner etc

Finally, what you do is your call but, be quite stringent till the time you actually take delivery of your car.

Goodluck!