[S2K]

I would suggest you go with Magnite/Kiger twins (Kiger over Magnite for me though).
Venue would be next and Sonet would be last.
My and my friends' recent experiences with Kia even for new car sale have been so bad that we can't even imagine how difficult it will be for after sales.
And this is not just one showroom or city, but across all dealers in 3 cities.
The brand also doesn't seem to be bothered by complaints that we made.
The kind of ego inflation that the brand and dealers are showing makes me believe that after sales for Kia is going to be very bad, at least for next few years.
And on top of that, there have been serious QC incidences with Sonet recently. So I am very skeptical about them.

One other suggestion - look for a used Ecosport AT that is 2-3 years old. Ford is offering good extended warranty packages and the car ticks all the right boxes for you except for being old. However, the car is a pleasure to drive and you'll save good amount of money that you can use for your next purchase.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Our requirements are as under in no particular order.
- An Automatic. Strictly NO AMT's. No offence to the AMT owners, but I simply don't like them.
- A reasonably heighted car. My parents are senior citizens and hence a low slung car isn't advisable. Our current Swift is the least acceptable sitting height, that too since it has been with us for close to a decade. Hence, this probably warrants an SUV.
- Car having a good safety rating and tech.
- Good looking.
- Fun to drive. Since, we have been driving the Swift for over a decade; a good turbo powered engine would be great. Diesel would be an added bonus.
- Engine type can be etiher. Since turbo petrols now are equally competent as Diesel in terms of power & torque; I don't mind shifting to a turbo-petrol. Although I might have to sacrifice on the average, which is OK.
- Will retain the car atleast for 8-9 years and hence need a more future proof car.

Going by your requirements, Ecosport Titanium + AT suits you perfectly.
It might be old, but IMO it still is the best car in the segment. Except some fancy feature misses, this car is pretty well specced, especially in the safety department. If you are fine with manual model, the S version also takes care of the feature misses, and looks appealing as well.

To conclude, its too good a car to ignore, just because it's old. I would suggest atleast taking a test drive of one, before finalizing.

[kedar191]

I was on the waiting list for the Sonet for about 3 months. During this period I ended up test driving the Rapid, Venue, i20, City and the Kiger!

Having owned the Sonet for a couple of weeks now, I'd say the initial impressions of the car stick in terms of:

1) Great interiors. When you sit in the Kiger/Magnite vs the Sonet, you do feel a big difference in terms of plushness, fit and finish, basic aesthetics, etc.

2) Exterior looks great but that's subjective.

What's actually taken me by surprise is the performance of the 1.0L turbo engine. I was on the verge of booking the Rapid due to its engine but the A.S.S. horror stories just about put me off, and I was mentally prepared to settle with a slightly inferior performance with the Sonet. But in reality, I think the Sonet's engine is under rated. The mid range turbo kick is an absolute pleasure and the driving dynamics, IMHO, are superb.

The marketing has been focused on the looks and fancy features (and it's worked so far, judging by the sales numbers.) But the engine + transmission options are equally solid and could just as easily have been another route for the communication.

To answer your question, I'd say the Sonet is superior to the Magnite/Kiger as a car in almost every way and will remind of that whenever you sit in it.

However the Sonet is borderline overpriced, the diesel auto will be 15+ easily. You will save a significant amount of money if you choose the Magnite/Kiger. I had even laid down the booking amount for the Kiger. Glad the Sonet got allotted early!

Comes down to how flexible/hard your budget is

[Balaji31582]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Our requirements are as under in no particular order.
- An Automatic. Strictly NO AMT's. No offence to the AMT owners, but I simply don't like them.
- A reasonably heighted car. My parents are senior citizens and hence a low slung car isn't advisable. Our current Swift is the least acceptable sitting height, that too since it has been with us for close to a decade. Hence, this probably warrants an SUV.
- Car having a good safety rating and tech.
- Good looking.
- Fun to drive. Since, we have been driving the Swift for over a decade; a good turbo powered engine would be great. Diesel would be an added bonus.
- Engine type can be etiher. Since turbo petrols now are equally competent as Diesel in terms of power & torque; I don't mind shifting to a turbo-petrol. Although I might have to sacrifice on the average, which is OK.
- Will retain the car atleast for 8-9 years and hence need a more future proof car.

Hi Ashvek,

My apologies upfront if I am going to dilute this thread with a different perspective. Kindly feel free to skip my suggestion.

I thought based on your requirements, the Ertiga AT could also be one of the contenders for your test drive. The VXi AT is a torque converter and priced around 9.6 lakhs ex-showroom.

The ertiga if I remember correctly got 4 stars along with ciaz sometime back in crash testing. It will help your parents to travel comfortably for ingress and egress and if not very enthusiastic its atleast a neutral handler. The only aspect that could be a turn off will be that it's not the so called SUV or cross over but it can handle potholes and has a comfortable suspension for short and longer rides. I remember only positive experiences from all ownership in and off team bhp. So it is a trusted long timer. Looks are subjective and if you think you doesn't like the looks, you can look at its sibling XL6 from Nexa with a little bit stretched budget.

Remember we also hear Toyota could rebadge and share the parts. Last but not the least it's a maruti Suzuki and you might not be let down with respect to cost and ownership.

Again, sorry if this conflicts the idea of this thread, but really looking at your core requirements I believe it's not just the interest to own and drive a turbo petrol SUV alone.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Like I mentioned in my opening post, the car is also for my parents and hence the requirement is a higher seating; not necessarily a SUV.

I am going through the same issue right now. Our WagonR has served us extremely well for nearly 17 years and 2.3 lac kms now but I would like to buy my parents a replacement. Have you asked them to get in and out of all these cars? I find that older people prefer tall hatchbacks over even mini SUVs as the prefer being able to step into the car rather than step up into it. I was thinking of the Jazz but then I realized it is a bit lower and that's a no no as well when it comes to the elderly. I have heard older folks compliment the WagonR, Ignis, B-Class and even the Chevrolet Beat, endlessly in this regard. I would urge you to bring a variety of cars home just to check which has the easiest ingress/egress

[Ramchi]

Originally Posted by S2K

I would suggest you go with Magnite/Kiger twins (Kiger over Magnite for me though).
Venue would be next and Sonet would be last.
My and my friends' recent experiences with Kia even for new car sale have been so bad that we can't even imagine how difficult it will be for after sales.
And this is not just one showroom or city, but across all dealers in 3 cities.
The brand also doesn't seem to be bothered by complaints that we made.
The kind of ego inflation that the brand and dealers are showing makes me believe that after sales for Kia is going to be very bad, at least for next few years.
And on top of that, there have been serious QC incidences with Sonet recently. So I am very skeptical about them.

One other suggestion - look for a used Ecosport AT that is 2-3 years old. Ford is offering good extended warranty packages and the car ticks all the right boxes for you except for being old. However, the car is a pleasure to drive and you'll save good amount of money that you can use for your next purchase.

For me, when I made enquiries through web for all compact & mid size SUVs I have received responses and follow up from Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Maruthi & Toyota. Tata, Nissan, Ford took almost forever to respond and never bothered to follow up. Ford Show room lady in Chennai promised to bring vehicle (ecosport) for test drive, later canceled the appointment since she had mentioned the vehicle is broken down and went for workshop for repair .....same story when I accepted test drive for VW Polo GTS....The test vehicle not working.....

But,yes Kia showroom room guys never pushy but courteous in responding,but never bend their backs since they were over booked with waiting time of three months plus...

[motorotor]

Sonet is a nice car but from what I am hearing the Magnite punches way above its weight. I'd say take a longish test drive on both and then decide.

4.5 lakhs may seem like a lot but you stand to lose a lot more if you end not liking what you buy and end up selling short. Just my 2 cents.

[car_guy1998]

In the same conundrum as my maternal grandfather, who had turned 75 recently, is planning to exchange his 2019 Dzire VXI AMT with Brezza AT or S-Cross AT as he wants the feel of the big car and according to him, having a bigger car than his Dzire will make him safe as well.

Why he is considering only Maruti because he's a senior citizen and as per him, the maintenance of Maruti vehicles will be much cheaper than other brands and since he is planning to exchange his Dzire for Brezza or S-Cross, he is expecting that he will get a good price for his less than 20k Kms run Dzire AMT. That's the reason why he is not considering any other car within the same price range.

His usage is mostly on highways most of the time and that too, he drives himself all the time and all the way from Warangal, which is 150 Kms away from Hyderabad and doesn't rely on others as well drivers as well to drive his car as he loves driving and has years of driving experience and he had driven lots of cars including Audi, BMW, which belong to my maternal aunt and uncle. However, the car will be under cover for every 3 to 6 months as he will be visiting my maternal aunt and uncle, who stay in US.

Due to his height, he felt that the Brezza or S-Cross suits him well as he used to have a 2010 Ritz VXI, which we exchanged for the Dzire in 2019 as he wasn't interested in driving an MT car anymore and he felt the Ritz was way taller for him than his present Dzire.

When he came to our home today, he said that he had casually visited the Maruti showroom, from where we bought the Dzire, to have a look at the Brezza and enquired the sales guy, who dealt with us during the delivery of his Dzire and he assured my grandfather that he will offer good price for his Dzire.

He is inclined towards the Brezza but I've suggested him to have a look at S-Cross as it gives some premium feel and looks much better as well as better package than the Brezza.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Looking forward to your suggestions on the same.

I was wowed by Kia initially like everyone else till GNCAP burst the bubble and how If safety is one of the important criterias, I would stay away from Kia/Hyundai as I don’t believe they would provide a superior car at 14-15L compared to their 20L offering (Seltos). And am not even going into other niggles like brake failure et al. Hence unless diesel AT is your non-negotiable criteria I don’t see a point of going for Sonet.

My suggestion would be the Magnite/Kiger. As per all the reviews that 1.0L CVT combination works superb and then you have quite a few features unavailable in cars of segment above example: wireless Android auto/Apple CarPlay. Fuel economy should be better than the rest as CVT is usually frugal compared to DCT/TC. And it even seems to have fared decently in ASEAN NCAP.

[Saminxs]

Really interested in this thread as I am also exploring options in same segment. I find Ford EcoSport click all right boxes for me other than that it is a very compact car and I would like a more powerful car. Should I wait for Skoda Kushaq is the question..

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by Saminxs

Really interested in this thread as I am also exploring options in same segment. I find Ford EcoSport click all right boxes for me other than that it is a very compact car and I would like a more powerful car. Should I wait for Skoda Kushaq is the question..

Hi Saminxs, honestly speaking I am actually thinking of waiting for the Kushaq now, if not the Tiagun.

Bhpian Behemoth too had suggested this in the earlier post and I am actually considering that now. Got a few inputs from Bhpian yesyeswe & the Skoda Kushaq thread & honestly it all sounds positive to me.

For someone looking in price range of 10 to may 14-15 L, the Kushaq 1.0 TSI makes absolute sense. It is definitely wise in investing big money in a german car rather then a korean (I own one though).
Not to forget it’s got all praises from the media during the pre-production review.

I feel you too should wait for a few months & take the final call; ofcourse if diesel auto is not your criteria. If it is, then Sonet is the ONLY option under 16L & sub 4m.

[jeetumg27]

I was in a similar 'soup' recently and I opted in for the Toyota Urban Cruiser - essentially the Brezza. You have put down your points perfectly and I would recommend opting for the Brezza or the UC as you just can't go wrong with them. Proven product, low maintenance, very spacious for the segment & the TC gearbox - though 4-speed, until 100/110 you shall barely miss more gears. The shifts are very smooth & not a cause of concern at all. The ride & handling is mature and it feels like a well put together product.

The Kia Sonet Diesel Auto was my next choice - but being a Diesel + the on-road price of the car pegged it above ₹ 15L - not worth the extra money.

[Saminxs]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Hi Saminxs, honestly speaking I am actually thinking of waiting for the Kushaq now, if not the Tiagun.

Bhpian Behemoth too had suggested this in the earlier post and I am actually considering that now. Got a few inputs from Bhpian yesyeswe & the Skoda Kushaq thread & honestly it all sounds positive to me.

For someone looking in price range of 10 to may 14-15 L, the Kushaq 1.0 TSI makes absolute sense. It is definitely wise in investing big money in a german car rather then a korean (I own one though).
Not to forget it’s got all praises from the media during the pre-production review.

I feel you too should wait for a few months & take the final call; ofcourse if diesel auto is not your criteria. If it is, then Sonet is the ONLY option under 16L & sub 4m.

Thanks Ashvek (don't know your complete/real name so ..), Yes, I am waiting for Skoda Kushaq now. At least will drive and see once.

Personally I would like prefer German car (or american muscle) over korean cousins. No offence to anyone but that's just me. I have been driving Ford Figo for 6 years and extremely happy with the same. But now its time to upgrade and hence Eco Sport is my first choice.

Went to see Sports model yesterday but dealer didn't have a single piece to show or present for test drive. Also waiting period is 2 months so may as well wait for Skoda Kushaq and then decide. Also Titanium + AT version has 2 airbags vs 6 airbags in Sports MT version. So one more compromise.

A more powerful vehicle in this segment is what I want.

Waiting ..

[Shiftlock]

Originally Posted by Saminxs

Also Titanium + AT version has 2 airbags vs 6 airbags in Sports MT version. So one more compromise.

Hi Saminxs, you must have been misinformed, the Titanium+ AT does indeed come with 6 airbags. It's not exclusive to the sports variant.

[Saminxs]

Originally Posted by Shiftlock

Hi Saminxs, you must have been misinformed, the Titanium+ AT does indeed come with 6 airbags. It's not exclusive to the sports variant.

Thanks man! Yes I thought so and was surprised when the sales guy mentioned 2 airbags. But if its 6 airbags then its cool.

Also, since you have posted some replies on Eco Sport in other similar threads, would you opine on whether AT makes more sense vis a vis MT? I wanted Automatic this time round but Sports MT looks much more cool and sporty and has larger infotainment screen but does not have AT so I am kind of confused.

Also on ghats and hilly areas I find that I can control vehicle better in Manual transmission. Is my understanding correct?