[anb]

For petrol, I will choose the CBU, Volkswagen T-ROC. For diesel my choice would be Jeep Compass. As a second car I'd choose MG ZS EV.

[car_guy1998]

Tough to choose a crossover in this segment. But, still, I voted for Jeep Compass with love. The Compass Diesel AT version might be expensive at around 35L OTR, but MT is the one which I'll prefer as it costs around 28L OTR (Limited(O) variant).

At the price of a Compass S Diesel AT, I'd go for Creta SX(O)/Seltos GTX+ Diesel AT, which costs around 21.5L OTR + Vento Highline Plus/Rapid Style 1.0 TSI AT, which'll cost less than 15L post discounts.

Apart from Compass in terms of Diesel engine, I'd prefer the Harrier Diesel AT, Creta/Seltos Diesel AT and XUV700 Diesel AT, which is coming soon and its specs look tempting to me.

If its Petrol, I'd go for VAG twins for that 1.5 EVO TSI engine though I'm yet to TD one of them and second would be Seltos 1.4 TGDi Turbo Petrol as I felt fun to drive.

If not these crossovers, I'd stretch the budget and go for Innova Crysta, which is a safe and reliable option though its a people mover car.

[roadrunner_nv]

Looking at the negatives of all these cars suddenly made me aware that even in this money minting segment, no manufacturer except Hyundai has a positive after sales/service experience. Wow..plonking 20 big ones on products that the manufacturers themselves set up for failure. I remember a lot of my friends blindly going in for Toyota since their service experience is superlative (even though their products are just average).
When will the manufacturers wake up?

[amol4184]

Harrier all the way for me. I am a sucker for good road presence and nothing beats it in given choices. But that's not just it. The interiors impressed me and my dad. He actually liked it better than Creta, which to be honest is very very good.

The front seats are incredible. Even the rear seats are great. Oh cherry on top, styling is superb. We had seen the camo edition Harrier and it looked miles better than all the competing vehicles + typical Tata ride on broken roads. We didn't actually see any cons except may be long term reliability, resale and after sales. The Creta would trump it handily in resale. I am unsure about sales and services, feels like this is rather dependent on dealer from where you buy.

[FAIAAA]

Voted for the Harrier.

Having extensively test driven all the candidates (except the VAG twins, have seen the Kushaq up close though), i feel there are 2 categories here -
- the cross-overs ( Korean twins, VAG twins).
- SUVs - Compass, Harrier

Personally, I feel XUV500 and MG Hector belong to the 1st category.

Ofcourse, the Harrier doesn't come with AWD/4x4 hardware hence is not an SUV in the real sense, but the mechanicals esp. the suspension & high GC give the confidence to handle rough roads with aplomb. Having extensively driven cross country, that's what we need 99% of the times. (I used to own a Fortuner 4x4 and while it was great at the 1% (off road), it was very bouncy and a pain to drive the balance 99% on good/rough roads). If only TATA got the quality right and sorted out the niggles.

The Compass is a complete package , but the space and especially the price are negatives for me. OTR price of 25 lacs for top spec 4x4 would have made this a fantastic proposition and garnered more volumes for JEEP.

Hence the Harrier

[Muscle Boyy]

Out of the two German cousin's, I'd pick the Kushaq simply due to the fact that the variant distribution in each variant is slightly better than that of Taigun.No Koreans as I really suspect regarding their safety standards.Need to check out the Astor and going by the initial observations,it sounds to be a really promising package.I don't mind going for the Harrier if Tata sorts out all the persisting niggles and quality issues very soon and adds some important features from the Safari like Rear discs and TPMS. My requirements don't beg for Big boys like Safari and XUV 700 but if given a choice, I'd wait for a year and get the XUV 700(without the ADAS system as I don't want my car to be too sophisticated and complicated)

[sunikkat]

Simple choice for me

Diesel - Compass (first choice)
Petrol - TROC first and then Kushaq.

Above 3 based of drive quality, handling, engine, build and I believe are the best looking too, which are the most important things in a car for me. Not a fan of Taigun rear.

No other cars in the list will make a cut for me

[starke]

Voted for others.

Apart from bells and whistles, I'm unable to find a CSUV that matches the ride and handling of the Duster/Kicks twins and especially with its new Merc sourced 1.3 Turbo petrol.

The suspension tuning is the best of both worlds (rough patches/Highways) and the 1.5 Litre petrol NA version is so value for money (9.95 lakhs for XV which comes with all features)

[guruji]

Originally Posted by starke

Voted for others.

Apart from bells and whistles, I'm unable to find a CSUV that matches the ride and handling of the Duster/Kicks twins and especially with its new Merc sourced 1.3 Turbo petrol.

The suspension tuning is the best of both worlds (rough patches/Highways) and the 1.5 Litre petrol NA version is so value for money (9.95 lakhs for XV which comes with all features)

Attachment 2213336

Fully agree! This is the question that keeps coming back and I haven't found a good reason to pick any of the vehicles listed here on top of Duster. If we look at the ride/handling alone, is there any good reason to pick Kushaq/Taigun over Duster?

[AutoConsultant]

If I had to put in my money today amongst

1. Creta - Can't live with that design and not a fan of the interiors
2. Seltos - Don't trust the Kia India brand enough at the moment and of course the 3 star rating is a bummer
3. Taigun - interiors are rear design is worse than Kushaq

So I would wait for 5-6 months to see how the Kushaq EPC problems are sorted and then check out the Astor as well. If the product is superior I might be tempted to place my bet on MG.

Amongst Harrier, XUV500, Jeep and Hector - I would prefer going with Jeep with Harrier as my second choice. Need to consider the possibility of Jeep pulling the plug in India. And of course we also need to see how XUV700 goes in its initial few months.

[zensure]

Interesting thread indeed. Voted for Compass, with some reservations.

I too am looking to replace my aged Vento. I have 1.6L Highline TDI (manual) which will be 9 years in a couple of months. Enjoyed every bit of the ride, city or highway.

In spite of the plenty of choices listed, I still feel I am not finding the one I want. I am looking for

• Diesel Automatic CSUV with plenty of power and fun to drive
• Proper 5 seater, meaning 3 people can comfortably sit at the back row; don't want 3rd row since want good amount of boot space
• Should have good safety measures and adequate amount of Gizmos
• Like to keep for 10 years & upwards 150K KMs at least, with peace of mind with regard to ASS

Alas, I don't find one that meet the above criteria! I have considered Harrier. The reported issues have completely put me off. Still not able to cross the bridge for the Koreans. I had even considered Innova Crytsa as a last resort and would have made up mind if the ZX variant had the proper 5 seater version. Not yet enthused by XUV700 inspite of impressive performance and gizmos; can only consider after 2 years may be. I am leaning towards Compass; however the cost and the narrow back bench is holding me back.

Any suggestion on a CSUV that meet the above criteria? Or is it too much to ask?

[Vik0728]

Voted Skoda Kushaq

After experiencing the 1.5 TSI, I think this is by far the best option among the "Look Maa, I look like SUV" segment. I am currently not in the market for a new car, but if I was, Kushaq would be one of the top 10 contenders.
I have been ranting repeatedly about the glaring omissions such as one-touch up/down windows and rear disc brakes by Skoda/VW. I could easily trade the gizmos that Koreans offer for the sheer driving experience that the Czech provides. If the Kushaq had retained these "Distinct" features, it would be among the top 3 for sure IMO.

However, if we go by GTO's suggestion and split it into two groups, I'd shut my eyes and go with the Jeep Compass, The Real Deal!

[PatienceWins]

I voted for Creta. For me, it is a good package with manageable size for city/ highway, variety of engine and transmission options catering to multiple segments, features, decent built quality and driving dynamics, and hyundai service network.

I maybe biased as I own a Diesel Automatic of Creta - love the convenience of auto, fuel efficiency and driveability of diesel, wide range of features in SXO and high seating position.

I like the looks of Kia than Creta. But the ride quality, service network and features of Creta suits me more.

If money, space, service and resale are not an issue, I would go for Compass for its build quality and driving dynamics.

German cousins (Kushaq and Taigun) do not offer the usual german quality, missing features, cramped rear width, and critical reliability woes on launch itself.

Though I like Harrier, the tata quality issues reported do not give confidence.

[prafulasher]

Voted Other.

I was in the situation a couple of months back where I wanted to pick a car from this segment. I went through all options and landed up on the Nissan Kicks. The sales numbers don't seem to be in its favour but I ended up falling in love with it as it ticked >80% of the boxes in my checklist.

Having owned the XV Pre 1.3 Turbo CVT for 2 months now and having driven close to 4k kms already with a couple of long trips, I can safely say I am extremely pleased with my decision.

Every car has a character, every car tells a different story, has different strengths and weaknesses. What is the perfect car from someones perspective might be exactly the opposite for someone else. I'd just like to request folks out there in the market to listen to your heart and head and let those come up with a solution than getting swayed with what someone else says. Do try and give every vehicle an equal opportunity to talk to you.

Buying a car is a very personal decision. I do hope whatever you end up with is because you wanted to own it, not because someone else said so.

[rajushank84]

All terribly boring cars. This kinda money used to bring in some good fun cars.

When a Jeep Compass is the most interesting thing on a list, that speaks to the other choices.

Anyway. If you gave me 25 lakhs, I'd either

• Spend 15 on a used BMW, a rear-wheel drive one. And keep the other 10 lakhs for maintaining it. Far more fun than anything on this list will even come close to.
• Or just pick a much cheaper people-mover - Duster, Ecosport etc - and spend the difference on a Triumph Tiger.