[city2491]

Hello

My friend requires a 7 seater car for the family. They have a kid who is physically challenged.

They need enough space for the kid to sit, and the car needs to have enough height to carry him in easily, and a fair bit of boot space without putting any seats down.

Budget is strictly 18L, and the car should be reliable and decently specced.

Please share your suggestions for this particular requirement.

[speedfreak77]

For a strict 18L budget you really don’t have a lot of options in the 7 seater market. I’d say the best VFM car you’ll come across in this price bracket will be the AX3 7 seater XUV700. Even the Scorpio S7 has a lot of room, features and space to offer but with a new one rumoured to come out soon, I’d stay away from this. There’s also the Tata Safari but its way above the budget and the after sales is troublesome. Barebones Safari will be 18.5 Lakhs. Harrier has a lot of space and comfort to offer if your friend can adjust with the 5 seats. My suggestion would be that if your friend isn’t bothered by the upcoming facelift/new gen model of the scorpio then he should buy the S7 Scorpio. XUV700 waiting periods are petrifying and the Tata duos base variants will be above the budget.

Cheers.

[AZT]

The Kia Carens is on the horizon. Maybe wait for that pricing before deciding. Should be solidly between the XL6 and the Innova.

[asmr]

Originally Posted by city2491

fair bit of boot space without putting any seats down.

There are not many options under 18L that meet this particular spec. If "fair bit of boot space" would be met with ~200L of boot space, the Ertiga, Marazzo and may be XL6 (6 seater?) are the only choices as of now as far as I know.

Innova even at the base variant would be 20L OTR. And barebones version of any car is probably not that much value for money. Bolero Neo might have the height and space, but with 5 seats only and that too hit or miss on quality/service from what I have read.

[careind]

I myself am on the hunt for a good 6/7 seater with usable 3rd row and a decent boot. I could only find Ertiga/XL6 and Carnival that has a worthwhile combination of the above.
Marazzo is to be discontinued, still pre-owned route should workout fine. Spares availability should not be a problem.
By the looks of it The Carens might also not fit the bill.
Now, if you are looking into 5 seaters with decent bootspace, then you have a whole lot of them to choose from.
Given the budget, it either has to be a 5 seater/Ertiga duo/ used Marazzo.

[Bhupesh_2628]

Originally Posted by city2491

They need enough space for the kid to sit, and the car needs to have enough height to carry him in easily, and a fair bit of boot space without putting any seats down.

Hi,

I want to share few points with you for the cars you are considering that's suggested by BHPians:

1) I would advise you to bring the test drive cars to your home for his convenience.

2) Its the comfort of your kid that matters the most. Hence, you need to make him 'feel' the car - opening/closing doors, seating comfort, all room spaces (like shoulder room, legroom, headroom, under thigh support, ambience, ergonomics for him etc.).

3) Drive around on mixed roads & take his feedback accordingly.

4) Buy the car which suits him the best. Take multiple test drives if required.

Because he is the 'real' user - only he can tell whether the car was fulfilling his needs or not. We can never replace the actual real user in this case. Hence, feedback from your kid is very important.

[QuentinTino]

Remember when Anand Mahindra got a “Disabled friendly” XUV700 built for the Para-olympian Deepa Malik?
I think if your friend enquires and requests for it from the right people, he would be able to get one custom built for his son too (provided he’s willing to wait for it).

Here are some pictures attached for reference.