[locusjag]

I see a lot of people commenting that the 4 speed Jattco 405e Torque Converter used by Maruti is city-friendly. Actually, it is better out on the highway as its 4th gear has a taller gear than the MT's 5th gear. The AT's 4th cog's gear ratio makes the Brezza AT/S-Cross Petrol AT very relaxed and capable of cruising out in the open.

It is in the city that the 4 speed gearbox hunts for the right gear when your speed keeps varying and this is where a 6 speed AT gearbox will really help. Not to mention instances where you need to kickdown to a lower gear to overtake.

And yes, the lack of a flappy paddle shifting mechanism (as Clarkson would put it) in the 4 speed offered by Maruti is a downer; CVT cars like the Jazz do give you that option.

[NarediAni7518]

Going by your post, IMO the Honda Jazz is just the perfect car for you. Plus, in a sea of Maruti Balenoes and i20s, the Jazz will surely stand out, and not the forget ‘ That Honda Waali Feeling ‘ . If I were you I would have gone for the Jazz eyes closed

[amit73]

I would recommend Amaze CVT as I currently own one. The only thing missing is Cruise Control and if you want that, you should consider Jazz. I rejected Baleno CVT as it was too noisy.

[drsnt]

I believe that a CVT for a long term means Honda or Toyota. Oldest running CVT cars on OLX are always Toyota or Honda. Being a owner of Yaris CVT myself, I will recommend it with eyes closed. I have abused it enough in last 2 years and still not a rattle. Very very good brakes. 7 Airbags add to safety. My first priority would be Jazz if hatchback and Yaris if Sedan. Base model comes shade under 10 L here might be additional 2L in Bangalore

[TrackDay]

At a budget of 10 lakhs I am not sure if the Urban Cruiser/ Brezza will fit within that price bracket. I, myself am a sedan guy, but since you said you want a vehicle for rough use, I would suggest you to go ahead with the UC / Brezza. Even an ecosport is available at that price. Both the Ford and Suzuki/Toyota are fairly reliable and easy on the pocket. The ford is a 6 speed TC but 3 cylinder petrol engine while the Suzuki-Toyota is a proper 4 cylinder engine but with only 4 speed TC.

At that price you can even have the Honda City (V)/ Toyota Yaris/ Suzuki Ciaz. I am doubtful if Toyota gives out discounts, the Ciaz would definitely come with one. The City meanwhile comes with 4 airbags as standard, but check out the CVT prices in your city. A top end Amaze and Entry Level Honda City are in the same vicinity & the Base level city comes loaded with safety features. Do check out the V (CVT) in the Honda City.

Like GTO said most of the modern cars will last you long enough if you take care of your machines properly, and with CVT/TC they are very good in reliability.

At best. it is better for you yourself to narrow down the choices after experiencing/test driving the cars yourself. Do let us know of your choice.

[sandeepmohan]

Get an EV my friend. No more oil changes, no transmission fluid, no rusty exhaust, spark plugs, ignition, timing belt...the list goes on. No PUC too.

[k_kumar]

Like GTO said, Glanza seems to be the most compelling choice among the no-nonsense AT options out there. Here, I've rewritten the available choices according to different budgets based on Bangalore on-road prices.
~11 lakhs: Glanza/Baleno top trim, Amaze/Jazz VX
~14 lakhs: Ciaz Alpha, S-cross Zeta, Brezza/UC top, Ecosport T+
~15 lakhs: City V
Since you (srirang) mentioned about the importance of rear seat comfort, please do note that Amaze and Jazz do not come with usable rear headrests. It's a safety concern too. Only Ecosport ticks all the right boxes with respect to safety but elderly parents may not appreciate the ride quality and space. You don't get 6 airbags in others, but you do get ESC in Ciaz and City which is an important active safety feature. To sum up, I think Glanza and City are the best options at two ends of the price spectrum.

[drive1987]

Hello srirang,

Just in case you are open to try AMT, I can suggest you "Hyundai Aura".

Well, it would fall in your budget, nice and a city friendly car. The AMT is not bad either. It's smooth shifting without jerks. I think, you should give it a try.

It's a sedan, spacious and you get a boot as well.

[srirang]

Originally Posted by Hemantteen

Honda service has been very good so far. They do all things by the manual and do not push for unnecessary items. Even when I asked them to replace air filter, they checked and said it still has good life , no need. I asked them if i should need expensive synthetic, they said no need for my kind of running. Cost for 4th major service last month was around 8k as it had many things changed like cvt fluid. Previous one was 3.5k. And next one is supposed to be less too.

Cool. Thank you. Will keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by Hemantteen

On another note , if you have budget go for Jazz. Jazz>Amaze>Glanza

Why would you rate Jazz higher than Amaze? The premium feel? (Sun / Moon roof, better looking interiors) or anything else?

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

Since your primary requirement is for city use I would recommend the Tata Nexon EV.

I thought about EVs for a very long time. But Nexon EV is a bit big in size for us and also a little out of budget.

Originally Posted by psankar

Yes, do take a test drive of an AMT. What you read in team-bhp like forums is by people who own multiple cars for many years, but if you are going to have only one car, you will easily get used to its qualities (both positive and negative).

Noted. Will definitely do one AMT test driver for sure.

Originally Posted by psankar

If you are going to have only occasional visitors, you can rent even an Innova for multiple times with the money saved from buying an Alto instead of a sedan. It will be easily around 5 Lakhs. Also, spares are cheaper, running cost is less and Alto mileage could be easily double of what many high performance cars offer, if driven sedately, in longer stretches. I do Bangalore outstation trips occasionally and get about 20kmpl too when driven sedately. If you buy a swift, baleno then the savings may not be as substantial but would still be large enough.

This is very practical thinking for sure but a little hard to appease the aspirational side Will think about this for sure. I have some time to make a decision.

Originally Posted by psankar

When you are taking a test drive, remember to drive in the same road / time as you will use after purchase. It could be your or wife's office commute route or some such. That will help you a lot in the decision. My friend has a small car as well as a SUV and he prefers taking the small car for daily commute, only because it is quite easy to drive in Bangalore roads. The big car is for outstation and weekend trips.

Makes sense. Will do that.

Originally Posted by amit73

I would recommend Amaze CVT as I currently own one. The only thing missing is Cruise Control and if you want that, you should consider Jazz. I rejected Baleno CVT as it was too noisy.

Amaze VX CVT has cruise control now, at least that's what Honda website says. The only things I have found to be in Jazz and not in Amaze are fancy stuff (Sunroof etc) and a bit of modernization (Projector headlights, DRL etc).

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Get an EV my friend. No more oil changes, no transmission fluid, no rusty exhaust, spark plugs, ignition, timing belt...the list goes on. No PUC too.

Only if they had a little more range to them. I do expect myself to use the car to go out of the city.

Originally Posted by drive1987

Hello srirang,

Just in case you are open to try AMT, I can suggest you "Hyundai Aura".

Well, it would fall in your budget, nice and a city friendly car. The AMT is not bad either. It's smooth shifting without jerks. I think, you should give it a try.

It's a sedan, spacious and you get a boot as well.

Attachment 2120486

Umm.. This is one is very close to Amaze in price. At this price point I think Amaze with its CVT and Honda engine / build sort of appears better than Aura for me.

[Hemantteen]

Originally Posted by srirang

Cool. Thank you. Will keep that in mind.



Why would you rate Jazz higher than Amaze? The premium feel? (Sun / Moon roof, better looking interiors) or anything else


Noted. Will definitely do one AMT test driver for sure.



.

Jazz seemed more premium and also sturdy, however value for money quotient is more in Amaze. Another thing I want to add, I have two cars now , Amaze cvt and Celerio amt. There is much difference between the two on driving behaviour. Amaze feels smooth and relaxed whereas Celerio feels jerky. Also amt can leave you in awkward situation during overtakes as it can upshift suddenly. Also during multiple stop/go on incline/hill, Celerio starts showing transmission overheat sign, don't know if only my unit is faulty, but Amaze never gave such problem. In short, I would avoid amt in future.

[OctYFAN]

I would suggest you to go with the Skoda Rapid. It's quite reliable as I myself have seen a relative with over 80k kms on the clock without trouble. Also Skoda's ASS has improved a lot these days and for your usage it is a great car. Just test drive before buying.

[raxtasy]

Hi Srirang,

Enjoyed the level of clarity in your head to narrow down on a car. Well organised.

Before I dig into details, I just want to let you know that I own an Alto K10 AMT for the last 4 years 8 months and 2 days.

Considering all of the requisite explained by you I hereby come to the following set of suggestions/opinions:

- You should consider AMT as well. It's fairly reliable (no issues whatsoever in my 52k kms of ownership. Also the so called 'jerks' that are felt in an AMT are not up to an extent that you can't live with. It is actually as mild as clutch depression in a manual car. You'll just get to know that the car changed a gear, that's it.

- 4/5 stars of Amaze is for the variant sold in South Africa. It is between 20-50 kg heavier than the Indian model.

To make things more interesting, let me add some other options to your list if you are comfortable being a bit flexible:

If safety and budget are your top priorities:
TATA TIGOR ZXA+
It has all the bells and whistles one would expect apart from a sunroof. Fairly well built and 4/5 ratings in GNCAP for Indian model. The engine is a bit lathargic to get going but it gets the job done without any fuss. It has an AMT. Please take a test drive before rejecting this car. The OTR in my city for the top model stands around 9 lakh. Ticks most of the boxes provided your driving style. FE around 15 city 19 highway.

If safety is your top priority and budget can be extended:
Mahindra XUV 300 1.2 W8(O) AMT
You will bave to extend your budget by almost 35%. Ticks almost all boxes apart from CVT or TC. It is a gem of a car in my humble opinion. Safe, solid and good looking. Will have all the gadgetry you want and even some you might never need. It has seven airbags. Mahindra vehicles are abuse friendly. You might lose on FE (around 10-14).

If budget cannot be extended and safety not that important:
Honda Amaze VX CVT
Fits well within your budget. Will give you the most peace of mind. Consider this if CVT is what you want and you cannot live with the head-nods of an AMT. FE around 14 city 17 highway.

In a similar juxtaposition, i have chosen Dzire AMT for myself considering the following parameters:
- The speed limit in and around our city is 50kmph. I hardly get to touch it in peak traffic (which is usually the case everytime) so I preferred FE over safety aspect.
- Never been involved in any incident in previous car apart from light bikers kisses.
- All cars rattle. Marutis rattle less because there is less metal involved.
- ASS is pretty good in our area. Also I change my car as soon as the loan tenure is over. So 5 years down the line, I will most probably exchange it for a newer car or sell it to buy a new one. My previous car has depreciated 30% in 4 years 8 months and 2 days. Looks like quite a big deal, doesn't it?

Good luck for your purchase.

Also this is my first post, so kindly tolerate inconsistencies and errors.

[srirang]

Originally Posted by Hemantteen

Jazz seemed more premium and also sturdy, however value for money quotient is more in Amaze. Another thing I want to add, I have two cars now , Amaze cvt and Celerio amt. There is much difference between the two on driving behaviour. Amaze feels smooth and relaxed whereas Celerio feels jerky. Also amt can leave you in awkward situation during overtakes as it can upshift suddenly. Also during multiple stop/go on incline/hill, Celerio starts showing transmission overheat sign, don't know if only my unit is faulty, but Amaze never gave such problem. In short, I would avoid amt in future.

I visited the Honda showroom yesterday and did the TD for both Amaze and Jazz and our reading was also exactly the same. It wasn't until I sat inside both cars that I really understood what this "premium feel" is. It is still hard for me to explain in words but it definitely felt vastly different. Also closing the doors and boot made it sort of apparent that Jazz doors are definitely heavier / sturdier. One could not just miss the sound difference.
Still the VFM quotient of Amaze is definitely more.

And thanks for the feedback of AMT.

Originally Posted by OctYFAN

I would suggest you to go with the Skoda Rapid. It's quite reliable as I myself have seen a relative with over 80k kms on the clock without trouble. Also Skoda's ASS has improved a lot these days and for your usage it is a great car. Just test drive before buying.

I do like the car however it is in the next higher segment than what I am looking at. It is roughly 60% beyond the budget I set for myself.

Originally Posted by raxtasy

Hi Srirang,

Enjoyed the level of clarity in your head to narrow down on a car. Well organised.

Before I dig into details, I just want to let you know that I own an Alto K10 AMT for the last 4 years 8 months and 2 days.

Considering all of the requisite explained by you I hereby come to the following set of suggestions/opinions:

- You should consider AMT as well. It's fairly reliable (no issues whatsoever in my 52k kms of ownership. Also the so called 'jerks' that are felt in an AMT are not up to an extent that you can't live with. It is actually as mild as clutch depression in a manual car. You'll just get to know that the car changed a gear, that's it.

- 4/5 stars of Amaze is for the variant sold in South Africa. It is between 20-50 kg heavier than the Indian model.

To make things more interesting, let me add some other options to your list if you are comfortable being a bit flexible:

If safety and budget are your top priorities:
TATA TIGOR ZXA+
It has all the bells and whistles one would expect apart from a sunroof. Fairly well built and 4/5 ratings in GNCAP for Indian model. The engine is a bit lathargic to get going but it gets the job done without any fuss. It has an AMT. Please take a test drive before rejecting this car. The OTR in my city for the top model stands around 9 lakh. Ticks most of the boxes provided your driving style. FE around 15 city 19 highway.

If safety is your top priority and budget can be extended:
Mahindra XUV 300 1.2 W8(O) AMT
You will bave to extend your budget by almost 35%. Ticks almost all boxes apart from CVT or TC. It is a gem of a car in my humble opinion. Safe, solid and good looking. Will have all the gadgetry you want and even some you might never need. It has seven airbags. Mahindra vehicles are abuse friendly. You might lose on FE (around 10-14).

If budget cannot be extended and safety not that important:
Honda Amaze VX CVT
Fits well within your budget. Will give you the most peace of mind. Consider this if CVT is what you want and you cannot live with the head-nods of an AMT. FE around 14 city 17 highway.

In a similar juxtaposition, i have chosen Dzire AMT for myself considering the following parameters:
- The speed limit in and around our city is 50kmph. I hardly get to touch it in peak traffic (which is usually the case everytime) so I preferred FE over safety aspect.
- Never been involved in any incident in previous car apart from light bikers kisses.
- All cars rattle. Marutis rattle less because there is less metal involved.
- ASS is pretty good in our area. Also I change my car as soon as the loan tenure is over. So 5 years down the line, I will most probably exchange it for a newer car or sell it to buy a new one. My previous car has depreciated 30% in 4 years 8 months and 2 days. Looks like quite a big deal, doesn't it?

Good luck for your purchase.

Also this is my first post, so kindly tolerate inconsistencies and errors.

Thank you for your suggestion along with the rationale. I agree that with Amaze CVT on one side, if we are to consider an AMT, Tata Tigor is probably the only one that is on par in terms of the offering. We did discuss this suggestion of yours. For a savings of around 1.5 lakhs, going with AMT did not sound lucrative. On the safety aspect, despite the Amaze South Africa model being tested, I am guessing that some amount of similar engineering in terms of body structure and stability (where it was positively rated) would have gone into the Indian model also.

Nevertheless, we might end up doing a TD of Tigor also, just to see for ourselves how much of a difference AMT v/s CVT makes. Will keep you guys posted.

[srirang]

Ok, so here is where we stand with the TDs. I have tried the following cars :

1. Toyota Urban Cruiser
2. Toyota Glanza
3. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza
4. Honda Jazz
5. Honda Amaze

I have explicitly stuck to the sub-4m category and hence did not do a TD of Ciaz / Rapid / Yaris / City.

General note : With all these cars I drove fairly short distances in the city, some parts with regular traffic and some with a bit of free stretch where I could accelerate up to 80kmph for short bursts.

1. Urban Cruiser : Drive was smooth. I did feel the engine revving up when navigating an uphill and over taking a BMTC bus there. Still the power seemed sufficient for my driving requirements. Hill Hold Assist worked well.

This was the first car I drove and hence there was nothing to compare it against. This was definitely a major upgrade from the yesteryear cars that I have driven. However the doors did seem a little flimsy with the inner side giving a feel of cheap plastic. Not sure if it was just the one unit that I drove. Dashborad and infotainment systems looked good and worked well.

Wife definitely felt the higher seating is a confidence booster for her while driving (as suggested by folks in this forum). At the same time, ride over a rumble strip was bumpier for her in the rear seat. The car felt roomy on the inside. The external looks were also acceptable to her despite starting as a skeptic about SUV-like builds.

Dealership experience was really good. SA was fairly knowledgeable and did not speak too much.

2. Glanza : It was the same dealership and SA and the same level of dealer experience.

The lower seating compared to Urban Cruiser was apparent. However no issues getting in an out. The roominess of Urban Cruiser became more apparent after sitting in this. The dashboard on this however felt way more modern than Urban Cruiser. Driver was smooth on this one too. Took this one on the same rumble strip, almost at the same speed but it did not feel as bumpier as UC.

SA told me about the sports mode in this one (which he had not mentioned in UC) and I really liked it. Made one overtaking a much better experience. The doors / handle felt better than UC.

Wife felt the GC is very low. The additional fitments in the front that the TD unit had made it look more so. At that this point UC had a higher score for her. For me Glanza had a higher score.

3. Brezza : Very courteous SA but highly talkative. Always tried to say something. But he gave a very nice walk through of the entire car with all the features. Wife liked the external look of this one way more than UC and post ride this trumped both UC and Glazna for her.

Driving experience was not very different from the other two. Similar to the other two, I could easily navigate traffic and the short bursts on free roads was good. The build quality, dashboards and interiors in general surprisingly felt better than UC. The TD unit had run 10K+ kms and yet did not appear to be in a bad shape or anything. No hiccups.

Unlike Glanza this one did not have an indicator for the sports mode, so while I tried using it, I could not feel much difference and the lack of indication left me a little confused about when I was in the sports mode.

By the end of this TD Brezza was definitely leading for my wife, however I was still leaning towards Glanza as that car felt a lot more modern and also appeared like more VFM.

4. Jazz : Had to go to the showroom for this one as they were not able to arrange for a TD at my home. Also their website booking (both on Honda India website and dealership website) did not work. I got a callback only after I called them. Also the dealership seemed a little overwhelmed when we visited with multiple deliveries and TDs scheduled for that day. However once I was there, the SA did do her best to explain me things and answer my questions.

Now about the car, man the feel was very different the moment I started the drive. It's apparent I have been leaning towards Amaze (another Honda car) from the beginning of this thread, so I am not sure how much of this feeling was confirmation bias, but driving Jazz felt really good. The dashboard modern-ness was inline with Glanza or may be a notch higher. There was a comparatively free and wide cement concrete road stretch next to the showroom and I touched 80 in a short span and the rpms were just fine. I did not feel the kind of revving that I felt with UC / Brezza.

The SA did show off the sun-roof and my wife loved it. She did not however like the lower seating position and the non-visibility of the full bonnet when driving.

The car was in the sun before we sat in but the AC kicked in very soon and it was very effective. There was no bumpy road near by so no reference about the bumpiness feeling for rear seat folks.

5. Amaze : I got out of Jazz and Amaze was ready for me to drive. The differences were stark. The moment I got in, I felt like I was suddenly in a vintage car with all the traditional looking knobs, panels and the dual tone dashboard. Jazz had all touch buttons. It was sort of an instant let down in terms of looks. The steering also felt vastly different. The Jazz felt thicker and stronger but Amaze felt thinner and more economy class. But one thing I really liked was the slim metallic gear (or the drive mode) handle which reminded me of the bond cars .

Drive was very similar to Jazz. I did try the paddle shifters in this one (which I forgot in case of Jazz) and they did seem useful, although they felt a lot tighter and sturdier than what I had imagined. The S-mode drive as such was a similar feeling to the sports mode drive of Glanza.

Amaze does fall behind compared to others in terms of a few gizmos : Halogen headlamps, manual day and night IRVM, etc. Also the bucket seats of the rear which I feel will not be very comfortable for seating 3 adults if none of them are slim but absolutely no problem for 2 adults and a kid. The fixed headrests of the rear are going to be uncomfortable at best for anyone 5'10" and above but ok for shorter people.

But both Amaze and Jazz scored way above Brezza (the previous leader) for my wife the moment we finished the TDs. For her, both had a premium and foreign feel to them in terms of interiors and exteriors, i.e. the design, looks, etc while Brezza felt very much "our own Indian car". Add to this the awesome boot space of Amaze, and the "sedan" (albeit compact) design it quickly makes up for all the gizmos shortcomings. Further, as I have mentioned in my previous post, the VFM quotient of this car is definitely higher than Jazz.

Another small point amongst these 3 makes is that Honda quoted the lowest annual maintenance cost, although not by a huge margin.

All in all, looks like currently we are leaning very heavily towards Honda and the decision is between Jazz an Amaze.

I will probably do another TD this week and then make a decision.

P.S : I have also requested a TD of Tata Tigor but I am yet to hear back from the dealer. Let me see if this AMT car adds to more confusion.. !!

[OctYFAN]

Originally Posted by srirang

I do like the car however it is in the next higher segment than what I am looking at. It is roughly 60% beyond the budget I set for myself.

Constraints of every single car buyer. The car you love will always be just out of your budget. Anyways you still have a lot more options. The EcoSport is a great car for city driving. With it's crossover looks and sub-4 m size, it can be easy to drive in the city and is quite frankly the most fun crossover I have driven. The Sonet could be a contender too but after the recent brake failures and the poor ratings of Creta/Seltos, I would stay away from Hyundai products for a long time. And please don't buy Suzukis except maybe for the Brezza and that too as a final option. Same for Toyota with the exception of the Yaris. It's a quite safe car and as it is a sales dud, you can get very attractive offers on it. Maybe you can consider the Polo but it's feature list will definitely put you off.

NVM choose what you like to drive as you are going to spend time with it and not any of us.

Cheers
OctYFAN