[suman]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

I would suggest not investing and instead spending in petrol

Beyond "x" number of years & once the car is out of warranty, it is not only Petrol that you'll be spending on but whopping amounts of repairs & maintenance.

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by hondadude

A quick search and you would have found the following

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-page-4-a.html

Dude, been reading that thread every hour but sadly I would not rate it as a proper test-drive. Proper is the one which GTO and other fellow bhpians do while pointing out various knicks and knacks while driving and owning the car. Pointed thread is more-or-less a manza discussion thread only.

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Very confused with your requirement.

You say you need to conquer the mountains and want to buy a Sedan,

You want a comfortable SUV and you say you need mileage and low maintenance.

Yup I want it all

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

SEDAN will never be a good idea to take it to conquer your mountain, i am not saying it cannot be done, lot of people have successfully done it on most puny cars available but wholly not a good idea, you must have to literally write-off the car once you are back from such adventures. It will be like a King riding on a Pony in the battlefield.

Go for an SUV, maybe a lightly cramped for space, but a peppy 4x4 Scorpio or a most spacious and comfortable 4x4 Safari GX/VX/EX, it will offer you a better package in terms of City driving / Highway Driving or conquering your desired Mountains. Maintenance is not that high as what you think it is. Its a different segment all together.

Well, I am too inclined towards going getting an SUV but somehow low FE is pinching me up as I cannot afford a car for attaining my mountaineering dreams. However, was looking at a affordable & powerful sedan with high ground cleareance where-in I can get FE in my daily run, spacious enough to carry 5 people easily and can be used to attain mountaineering dreams.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I just re-realized the gentleman is 6 ft 4 inches tall - in this case, the vehicles (*MUV/SUV category only and completely disregarding the budget angle) in which he will find the best leg room and comfort in the driver seat would probably be as follows -

1. Innova
2. Safari
3. Endy
4. Fortuner
5. Captiva
6. CRv
7. Outlander
8. Xylo
9. Scorpio

Xylo and Scorpio are good value no doubt but no way a 6ft 4 inch tall gent is going to find the legroom enough (driver seat).

as for handling terrible roads and so on goes - I personally have seen plenty of instances of the humble Maruti 800 car, omni and even the Zen being driven on some perfectly horrible terrain - in the hills and in the rural areas of India - so I would never underestimate their capabilities. After all, regular people also live in these far away places which have bad roads - not all of them can afford fancy SUV's but still need a decent means of transport. therefore I am pretty sure a regular sedan can also do the job.
possibly one can even consider blasting up the hills in the new Chevy Cruze LTZ top end which will give the necessary comfort, leg-room, refinement, power and the economy of diesel- all in one!

I am too looking at xylo as a serious option as it got all the things I am looking at i.e. space, high ground clearance, powerful engine and good FE (hopefully) but squirrel shaped front is the thing which I am not able gulp as a daily drive. Will not pickup Cruze anyhow as I found it less spacious then that of my optra while test drive.. so for me CRUZE is NO NO !! Though I love the looks, features and engine of CRUZE by heart.

[jigbarai]

Newly launched SX4 AT anyone ?
Excellent as a city run Sedan.

Has good GC, can increase a tad further if you upsize, for your mountain trip.

[ashthedivx]

Well, I am too looking at the same

[EssYouWe]

I have seen 6'5" people have no problems in the Scorp.

The Safari 4X4. Awesome vehicle.

[rhandle]

Wish I could have suggested you Gurkha :(

[ashthedivx]

A big-big twist in Story !!

Now leaving all things aside, I need to decide between Brand New Maruti SX4 AT or 1-2 Year Old Honda CIVIC !!

What say ??

[EssYouWe]

Depends on the condition of the Civic.

How about you post some pics and the odo readings etc.

[ashthedivx]

Well, its a 12K ran 2008 civic @ price of a new SX4 AT. Photos wil follow once further talks are intitated.

[ashthedivx]

Just got confirmation over phone that the said car is in 100% perfect condition and owner is shifting to Jetta !!

Properly maintained service records are available and 100% on time service was the priority of the owner.

[suman]

Lots of stuff sound good on the phone - I presume you are planning to go across & see it soon? Keep us posted.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

...decide between Brand New Maruti SX4 AT or 1-2 Year Old Honda CIVIC !!

What say ??

Just that your plans to conquer mountains seem to have dropped off a cliff... The thread needs an edit/change of title.

[Prithvi]

Buy a Land Rover Defender or a Freelander> Period.

[ladak.imran]

I think a Ford Fusion fits the bill!
Spacious, amazingly fun to drive (so i've heard), not too bad with the fuel (diesel/petrol choice), high ground clearance, anddd the car oozes character - I was seriously considering a brand new fusion myself - but then with a price tag of ~7 lakhs on road, I decided to just go in for an i10 + a secondhand Gypsy!

Anyway, back to the point - I hear (keyword being hear) that ford dealers are offering discounts of up to 1.2 lakhs, on old Fusions. Word is that they want to get rid of their old stock, before the new batch of Fusions come in (rumoured to be around October 2010).

Now the only hurdle, if you decide to go in for a Fusion, would be t actually find a dealer who still has stock of the car !

Good luck..

[ashthedivx]

Well, Ford fusion looks a died snake to me. With poor availability of spares in after-market and another poor, I would stay away and suggest you as well for the same.