Hi All,
I considered myself to be well aware of the options available in the market until today. Today, I am not able to decide what car to choose from
The reason: I have always believed in buying a used car for the VFM quotient that a good deal offers. My earlier rides have all been pre-worshiped. But suddenly, my company is now offering a lease deal and the tax benefits are actually quite good to ignore. So now I am thinking of buying a new one and not able to decide on
"What Car?"
Hope fellow folks here will be able to guide me on my needs:
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Automatic: Mandatory. Daily running will be 75-80 Kms (all weekdays) with a 50:50 mix of B2B traffic and highways. Highways are not traffic free but there is a steady flow of traffic on those. Do not want AMT due to the jerky nature of those.
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Reliable: Will be the only car at home and used daily. Hence reliability is very important. Can't afford long stays at service stations and expensive service bills. So those DSG options from VW are out.
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Fuel: I am immaterial to the fuel but do not want CNG. Too long queues at CNG stations due to large number of taxis in Mumbai and can't afford to waste that much time. With 80Km per weekday (80*22 = 1760 KMs for weekdays) and occasional weekend rides (~200Km per month), total running per month is expected to be nearly 2000 Km. I guess diesel makes sense here but with narrow gap between the prices of petrol and diesel, it will take a long time for me to recover the difference of ~2L (average difference between petrol and diesel variants in this range I believe). Your opinion might help me here in choosing the right fuel/car.
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Safety: Important. With the conditions of our roads, the road rage that we all see and face and the importance of our life, safety is very important. Good safety features (2 Airbags min, ABS, Build Quality, etc) are hence important.
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Car Shape: Immaterial. But given the state of the roads in Mumbai and Thane, and my long daily commute - I would need a comfortable ride. So a proper sedan or the pseudo SUVs would be better choice I guess. I am open to a good hatchback as well, if it ticks all the boxes.
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Budget: Strictly under 15L OTR Mumbai/Thane. No flexibility here.
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Driving Pleasure and In-car Features: Should not be boring to drive. I would want a pure Fun-To-Drive car but that I know is impossible in this budget. In-car features are not very important to me so don't need an exhaustive list. My car driving history will indicate the same below.
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My driving history: Zen (before the Estilo disaster), Ritz (the best hatchback) and Honda City (my current ride, 3rd Gen). Loved all of those cars. Not extensive on feature list but each one was/is a great car. Zen was very FTD, Ritz was very practical car with good seating position and a good engine perfect for the dimensions and the weight of the car. Honda City is a great car for long drives and has a proven NA petrol engine. It is manual and hence I am looking to replace.
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Time to buy: By Jan/Feb 2019. So that I can get some good discounts on 2018 year models.
Cars considered so far:
Swift/Dzire/Breeza/I20 ATs: All ruled out as these are either AMT or boring to drive
Polo GT TSI/Ameo: Scared of the VW group for their service bills and dealership issues.
Amaze V AT (i-DTEC): Do not like the looks of it. Otherwise it is a decent fit for the criteria.
Ertiga VXI AT: In consideration. Will be boring to drive I know but still in list due to the Space and utility it offers.
Nexon XZA Diesel: In consideration but have limited feedback from folks around and it is an AMT, hence worried. Anyone who has it or has driven it can help please.
EcoSport Titanium+ AT: In consideration and one of my three favorites. But is Petrol a wise decision, given by running?
Verna Diesel AT: In consideration and second of my three favorites. Issues would be the GC on these pathetic Mumbai roads and the crammed interior.
Honda City Petrol CVT: In consideration but worried about the deteriorating build quality recently and the Mumbai roads. Love the engine and the gearbox combo though.
Creta AT: The third of my three favorites. But in Petrol the very low FE worries me. 1.6 Diesel AT is not in budget. 1.4 Diesel has no AT and is too basic.
So I need help in deciding between EcoSport, Verna, City and Creta.
Creta - Is it worth to consider the Creta S 1.4? I will miss the AT gearbox in it and a lot of features. But what I will get is a Diesel Creta with a good mileage. I like the Creta for what it offers - Good Seating and a ride on these broken Mumbai roads.
EcoSport - I wish it came with a Diesel Automatic. Worth buying a petrol AT? I don't care if it is considered as a downgrade from my current ride - Honda City.
City/Verna - GC issues and ride quality issues on Mumbai roads and the recent build quality issues with City. Is that worth?
Wild Card: If I do compromise on the AT (very unlikely but still) like in case of Creta, then shall I also consider the
Marazzo?. That, on paper, seems to be a good option. I hope by the time I will make a purchase, ownership reviews will be out on T-BHP. But then skipping AT requirement will also confuse me a lot. There are many other options too.
I am 6'2" tall and have a good build and hence a good seat is important. The car will be driven by me 90% of the time and for more than 70% of the time it will have only 2 adult passengers and one kid in it.