[armaan_singh]

You might want to add the Etios to your list, the Diesel engine is reliable and the car is spacious enough and would probably last years and years.

[ambarkhan]

You seem to have missed the XUV300, it have a peppy 115bhp, 300nm engine. Finding one with low ODO will be tricky though in your budget.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by AirbusCapt

If you want reasonable performance (0-100 in 12 secs), a fantastic rear wheel drive with a go anywhere ability, do consider the Storme 400 with the 6 speed manual.

Safari Storme Varicor 400 is a great car, with that excellent 156 PS 400 Nm engine. But there are two things going against it

1. Finding one is really hard. V400 came only in the top of the like VX trim, which was not at all value for money. 4x2 costed me 17 lalkhs, 4x4 retailed at 19 lakhs on road. Even if he finds one, it either will be 1 lakh km + run or out of his budget

2. As capable as it is doing upper triple digit speeds or absolutely effortlessly cruising at 120 kmph on the highways, it will show its true colour at the first corner/curve It's a tall 2 tonne car and it drives like one. We can have power, but we can't escape physics

Sedans/hatchbacks with 100+ BHP fit his criteria perfectly.

Mates recommending Verna and etios diesels, those cars have vague steering and a dull engine respectively. Not at all enthusiastic by any means.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Mates recommending Verna and etios diesels, those cars have vague steering and a dull engine respectively. Not at all enthusiastic by any means.

A Verna 1.6D engine is by no means 'dull', I am not sure what's your definition of dull. I am driving one and it is a cracker of an engine. Newer Hyundais aren't boats anymore and an aged Hyundai's steering is definitely better than an aged Maruti's steering.

On another note, I was a little hesitant to classify my 160bhp/320Nm, 1.1 tonne, low-slung sedan as an enthusiast's car. But then I came to this thread where people are recommending tall, roll-happy SUVs with mediocre engines as enthusiasts' cars! Looks like I was the one who misunderstood what is an enthusiast's car!

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by clevermax

A Verna 1.6D engine is by no means 'dull', I am not sure what's your definition of dull. I am driving one and it is a cracker of an engine. Newer Hyundais aren't boats anymore and an aged Hyundai's steering is definitely better than an aged Maruti's steering.

On another note, I was a little hesitant to classify my 160bhp/320Nm, 1.1 tonne, low-slung sedan as an enthusiast's car. But then I came to this thread where people are recommending tall, roll-happy SUVs with mediocre engines as enthusiasts' cars! Looks like I was the one who misunderstood what is an enthusiast's car!

Yes, you clearly misunderstood.

I added the term "respectively" at the end. It meant Verna has a vague steering and etios has a dull diesel. Both mutually exclusive attributes.

No one said anything about 1.6 diesel of Hyundai. Infact it is amongst the best in segment. I was referring to its handling and soft suspension.

Being better than Maruti steering is no qualification for being a drivers car. Hyundais may not be the boats that they used to be, but neither do they have crisp handling like the VAG/Ford/fiat being discussed here.

Agreed that SUVs shouldn't be even talked about here. I didn't mention them anyways.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

No one said anything about 1.6 diesel of Hyundai. Infact it is amongst the best in segment. I was referring to its handling and soft suspension.

Being better than Maruti steering is no qualification for being a drivers car. Hyundais may not be the boats that they used to be, but neither do they have crisp handling like the VAG/Ford/fiat being discussed here.

Compared the 5th gen Verna with the previous generations? Even I was hesitant to try the car out, because, in my mind, Hyundais were boats. A few of us Fiat users went on to TD the car and almost everyone liked its handling characteristics. It has a hard suspension, a bit too hard for the family-car use case.

Try this out - Verna 5th gen diesel and a Vento Diesel parked - goto the rear of both cars and try to rock the car vertically by pushing down on the boot and reinforce it by adding more force in a complimenting way according to the frequency of the up and down motion, and see which one starts dancing up and down

[stormcatcher83]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

You seem to have missed the XUV300, it have a peppy 115bhp, 300nm engine. Finding one with low ODO will be tricky though in your budget.

I am not sure your would get one in that budget in thane... have been on the lookout for a pre-worshipped one for quite sometime

[Bhalla]

Out of all the cars in the list, my pick will be S-Cross 1.6 without any second thoughts. Powerful, fun to drive, easy to maintain, spacious, good ground clearance to handle bad roads and I believe safe too (compared to other Marutis apart from Vitara Breeza).

[stormcatcher83]

Originally Posted by tarunkochar3

Hello everyone,
I am looking for a used diesel car under Rs 7 lakhs. The main USPs should be fun to drive, reliable and not so costly on maintenance. Practicality, rear seat comfort and features are not all a concern. I've been confused for the past few months, so I thought I should rope in fellow enthusiasts for helping me. So, here are some of my random (unrealistic, haha) options:

1. Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI
2. Renault Duster/Nissan Terrano
3. Mahindra TUV300 (I know. I know. But it just looks fancy to me)
4. Mahindra XUV500 (Does it really make sense to go for a 7-8-year-old one?)
5. Volkswagen Vento/Skoda Rapid 1.5 TDI
6. Skoda Laura
7. Maruti S-Cross (Slightly inclined towards the 1.6 diesel)
8. Tata Safari
9. Ford Ecosport
10. Ford Figo / Freestyle (Would really love the Figo S).

My monthly running would be approx 1500-2000 kilometres since I travel a lot. I'm planning to keep it atleast for 5 years. Please help me from this dilemma!
Thanks.

First of all the best in your quest Tarun from a fellow thaneite Bhpian. My choice in this list would be 1,6,7,9,10.

And Sorry for sticking my neck out- but this is just a honest harmless question to all bhpians- can we consider a used Creta (1.4), S Cross (1.3) or Brezza (Diesel) as practically these all are in the budget for a car of over a 5 to 6 year period.

[DicKy]

Standing in your shoes, the Scross 1.6 and Jetta (if under budget) would be my top choices.

But the first choice for a used diesel car under 8 lakhs would be...

https://youtu.be/mf62GQOcE6U

[KPR]

My 2 choices would be
1. Ford ecosport TDCI.
2. S cross 1.3 for easy and cheap spares availability.
Both are well built ones.

[84.monsoon]

Would recommend the Ford Ecosport TDCI. A jack of all trades(excellent highway stability and road presence, good fuel economy, bullet-proof reliability, an excellent and precise steering, and a very peppy engine), I thoroughly enjoyed this car over the seven years that I owned one. Although Ford is out of mainstream market, they are serious about continuing service and spares uninterrupted. The prices are reasonable given the number of people trying to sell their Ecosports illogically just because of the news of Ford withdrawal from the mainstream market.

[rainmaster]

Two months back I was looking for a Ford Fiesta replacement which ran around 190K and picked up 2017 1.6 S-Cross. My budget was around 8 lacs max. I usually travel a lot so it had to diesel car. Obviously looked for an enthusiast car, so consider following cars in preferential order

1) 2018 -2019 Ford Ecosport Diesel Trend/Titanium
2) 2015- 2018 Vento / Rapid
3) S-Cross 1.6
4) Ford Freestyle
5) Ford Figo S

I was able to find good Figo S and Freestyle between 5.5 – 6.5 lacs, being family man, couldn’t get approval from my partner on moving from sedan to hatch, so have to let it go. If you like to save some money and like to own fantastic machine and not in need for big car, you can go for Freestyle, a perfect allrounder in a compact package.

With respect to Vento/Rapid search , out of warranty or high mileage Volkswagen or Skoda cars were not recommend by my friends who owns Vento/Rapid. I have driven both Vento and Rapid, awesome cars but not so light on pocket if you are outside of warranty shield. Getting low mileage Vento/Rapid was an unicorn in my area. Where I’m living, Skoda and Volkswagen cars are loved and pampered by their owners. Getting low mileage cars were difficult to find and when I found couple of cars from Skoda/Volkswagen dealer, dealer was asking for more than million bucks. Discontinuation of Skoda/Volkswagen diesel increased resale value of BS4 Vento/Rapid diesel cars. So my recommendations from your list, if you can find Polo 1.5 TDI with in factory Warranty, go for it.

Similar to Vento/Rapid, Ecosport especially facelift model warrants lot of money. With 8 lacs budget, I couldn’t find a good Ecosport diesel available in market. Ecosport was my first choice to replace Fiesta but BS6 had pushed good preowned diesel car price high. But if you have patience and time at your hand, you can find a fantastic car at your price point.

S-Cross is the perfect sleeper car in the above list. It has the perfect blend of everything a family man expect. It will satisfy family man who longs to own fun to drive car but can also satisfy family needs. For families, It has

• Good amount of space at front and back. When needed, it can easily haul 5 members
• Good boot space
• Maruti dealer Network, no worries on support service
• More car for less money
• Good mileage, can get 20KMPL on highway trips and can get 17-18 KMPL in town

Driving enthusiast in me loves

• Engine – After 1800 RPM , You can feel the torque , the rush and push from the engine. Never need to worry about lack of power.
• Steering & Handling

Handling is really good , there is slight body roll but well within the acceptable limits when pushed harder. Steering kind of OK not great. Beggars can't be choosers, after Fiat and Ford exits, there is no longer a mass market manufacturer who spend time and money on tuning steering for feel and feedback. So we have to live with what we can get in the mass market.

S-Cross in stock form is like a untamed mad wild horse, it has lots and lots of torque but missing the finesse in power delivery. Most of the 1.6 S-Cross owners had done Wolf or some modification to domesticate and utilize all available horses to its fullest potential.

You can find a very good 1.6 S-Cross with in your budget with lots of potential for modification.

A word of caution on S-Cross, NVH is average at its best. Since I’m coming from Ford diesels, for me its ok, if you are very picky on NVH, you might need to take S-Cross to various surface and test it different speeds. Along with oodles of torque, you will be always accompanied by engine noise and road/tyre noise.

My Recommendations will be Ecosport , 1.6 S-Cross and Freestyle.
Since its going to be a enthusiast car, after test drive, pick what your heart says.

[techmotor]

I hope you have driven the shortlisted cars as the fun-to-drive factor is something you need to experience first hand . Now, since reliability and maintenance cost are also key factors for your purchase decision, you could strike off brands faring poorly in those areas. So it's better to stay away from VAG vehicles especially when you're planning to keep it for 5 years. From your list, my pick would be S-Cross. Had not Ford exited India operations, I'd have recommended Ford vehicles hands down. Figo would be my recommendation.

[Small Bot]

Does the Elite i20 CRDi count as a fun-to-drive car?
Its probably nowhere near some of the cars listed above, but I always found it to be one of the better Hyundai engines from that era. It is a reasonably frugal and peppy machine and is a great highway mile muncher.
You can easily find well preserved models and get decent sevice for the car as well.