Don't kill me for saying this but I went ahead and booked a Vento TSI Highline plus toffee brown color today - something which was not even an option till a few days back
I know this might come as a total surprise to all of you. So, let me summarize how I ended up with the decision -
As I mentioned, I wanted the convenience of Automatic with good performance. Though I had a preference for petrol, I was open to diesel due to lack of options as long as refinement and performance is good. Among the crossover/SUV in the 25 lakh budget, the only automatics which offered good performance were - Seltos 1.4 Turbo-petrol DCT, Tucson Diesel AT. Tucson Diesel AT was ruled out as I did not like the ride/handling and interiors and I had to go beyond my budget as well. Also, the Hyundai sales guys have no clue as to how to sell a premium car, absolutely pathetic experience. That left me with only the Seltos DCT.
I wanted a crossover/SUV mainly because of the ground clearance to tackle the terrible roads in our cities. But I also wanted something fun to drive, which is automatic. I soon realized that I have very limited options. So, I started looking at sedans. I always wanted to own an European brand for their sturdy build, classic understated design and good ride-handling combo. Also, all Skoda, VW cars in India come with decent GC and rough-road package/underbody protection. Also, as per the owners in this forum, almost nobody had problems with GC on Skoda/VW cars unlike cars from Honda. This also gave me the confidence to explore some sedans. So, I test drove the Octavia (1.4 TSI and 1.8 TSI DSG both) and I was floored. I really loved the Octavia and so did my family. I read lot of horror stories about the DQ200 and finally decided that the pros outweigh the cons as there is simply no other auto gearbox which gives this level of performance. ALso, with 6/7 year extended warranty, it was no longer a blocker. I spoke to 2 Skoda dealerships in Hyderabad and both of them had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Unfortunately, both are owned by a single entity - MahavirSkoda. In fact, they are the ONLY dealer in the 2 states of AP and Telengana. I was still putting up with their attitude (they never called me for follow up, I was always the one to call them and sometimes, they dint even bothered to call back) because I liked the car so much. Finally, they agreed to provide a 1.5 lakh discount on Octavia 1.8 style. We were close to a decision when the style variant was discontinued and the Onyx was introduced. We had shortlisted the Capuccino beige and grey color options but the Onyx was available in white/red/blue. My family just couldn't stand the red and blue colors while I can't live with another white car. Also, I did not think the Onyx looked that great with those glossy black alloy wheels and my family does not like full black interiors. I tried to stretch to the L&K version but the dealerships were not willing to negotiate. I asked them to take out the accessories (not interested), handling charges and told them that I will take insurance from outside (almost 60K cheaper). The salesperson was not willing to do that as well and said he will talk to the manager/head of Mahavir Skoda and get back to me. He even told me that I can go to any dealership and that will not help as every dealership is owned by Mahavir Skoda. He never got back and when I called again, he was still not sure. By this time, I had decided that I can't buy a 25-30 Lakh car from these guys. Bye Bye Mahavir Skoda.
In between, I had done a test drive of the Tiguan due to the huge discounts on Tiguan comfortline. It was within a touching distance of my 25 Lakh budget. Tiguan did impress me with the build quality, ride and handling. But it did not blow me away like the Octavia - the performance was not so impressive considering the price tag, the exterior design did not appeal to us and basic features were missing in Comfortline (reverse camera). It was too much of a compromise considering the price.
Since I was in the VW dealership, I also checked out the "New" Vento. It looked smart with the new Honeycomb grill. I checked out the features and it is pretty decently loaded as well, other than a few missing bits - push button start (dont care), auto headlamps (can live without), 4 airbags instead of 6 (this is the major missing feature). It had the awesome LED headlights and DRLs similar to Tiguan along with auto-leveling, the 16 inch gunmetal alloy wheels are one of the best OEM alloys in this price range IMO and yes, it did have the reverse camera along with Android Auto. So, I went for a test drive and was very impressed with the performance from the small 1.2 TSI engine. On paper, the specs might not look great but it did put a smile on my face. I was impressed by the refinement and rev-happy nature of the motor along with the super-quick shifts. In-gear acceleration was very impressive, which will be very useful for quick overtakes. I think it is the best performing automatic south of 20 lakhs. The ride and handling seemed well sorted, the interiors were nice and it offered a decent amount of space for passengers and luggage. I would have liked the paddle shifters though, may be I will get those at a later date along with a remap.
Overall, it has been a very interesting and enlightening journey over the last few weeks. I started with some options and ended up at a completely different car which was not even in my consideration. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your contributions in this thread and I hope some of my experiences will be helpful to others. When I started this thread, I thought 25 lakhs is a lot of money and I can get all my expectations fulfilled. But, I was totally wrong - it is all about knowing your priorities and compromises. Having said that, there is a serious lack of options (automatic) in our market in the 25-30 lakh range which provide a good mix of luxury and performance.I hope Jeep Compass, Skoda Karoq/Kamiq, VW TROC/TCross and may be some SUV from Honda/Toyota in the future will provide more options. I would have to replace my 9+ year old Jazz in the coming 2-3 years and hopefully I will have more options by then.
PS - Since the Vento is well below my initial budget of 20 Lakhs (which was later increased to 25 Lakhs), I plan to fast-track my long-pending family trip to the Swiss Alps
I forgot to mention that Seltos was very much into consideration but the 3-4 months wait time (possibly more) was not feasible, as we needed a second car sooner. Seltos is a very good option though I feel both the interior and exterior designs are overdone with too many elements and might not age very well. If Seltos would have been available in 1-2 months, I would have probably gone for it.