[pms]

Hi all, the SUV bug has hit me big time and am planning to get one soon. I am using a 2012 model Honda City right now (manual).
My budget is around 30 Lacs, can stretch it by couple more lacs.
Driving is mostly 60% highway and 40% city with close to 10K Kms/Year

Requirements:
- Good Autobox and comfortable ride for all passengers
- Safety (6 airbags, good brakes, safety tech)
- Good ground clearance in full loads (I live in BLR with lots of un-scientific speed breakers, City has taken enough underbody hits)
- Good enough space for 4 passengers (5th passenger is very rare)
- Tech and creature comforts (good touchscreen ICE, auto wipers/headlights… am upgrading from basic features in a honda city)
- Family loves sunroof!

SUVs in contention: Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tucson Diesel Automatics

Jeep Compass Test Drive experience
+ Really liked the looks, build quality, handling and interiors.
+ Braking, stability around corners
+ Better looking & modern touchscreen system
- Gearbox felt slightly lethargic compared to Tucson in City drives.
- Pricey. Though I liked Model S, its very costly.
- Limited Auto variant misses out features like ventilated seats, wireless charging, 360 Camera!
- Last but not the least slightly worried about the recent issues (rattling, Instantaneous mileage errors, ICE issues) reported in social media forums

Hyundai Tucson Test Drive experience
+ 8 speed TC gearbox is so smooth.
+ Overall good driving experience, felt the suspension less stiff than the Compass
+ Has all the basic features, more leg space in the rear and boot capacity.
- Interiors though well-built feels dated. Doesn’t give a premium feel
- Missed out on various features available in its less costly siblings Creta and Seltos. But on par with Jeep Compass Limited variant.
- Not sure about the unladen ground clearance of 170mm, would it be good enough to manage most of the bad humps fully loaded?
- Bit worried whether Hyundai will launch the upgraded version of Tucson in India soon.

Really confused between these two and request advise from this valuable forum on what could be a better choice.
This is a very expensive buy for me and I intend to keep it for the next 7-8 years minimum.

[youknowitbetter]

I think you should add Tiguan to the fray as well. Its just right around the corner and might be worth waiting before making up your mind.

Further, Jeep is not offering any discounts, I went there yesterday to look at Compass again. Rather, inspite of having lot of stock, they are looking to raise the price from December 1 (I suspect, they may offer some discounts in few days but even then the pricing could still be atleast or more than November pricing). It doesn't make sense to buy a November or December registered car at the full price. Might as well may a little more in Jan and take 2022 manufactured car.

[neelkumar]

I've accidentally tapped on Jeep Compass and thought I should clear things out.

The current Tucson is old and you will feel it, but otherwise it is good. You will feel the power and the gearbox is responsive. If you need a car right now and not a spirited driver, the Jeep Compass would fit perfectly. But as you've already felt that the gearbox is lethargic, then I would suggest you to wait for a few months. The new Tucson might be launched in India. You can then have another round of test drives and also (if Jeep cares), the niggles in Compass might be resolved.

[speedfreak77]

I am not a huge JEEP fan but both these are undoubtedly amazing. I love the tucson for its styling and engine options. The gearbox does the job but If you are into plush interiors and the go anywhere confidence then you should opt for the Compass. However, Compass will completely be off the hooks if you want to purchase a petrol. Tucson will be a bang for your buck though. The gearbox is responsive, If you’re into petrol powertrains, you get a pretty powerful engine. The car screams exclusivity. You won’t see a lot of Tucsons around but you will see Compass for sure. The facelift of the Tucson really didn’t affect the exterior much but the interior is beautiful. Hyundai is also known for its reliability nowadays and its service. You’ll also get a better FE in Tucson if you the price hikes bother you. Anyday, Tucson is a better buy but I’d only buy the jeep if I know that I’m going to do a lot of trips to mountains and hillstations.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by pms

- Good Autobox and comfortable ride for all passengers
- Good enough space for 4 passengers (5th passenger is very rare)

The Tucson scores on the ride quality factor, as well as a better tuned gearbox & rear space. Frankly, the Tucson is just a superb all-rounder, with the biggest deal-breaker being its old, outdated & yawn-inducing interiors. They feel like they're from another era.

As a package, the Tucson Diesel AT is better for you.

If you can wait:

- Next-gen Tucson. Hyundai doesn't take too much time bringing their next-gen cars here, so I expect to see it in India in 2022. Use your Honda City till then.

- VW Tiguan update, or the Kodiaq 2.0 TSI. Both are awesome, but both are petrol, so your fuel bills will be a lot more.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by GTO

If you can wait:

- Next-gen Tucson. Hyundai doesn't take too much time bringing their next-gen cars here, so I expect to see it in India in 2022.

Is there any market intelligence on whether it might come with a proper petrol hybrid this time? I believe such a variant does exist internationally - not sure if Hyundai will have the confidence to build it here given that none of its products above the Creta segment have been meaningful “hits”. And CBU will just not make financial sense.

[pms]

Originally Posted by youknowitbetter

I think you should add Tiguan to the fray as well. Its just right around the corner and might be worth waiting before making up your mind.

Thank you and makes sense to wait for the Tiguan as well. Felt Compass top end range is already overpriced by atleast 2-3 lacs.

Originally Posted by neelkumar

The new Tucson might be launched in India. You can then have another round of test drives and also (if Jeep cares), the niggles in Compass might be resolved.

Thanks for your response. Niggles in the new Compass are a real worry even if you go ahead and put that kind of money.

Originally Posted by speedfreak77

However, Compass will completely be off the hooks if you want to purchase a petrol.
You’ll also get a better FE in Tucson if you the price hikes bother you. Anyday, Tucson is a better buy but I’d only buy the jeep if I know that I’m going to do a lot of trips to mountains and hillstations.

Petrol Compass is definitely not on my list and mountain trips though will be there will be far & few. Thanks for your inputs!

Originally Posted by GTO

If you can wait:

- Next-gen Tucson. Hyundai doesn't take too much time bringing their next-gen cars here, so I expect to see it in India in 2022. Use your Honda City till then.

- VW Tiguan update, or the Kodiaq 2.0 TSI. Both are awesome, but both are petrol, so your fuel bills will be a lot more.

Thanks a lot GTO for your points. Dont have any pressing need right now to get one. As I said its the SUV bug that keeps me pestering . Honda City is serving me well and I can wait to check on Tiguan, Kodiaq & new gen Tucson (would be great if Hyundai launches this in 2022). Regarding pricing I think most of these SUVs will breach the 35 Lac mark if am not wrong.

[vijaykr]

I'm in a similar situation and while heart is having towards the Compass, the mind is more on Tucson. I'm admittedly worried about making a choice and then regretting about not going the other option. After months of indecision, decided to wait for the new Tucson and see how it is.

Price wise, it's likely to be higher than the current version as well and I expect Compass will also be more by the time. Like you said, this will be an expensive buy and I feel it's better to take the time to see which one we'll be more happy with in the long run.

All the best and I look forward to hearing more about your decision.

[moongazer]

Originally Posted by pms

- Not sure about the unladen ground clearance of 170mm, would it be good enough to manage most of the bad humps fully loaded?
- Bit worried whether Hyundai will launch the upgraded version of Tucson in India soon.

* I believe 170mm is the laden ground clearance. I forgot to confirm this with the SA before I booked it after my test drive. I took Tucson around all the bad roads I can think of in Bangalore but didn't scrape the bottom anywhere. These are the roads where I regularly scrape the bottom of both Swift and i10.

* About the new Tucson, as per the SA it will only come to India at the end of 2022(I guess we can expect this by mid 2022 )

I decided to go with Tucson over Compass because of the better gearbox, ride quality and smaller turning radius. I have no plans to wait for the new Tucson since I don't want something even bigger.

Like others said, Tiguan might be a good choice if you are willing to wait a little bit more.

[anshu1101]

As an upgrade to my 2013 Vento 1.6 TDI, I was in the same dilemma as you for a long time. I wanted to upgrade to a diesel AT SUV (preferably a monocoque). After a lot of deliberation and countless test drives, I went ahead and booked a polar white Hyundai Tucson Diesel AT AWD. It is just a brilliant allrounder.

The car has arrived at the dealership, and I did the PDI recently. Registration formalities are in progress, and I expect to get the delivery of the car this Sunday (28 Nov).

Primary reasons for choosing the Tucson over the Compass:
- The engine and gearbox combo is a gem. Scores better than the compass both in terms of power-to-weight ratio and torque-to-weight ratio. The 8-speed AT in the Tucson is way better the Compass in terms of driveability. Found the diesel AT gearbox in compass to be a little lethargic.

- Ride quality (much better than the compass)

- Cabin and boot space (there is absolutely no comparison here). I could not digest the idea of shelling out 34 lacs (for a Model S AT) for the kind of space that the compass offers.

- Wide service network (I do a lot of touring)

The only points that went against the Tucson are its dated interiors, slightly lower ground clearance and the fact that this generation is on its way out in the next one year or so. However, I just could not digest the quirky looks of the new Tucson. Not sure what is up with the design language of these new Hyundai cars these days (Venue/Creta/New Tucson). The current generation of the Tucson looks handsome and timeless in terms of design.

Also, I'm a guy who keeps my cars for long (8-10 years at least). The pace at which we are seeing facelifts and newer generations of cars coming up these days, I'm pretty sure the newer generation will also become old as far as my ownership period is concerned.

Moreover, I'm someone who prefers physical buttons in cars for the HVAC controls over touchscreens. And new Tucson has touchscreens throughout, which would be cumbersome to use while driving, and would be a fingerprint magnet.

I would like to thank BHPian LONGTOURER, whose ownership report of his Tucson and inputs were immensely helpful in firming up my decision to go with the Tucson.

[yd_gli]

I am going to go against the grain here. I have been in the market for an SUV for a while now. I have test driven all versions of the Compass, Tucson, Harrier, C5, Endeavor (while it was on sale) and the Thar. Here is where things stand:
- The Tucson, C5 and the Compass are soft roaders and don't qualify as true SUVs. They don't have the ground clearance, commanding view or the ruggedness that an SUV should have. The Tucson and C5 felt like driving a sedan and one is at the same height as a Wagon R while on road. The rear seats are even lower.
- The Tucson has the same soft foamy (for the lack of a better word) thud inducing suspension feel as my dad's Creta and I can't live with it. The interiors are from another era and spare parts are already on long lead times. The only positive is the power-train which is a gem. But it is not an SUV in any sense.
- The Compass while marketed as a go anywhere vehicle is in reality a decent soft roader. Again it feels more car like and its way too small for the price. There is no luggage space and I have seen Compasses scrapping their belly on the ridiculous speed breakers within the city. It is not like you can drive it with impunity over speed breakers especially when loaded.

The Compass, Tucson and the C5 are not worth the money they are going for. The Tucson and the C5 are not SUVs in any sense and the Compass is borderline but doesn't have the space for touring.

The Tiguan and Kodiaq will be ~35-40 OTR bracket. If you're spending that much, take some additional time, save up if you need to and buy a Fortuner. Nothing comes close. The rest are all just SUV marketing gimmicks.

My suggestion: Keep the City until it goes to the grave and use it as a beater. Buy a Thar, used Hexa to satisfy your SUV craving. You'll save a huge chunk of cash too by this option. If you don't like either of them, buy a Harrier. The road presence, ruggedness and space will at least make you feel like you're driving an SUV. Again you'll save a chunk of cash.

[ramnaresh_2000]

I would suggest Compass over Tucson. Both are very well built machines, but the S variant of Compass is fully loaded with many features which you miss out in Tucson. The interiors where you spend 100% of your time while driving matters most, Tucson interiors are out of date.

Agree with AT gearbox being slow in Compass AT, may I suggest Diesel MT which is best in it's class? It will put a smile on your face every time you press the gas.

If going for Tucson, then better wait for the 2022 facelift version or Kodiaq.

[noufal.ps]

Both cars are good all rounders and you can't go wrong with them. Your long term happiness (with car) will depend on the kind of person you are, allow me to explain

- Are you enthusiastic driver? I ain't talking green light racing, but maintain good highway speeds with few bursts, enjoy cornering and overtake 95% cars on highway - You have to get compass
- You drive at constant speeds, not so much into cornering but enjoys straight line highways - Tucson
- Do you have FOMO on looks: Compass age slowly, Jeep doesn't/wouldn't do much to the exterior (that's their identity). Hyundai is faster in bringing new stuff and 3-4 years Tucson will look like old Creta (I love old creta though)


Top differentiators:
- Tucson has lifeless steering. Whatever I do, I couldn't feel it (forget enjoying)
- Compass has slow gear box. You might have to play with trip-tonic once in a while. Tucson won't let you touch the stick (it reads your mind)

I'm not comparing city vs highway. Well, highway is when you enjoy cars in this segment. City drive is just tech (read Astor) and softest suspension (CRV, Duster) for Namma Bengaluru

[lordrayden]

Voted for the Tucson.

Looks like we are/were in a similar situation. I have a 2010 Honda City manual and was in the market for an automatic SUV.

I finally got the Tucson diesel automatic. I did test drive the Jeep Compass diesel automatic too. My observations were along the same lines as yours:
1. Ride: The Jeep Compass had a much stiffer ride compared to the Tucson.
2. Interior Space: The Tucson has much more interior space both in front and in the rear. In fact, when I sat in the Jeep Compass' driver seat, I felt like I was placed in a thermocol mould with the door and center console wrapped around me tight. While this might be good for fast switch-backs going to a hill station, 99.9% of the time it feels like a lack of space.
3. Price: Given that the Jeep offers the diesel automatic only in the 4x4, I felt I’m paying a few lakhs extra for something I don’t want at all.
4. Gearbox: The new gen 8-speed Hyundai torque converter gearbox is brilliant. As many have noted in Team-BHP, I rarely find it picking the wrong gear. And whenever it does pick the wrong gear, it’s always on an incline. The Jeep's 9-speed gearbox feels dim-witted in comparison.

Some additional things I wanted to mention:
1. Safety: This is a CKD, with some localization from what I read. Globally, the Tucson is a Euro-NCAP 5-star car. So, the one you get here in India should be very close to that (if not the same) given that localization generally starts with non-critical parts.
2. NVH insulation: Much better on the Tucson.
3. Servicing Cost: The Tucson comes with a complimentary 3-year service and maintenance package. So practically, you will be paying little (not nothing as Hyundai would have you believe) for servicing for the first 3 years.
4. Warranty: You get something called a Wonder Warranty with the Tucson that gives you flexibility to select years / kms from 3 options. So, if your usage is less, you can select a 5 Year / 50000 kms warranty. And you don’t have to pay anything extra for this, this is how the base warranty is structured on the Tucson.
5. Ground Clearance: As moongazer also mentioned, the figure of 170mm is mostly laden, not unladen. I've NEVER had a problem with the Tucson's ground clearance over road humps even at speed with 3 people in the car. Having driven a 2010 Honda City, I’m all too familiar with the "Crap! Speed bump! Quickly, turn turn turn! KAARRRRRR! Damn it!" routine.
6. Discounts: You should be able to get a sizeable discount on the Tucson.
7. Waiting period: Very less with the Tucson. For me, from booking date to PDI date was 5 days. Manufacturing date as per the VIN was the previous month and SA told me it was about a week before my booking date. Jeep had a 1 month+ waiting period when i was checking. I know you are in no hurry, but just thought it worth mentioning.
8. Tyres: Despite my Bridgestone hopes and dreams, I got mine with Nexen tyres. As many in Team-BHP have noted Nexens are relatively noisy and do not last very long.
9. Parts availability: This car will become "previous-gen" in a year and is a CKD to boot. But I think out of all manufacturers, Hyundai would be very close to the top of the list to be able to get spares for old cars. Non-critical parts will get delayed as other BHPians have mentioned, but you will get them. My mom's 10-year-old Elantra had its fuel pipe lunched on by Mr Rat. We were able to get a new fuel line in a day.

To be fair to the Jeep, wanted to point out its plus points:
1. Looks: Gorgeous! No denying that. It also looks more like a traditional SUV which I personally prefer. The Tucson was lower down in the looks department for me.
2. Handling: Like a car! Will be brilliant in ghat sections.
3. Build: Main battle tank! It feels heavier in build compared to the Tucson. Closing the doors was like doing the Chest-Fly exercise.

Why didn’t I want to wait for the new Tucson and was fine with the current one:
1. I absolutely hate Hyundai's new over-the-top, look-at-meee, i-is-very-different design language that they have in the current Creta/Elantra and new-gen Tucson. The current gen Tucson is understated and looks classy and elegant. It’s like James Bond in a tuxedo vs Lady Gaga at a concert .
2. It will be more expensive than the current version by 2-3 lakhs at least looking at the typical increase in price with a new generation Hyundai car. And there will no discounts for a while. This will make the final wallet damage even more. My budget was already stretched so the new gen Tuscon would snap it.
3. Launch of the new gen should be mid to end of 2022 based on I have read and heard. If i had to wait that long, I would have scratched my already old SUV-itch so much it would have turned gangrenous!
4. Call me old fashioned, I personally don’t find the interiors as outdated as some others do. The well-built nature and premium quality of materials overshadows the slightly old design for me.

[AirWind]

@pms - Any reason you have left out the Citroen Air Cross C5?

Between your shortlist, the Tucson would be my pick over the Compass for all the reasons you have listed... but, if I were to shop and knowing new gen Tucson is around the corner, I would buy a pre-owned rather than a new and taking a depreciation hit.

The below 35k done example from Cars24 seems great but this is the older 6 speed AT AWD, and the gearbox should still be much better than the 9 speeder from Jeep based on my experience from my Safari which borrows the same GB.

https://www.cars24.com/buy-used-Hyun...ru-1025790509/