An EV or the reliable Toyota Innova to replace my Kia Seltos

I owned the Kia Seltos for a year, covering around 10,000 km during the ownership period.

BHPian Sagar.Agarwal recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It’s just 3 stars and scores very poor on child safety. One thought and the amazing ownership experience of my Kia Seltos HTK+ D AT had started turning sour. Here’s what I loved and disliked and why I sold my car after a year and only 10,000 km on the odometer. Now sitting on the fence to decide on a new car. All options from Rs 15 - 25 lakhs are open.

Kia Seltos HTK+ D AT

Bought the car in Oct 2020 with self-insurance, extended warranty and without the accessories pack from Kia for Rs 16.5 lakhs on road in Pune. Upgraded and upsized the tyres from Goodyear to Michelin primacy St 215/65/16 for a better ride and purchased a 4-year service pack from Kia for 25k.

Likes:

• The engine and gearbox. Perfectly suits the car and the NVH is just fantastic.
• Space for 5. Did a drive to Bengaluru from Pune. No complaints and no fatigue. Ample boot space.
• Looks. Never got bored of them. Less bling in HTK models suited my tastes and the grey colour too. The alloys finished in Gunmetal also helped.
• Interiors. The awesome look of the interior. But the build quality is not as great as the looks. More in the dislikes.
• After sales. Aman Kia motors were very good at solving minor issues. The car always pulled to the left post-delivery. They changed the left front shock under warranty which solved the issue.
• Handling. The stiff suspension helped here. The steering feedback is good both in the city and on the highway. Minimal body roll too at corners.

Dislikes:

• The ride quality. Although the tyre upgrade helped to a great extent, the road imperfections always make their presence felt. Maintained a tyre pressure of 30 in the city and 32 on highways. The ride quality got liveable.
• Brakes and ABS calibration. On rough surfaces, the ABS is very sensitive and the brake feels wooden and unresponsive. Complained to KIA but they always assumed this is my first ABS car and replied saying this is how ABS works. Having driven all my cars with abs from swift, Fabia, Jetta, Vento, Audi A4 and Q5, I never felt such behaviour with ABS.
• Build quality. Having been used to building quality cars like the A4 and Q5, I was disappointed on this front. The interiors developed minor rattling at the doors, parcel tray and the suspension have got nosier too with more km.
• The deal breaker. 3-star crash rating. I was aware I already bought a version with just 2 airbags and no esp (due to availability and budget constraints at the time) but the unstable body threw the ball out of the park. This was also backed by the deteriorating build quality as more km were covered.

The sale and advent of EV

I still decided to keep the car due to the limited availability of new cars and having mostly city use with one long-distance trip in 6 months. Being in aviation I prefer flying to most places where my airline flew which it does almost to every city in India. Then came two things at the same time:

• The rise in fuel prices and
• The focus on EV and general acceptability with subsidy, noiseless cockpit, low running costs and suitability to my use of mostly in the city.

The final nail in the coffin came when I received an irresistible deal for my Seltos. Explained all the reasons for not liking the car but guess the long waiting periods of all cars helped my case. Sold it at 16 lakhs. That’s roughly 1 lakh less than what it cost me with the tyre upgrade a year back and after using the car for 10000 km. Although a service pack for 4 years, tyre upgrade and extended warranty seemed like a fair deal for the buyer.

So here I am using a beater amaze diesel in the family until I get a new car. We are a family of 3 and very soon to be 4. We do travel once in a while with parents too for dinners, get together, weddings and one odd trip in 6 months. I request all with their experiences and inputs to come to a decision. Here are the options I have tried

Tata Nexon EV

I am just hooked on the idea of EVs. I can charge at home and can rent a car for long drives. Agreed there are some issues but I have a Tata dealership in the family which should fare better than for others. Test drive experience was in line with expectations. Noiseless cockpit, low running costs, better ride and handling package than the Seltos, better sounding music system and 5 stars rated. Although the EV misses on esp which should alter the safety rating. Lack of cruise control is also a big omission in EVs. Another con is the general lack of finesse with Tata cars. (The test drive cars were proof). With subsidies in place, the XZ+ should cost about Rs 15 lakhs on road with accessories. Will be an outright purchase. This is at the top of my list.

Toyota Innova Crysta GX AT

Pros-One car for all. Buy it and don’t have to think of a new car for at least 7 to 8 years. Reliable and comfortable for all. I might even undertake more road trips if I buy this car.

Cons- Running costs with single-digit mileage in the city.

Cumbersome to drive in the city. (Although it’s a matter of getting used to).

Spartan Interiors and lack of upmarket feel inside than the competition. The on-road price in Pune is around Rs 25 lakhs now. This would be on loan so will turn out even more expensive with interest. I am also considering buying an electric scooter for errands so the running costs would likely be balanced.

MG ZS EV facelift 2022

All the positives of EVs minus the negatives of the Nexon EV. Expected better range and a global product sold in many countries outside with good reliability. With a practical range of around 400 km and more acceptable to DC fast charging than the Nexon, this is close to replacing the ice vehicles.

Con- Price. No subsidy and with a bigger battery the expected on-road price will be close to Rs 27 lakhs on road in Pune.

Hyundai Creta SX O D AT

I know the body structure is shared with Seltos but with 6 airbags and other safety features, I am assuming this should fare better in safety. Budget permits extend to the top version. All the likes of my previous car are bettered with slightly better NVH, smoother gear transitions in eco mode and the famous plethora of features. The suspensions felt smoother than the Seltos and the build quality too. Thoroughly modern car with great resale. Better options for after-sales with Hyundai network second best in the country. On-road price Rs 21.5 lakhs with a facelift coming soon which should touch 23 lakhs. This will be on loan again.

Kia Sonet GTX AT

The iffy build quality and safety concerns still hold. But again with 6 airbags and more safety features than my previous car, this car also suits all my requirements barring the one odd long-distance trip where I can rent a car. The NVH is a level down to Seltos but the suspension is more accommodating. Less space is a major con. On-road price around Rs 16 lakhs. This will be an outright purchase.

Other options not in contention:

1. Tata Safari: Putting a fight to Innova in this price range still has some way to go for Tata. Lack of boot space with three rows, not as good a resale as Innova and long term reliability is still unknown. Moreover, for a car costing between 24 to 28 lakhs on road for the XTA and XZA models, more finesse is required. The steering felt disconnected. Heavy at low speeds and light at high speeds. The infotainment system still feels behind time and lack of boot space with three rows limits the use on long trips which in essence defeats the purpose of buying a car in this price bracket.
2. Tata Harrier: Solid build and suspension but 2.5 lakhs over the top end Creta do not seem justifiable with many niggles reported by existing owners.
3. Mahindra XUV 700: Did I hear a waiting period of 1 year plus? Also, the test drive was not as good as the media reports. I felt the ride quality below the harrier /safari. The dealers are already seen developing an attitude and I don’t know how they would handle the new gizmos in the service centre.
4. Mahindra Thar: Impractical in the current form to be a primary car. More than the EV as well.
5. Used Q3/X1: The high waiting period of new cars has driven the used car prices unreasonably high. After using the Q5 I want to avoid the high maintenance costs.
6. No petrol cars: With EVs blooming I see very little sense in buying a petrol SUV giving single-digit fuel economy with petrol prices only expected to increase. The price of a Honda city gets the diesel Sonet. Creta diesel is available at Kushaq and Taigun prices.

I can wait for the 2022 Creta (expected in March) and the MG ZS EV facelift before the decision process. All your valuable inputs are welcomed. Thank you.

Here's what BHPian ron178 had to say on the matter:

A large part of the Kia Seltos' poor rating for child occupant protection was the fact that Kia refused to recommend a child restraint to use in the test. The child protection rating is always for a combination of the car and the recommended child restraints, so when the manufacturer does not recommend one, the dynamic test score (based on dummy readings) is considered zero and it raises serious questions about the level of attention the manufacturer pays to child occupant protection. Even with the restraints that Global NCAP picked themselves (Chicco Key Fit Group 0 and Chicco Cosmos Group 1) it showed poor protection to the three-year-old's head.

I am not sure what CRS/what group you use but in case you have an i-Size child restraint (I believe some of the Britax-Römer ones on sale in India are i-Size approved, not sure about others) then you might want to consider the Toyota Innova and the MG ZS EV which have i-Size approved anchorages which reduces the risk of incorrect installation when compared to standard ISOFIX anchorages. Find out more here.

The Tata Nexon EV does not share the 5-star adult protection rating of the ICE version. In any NCAP, full-scale frontal-offset and side pole tests must be repeated to extend the rating to a hybrid or EV version. Tata did not sponsor a test on the Nexon EV voluntarily and Global NCAP has not yet been able to test it out of their own funds.

ESC is not part of Global NCAP's evaluations yet (it will be starting July) so it would not make a difference to the rating even if it was valid for the EV, but yes, ESC is a very important safety system and not having it might be a deal-breaker.

I am not well qualified to help you with the rest but good luck with your purchase.

Here's what BHPian asit.kulkarni93 had to say on the matter:

If the Seltos has disappointed you then the Creta won’t be any different. Go ahead with the Crysta. Did you say 7-8 years? Toyota BOFs can last over a decade without any headache.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.