Dear Team-BHPians, I am involved in a serious conflict between my head and heart and need your suggestions.
Background :
My current car is a 2010 Ritz zxi, 45000+ KM driven so far. A very good practical city car without a doubt. The K12 petrol engine is zippy enough for city traffic and a decent highway cruiser too. Last year, I was blessed with a son; hence road trips took a back seat for sometime. In Jan 2017, I decided to take my family to Goa (me, wifey and the little one 8 months old then). Now, for the little one, I need to carry a lot of things whenever I go out. An infant car-seat is fitted in the rear bench. I need to carry a folded stroller in the boot and lots of bottles, flasks, water-heater, sterilizer etc. After fitting the infant-seat, the rear bench is effectively half occupied. And there is hardly any boot space left after keeping the stroller. There is no space for my parents or friends to accompany us in the car on long drives.
Thus I started looking for a bigger car to replace the Ritz.
Requirements for my new car; in order of importance, highest first:- - Safety : ABS, Dual airbags minimum. I always look for the highest trim of any car that comes in my budget as that trim will usually have all the safety measures available for that model.
- Rear seat space: the new car should have a rear seat wide enough for 2 adults and an infant seat. Effectively, space for 3 adults to seat comfortably over long drives.
- Ride Comfort: My wife will accompany my son in the rear seat always. So a good ride quality is must. Bouncy ride & excessive horizontal movement is a big no no.
- Build quality & Reliability : Looking for a reliable & sturdy car. Should not ‘feel’ like driving a tin can. Should not sway sideways on a highway when a bigger vehicle is overtaking in the next lane. Expecting minimum niggles with the new car.
- Boot space: the new car should have a good boot space to carry a stroller & other baby needs plus weekend trip luggage of 4 adults.
- Highway Performance : On highways the car should be able to comfortably cruise at 100 - 120 KMph all day with few rare occasions of 140+ in smooth deserted stretches. Overtaking other vehicles on highways should not be a strain on the engine.
- Servicing : Servicing should be tension-free. I have had a smooth A.S.S. experience with Maruti for the last 7 years.
- City Performance : I don’t drag race between traffic lights on city streets; so I am not expecting a hot-hatch-type performance. The new car shouldn’t fall back when the signal becomes green and other cars are already far ahead. I would hate to be honked at by all the vehicles behind.
- Ground Clearance : The car should have decent ground clearance. My ritz, when fully loaded with 4 adults, scrapes some of the huge speed-breakers of Bangalore.
- Fuel : Diesel. Sometimes I feel the need of more torque while going uphill fully loaded. A diesel mill should provide additional torque.
- Fuel Efficiency : FE is the last thing in this list. Anything in the range of 15 KMPL in real world scenario is good enough for me.
Driving habit:- I drive with a light right foot in the city. Clutch usage is frequent.
- On weekdays, my daily office travel is 10 KM ( 5 KM each way). This may increase if I change my job.
- At least one weekend per month is kept for long drives (~ 500 KM).
- Some of the roads I travel are village roads (broken, non-tarred). Again, I feel the need of good GC.
Budget:
I have fixed a budget of on-road 12-13 L in Bangalore.
Cars shortlisted according to budget :
( Disclaimer: The pros and cons listed here for different vehicles are my personal views. I do not intend to portray any vehicle inferior or superior to another one. All vehicles are special in their own way; I just tried to match my requirements with vehicle characteristics based on short test drives.)
1. TUV300 :
Heard a lot about this car. Took a TD on a Sunday morning.
Pros : 1) high seating position; good visibility all round
2) rear seat is very wide. Comfortably seats 3.
3) GC is good (although it says 180mm but looks more).
4) boot space is OK with the jump seats folded.
Cons : 1) ride quality is very bouncy. Specially at low speeds on broken road. Worse than my Ritz.
Verdict : Rejected by family due to ride quality.
2. Vitara Brezza :
The current sensation from Maruti stable. Checked out the vehicle in Maruti showroom.
Pros : 1) Good driver seating position.
2) GC is good.
3) Maruti A.S.S.
Cons : 1) boot space is less than I expected
2) 3 healthy adults in the rear seat will be a tight fit
Verdict : undecided. TD not yet taken.
3. Ecosport Tdci:
I had a thing for this car when it was launched few years back. Took a short TD.
Pros : 1) Build quality: Super
2) Good Driving position and good driver seat-back support
3) very nice interiors
4) GC is very good.
Cons : 1) Rear seat space is same as my current car.
2) Boot space is not upto my requirement.
Verdict : I would have loved to buy this. But rejected it after much deliberation due to lack of space.
4. i20 Active :
I have never driven a Hyundai before. Took a short TD on ORR bangalore.
Pros : 1) The AC is a chiller.
2) Easier to chuck around in city traffic due to small footprint.
3) Hyundai A.S.S.
Cons : 1) Feels like a regular hatch
2) Steering is very light , not upto my liking
Verdict : I don’t have any better way to put this : I Could not connect with the car. May be its me, but after the TD I felt this is not the one for me.
5. Creta :
This car is way out of my budget; still took a short TD of petrol SX version..
Pros : 1) Super silent cabin. Very good NVH management
2) Lovely interiors. Loaded with goodies.
3) Refined & powerful 122 BHP petrol engine
4) Adequate space for my needs
5) Hyundai A.S.S.
Cons : 1) Exorbitant pricing. diesel version is way out of my budget.
2) Super light steering.
Verdict : Only the E+ petrol trim is in my budget. Liked the vehicle but rejected due to budget constraints
6. Nuvosport :
Same underpinning as TUV300. Still took a short TD.
Pros : 1) Better interiors & ICE (compared to TUV300)
2) high seating position; good visibility all round
3) rear seat is very wide. Comfortably seats 3. 60:40 split. reclinable.
5) GC is good (although it says 180mm but looks more).
6) boot space is OK with the jump seats folded.
Cons : 1) very bouncy ride for the rear row.
Verdict : Nicely packaged from Mahindra. But rejected due to poor rear seat ride comfort. Otherwise ticks almost all my boxes.
7. Ertiga :
Another hot seller from Maruti.
Pros: 1) brilliant space utilization.
2) reliable and proven 1.3 MJD engine
3) car like handling
4) VFM package
5) Maruti A.S.S.
Cons : 1) turbo lag before 2000 RPM
2) Owner reviews that say 1.3 MJD is underpowered for this car
2) beige interiors will get dirty easily
3) GC on paper is 185 mm. But looks and feels less ~ 170 mm. Especially when fully loaded (5 adults)
Verdict : Really liked how the car is packaged. Total VFM. Contender number 1.
8. Duster :
Took TD of the 85 PS version.
Pros : 1) brilliant ride comfort
2) negligible turbo lag
3) good space in rear seat. 3 adults can seat comfortably.
4) huge boot
5) highest GC
Cons : 1) Only Rxs & Rxz is available with dual airbags. Rxs falls within my budget. Interiors (other than Rxz trim) are not to my taste
2) Renault A.S.S. is still a hit or miss
Verdict : Really liked the ride comfort of this car. Rxs trim is within budget if negotiated strongly.Contender number 2.
Constraints :
I have only 1 parking space in my building society, so I have to let the Ritz go. I am expecting at least 2L for it although the offers are less (as it was involved in an accident 4 yrs back; maybe telling this upfront to the prospective buyer is automatically bringing down the starting price). The exchange offer from Maruti True value and Renault will weigh a lot on my final decision.
Conflict :
So the final contenders are Maruti Ertiga ZDI+ and Renault Duster 85PS Rxs. The head says Ertiga while the heart tells me nothing but the Duster will do.
- Ertiga ticks almost all the boxes but does not excel in any particular field.
- Duster has that SUV charm which is hard to ignore.
- Different seating permutations release a lot of space in Ertiga
- An infant seat (with my son) + 4 adults + 1 kid (4-5 yrs old) (this is the max number of people I’ll carry in any case) looks like a very tight fit in a duster
- Ertiga GC is a big concern. On paper it is 185 mm, but in actual it looks like that of a Swift ~ 170 mm. I have apprehensions about scraping the bottom if 5 adults are on board. Existing owners please comment with your experience.
- For Ertiga, if I upsize tyres to 205/60/R15, will it increase GC? Stock tyre spec is 185/65/R15.
- Build quality of Ertiga : Existing owners please comment.
- Duster is a lot heavier than Ertiga. I presume it has a lot to do with the sheet metal thickness.
- Long drive comfort : Which car will be more comfortable for passengers in long drives covering over 15 hours in a day.
- A.S.S. of Renault : Existing owners please comment.
- Maruti A.S.S. : still the best in the country
Please Note:
1. I have not considered any sedan for 2 reason: firstly, I enjoy a relatively high driver seating position in my Ritz and want the same high seating position in my next car. Secondly, sedans have lower GC compared to the vehicles mentioned above. But feel free to suggest if a sedan fulfills at least some of the requirements stated above and comes in my budget.
2. I considered S-cross 1.3 but could not manage to get either salesperson attention nor a scope of test drive in a visibly customer packed nexa showroom for 2 consecutive weekend afternoons. S-cross 1.6 is way out of my budget. Please suggest if I am missing out by not considering S-cross 1.3 since Brezza & Ertiga too have essentially the same engine and drivetrain.
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