[thirdmainroad]

Looking at replacing my wife's Maruti Ignis AT (or not). It's about 4 years old, 23,000 KM done, in good shape.

Usage

The car will be used almost exclusively for her daily office - home commute 15 KM each way, 30 KM in total per day, 5 days a week. So about 750 KM per month runs. I have a Taigun 1.5 GT, and we'll use that when we go out and on highway trips.

Why

She's joined a new job, which offers her a tax saving of about INR 2.5 L a year if we get a new car - the car will be bought in the name of her company, will be leased to her, and transferred in her name once payments are done. That's the biggest reason.

I don't like the Ignis steering at all. Find it quite hard and dry. She doesn't really mind. I hardly ever drive the Ignis.

I am not sure I like the idea of having a Maruti Suzuki in our stable. I don't like the fact that they have disregarded safety as they have.

Figure I'll get a good price on the Ignis, with it being a Maruti and AT, and under 25,000 KM on the odo.

Requirements

Automatic Transmission a must.

A smallish car, easy to drive in the city and small roads, with an SUV stance. The wife likes it, but she's also now looking at sedans.

Don't want to go high on budget as this will be only a home to office and back vehicle for one person. Ideally around the 10L mark - can stretch a little more, but as mentioned before, we have the Taigun for long drives, so I don't think we should.

Not sure an electric will be worth the extra price, as it won't be running too much, with an average of only 30 KM a day X 5 days a week. Correct me if I am wrong here.

If its a fun car to drive, perhaps I'll park my Taigun GT more and take the new one out for city errands, which are far and few in between. I do not like driving the Ignis too much, mostly because of its steering profile, though it's quite peppy.

Safety to an extent. Definitely don't want a 1 or 0 star NCAP rated car like the Swift! May not need a 5 star rated car as we wont be using it on the highways.

What we have looked at and what we don't like

Though I would like to support Indian brands like Tata and Mahindra, I do not like their lack of attention to detail or perhaps their Indian "Chalta Hai, adjust Karo" attitude. A lot of stuff on them are wrong - like panels both interior and exterior not sitting snug and fitting properly, loads of gaps everywhere and the such.

Test drives taken / cars viewed

Tata Nexon EV.

Loads of stuff wrong with it when it comes to panel gaps and details. And I am not sure with the average 750 KM/month runs, an EV makes sense. Found it to have quite a lot of blind spots and not really a good city drive especially when taking a U turn - not because of the turning radius, but because of the A pillar obstructing view. Have also driven an Altroz, and hated the same lack of attention to detail.

Citroen C3 EV

Again, not sure if EV makes sense. Plus, I found the C3 to be way too basic for the price. Dull interiors and very basic instrument cluster. At least all the panels sit well and no gaps!

MG Comet

Did not test drive it, but both of us disliked its looks and small tyres. I don't think I want to support a fully Chinese company, or one that's predominately owned by the Chinese. So no MGs, even if they would like us to believe it's a British brand.

And so..

And that's the story so far. What do you guys think we should look at? The Amaze? I had an Amaze I bought in 2013, an iDtec, and later a WRV. Was reasonably happy with Hondas, though they can throw very expensive periodic service bills at you.

What Toyota's can I check out I wonder! Nothing much in their stable for us, except the Glanza, but the Baleno boasts of a 0 star NCAP rating.

Hyundais - what can they offer u? The i20? My father has an i20 that be bought in 2011 which is now much abused, left on the street under rain and sun right next to the sea, but is still doing fine - that's quite a good selling (or buying) point! Or wait for the Exter? Is there a clear picture on when its due out?

The Magnite?

Or perhaps just get a Virtus 1.0? It's a tad pricey for our needs, though, but I may take it out on my runs!

Or should we just keep the Ignis? The wife doesn't mind it and likes it, but we will save on tax - close to 15 Lakhs in 5 years if we keep into account yearly pay rises!

[m8002?]

Are you sure of the tax calculations? Is savings in 15 lacs tax or taxable income? I am guessing for 10 lacs car, the lease would be around 3 lacs per year for 5 years. Or am I missing something?

[bijims]

If you are indeed planning to replace it, the upcoming Hyundai Exter launching on July 10 would be a good choice, safety is probably not going to be greater than 3-stars though considering its siblings and the platform it is based on, however, Hyundai AMTs are the best AMTs you can get and the Exter is feature loaded too and should fit in your budget. You have already tried out the EV options worth checking out, so the next best options for a proper automatic with commendable safety ratings are the Magnite CVT and the Amaze CVT.

However, in my opinion, unless the benefits from taxes saved are not exactly as above, or unless you really hate the Ignis, you should keep the Ignis for a couple of years longer.

[vvs29]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

but the Baleno boasts of a 0 star NCAP rating.

I would urge you to reconsider Baleno's safety rating. If we look at the report in detail instead of just the star rating, we can see that in front frontal impact, the body shell was rated stable (which none of the 3 star rated Hyundai's manage). There was excessive whiplash in side impact test which caused Latin NCAP to give a 0 star rating (not sure why a stable body shell in frontal impact doesn't deserve even 1 star). And this was the previous gen base variant.
The new gen boasts a stronger body. And even if we discount that, the 6 airbags version should manage the side impact better.

[androdev]

Had your current car been an MT car, it would have made sense to replace it. For the kind of usage this car is likely to see, a bigger car would be a disadvantage in my opinion. I would prefer a super small AT car for city errands and bigger comfortable car for road trips, etc. Ignis AT is good enough for the former. Bigger the better when it comes to the latter. If your math is compelling in terms of savings and if you have surplus funds, I would consider replacing the Taigun :-)

[thirdmainroad]

Originally Posted by androdev

I would consider replacing the Taigun :-)

The wife is going to recheck the tax exemption stuff and look at the lease policy in detail.

I just got the Taigun a few months back and absolutely love it on Highways!

[shancz]

I don't see any reason to replace the Ignis as its a tough one to replace.

For a 8-10 lakh budget :
- i10 : like you said, not really an upgrade or very different
- Swift/Other Maruti : Ignis is better for city use
- Tiago : will feel different and heavier to drive but I doubt you'll like it

Honestly the only changes/upgrades I can mention are :
- i20
- Tiago EV

Since everything else will either not feel like an upgrade, won't be much different or will be very similar to your Taigun.

[VivekVenu94]

Have you both test driven the Amaze CVT? My dad loves his Amaze and finds it perfect for city use. It is nimble and smooth to drive with the reliability and peace of mind that Honda offers as a plus. Being a sub-4m sedan, it should be as easy to park as a hatchback, but the lower ride height would take a toll on visibility. The downside I see is the softer sprung rear suspension that tends to bottom out with 5 occupants.

We never had any major issues so far (~50k km). Honda did a lower-arm replacement as part of a suspension recall during one of the regular service visits, under warranty. The only breakdown we ever had was due to a bad battery, and all the service bills were within the 3-5k range.

[vellatechie]

i10 Nios is a wonderful car. It's feature loaded, has light steering and is a perfect city car. Altroz DCT is also a good option although both have relatively less ground clearance.

Also checkout Exter. Hyundai has smashed it out of park with features and looks. Price shouldn't be over the top as well.

[maskebail]

For a city car , ignis you have is ideal and pretty much anything in the price range given would not feel like a true upgrade.
I am not convinced with tax saving calculation, i think you are going to save tax on Rs. 15L over 5 years, but considering the loss you take by selling ignis and the money you are going to spend on buying the new car, i think in best case you will have a new car without any loss of selling the current car, no savings exactly.

I20 1.2 ivt (Hyundai 's CVT) is probably a good pick within price range. Has good space on the inside and is feature loaded compared to ignis. It is easy to drive and very smooth, especially compared to any amt.
Amaze CVT is another recommendation.
Exter (launching July 10) is going to be slightly better than ignis, but not by a lot. Will probably have better space and smoother amt, but the engine on ignis is better than 1.2 Kappa of exter/i10.
If you are not in a hurry, i would say keep the ignis for some time and wait for something like Swift hybrid - i expect it to be a far better city car than anything currently available.

[Kevinrevvz]

The Tiago EV is the perfect car for you. It is very highly equipped, quite peppy and very comfy. Even if not for cost savings, an EV is simply better for the city because of the zero NVH, smoothness (especially compared to the jerky AMT options in this segment), instant torque as well as the ability to charge overnight at home.

[Phantom 510]

Tiago EV would be the best bet for your wife IMO.

Pros
1. Silent, Vibration free, easy to drive.
2. Sprightly performance.
3. Superb Ride quality.
4. Compact size.
5. Solid build.
6. Good efficiency of 160-190 km per charge during the commutes. Thereby, making it cheaper to run than a 100cc commuter motorcycle.

Cons
1. Won't feel like a proper upgrade in terms of size & design.

[gck_tourer]

Nissan Magnite Turbo CVT is the perfect fit for a city runabout of 30 kms a day. The engine is powerful for the city, automatic transmission is smooth, it's feature rich, spacious, has good mileage, high safety rating, is within your budget and looks good. Nissan vehicles are generally reliable and the after sales service of Nissan is neutral. I don't think you need to look any further.

[fhdowntheline]

Any car that comes close to or exceeds the size of Taigun is pointless. Your Ignis is just 23000km old. It could potentially serve you more than double that km in a relatively trouble free manner.

[lamborghini]

If you have to replace the Ignis, do look at the Tiago EV as an option - the 4 doors, peppy EV motor, etc. will have you grinning and I won't be surprised to see you using the car more often as compared to the Ignis.