[manupriyam]

Folks,

I am real confused as to which car to buy. I have been out of India scene for too long. First some background. I have (my first car) Petra 1.6 petrol, which I had bought in 2005. Since then we had been mostly living abroad. The car has just done 18K so far and is always parked (cover parking) in my home town. Every year I get it serviced and my FIL drives it once a month to keep it in running shape. The car needs re-painitng for sure. Even interior needs a good polishing.

Now we are moving back to Bangalore for good and we would need 2 car for sure. One for me and one for my wife just to get around. I may not be able to bring Petra immediately as it will be good 4-5 months before I will go to hometown and arrange it to be transported back to Bangalore. Hence my options which also revolve around Petra are:

1. If Petra will last lets say another 5 years for me then I would like to go for a family car between Xylo and Innova. I am not sure however if people go to offices in one of these cars. What do you guys say? Will it look odd? Why I am asking this is because first Petra is not immediately accessible and secondly when it comes to Bangalore I don't want my wife to drive big car like Innova etc when I am not around. Hope she doesn't read this :-). So my question if this is the right approach? If yes then which family car to buy? Xylo or Innova or wait for sometime if any new option is going to arrive soon.

2. Buy a decent hatchback. Use it for weekend travel too. Re-furbish the Petra and bring it to Bangalore and drive that to office. In that case I would like to use the newer car for all my weekend and holiday travelling to places like Kerala, Goa, Hyderabad, Pune & Mumbai etc. I don't want to spend more than 6 lacs on a hatchback and safety is paramount. My wife should also not feel that she got a raw deal as she will have the hatchback to call her own. Again is this a right approach. Which Hatchback? We are family of 4 with
occasional addition of a 5th but a real slim SIL.

3. Buy another Sedan like Fiesta SXI and drive that to office and expedite Petra's transfer to Bangalore. Fiesta can be used for all outstation travelling. But then we will end up having 2 Sedans. Since Petra was our first car, it will never be sold off. Somehow at the back of my mind it is etched that only Sedan or bigger car can be used for extensive vacation travel. What do you guys say to this? Which Sedan? I can spend 7- 7.5 lacs on a Sedan.

Just to let you know, I have never even seen a Xylo or rode an Innova or Fiesta or ever drove a small hatchback before. However most important is worry free vehicle and customer friendly car manufacturer. FE and cost of spares are not important as long as:

- Spares are available for a long time
- I don't have to take the car to service centre every week as won't have any time.

Also as a stop gap till Petra is not with us and otherwise too, I want to own the Bullet Classic/Thunderbolt. Do you guys use that to commute to office? Will that be a laughing stock? I will be commuting to Electronic city from Sarjapur road everyday and working late hours too.

Where can I find the good deals in Bangalore for cars? What impact the budget is going to make this time? Are there generally good deals around budget time. I will be there in Bangalore from Feb 25 onwards.

The cars I have ever drove in my life are Petra, BMW 3 series AT & Toyota Avensis AT.

Most importantly, the new job will be paying a substantial portion as car lease or car allowance, have to check. How to best use that in terms of tax saving? What do you guys do?

Mods please let this post go.

Cheers

Manu

[rupinder]

first things first ,i think this thread should be in what car section.
secondly i will advise u to pick a hatchback as you will be very comfortable driving it in banglore traffic. you can keep the petra for out station journeys.its an excellent combination of ride and handling with good ground clearance and will take u everywhere and even broken roads but with less fe .i have a petra 1.6 driven for 93000km and even taken it to leh ladakh

[khoj]

If you buy a Xylo or an Innova for daily use in the city better get a driver with a lifelong contract.

Buy a hatchback with an auto gear box. Both you and your wife will find it a blessing in the city. I would recommend the i20.Comes with an auto box and has good space for a growing family (the kids will fill up the rear seats progressively and you cannot say no to the SIL) It sort of gives you the space of the people mover (X & I) in a hatch.

You can use the hatch for your out of town excursions. Be sure to buy the i20 in the version with all the safety bells and whistles, 6 airbags, ABS etc and you are good to go. One of the team member 'laluks' (based out of bangalore too) is an avid traveller and uses his swift zxi for almost all of his trips while his civic sits in the garage.

The Petra is a delight on the highways and since Fiat has had a resurgence of late so spares are going to be an issue for a long time to come. Driving it to the office will surely give you a novelty factor as it has become a very rare sight.

[Aravindpn]

Option 2 looks better. Go for a premium hatch back since a 5 seater is required. Parts for fiat cars is a concern but in a city like Bangalore, it should not be of much botheration.

Have seen good offers during June - July months of the year (Aashada month), as this month is not considered as auspicicious in Bangalore. So if you are not into such sentiments, a good deal can be expected.

Riding a Royal Enfield to office would be great and will be applauded by enthusiasts. A good chunk of IT professionals are bullet freaks. Only thing is during peak hours handling of same may be a small concern. Anyway, new elevated highway to E-city should make your ride comfortable.

[Surprise]

If you can manage your highway trips with space available in Petra, I would suggest to refurbish/retain the petra for your local as well highway trips. Buy an auto hatchback for wife for within city usage.

If you prefer to have a car like Innova for its space to do your highway trips, I would suggest to sell your petra & buy an Innova for your daily use/highway trips + an auto hatchback for your wife.

Once you get used to the car, the size does not really matter expect your daily drive demands squeezing in narrower roads & tighter parking to some extent. Making the highway trips with your daily usage car will give more confident & comfort

Not sure about the parts availability of petra

[rpmx1000]

I would suggest going for a hatchback. Go for a good diesel like the Vista/Figo (soon coming) / Punto (do you want another Fiat?) / Ritz . Of these the Figo looks most attractive to me but you'll have to wait some time for its launch. A big hatchback with low running costs (diesel) is always the best decision for someone in Bangalore. It is total piece of mind. I remember the feeling with my Indica Turbo ( awesome performance and very low running cost!). Cannot replace that car ever. I used to do weekend drives of about 500 km and spend about Rs.1500 on that. Unbelievable, is'nt it? With my new car (a petrol sedan) the cost is about 60% more. If you are intent on a petrol hatch, go for a Ritz or the Beat. The Figo/Base punto petrol/Ritz is also a good deal if you are not looking to set the road on fire. The Ritz is always a good deal.

BTW, I estimate your Petra will last another 7-8 years if you run it for about 20,000 km a year.

[khoj]

@manupriyam

In my post above read the first line of the last para as follows

" The Petra is a delight on the highways and since Fiat has had a resurgence of late so spares are not going to be an issue for a long time to come."

Reconfirms that posting is not a cure for insomnia.

[imp!]

Well, Here is my take,

I suppose moving the Petra should be based on the costs you will be incurring. Firstly find out the cost of

1) Good Paint Job
2) Interior touch up
3) Is the car KA registration? if not, then what is the cost of registering the car over here
4) Are there any major fixes the car requires?

If the total adds up to a substantial portion of the current value, you may be better off selling the car (I know this is not something you wish to do, but think about it);

About your what car scenario:

If you have the money for an Innova, I'd say go for it. I do drive one when I am in town and let me tell you, the first time you drive the car, it may take an hour or two to get used to the length of the car in city traffic. After that you won't think twice. Now the other thing to consider is that the Innova, in its current avatar (barring a few goodies and minor changes) is close to being 5 years old. This may indicate a product change for the car, this year, next year, who knows? but then again, the bulk of Innova buyers in South East Asia are cabbies, so Toyota may chose not to re-design the car for a while yet.
The Xylo is a very able car, but it does seem to yaw and pitch quite a bit. Why don't you consider the new Scorpio?

cheers!
imp!

P.S Please do post a separate thread in the what car section for your family car, you will get a lot of people who are very knowledgeable about the Indian car market willing to help you out.

[rohan_iitr]

Your requirements are:

1. A vehicle to commute from Sarjapur Road to Electronics City, working late hours.

2. Another vehicle for your wife.

3. A diesel vehicle (1. or 2. above) for outstation trips.

My suggestions are:

1. This may sound harsh - sell your petrol Petra.

2. Buy a diesel sedan like Fiesta/Verna/Others.

3. Buy a petrol hatch for wife (i10/Ritz/Others)

I have suggested diesel sedan for you since your commute distance from Sarjapur Road to Electronics City (around 1000 km per month) justifies diesel. Also, the same car can be used for outstation trips.

I have suggested petrol hatch for your wife assuming that her usage would be less than 1000 km per month.

Innova or Xylo does not make sense if you don't need to carry more than 5 people.

I would not advise you to use 2-wheeler for office commute, especially since you would be working late nights. It is just not safe. Also, you would have to endure the elements (dust/heat/wind/rain) if you are traveling by 2-wheeler.

Rohan

[manupriyam]

Thanks everyone,

I will now go for a bigger or premium hatch and will research them in "What Car" section. Also I will continue to drive the Petra and will wait for few more years before buying a big family SUV.

Folks, any checklist for getting the paintng job done. How much would it cost? If you guys know the relevant link here then please send me one. What kind of interiors touch-up can I expect and cost? Is it worthwhile to do it from Tata dealer or elsewhere?

Also I checked couple of threads on Road tax. No clear cut thread on how to calculate the Road tax for Bangalore.

Since I would need a car as soon as I move to Bangalore, I will try and close one around budget day. I will keep posted on my findings and research. After reading the replies, I am researching Ritz, i20 & Vista, although Vista's site not mentions anything about ABS or Airbags. Also biggest criteria would be no waiting period.

Cheers

[rjalihal]

Hi there. I would actually suggest you to hold on to the Petra. And like what imp! pointed below, if it not KA registration, you will end up shelling a bomb for road tax here. You also said it needs paint and interior upliftment. All that is gonna cost you money. But overall it is still cheaper than spending 7-7.5 lacs on a new sedan. Thus Petra for office is fine. You also need a car for the Mrs. A good hatch back will do. i20 is good but a tad expensive for the auto. You will be better off with the i10 auto. Its a nice city car and parking is an ease (required in Bangalore!). The Petra is a good highway car and returns decent FE. So there you go. The Petra can be (if you want to) be replaced over the next 5-7 years as its run low miles for now.

[khoj]

@manupriyam

Good to see your comment on the big hatch. Try not to fall into the Maruti/Tata trap their hatches are neither big nor premium and I hope that you do not bite the resale value biscuit.

Why do you want to change the Petra from MH to KA. Is the move permanent, if not you are still in the same country and should be able to drive freely. Anyway if you do decide to change then make sure you have a copy of your old invoice handy and ensure that the tax is calculated on that value and not on present day value for a comparable vehicle. Do remember that KA tax is the highest in the country.

[akas_chauhan]

I would suggest to bring petra to bangalore, if you will be staying long time in bangalore do a registration here and you use it.
For your wife you can buy her a i10 or similar car.

Regarding Bullet classic, yes it is a good bike and you will enjoy the ride more than anything, and of course it will not look awkward in office parking lot.