[car.lover]

Between the two shortlisted ones, I would recommend the X1. I have not driven it, but have driven the Santa Fe on a long drive and was very unimpressed. My Scorpio drives better.

If you can stretch your budget just a little bit, I would recommend the Freelander 2. Great looks, unique, now being built in India and a Land Rover badge as well - it will be my vehicle of choice when I upgrade from my Scorpio!!

[Snowman79]

Originally Posted by car.lover

Between the two shortlisted ones, I would recommend the X1. I have not driven it, but have driven the Santa Fe on a long drive and was very unimpressed. My Scorpio drives better.

If you can stretch your budget just a little bit, I would recommend the Freelander 2. Great looks, unique, now being built in India and a Land Rover badge as well - it will be my vehicle of choice when I upgrade from my Scorpio!!

that sounds good. how much does it come for?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Snowman79

that sounds good. how much does it come for?

About 35-42l on the road, depending from city to city.

[shankar.balan]

clearly snowman your heart is saying Beemer
Go for it! Else you will always have that "feeling" of having settled for second best!

I completely agree with your view that the X trail is NOT worth 30 Lacs. Nor is the Santa Fe worth that kind of money
It sickens me when we Indians are forced to pay pretty much double what the same car is priced at abroad.
Hence you might as well go for the brand and buy the Beemer!
Or maybe you can think about the Freelander2 perhaps?

Originally Posted by Snowman79

First off - thanks for all the responses guys!
The X-trail - Again a nice bit of kit - but very unexciting. I mean atleast for me. 30 lakhs isnt a small amount and i want a smile on my face everytime i look at my car.
The santa fe is a nice looking car. I have an Elantra and a Santro CNG so i know how good hyundai engines and how well made their cars are. They lack the THUD factor so many people go on about - but theyre very well made. The only thing i dont like about the Santa Fe is that its very expensive.... i mean this is a car thats worth about 12lakhs brand new abroad (approx) or even less.. so it kinda hurts me to plonk down close to 30 for it.
The X1 isnt a real SUV. i know that. However its really nice looking (especially in that brown colour) and hey.. its a bimmer.. whatever said and done Id be really happy looking out of my window and seeing a BMW standing in my car parking. However its only fits 4 to 5 people. and has a very harsh ride

Whichever car i do buy. I intend to keep for 5 years and easily do about 100k kms on.

[charthom]

At Hyundai yesterday,checked out the Santa Fe inside out.Did not drive it though.

Looked like a decent SUV-big and spacious. But there was nothing really impressive or rather enchanting as per me.The third row of seats appeared to be pretty spacious. And I think the middle row can be adjusted for inclination. No push button start. Average looking dash- no built in navigator etc. The leather seats had some fancy design which did not appeal to me.18 inch Kumho tyres appeared large.The stance is quite tall.

I found it a vehicle of average desirability.There is no WOW factor that draws you to it. I am not in favour of X1 too. I suggest you wait for the Audi Q3.

[Durango Dude]

Consider the Santa Fe to be wife and the X1 to be the paramour. Paramour's are very demanding and can be wallet busting too.

[raichoudhury]

IMHO it would be really worthwhile to wait for the Freelander and the Q3. Otherwise go for the X1 (if you like the BMW badge) even though it is a kind of a "Plain Jane" in terms of features.

[shatrughna]

Had been in similar situation and as a result have browsed the brochures, automobile websites for comparison and also visited showrooms. Some other points to consider are as follows:

1) X1 is not a 4wd and Santa Fe has 4wd option.
2) X1 is a 5 seater while Santa Fe is a 7 seater.
3) GC of Santa Fe is better than X1.
4) Fully loaded Santa Fe is cheaper than fully loaded X1.

Now the latest news for your information. Santa Fe price is revised now _ (not officially announced yet)- its Rs 2L cheaper (on road Navi Mumbai now 26.xx Lakhs for top variant - (4WD)) . The bookings will start soon at revised price. 2 months waiting period though. Booking amount 2 lakhs.

Got the information since, cancelled booking of Verna and money is still with the dealer and I enquired about Santa Fe.

No SUVish car seems to be perfect in this price range ( within 30 lakhs).

Personally considered all of the following - Aria, Endeavour are next to Scorpio/Safari price band.

Captiva, Fortuner, Outlander (petrol), Santa Fe, Pajero,X1, Xtrail, Grand Vitara(petrol), CRV(petrol).

Fortuner seems to be best VFM and troublefree, good looking and durable. Next could be Santa Fe IMHO.

Montero should be next troublefree ownership experience and then comes all the European brands. XC60 and Freelander2 are based on same platforms but have altogether different characteristics. Planning to evaluate them on the weekend.

Cars to consider - in the next price bracket- may be as follows:

Montero, Q5, XC60, Freelander2, X3 are in higher bracket- on road 40-55 Lakhs).

Touareg, ML350 cdi, Q7, Prado, are in a further higher price bracket(56 lakhs and above on road).
For sheer thrill- I guess V6 diesel engines of X3 or Q5 ( 3ltr) have better specs on paper. ( around 55 Lakhs on road).

Touareg, ML350, Q7 look very good on paper and road as well but in a very high price bracket - above 60 Lakhs on road.

[n.devdath]

If you intend to keep your car for 5 years/100k kms, I would not recommend the Beemer going by the maintenance bills that you are likely to encounter, over such a reasonably long period of time.

The Santa Fe will be cheaper to maintain and repair, if required compounded by the expanse of Hyundai dealerships across the country. Moreover, you are a satisfied Hyundai customer already so apart from the missing "Wow" factor and the price I guess the Santa Fe has everything going for it, for you.


The Fortuner's interiors and ride too are in the same league if not worse(interiors) and Hyundai's have proved themselves in India.

[suman]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

If you intend to keep your car for 5 years/100k kms, I would not recommend the Beemer going by the maintenance bills that you are likely to encounter, over such a reasonably long period of time.

If you buy a BMW, you must opt for one of the BSI (BMW Service Inclusive) packs that are on offer - in this case, perhaps the 5years/100k kms BSI Ultimate one. Takes care of ALL your consumables & service requirements as well as the vehicle warranty (the normal warranty gets extended to that number of years/mileage).

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by suman

If you buy a BMW, you must opt for one of the BSI (BMW Service Inclusive) packs that are on offer - in this case, perhaps the 5years/100k kms BSI Ultimate one. Takes care of ALL your consumables & service requirements as well as the vehicle warranty (the normal warranty gets extended to that number of years/mileage).

This is great, on similar lines of what Skoda is offering. No wonder you were smitten.

By the way, where is your X1 review?

[suman]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

This is great, on similar lines of what Skoda is offering. No wonder you were smitten.

By the way, where is your X1 review?

Skoda, Chevrolet, Mercedes, to name a few. My review will come - eventually

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by suman

Skoda, Chevrolet, Mercedes, to name a few. My review will come - eventually

Is Mercedes providing a similar scheme to BSI? I thought they only provide standard warranty.

[Parm]

both bmw and hyundai dont go offroad, they are mall going SUVs!

Santa Fe is getting face lifted pretty soon and X1 is pretty fresh.

if you want style and status statement....its BMW X1 for you.

i personally wont spend 20-30 lakhs on a korean hyundai!

[Aroy]

If you do not propose to burn highways at 140+ and want a reliable comfortable drive at ease in every situation, I would suggest Pajero.

Guys do not shoot me, OK I know it is old, but it has the best ride in the 4x4 segment being considered. Then it has low tech bulletproof engine and as others have commented in other threads the maintenance is extremely reasonable, definitely a no brainer when comparing European brands. It can seat 4 persons in comfort, and goes over rough roads like a dream.

Hyundai somehow has never been successful with their SUV offerings in India, mainly because of maintenance issues. Maybe unlike their small cars, their larger vehicles are expensive to maintain. Again a CBU sold in small numbers will always have maintenance and spare parts issues.

I myself am debating between Pajero and Fortuner as my next buy, and barring the highway performance, and FE, Pajero wins on all counts.

In my opinion the 4x2 X1 is a fine vehicle for highways, but the horrible maintenance costs are a thing to factor in. OK BSI is there but then you pay quite a packet for it. I doubt any other 4x4 upto that price bracket will cost that much to maintain in 10 years, let alone 4 years.