Team-BHP - Help: What car for my wife

Hi!
I'm a fairly new member at team-bhp.
Here I am, now, looking for some help with all your expert/valuable suggestions.

I want to buy a car for my wife. Although she has a driver's license, she still needs to get used to (heck!)Bengaluru traffic. I'd put down the requirements:

1. Commute 45-50Kms a day for 5 days a week.
2. She has to commute Hebbal-Whitefield via Outer Ring Road, KR Puram, which is notorious for jams.
3. Having an a/c is preferable.
4. I'm looking for a reliable car and a big car(for safety; she might sometimes get late) as the route is infested with loaded lorries, reckless cabbies(Indica, Sumo, Tempo traveller, all kinds of taxis), overspeeding Volvos, etc.,(The list just goes on :))
5. She might have to pick/drop our 1yr old son, not now in another 6 months.

Considering all these factors, I have these on my mind(good used ones)
1. Either buy a Scorpio pay huge EMIs :)
2. Getting a Maruti Gypsy(by the way, my wife just loves Gypsy)

What would you guys suggest?

Thanks in advance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vtejasd (Post 1636932)

Adding to the above, I would also want to know if a Gypsy is suitable to drive long distances on BAD roads.

OKay,you are the 1st one to mention Scorpio, Gypsy while referring to women drivers. If not, you could expect regular inputs from readers here suggesting Alto, Wagon R, Spark and itsy witsy teenie weenie cars for women. For the life of me, I do not know why only these tiny cars are suggested on this forum.
I am not sure if a Gypsy will be suitable for commuting with a 1 year old. I cannot comment on either a Gypsy or a Scorpio. My purpose of commenting here was that it is refreshing to hear that you are not restricting to only look at tiny cars for your wife.

I would any day suggest for a Scorpio (untill your wife is seriously considering Offroading), no offience gypsy lovers but Scorpio would be Economical (Diesel), easy to maintain, much more comfortable (AC etc etc) & would not really mind traffic & bad roads at all.

PS : You can also keep a driver to enhance the luxury though :)

The route mentioned by you looks very familiar :Frustrati

I would suggest that you get driver for your wife, In any case look for an Automatic Transmission vehicle so that it can be easily driven.

whether it would be an SUV or a SEDAN or and any other form factor, i will leave it to you.

I would suggest the i20 Diesel AT instead... Nothing to suggest that riding in a large SUV would necessarily be safer, short of someone deliberately trying to force you off the road...

And the top end i20 comes loaded with lots of safety features including side airbags. Would also be easier to drive...

Between the two choices given Scorpio would be the better bet due to the ride and safety features available.

Hi,

I am also in the same dilemma to buy a car for my wife.
She prefers some SUV :uncontrol.mostly scorpio SLE in Siver color.
But i don't have any idea as of now.
But my pa suggested to buy a second hand car with Ac and power steering within a range of 2 lakhs.
Once she familiars with chennai traffic,buy a new SUV for her.
I too inclined towards this idea.
Awaiting my better-half's react :)

Thanks everyone, really appreciate each of your valuable suggestions!

I want a big car for my wife so that she is safe from some of those crappy cabbies who want to have fun by troubling lady drivers/riders, so no small cars.

I looked around on this forum and found tonnes of information on the Gypsy, perhaps I should have scouted for info on Gypsy before I posted.
However, better late than never, I have decided that Gypsy would not suit some of my wife's requirement of driving a car to work - difficult to manage with a small kid, difficult to leave behind valuables in the cabin while parked, going by some of the reviews its not very comfortable to the occupants on broken roads, no PS, so on, else all is superb.
Also I found out that its a bit difficult to buy a new one or find a good used one.

So, I now see the Scorpio as a lone choice here or could I take into account Bolero also?
Let me look around for info on Bolero also while you guys can put your valuable suggestions here for me.

Thanks again to each of you!!

Let me try to make your decision making simple
1. Since you travel 40-50 KMs a day, you need a diesel car.
2. Since it is driven in the city, it must be compact.
3. Since it is driven by your wife, it must have light controls.
4. It needs to have ABS and air bag. The size of the car does not determine how safe it is.

Let me rule out Gypsy becuase it does not satisy 1, 2, 3 and 4. Moreover, Gypsy is more suited for OFF roading and it does not have any creature comforts ( A/C, Power steering)
Scorpio is also ruled out due to point 2. Since your wife is inexperienced, I don't think scorpio is a good choice. It's handling and braking are also not great.

The cars I would suggest are
1. Maruti Ritz/Swift Diesel
2. Hyundai 120 diesel

Quote:

Originally Posted by pramodpk (Post 1638328)

+
One of his main preference is a BIG CAR. The above 3 cars as suggested are small hatch back cars and it may not serve the purpose as he is anticipating. If scorpio and Bolero both are ruled out then, it is better to look for a sedan where he will get all the features"?:D

I'd say you are on the borderline in terms of montly kms driven to decide between petrol and diesel. You stilll can live with a petrol, even with 50 kms a day, 5 days a week.

Unless you are so very clear of wanting a 'big car' only, my first suggestion would have been the i10 AT. Nothing beats it in VFM and city driving ease. Its Petrol. Say 5 L. (There's one on the classifieds also if I am not mistaken.)

If you want to go a little bigger, comes the i20 AT (no diesel here again). Only petrol. But you shell out 3 L more than the i10.

A step further and probably 1 lac even more, takes you to the SX4 AT (Petrol) or Verna AT (here you have diesel option).

If you want big and strong and scary and still an automatic for a little bit of ease of driving, Scorpio AT at close to 11 Lacs.

One advice - stick to the automatics. She'd be far more relaxed and at ease while driving such long distances thru traffic. Good luck.

I know this is not on your list but hey, its a "big" car. Want to buy a second hand car and want peace of mind, safety and comfort, why don't you look at the Toyota Innova, though the van like look may not be to her liking, it still seems a more complete package and hassle free. My friends who own the innova never have any complaints about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nairrk (Post 1638434)

His prefers a big car because he feels bigger cars are safer. Bigger cars are always not safer. In that case Ambassador would have been safer that most cars. I know the above cars suggested are hatch backs. I suggested them due to ease of driving in city for an inexperienced driver. Otherwise scorpio would have been fine.

I do not want to recommend you anything as personally I have not driven any of the above. But what I heard that Scorpio got a poor crash rating when they wanted to Introduce for US. I agree with others Scorpio would be always better than GYPSY. Regarding road presence yes Scopio does has the ability to influence others on road especially cabbies.