[TorqMaster]

I am in the same situation as yours. Also checkout preowned Renault Lodgy. The engines are shared with Duster, fluence and others so spare parts should not be an issue.
Lodgy came only with manual, no automatic or AMT.

[akash_v12]

I feel your best bet would be to go for a used Hexa, that is, if you're open to the idea. It'll save you a couple of lakhs + you'll be able to complete your wish of owning one.

However, if you're not comfortable with going for the Hexa, go for the Crysta ZX. It's the perfect 'new-car' choice for your criteria.

[sierrabravo98]

Originally Posted by sentra26

I guess this is what it boils down to. Thank you for calling it out clearly. In terms of the sturdiness, I hope the issues raised over airbags not deploying etc are a thing of the past (?). I would probably wait a month to checkout the MUX (if it does come out) and the Alcazar as well. Would have checked out the Kia carnival out in the meanwhile but the pricing is too high for the 6 airbag version. Is the XUV500 even worth checking out?

No point waiting for the Alcazar considering safety is one of your priorities. You might as well buy an Ertiga/XL6 (they are safer). Your choices are very limited. The Safari should fit your requirements to a T except for the non-existent bootspace with the 3 rows up. The Carnival, with its long wheelbase and limited GC, will be a pain to drive if you ever encounter broken tarmac (especially if the vehicle is fully loaded). You cannot go wrong with the Crysta (get the Petrol Automatic). The upcoming Scorpio and the XUV 5OO should also fulfill your requirements pretty well if you are willing to wait for a couple of months.

[Turbohead]

If reliability is high on your list, it just has to be the Innova. It might be overpriced, but a few lakhs more or less doesn't make a difference if you're considering to keep it for 10-12 years.

Your requirement has Innova written all over it. The driver's seat is a comfortable place to be.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by sentra26

When you mean the toyota is not as comfortable, do you mean the ride quality? Though I have been in an Innova often, I have not driven one much. Implicitly assumed that driving one would be comfortable for long drives. Please do elaborate. I will be sure to check the MUX out. Hexa being discontinued is a bummer

I’ve got plenty of experience with the old Innova as well as the Crysta. Crysta’s ride comfort is overrated. Cars like Harrier/Safari have better bump absorption and recovery from undulations. Their seats are also more comfortable with better cushioning. Crysta also suffers from more body roll, especially in the third row. Basically, you are thrown around less number of times, less severely.

While the ride and handling balance of Hexa is unmatched under 30L, Crysta overall is not 1 but 2 levels down, only a little better than the bumpy Fortuner. MUX offers a very good ride and handling balance, very Endeavour-like. Crucially, the ride and roll are not vastly different between the three rows. Third row passengers will be much happier in the Isuzu than Crysta, despite sitting lower.

The myth of Innova being most comfortable started with the launch of the original Innova in the early 00s. Back then, it actually was more comfortable and car like than the likes of Bolero or Scorpio or Tavera or Tempo Trax etc, obviously. Times and moved on, cars have evolved by leaps and bounds but that tag has just stuck. Objectively, it doesn’t hold today. And definitely not at Crysta’s price, not at all.

[Kosfactor]

Long term ownership.
High H point.
Sturdy.

Answer - Innova.

Hexa - will fail #1
New Safari / Harrier- will fail the remaining 2.

[sentra26]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

You cannot go wrong with the Crysta (get the Petrol Automatic).

Thank you. This will be usually reserved for long highway drives which would involve the hills as well. Can the petrol automatic handle the hills with 7 passengers or would the diesel be better? The last time, I took a fully loaded Ciaz petrol up the 36 hairpin bends to Ooty and it did decently well so hoping the innova would be better (?).

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

While the ride and handling balance of Hexa is unmatched under 30L, Crysta overall is not 1 but 2 levels down, only a little better than the bumpy Fortuner. MUX offers a very good ride and handling balance, very Endeavour-like.

Though it is out of my budget by a good 5 lakhs, I will wait for the MUX just to see how it drives. Would the Crysta be better with the 16 inch wheels (I guess not by much)? The ZX variant, which I am looking at, has 17 inch wheels.

[car_guy1998]

Hello everyone,

We have a 2011 Toyota Innova VX as well as a 2014 Honda City iDTEC VMT at home and both were bought used. The Innova had just 75,000 Kms on the odo in 2016 and now, it has run close to 1.8L Kms, in which we have clocked a shade of more than 1,00,000 Kms in 56 months of ownership. The Honda City was bought used in 2017 when the odo was at 35,000 Kms and the present odo reading of the City is a shade more than 1,05,000 Kms.

We felt that it is time to let go off the Innova as it is 10 years old and giving less FE due to which, the diesel bills are burning our pockets badly, especially after the increase in fuel rates. The Innova is reliable and we recently did a 1500 Kms trip to Tirupati and reached home safely without any issues. Now, the thing is, we are planning to sell off the Innova as we felt it is expensive to maintain due to it being a 10-year-old car and despite aging well, we are still getting service bills of Rs.15-20k for every 10K Kms and it had met with 2 accidents in recent times.

Hence, we have decided to replace our Innova with a Creta/Seltos Diesel AT or Innova Crysta if a 7-seater is compulsory for dad.

Even after being aware of Hyundai/Kia issues and the Seltos' crash test result, I'm still inclined towards Seltos/Creta due to their looks(Seltos) as well as decent Diesel AT engine and drivability.

Had considered the Tata Harrier and Safari but it didn't make sense to spend Rs.25L on a Tata vehicle and instead, will prefer Innova Crysta or Jeep Compass over the Tata twins at that price point and my dad is not in a mood to splurge Rs.25L on a Tata vehicle as well.

The plan is to get the Innova Crysta in GX AT variant or VX MT variant as we don't have the budget to purchase the Z variant(might extend the budget to Z if dad is ok with extending the budget just for the Z variant).

If we purchase an Innova Crysta GX AT(costs close to Rs.24L here), the plan is to get GX AT as the Z version is expensive by Rs.6L and instead, will get the mods done like interior(which I'll get it done like VX or Z), the reverse camera attached to stock HU and others accessories, which will cost me around Rs.1.5L and still we would be saving a whopping Rs.5L over the Z AT and I felt that the 2021 Crysta GX AT is well equipped than our 2011 Innova VX with features like Apple Carplay and Android Auto along with cruise control but misses out on features like auto climate control and fog lamps(which I'll get it done at showroom).

For now, the plan is to sell off the Innova and get a Creta/ Seltos (that will serve as a second car later), and later on, we might replace our City with Innova Crysta only if my dad is not satisfied with a 5 seater crossover and the crossover will be used by myself and mom, who goes to her office everyday and she will be the one who uses the car on daily basis if I move abroad this year and driven by herself as well(her age is 51 btw and she still prefers to drive an MT car even at this age but I'm persuading her to get herself an AT due to her age and she drives the car mostly in traffic all the time and she loves driving as well).

But, few people around me were like, "***, are you crazy and why are you planning to get Creta/ Seltos as the replacement for Innova?" And they told, "get the Innova Crysta only as the replacement of Innova and later on, sell off the City and get yourself a Sonet Diesel AT or Seltos Diesel AT". Even my dad was like "are you crazy, who the *** will replace Innova(an MPV) with Creta/Seltos(a crossover)?", which according to him, the Creta/Seltos feels smaller than Innova Crysta in terms of comfort and space.

And, the only thing which I still have a doubt is that whether the Seltos will be suitable as a chauffeur-driven car or not! I feel the Creta is more suitable for chauffeur-driven as it has better suspension tuned for comfort than the Seltos, where the suspension is tuned for cornering and for spirited driving.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

I’ve got plenty of experience with the old Innova as well as the Crysta. Crysta’s ride comfort is overrated.

I would agree to that. I test rode the ZX MT. The ride was no match to a Duster or even the Marazzo. On top of that it was surprisingly unrefined and noisy. For the price you do get the impression the car is over-rated. But may be the cost is justified for the Toyota ASS and reliability.