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Hi Guys,

I am looking for a car for attaching it with Uber/ OLA. I am mentioning the shortlisted cars along with their Positives & Negatives. I am looking for your valuable inputs.

1 Wagon R CNG- This is the first and foremost choice.

Positives - Comes with a factory fitted CNG kit.
Will have a warranty and there is no tension of getting the CNG kit endorsed on the RC.
Low on maintenance.

Negatives- On Road price is 5.25 lacs.
No Discounts.

Wagon R Petrol LXI -

Positives - Low on maintenance.

Have discount of around 25K - 30K.

Negatives - Will have to fit in the CNG kit from outside and will have to wait for the kit to get endorsed on the RC.

No Warranty because of the CNG kit fitted from outside.

Ritz LXI-

Positives -

Costs 4.6 lacs on road. Same as Wagon R Petrol and Cheaper by at least 50K as compared to Wagon R CNG.

Better Car as compared to Wagon R. I am assuming since the build quality of Ritz is superior as compared to a Wagon R it should last long and have less wear and tear. For example - The suspension on Ritz is superior to Wagon R and it should last long as compared to Ritz. Engine is more powerful and I am hoping it would have better life as compared to Wagon R. One of my very close friends have a Zen Estilo running on CNG. The car has completed 1.3 lac KMs out of those the car has been driven 80K Kms on CNG and the car still does not lose power and there are no signs of engine giving up soon. So Ritz should be even better.

Negatives-

Will have to fit in the CNG kit from outside and will have to wait for the kit to get endorsed on the RC.

No Warranty because of the CNG kit fitted from outside.

Wagon R AMT-

Positives- 35K discounts on AMT VXI version.

You get a fully loaded car with AMT.

With AMT driver fatigue should be less and he should be able to cover more trips in a day.

With AMT life of clutch should be longer.

Negatives-

Will have to fit in the CNG kit from outside and will have to wait for the kit to get endorsed on the RC.

No Warranty because of the CNG kit fitted from outside.

I have no clue of life of AMT module and its replacement cost. Also how much would clutch last in an AMT.

Used Wagon R LXI CNG-

There are lot of used Wagon R available in the used car market with Prices ranging from 3 lacs to 3.5 lacs.

Positives-

Price difference of more than a lac while buying a car.

Negatives -

The only negative in this case is the hassle of converting a private vehicle to a commercial vehicle.

Please suggest what do you guys think.

I would say go for a compact Sedan like Swift DZire or Hyundai Xcent. It gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of luggage carrying capacity compared to a hatchback, and also the fact that the same car can be used as a Mini as well as a Prime category vehicle.

I think WagonR CNG makes sense in this case as you will be getting warranty which is really important since you are using it as a cab.
Also, most of the cabs we see with Uber/Ola are WagonR and the vehicle in itself is a proven work horse.

If a hatchback is what you're planning to buy, the WagonR CNG (factory fitted) makes sense, but I'm also wondering why you aren't considering a Diesel car ?
Maybe the Dzire or Etios ? Those 2 are quite common now in the taxi segment and also have the boot space for additional luggage (especially cab rides from/to the bus stand/Railway station/Airport).

Wagon R CNG makes sense. The extra cost is worth the hassle that you free yourself of. You may find a better model of Celerio CNG at similar price with more offers.

The third option is Ritz. Seeing the number of Ritz CNG cabs in NCR, its conversion should not be a problem and a competent convertor will also help you in getting the RC endorsement. What Ritz will also benefit with is that it comes in a superior category in Ola (Micro for Wagon R vs Mini) which may result in more revenue.

You also have option of getting the previous gen i10, still on sale in 1.1 avatar, and adding CNG kit to it. You should be able to get good discounts on it too, and its another fairly reliable car. There is also option of fitting CNG kit at Hyundai, preserving warranty.

Court has passed order for Uber and Ola to convert all their cabs operating within Delhi to CNG. Diesel is not a viable alternative.
Source

If it has to be a hatchback WagonR CNG is the right choice.
But for running as a taxi a Dzire or Etios would be the ideal choice.

I'd suggest going for a car that can double up under UberGo and UberX, so the driver gets more flexibility to chose a trip as soon as possible. Something similar might be possible in Ola too.

I think DZire suits the bill; perhaps something like Etios too?

From my talks with Uber drivers, I deduced that the Etios is a big favorite among their circles. Apparantly long term maintenance costs are cheaper than the DZire or any other competitor, it comes with loads of space with a wide rear bench and cavernous boot and has a decently robust suspension setup for the long haul. I would say for the taxi market, the Etios is perfect. It could also double up as an UberX and Go like many have already mentioned.

Go for the Toyota Etios because of the spacious interiors, low maintainence costs and good mileage. Many Ola/Uber drivers I have talked to are happy with the Etios. You can drive it with Uber Go/X or Ola Mini/Prime which is more profitable.

Also, as a customer I would prefer the Toyota Etios anyday over the cramped and barebones Swift Dzire Tour. You can also go for a used Tourist Toyota Etios if budget is an issue.

A Swift Dzire is the most bang for buck option. To begin with it's a sedan so it will come under the Prime category unlike the Wagon R and Ritz that would come under the Micro category (Ola Micro). That means you'd earn higher fare per ride. You can also consider the Etios which is an equally reliable and competent product. Retrofitting a CNG kit shouldn't be much of an issue considering Maruti's are known for their bulletproof reliability so even if the warranty gets cancelled it shouldn't be much of a worry.
If you have to choose only between the Wagon R and the Ritz I'd suggest you go for the Ritz, it being a much better product overall in terms of comfort, space and build quality.

Depends on who is driving. If you are going to use services of a driver, WagonR CNG should be a good option. The factory fitted CNG will be a boon.

Incase you are going to drive the vehicle, you can consider an automatic vehicle - eg WagonR AMT with CNG fitted from outside. Or any other petrol automatic fitted with CNG kit.

Frankly, the choice of car depends on 2 factors -
1.The amount of money you are willing to spend.
2.Who is going to drive the car - unless the driver is known to you and you are certain he won't leave soon, you can go for an automatic vehicle. Else buy the regular WagonR CNG.


Though personally I feel if you offer a good car (eg automatic), even the drivers will prefer to work for you.

I suggest:
WagonR CNG if driver driven.
WagonR AMT CNG if self driven. I have sat in one such car! It was very convenient and the driver had no regrets about CNG + AMT. Mind you he drove at a leisurely pace.

My standard feedback on X vs Go booking is that the average cabbie gets like 1-2 X bookings a day tops. Hence spending a few lakhs extra for Swift is just NOT worth it. Further, when the rates get hiked in line with the actual long term sustainable charges, then X bookings will drop further.

On top of it, Swift doesn't last more than 100-110 km/tank supposedly while the non AMT wagonR lasts almost 30-50% extra. Given how incentives keep getting tighter and CNG queues keep getting longer, I would only suggest a WagonR.

Hi Guys,

Thanks to your valuable suggestions. So it seems like it will be a Wagon R CNG. I am not interested in compact sedans. since its not only the car which decides the category in which you drive, it is also customer ratings that decide if it will be in Prime category or not. Hence spending that extra money is not worth it. Me along with my friend are looking at building a fleet if all goes well with the first car. So we would want to buy cars which would save cost less so that we could buy more cars with our buying capacity. Remember, all the cars will be financed, so buying power will play a major role in building the fleet.

Go with the WagonR CNG only. My reason for that is the irregular topsy turvy government policy regarding cars these days, specially in NCR. For instance the recent banning of aftermarket CNG kits by the Delhi government. So it is advisable to go for a company fitted unit.

Why not the tried and tested Dacia Logan ala Mahindra Verito? It has a solid build, firm suspension and torquey engine helps in NCR - the Etios is too flimsy a build for driving in NCR crazy traffic (will take a dent if a bicycle hits it).