[TheVegabond]

Originally Posted by RT13

Incidentally, for everybody who talks about its bouncy setup and body roll, that rep was probably based on the previous gen in which it was very pronounced. We did a few test drives before buying and it was at the time that MG was just introducing the 2021 version with the Plus as well, so got to drive both. The introduction of the 18 inch wheels with lower profile tyres has made a fair difference in ride quality imo. I pushed it rather hard on curves and corners recently in Coorg (which has some narrower hill roads) and it did all right. Sure, it will never be a ‘corner carver’, but with the lower profile tyres (than before) and the right tyre pressure, the bounciness it was known for and roll is markedly reduced. If you’re really interested, I’m sure a bit of suspension tweaking will improve it further but I personally don’t think it’s necessary for what you want this car to do. Btw, if you’re there in that ballpark already, you may want to consider the Hector Plus. I think the incremental cost is worth it personally.

I have taken a couple of test drives both manual and CVT and the backseat passengers did not complain of body roll. Plus family drives will always be sedate wih me. I might like to push it occasionally but that's only when I am alone in the car.

As of now the major question is whether I should go for fully loaded Seltos vs reasonably equipped Hector.

[RT13]

Originally Posted by TheVegabond

As of now the major question is whether I should go for fully loaded Seltos vs reasonably equipped Hector.

Backseat space and comfort is a no contest for MG. What’s the difference in features between the Seltos and Hector in the versions you’re looking at?

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

The running cost between a Hector and Seltos will be significantly different. Seltos will be closer to your Grand i10 in such expenses than Hector.

In terms of fuel consumption definitely. But if you factor service costs, you might be surprised. MGs service and spare costs are insanely well priced. I couldn’t believe it myself when I asked. A full oil change in our car cost just 2.5k! That’s less than our Alto. Their packages are frankly ridiculous. On the other hand Hyundai has always been known for increasing service costs over the long run. I’ve known plenty of Hyundai owners who felt that pain over time. So all put together I think it would be closer than you’d imagine, particularly over the long run.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by TheVegabond

My first and current car is a 2014 Hyundai Grand i10 Sports. The car has given me nothing but happiness. It has been reliable, taken me to the places where was not supposed to go, easy to drive and maintain. For 2014, it had the features which were only available in cars 2 segments above - push button start, electric ORVM adjust and fold, cooled glovebox, rear AC vents and a cabin which felt supremely premium in comparison to the competition.

OMG! I also had 2014 grand i10 sportz which I traded for Creta last month. My requirements were simple and did not leave me lot of room to explore beyond Hyundai /Kia (so less confusion

Requirements as per the order of priority -

1. Long term reliability and peaceful ownership - I tend to keep my car for long term (5-8 years) and want peace of mind specially when the car goes past 5th year or 50-60k km mark.

2. Panaromic sunroof - It is not easy to sway my 10 yrs old twins away from the charm of Panaromic sunroof as they will be the ones who would be on backseat enjoying the view the most

3. Petrol Automatic - Never owned a Diesel before and am more comfortable with fuss free NA petrol unit. I am ok to shell out few thousand bucks extra every year rather than worry about future of diesel engines few years down the line. For that matter I excluded turbo petrol (DCT) from my list due to low perceived reliability and longetivity.

4. Hyundai (and before that MSIL for my swift) has spoiled me with their excellent service network and fuss free ownership experience. Never had any trouble with my cars and it is definitely a big factor in deciding the brand for my upgrade. Only if Honda had a worthy competition to Korean twins!

So in the end it was Creta 1.5NA IVT which we got home on the first day of Navratri

[Osteon206]

Ever since we sold our CR-V I've missed the space and comfort it offered, till a month ago when I travelled in a friend's MG Hector. I was mind blown, the car is spacious, has awesome interiors and is comfortable too.
Even I was excited about the Astor but as mentioned by the author, I'm not a fan of the ADAS system. As for the Korean twins, I find the appearance of the creta very unattractive, as for seltos it's a good looking car, but I like how the Hector is proportioned. Also I liked the suspension setup of the Hector over creta and seltos.
I would for the MG Hector. The only thing I didn't like much was the oversized display of the ICE-navigation screen, even on the Nios I keep the display off at night except when using the map. As for the interiors, I definitely liked the all black interiors of the prefacelift model.

[Excelsior]

I am looking at Hector as well. Point is, I am not able to decide between comfort of CVT and fuel efficiency of Diesel. Personally, I am tilting towards Diesel, running is around 1000 kms a month. Any reasons why my preference for Diesel may be a bad idea?

[hummer]

Originally Posted by Excelsior

I am looking at Hector as well. Point is, I am not able to decide between comfort of CVT and fuel efficiency of Diesel. Personally, I am tilting towards Diesel, running is around 1000 kms a month. Any reasons why my preference for Diesel may be a bad idea?

Hope you know there is no Diesel AT with Hector. More and more in India also are moving towards comfortable ATs, I moved too as I couldn't drive MT anymore in horrible Bengaluru traffic, life is so cool now.

Hector CVT average economy is in single digits, but if you are ok to drive MT in Bengaluru then Hector Diesel makes sense for you.

[dhruv.bansal]

Having test-driven both and finally buying the Hector Sharp CVT, I can't be more satisfied.

Few pointers :

Positives :
1. I liked the refinement of the Hector more than the Korean twins
2. The space is to die for in the Hector compared to Seltos & Creta. Overall the seating & the overall comfort is better overall
3. The overall cabin quality is a notch higher than the Seltos. The touch screen is a bit laggy and the 360-degree camera can be a bit better, but you get used to it
4. The panoramic sunroof is still one of the most liked attributes of the car if you have kids around. So much so that my niece has pushed my brother-in-law to buy the next car with a sunroof or she won't travel with him. She is 7 years old.
5. The service: It is absolutely 5 star for me. Never faced any issues and the SA are very very cordial and warm.

Negatives :

1. The mileage overall is 8-9kmpl I am getting in the city, 14.5kmpl I managed on the Delhi-Chandigarh route. Overall - I can live with it as my driving is 6-7k km per year. Addition 2kmpl would have saved me Rs.15k per year - translating to Rs.1250 per month.
2. Chinese brand image - Frankly I have no issues with that as it is too lame to discard good products basis country of origin. If an Indian manufacturer gives me this product, I would have happily bought it. XUV700 does sound mouth-watering now, but I won't risk my money on a freshly baked product from Tata/ Mahindra group.
3. The only other thing is the overdependence for basic controls on the touchscreen: E.g. Aircon needs touch screen controls. If you have turned off the car with your AC on in your last trip and the next day if on a cold morning you start your car, you will have to wait for the system to boot up before you can turn it off.

I am very satisfied with the car. It's a bit big on the size, but I don't mind training my mind for this if I get a delightful drive feel.

[SM.Turbo]

Originally Posted by Excelsior

I am looking at Hector as well. Point is, I am not able to decide between comfort of CVT and fuel efficiency of Diesel. Personally, I am tilting towards Diesel, running is around 1000 kms a month. Any reasons why my preference for Diesel may be a bad idea?

Presuming cars of same size, with Hector Auto you should be doing 2 fuel stops per month against a 1.5 fuel stop for a relative spec Diesel Auto. This will turn out to be an incremental cost of around 3k per month. This should negate the initial higher purchase cost of Diesel Auto in say 4 to 4.5 yrs. Till then you would enjoy the refinement of a petrol.

[TheVegabond]

Originally Posted by RT13

Backseat space and comfort is a no contest for MG. What’s the difference in features between the Seltos and Hector in the versions you’re looking at?

Although Seltos has many fancy features like air purifier, rear window shades, ambient lighting and many cosmetic touches, what I will miss the most is electric folding ORVMs. This is such a useful feature specially in NCR traffic.

MGs service and spare costs are insanely well priced. I couldn’t believe it myself when I asked. A full oil change in our car cost just 2.5k! That’s less than our Alto. Their packages are frankly ridiculous. On the other hand Hyundai has always been known for increasing service costs over the long run. I’ve known plenty of Hyundai owners who felt that pain over time. So all put together I think it would be closer than you’d imagine, particularly over the long run.

This is a strong point for MG. From the service experience of my Grand i10, I can relate that the service center coverage is wide, effective and seamless but Hyundai does charge a hefty premium for the peace of mind it offers.

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

OMG! I also had 2014 grand i10 sportz which I traded for Creta last month. My requirements were simple and did not leave me lot of room to explore beyond Hyundai /Kia (so less confusion

Lucky you! The first car which came to my mind when I started thinking about upgrading my Grand i10 was Creta. But when we sat inside the Creta somehow we felt that we are still inside our Grand i10, just that it had become bigger and higher. My wife wanted a change in the interior feel and hence Creta was rejected. the long waiting period did not help the matter either.

2. Panaromic sunroof - It is not easy to sway my 10 yrs old twins away from the charm of Panaromic sunroof as they will be the ones who would be on backseat enjoying the view the most.

Like I said, a car without a sunroof is as good as garbage for my 6 year old daughter. So, if you have kids and shopping for a new car, then sunroof is the first requirement.

Originally Posted by Osteon206

Ever since we sold our CR-V I've missed the space and comfort it offered, till a month ago when I travelled in a friend's MG Hector. I was mind blown, the car is spacious, has awesome interiors and is comfortable too.

What I feel is that a spacious cabin adds to the overall comfort of the drive.

I came back impressed after test driving the Seltos, but when I sat in the Hector, the impression changed in a minute. From the family perspective the Hector seems to be a ticking all the boxes.

[mttraveler]

I own both Kia Seltos 1.5 NA Petrol and Recently acquired Hector CVT. If you speak in terms of space, comfort and ambience. Hector is outright winner here.
If you compare the handling, Seltos is the winner hands down.

The major difference is in the mileage that I get Hector delivers 7.5KMPL where as Seltos gives 12KMPL in city traffic without any fuss.

[TheVegabond]

Originally Posted by mttraveler

I own both Kia Seltos 1.5 NA Petrol and Recently acquired Hector CVT. If you speak in terms of space, comfort and ambience. Hector is outright winner here.
If you compare the handling, Seltos is the winner hands down.

Totally agree to this. While I am not looking for an outright handler of a car, Seltos handles much better in comparison to the Hector.

The major difference is in the mileage that I get Hector delivers 7.5KMPL where as Seltos gives 12KMPL in city traffic without any fuss.

This is interesting, I did the fuel cost comparison based on 3kmpl difference between the two. If it is 4.5kmpl then the annual fuel cost difference might be over 15000.

Hector still worth it!

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by mttraveler

The major difference is in the mileage that I get Hector delivers 7.5KMPL where as Seltos gives 12KMPL in city traffic without any fuss.

For sake of comparison, is your seltos manual or IVT? Assuming the manual to be frugal by atleast 2kmpl if not more.

My creta 1.6 P AT which has a torque converter gives 7-8 kmpl with AC and 9-10 kmpl in winters. Your Hector's fuel efficiency seems in line.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by TheVegabond

Lucky you! The first car which came to my mind when I started thinking about upgrading my Grand i10 was Creta. But when we sat inside the Creta somehow we felt that we are still inside our Grand i10, just that it had become bigger and higher. My wife wanted a change in the interior feel and hence Creta was rejected. the long waiting period did not help the matter either.



Like I said, a car without a sunroof is as good as garbage for my 6 year old daughter. So, if you have kids and shopping for a new car, then sunroof is the first requirement.

True, the long waiting is definitely a dampener. It looked like eternity when we got our Creta delivered after 7 months of waiting. We took sometime to finalize Creta and given that other options were not making so much sense for the family needs and budget, we didn't have any other choice but to wait. Seltos was close contender but lost out due to no panaromic sunroof. I Infact was keenly following news about Seltos facelift (with their gravity ads and what not) but was disappointed.

Hope the Creta can serve us trouble-free years just like the good ol' grand i10 did.

[car_guy1998]

If car-like dynamics, better performance along with better FE is important for you, then I'd suggest you the Seltos. And, the Seltos will be more easier to drive than Hector in city traffic, thanks to its compact dimensions. The only grouse with the Seltos is its suspension but I heard that the suspension in 2021 version Seltos is much better than 2020 one.

If space and comfort is important for you, then Hector it is. And, has much better tuned suspension when compared to Seltos. But, the only grouse with the Hector is it'll be cumbersome to drive in the city traffic and almost you'll feel like driving an Innova.

But, if you are open to sedans, I'd suggest you the Honda City CVT as well.

[TheVegabond]

Originally Posted by car_guy1998

If car-like dynamics, better performance along with better FE is important for you, then I'd suggest you the Seltos. And, the Seltos will be more easier to drive than Hector in city traffic, thanks to its compact dimensions. The only grouse with the Seltos is its suspension but I heard that the suspension in 2021 version Seltos is much better than 2020 one.

With a 5-7 KMs long test drive, I am not sure about the hard suspension of the Seltos but longer drives may prove otherwise.

If space and comfort is important for you, then Hector it is. And, has much better tuned suspension when compared to Seltos. But, the only grouse with the Hector is it'll be cumbersome to drive in the city traffic and almost you'll feel like driving an Innova.

This is where I am tilting towards the Hector. The space and comfort is unmatched. I took a 10-12KMs long test drive which included narrow single lanes with ample traffic and found the Hector very easy to drive. Parking in a tight space - yes, it is definitely cumbersome. [/quote]

But, if you are open to sedans, I'd suggest you the Honda City CVT as well.

City with its low GC and soft suspension is a problem if I take it to my frequent trips to the Hills.