[arnav17]

Hey guys,

A person who I know is looking for his 2nd car primarily for city use by a first time driver (Wife). Hence focusing on Hatchbacks only.
Budget:
In and around 8 lakhs on road Bangalore.

Requirements :
1. The car should be easy to maneuver within the city.
2. It HAS to be an Automatic (preferably AMT).
3. Petrol only.
4. Strictly only city usage.
5. Not too keen on used automatic cars so new cars preferred.
6. Preferably one of the higher variants.


Shortlisted Vehicles :

1. Hyundai Grand i10 Nios



He liked the way the car drives, easy to manouver, comfortable automatic and lots of tech inside. Not too keen on Turbo since its only for city usage.

2. Maruti Celerio



Although its a segment lower, The power output feels adequate for city, but considerably less compared to the Nios NA.

3. Maruti Swift



Powerful torquey engine, its a Maruti with hassle free service, and drives well.


Cars not Considered :
1. Tata Tiago
- Did not want to invest in a Tata after hearing about its unreliability.

2. Tata Punch
- Same reason as mentioned above.

3. Maruti Baleno
- Its a whole size bigger.


The Final Shortlist :
He wants to focus on the i10 Nios and the Celerio, leaving out the Swift. Looking forward to hearing your opinions.

Thanks in Advance.

[bijims]

Between the i10 Nios and the Celerio, I would definitely pick the i10 Nios for its long list of features, light controls, capable 1.2L powertrain, and upmarket cabin with segment-best quality and fit and finish.

Another option I would recommend is the Wagon-R 1.2 AGS or the Ignis 1.2 AMT, both are excellent cars in their own right and are worth considering for their compact footprint, spacious and prat interiors and light controls.

However, overall I still feel the Grand i10 Nios would be the best pick of the lot.

[yedukrishnan199]

Go for the Grand i10 Nios without any doubt, it is the best car you could get in this price range based on your requiements, it provides great mileage, is feature loaded and easily maneuverable.

[RaghavEvoX]

i10 Nios for sure. My sister who was a first time driver bought it and very happy with it.
I also drive it very frequently and hardly find any discomfort with the AMT.
I personally drive a silky smooth Verna TC and believe me, I hardly felt any of these generic AMT issues while driving i10.
And we upgraded i10 tyres to Conti CC6 and it worked wonders with the ride quality.

[buzzy_boy]

I would avoid the Celerio. Went on a test drive in a car with 5K on the Odo, and it rattled like it'd fall apart any moment.

W.r.t Nios, it has a 4 cylinder engine, better AMT, and it is well put together. So between the two, the Nios is the better car. However, you'll have to step up to the sport variant to get decent kit which is ~ 9L onroad. The AMT doesn't have the Hill hold control as well - must for first time drivers.

Personally, I'll go with the Wagon R 1.2 AGS = punchy engine, bullet proof reliability, AMT with Hill hold control, and deadly resale value.

[trail_lover]

I respect everyone's thoughts and recommendations here. However, I want to highlight some overlooked aspects of car buying, which one should consider:

1. Since it is a first time car user and lady driver, the seat height and frontal visibility is very important. So it is better to go for the variant with seat height adjuster. Due to this you are looking at the high or high+ variant which might be the only ones that come with seat height adjuster. So when you compare prices, you might end-up comparing only the high or high+ variant's prices in each model.

2. One needs to take a dispassionate approach, take the car user to the showroom and TEST DRIVE each car. See which one she is more "CONFIDENT" driving. Ergonomics and seating posture plays a big-role for first-time drivers.

3. The seats in SWIFT have good bolstering and is very comfortable. Wagon-R, Celerio DO NOT have seats as comfortable as a SWIFT. Hyundai i10 seats are better than Wagon-R and Celerio, but may be not as good as SWIFT. Do check this out.

4. VERY IMPORTANT POINT: Every human being is different. The size of limbs and torso vary from person to person. Also, if you draw a triangle between steering wheel, seat and pedal position, the triangle you will get for each car is different.

Telescopic steering makes up a lot for problems that arise due to limb/body sizes and car driver seating layout unsuitability. However, these models do not have telescopic adjustment. Therefore, it is highly recommended that person who will use this car goes for a TEST DRIVE on all the shortlisted models. After that you can conclude which model seating position, layout, and ergonomics suits BEST this person who will use the car the most.

Do remember that the Celerio is a 3 cylinder engine 1.0 liter engine, and the i10 and Swift are 1.2 liter 4 cylinder engines.

[arnav17]

Update :

Thanks everyone for your opinions! Just wanted to let you know that he picked up the Celerio ZXI as he wanted hill hold assist which the NIOS does not offer (Not sure if it does in the facelift).

Thank you once again!