[ChauhanSaurabh]

My garage consists of a XL6 6AT.
My Figo diesel was doing fine until 2022, when we felt the need for a petrol automatic. After test driving multiple automatics ranging from Baleno to Creta nothing clicked the way any car owned (Figo, Polo, Punto) until that point. I was finding it hard to decide on anything and wife didn’t want to drive the Ford diesel anymore. So finally, we chose the method of elimination and as a first timer Maruti purchase went with office car lease. Wife chose XL6 as she liked the versatility, space, refinement, and ease of driving it even within city limits. We chased Scorpio N booking for few months, but wife was finding it very hard to be used as only car for all purposes. Plus, the insane running cost for our 20k kms a year average with Petrol Scorpio N held us back.
We are a big-time road trip people. Even with our hatchbacks it has been car over flights for vacations in India. Apart from built quality XL6 has proved to be much more than we expected on all the fronts. What started off as 3-year commitment is taking up a shape such that my wife intends to retain this car even after lease tenure for a longer period.

Dilemma:
Before Covid we had two cars for a very brief period, and we plan to go two cars setup at least in a year from now after arrival of baby next year. XL6 is terrific on roads but the trip to Spiti exposed some shortcomings. I could hear some sounds from the chassis under hard flex during the trip as well as on certain uneven off-road patches after returning to Noida. I guess that is where a monocoque shell or 2WD limits are. For highways XL6 is an awesome car. I am in no mood or capability to spend 20+ lakhs on a Thar 5 door in near future. With the ongoing price correction from Maruti, I have Jimny Zeta AT offer at 12.2 L OTR. I am in huge dilemma whether:
• Jimny will be sufficient for highways clubbed mountain trips in North where?
• Considering the current price point and simple interest calculations, should I buy it now or defer for a year?
• Will Jimny be ideal for city and hills use case?

[Dippy]

I think the Jimny will go well with our XL6 and it surely sounds like a nice 2 car garage. While the Jimny may not be ideal for outright highway driving, it will come into its own in the hills.

For road trips that consist of only highway driving, you can use the XL6. And for trips that have a mix of highway and hilly driving the Jimny will be a piece of cake. The Jimny will also work well in the city.

I feel with the prices on offer you should very well go ahead and pick up the Jimny now rather than wait for later.

Happy shopping

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by ChauhanSaurabh

• Jimny will be sufficient for highways clubbed mountain trips in North where?
• Considering the current price point and simple interest calculations, should I buy it now or defer for a year?
• Will Jimny be ideal for city and hills use case?

100% just go for it since you already have a freeway mile muncher. And you live within a day of the mountains. I think the Jimny will be done justice. And the car is pretty good enough in stop go traffic and general city run about.

Buy it now! The discounts are good.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by ChauhanSaurabh

• Jimny will be sufficient for highways clubbed mountain trips in North where?
• Considering the current price point and simple interest calculations, should I buy it now or defer for a year?
• Will Jimny be ideal for city and hills use case?

Are you sure you wanna go for another Maruti, with the same engine, with an inferior 4 speed automatic?

Definitely the Jimny has certain advantages over the XL 6, however I'm not sure the Jimny will perform anywhere near as good as the XL 6 on the highway. Over broken patches, yes. However, reaching the broken patches from your city is equally important.

[shancz]

+1 for the Jimny. I've been eyeing it as a city car for some time now. At present the discounts are quite good.
City and hills I think that's what they built it for

[pheru8b]

Go for the Jimny!

CITY:
It is a surprisingly good city car thanks to narrow dimensions and brilliant handling, 4 doors, adequate luggage space, massive rear camera and side view mirrors, and a powerful A/C unit, though the mileage is just around 10kmpl. If you live in a city like Mumbai with several bad roads and speedbreakers that are sometimes more like carbreakers, it makes even more sense.

OUTSTATION:
It is a great outstation car, too, and adequately powered for highways as well, if you plan on driving upto 100 kmph. No, it wont leave anyone behind in the dust, but there are no issues during overtaking, climbing hills, or anything!

I have a Hyundai Venue 7AT and a Jimny AT at gome, very similar to your garage, and I end up using the Jimny a lot more than the Venue, because while the Venue is superior in almost every way, the Jimny is just soooo much fun!

Enjoy!

[AKSarkar1]

Sure, having 2 marutis in a garage is never a bad idea! But then again, do you really want 2 Maruti’s in your garage?

I get the appeal of a Jimny and the practicality of an XL6 but I would drop the latter for something more interesting and modern. Essentially for me an XL6 is a high-end Ertiga which has had some plastic surgery done to become more upmarket (NO HATE, it is still a great car) albeit an old platform.

I would replace the XL6 with something a bit more exciting and contemporary, can be some other Suzuki model too!

[shankar.balan]

@ChauhanSaurabh

A great choice.

Personally I very much appreciate the XL6 and its excellent and comfortable highway behaviour. It is a very good car but sadly under-appreciated in India only because it lacks ‘snob-value’. My good friend owns one and I LOVE riding in it. It is really excellently comfortable.

Don’t stress; because ‘snob-value’ is only for those who value ‘form’ and ‘appearance’ and ‘impression-creation’ over ‘practicality’ and ‘function’.

And ref the Jimny - well it is a very lovable, capable and solid little thing, with a strong genetic and evolutionary heritage behind it.

Again, don’t stress, because of what people say about the Jimny vs other ‘True SUV’s with ‘Butch Road Presence’ and all that.

Both the Jimny and the XL6, can very easily, simply and non-invasively, be given a little boost, by way of the ‘Throttle Controller’ which helps enhance throttle responses by reducing the momentary lag between when you press the accelerator and when the vehicle surges forward.

Your instinctive choices of vehicles, as articulated in your post, are indeed very good ones. I would very probably have considered the same choices, had my needs and wants been the same as yours.

[HTC]

Originally Posted by ChauhanSaurabh

My garage consists of a XL6 6AT.
My Figo diesel was doing fine until 2022..
I am in no mood or capability to spend 20+ lakhs on a Thar 5 door in near future. With the ongoing price correction from Maruti, I have Jimny Zeta AT offer at 12.2 L OTR. I am in huge dilemma whether:
• Jimny will be sufficient for highways clubbed mountain trips in North where?
• Considering the current price point and simple interest calculations, should I buy it now or defer for a year?
• Will Jimny be ideal for city and hills use case?

Buddy- just go for it. I'm a Figo D owner as well. It is indeed very difficult to find cars which connect with the driver like Figo and Punto does. Even polo can't come close to Figo's drivability.

Now coming to your highway behavior expectations, keep your expectations low. Every reviewer is saying that it is very comfortable till 100-120kmph speeds. This should suffice. With more speed cameras coming up everyday, I don't think we can do 100+ speeds easily these days. So let's accept the reality and settle. What say? This is coming from a guy who is on the brighter side of 40s and still having 99% black hair. Secret- 'expect least and be happy with what you get' . Though the actual reason could be the Kaveri river water I have used throughout my life for drinking and bathing lol.

Jokes apart, the price of 12.2L on road for Zeta AT is crazy. For zeta AT, the best they could offer in Bangalore was 14.17L with zero extras. Only road tax+tcs+insurance. Can you share the price breakup pls. I will send it to my nexa SA and try to make him feel bad for me. Heck even Zeta MT is 13+ lacs after offers. Phew!

Don't wait for later. My haunch is that Maruti will stop the discounts, raise the prices once old stock gets cleared and produce them for Indian market on made-to-order basis along with export production. So GRAB the opportunity if you have a use case or not. Infact, I would push you to stretch for Alpha variant as you will get great feature for minimal price difference which you can't install later ( uv cut glasses, cruise, auto headlamp, push start etc). Your spouse will appreciate these features and might even compliment you for your thoughtfulness and decision making abilities ( which we guys don't get that often)

Good luck and update us on what happens next.

[ChauhanSaurabh]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Are you sure you wanna go for another Maruti, with the same engine, with an inferior 4 speed automatic?

However, reaching the broken patches from your city is equally important.

I had the same notion about 4AT. But after living with XL6 6AT and driving Jimny 4AT multiple times, i feel 4AT is a better suited one for Jimny. The part about reaching to broken patches, i feel will be similar to XL6. None is a sprinter, rather a relaxed cruiser. By that I mean 100-110 max. Its not that I am choosing this speed range due to nothing powerful falls in budget but my driving style has shifted more to a cruiser. More to tell about myself, I have moved to a 110-125 cruising even on my R3 which I very well know can easily manager higher speeds without any strain.

Originally Posted by pheru8b

Go for the Jimny!

CITY:
though the mileage is just around 10kmpl. If you live in a city like Mumbai with several bad roads and speedbreakers that are sometimes more like carbreakers, it makes even more sense.

I have a Hyundai Venue 7AT and a Jimny AT at gome, very similar to your garage, and I end up using the Jimny a lot more than the Venue, because while the Venue is superior in almost every way, the Jimny is just soooo much fun!

Enjoy!

Whao Jimny preferred over a Turbo DCT, that speaks a lot for the car. Roads in my city are in great shape.

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

But then again, do you really want 2 Maruti’s in your garage?

I get the appeal of a Jimny and the practicality of an XL6 but I would drop the latter for something more interesting and modern.

I would replace the XL6 with something a bit more exciting and contemporary, can be some other Suzuki model too!

I used to be the person who thought I would never buy a Maruti until a couple of years back. But the peace of mind and fuss free maintenance is what is pushing me to have a car that does not throw tantrums or sensors failing every now and then. I understand your thought, and even i feel the long term suggestion for XL6 you gave looks apt. But for a 4wd options are severely limited for a budget conscious.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

@ChauhanSaurabh

Your instinctive choices of vehicles, as articulated in your post, are indeed very good ones. I would very probably have considered the same choices, had my needs and wants been the same as yours.

My clan does relate to Big butch SUVs and all, you caught it absolutely right. All of my car choices have been against the general wave in my circle. So the size debate, is not even a consideration for me. I do realize Jimny is falling into wants bucket more than needs, but it's the only car I have felt about the same way I did for Punto.

Originally Posted by HTC

Buddy- just go for it. I'm a Figo D owner as well. It is indeed very difficult to find cars which connect with the driver like Figo and Punto does. Even polo can't come close to Figo's drivability.

Now coming to your highway behavior expectations, keep your expectations low. Every reviewer is saying that it is very comfortable till 100-120kmph speeds. minimal price difference which you can't install later ( uv cut glasses, cruise, auto headlamp, push start etc).

I used to be the guy who had a remapped Punto and Figo, trying all sort of spring, shocks, tyre profile to get that stable ride and cornering adventures. But since last 2-3 years my driving style has shifted a lot. Call it age, maturity or what but I find charm in steady cruising rather than quick acceleration. Refinement and comfort with longer range(my body range not fuel tank) gives me more pleasure now. I would choose a faster car like Thar only for it higher safety, but not for 0-100 numbers now.

On your suggestion for variant, I gave it a thought. I do have UV cut on XL6, and they can be installed in Jimny as well just like XL6 older model from Maruti spares. Headlights and rims with Zeta gives me opportunity to upgrade as per my choice. Basically I have my headlight kit from Figo. The premium just for Cruise in Alpha is huge for me as anyways the discounts are less on Alpha.

[jungleroars]

My personal opinion

You are considering Jimny because of your one-off experience in Spiti. Will it be same for each of your trip? How many trips where you really require off-roading capabilities will you plan? Imagine, just for few kms off-roading or bad roads, you are going to buy a vehicle which is not as comfortable as far as highway drives are concerned (at least to reach till those remote places).

Think twice before you invest in a vehicle which has restricted use case. Just my two cents.

[ChauhanSaurabh]

Originally Posted by jungleroars

you are going to buy a vehicle which is not as comfortable as far as highway drives are concerned (at least to reach till those remote places).

Can you please elaborate this part? May be I am overlooking things apart from engine.

[kaushikduttajsr]

Interesting thread.

The Jimny pulls my heart like no other sub 20l car in India. But i wouldn't want to pair it with my current steed - Ford Freestyle. With an XL6? Hell yeah!

You've clearly stated that speed doesn't matter as much as cruisability. The Jimny complements the XL6 very well. It's butch and has the road presence to be the perfect city drive. It has also got the ability to leasurely take you to the mountains and then show you a very different avatar.

Go for it. It's the perfect combo!