Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   What Car? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/)

-   -   What beater hatchback (petrol / CNG / electric) to buy for city commutes? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/258562-what-beater-hatchback-petrol-cng-electric-buy-city-commutes-2.html)

As some members have pointed out already, your use case and prime concerns on finance do not seem to justify the need for a second car clearly. It may be worthwhile doing a thorough analysis before plonking all that additional money into a second car and its upkeep. Of course, if the need is for you and your wife to be able to drive independently, a second car makes sense. Not trying to discourage but recommending a rethink on this one.

57 km/h average is impossible in Madras city limit. Realistic average is 15 to 40 km/h. The higher limit happens only in late night/early morning hours.

Was assisting a friend on his requirement of a "Santro sized proper automatic" car for the city and he couldn't believe that none existed. AMTs were ruled out due to their performance and reliability issues as the other car is a Jazz CVT.

Lost for options and based on a split second decision he booked the Tiago EV without even looking at the model since none had reached the showroom yet.
Tentative delivery was stated as Jan 2023 but it was mentioned that the customers would be called in to decide the models and proceed further, when the cars arrive.
This should be better in Chennai.
Do focus on the models and medium/long range battery packs to suit your needs and how much you want to spend on a new car, although Tata has the highest number of vehicles and kms on our roads so that's a positive factor.

If you're interested you can book one for 11k IIRC(fully refundable) and use the time to test drive ICE cars like the Ignis/i10/Celerio AMTs with a focus on the AMT performance.

I guess he meant 25 mins for 12kms only :)

Tiago EV is a good option but still you have to do a calculation whether it is a cheap option. But it is an Automatic, so, it meets two requirements for you, actually three: low running cost, small and an Automatic.

The other option is to look for an used Automatic in Hyundai's (you don't like them!) or Jazz CVT (usually very reliable, compact but spacious) at around 7 lakhs for a 2018 or so model. Check olx.in and you will find lots of them and utilise someone's help to find the good/non-issue one. I do not remember Maruti having that many Autos, so finding one could be not that easy.

Used Baleno CVT or Honda Jazz CVT would be best options for you. But a quick question? Can't the known auto driver drop them to school as well? :)

I agree here. I had a similar situation and I settled down with a used BRIO AT which will take care of the short commutes. Perhaps you may need to consider the fuel consumption and maintenance for the second car since your coverage is 24 Kms everyday.

I suggest you to explore SPINNY if you are considering used car. The process is very transparent. However the prices are premium.

It is cheaper to drive the fortuner than buy a second car. Cost of insurance and service for the second car will far exceed any microscopic savings on fuel cost between the two cars. This is before you even start to factor in cost of purchase.

For an amount of 10L rupees plus 25k per year on maintenance and insurance, you can drive your fortuner for an extra 100000kms which translates to almost 14 years of daily driving of 24kms.

Just drive the fortuner.

Tiago EV is perfect for your use case. It has all the things you are looking for - automatic, low running cost/low TCO (going by nexon ev service cost), compact, no pollution.

Why are you worried about diesel expenses for 24 km a day?

I drive a storme which is just about 1-1.5 kmpl more efficient than the fortuner. My work demands a daily commute of 100-120 km. If I had <50 km daily running, I wouldn't have bought an efficient 2nd diesel car, and driven the storme instead.

Taking the running cost of fortuner as 10 rs per km, it's just under 3 liters of diesel a day, or say about 80 liters of diesel a month. That's less than 8k per month.

A 10 lakh expense on a new car to avoid diesel expenses of fortuner doesn't make any sense to me unless you really want a 2nd car.

I would happily drive the Fortuner.

I purchased a Tiago petrol a few weeks ago for acity, small lane driving requirements. This is the manual version and I am pretty fine with it, considering my primary car is a diesel AT. Cost me 8l for the top end version. You can go for a lower trim which also has a decent kit. I also went through all the usual Maruti options before finalizing the Tiago.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions especially those that suggested a car and shared your experiences.

If you read my original post (for those asking why I am not using the fortuner), I mentioned 3 things - the extra cost, the extra pollution from running a diesel and a car for my wife (or a driver). I appreciate the posts comparing the the marginal cost of running the fortuner for longer vs buying a second hand fuel sipper, but the three reasons above are all equally important. Many seem to be considering only the cost portion.

To answer a few more questions
- It is 12km in 25 min (24k both ways, for a single drop).
- I will have to move to the new locality to find out if there is a private van service for this school
- the known auto driver who will be picking up my kids after school cannot pick them up in the morning since he comes from a long distance away.

That said, depending on circumstances, I might still end up using my fortuner, especially when it rains like how it has been since yesterday. :-)

Appreciate your concern about avoidance of additional pollution die to diesel running in the city. A really noble thought, may we have a hazaar (thousand) hajaars (like you), who are concerned about pollution.

With that intent, and your budget of around 10L, I could suggest you to keep an Tiago ev in consideration for the following reasons:
- lowest hit on running cost
- green credentials, addresses your diesel pollution concern
- smooth automatic car (can avoid slightly jerky AMT ICE options)

provided you have home parking for setting up charging infrastructure.

I drive 21*2 kms every day. 12*2 isn't much and will not noticeably dent your budget. In fact, you'll find that your fortuner feels a lot more responsive after this.

In any case, the commute will cost around 200 to 250 extra in fuel per day, which is very little in comparison to buying another car.

Having an additional car (especially if his wife is comfortable with ATs) will prove very valuable in terms of flexibility and time. Sometimes, there's more to life than just school pickup and drops - there are other classes, doctor's appointments, meeting friends and relatives, etc.

If open to used cars, a Brio, Amaze, and Jazz AT will be a good buy. I know someone who picked up a low mileage Brio for less than 3 lakhs. Maruti also has Ritz, Dzire (older ones were non-AMT), and A-star.

I guess this is the primary business case for a second car. Your opening post lists it among other factors.

The best long term solution would be to book a Tiago EV. Higher depending on the GC you require. This will serve you better for urban runs, not restricted to school/office drop.

Depending on your delivery timeline, you can look at used A-Star or 1st gen i10 AT. These are among the easiest cars to drive and should cost 2-3 L

You have to plan for finances, for the convenience and green image that it brings to the table.