First car buying advice: Safe & comfortable option in 10 lakh

Based on my requirements, I have shortlisted three cars - Tata Punch, Tata Altroz and Honda Jazz

BHPian blitz_nomad recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Greetings BHPians!

First of all, a big thank you to all of you that make this a great community. The forum is an invaluable resource for beginners - the discussions are all very informative, relevant, and friendly. Ever since I started driving, I've gained a lot by going through threads here. Plenty of gratitude is owed.

I intend to purchase my first car this March and would really appreciate some advice.

Some background

I'm a first-time driver, barely out of driving school. Thanks a tonne to the 'Cool drives within 150km from Bangalore' thread - I've been practicing every other weekend driving to some of these destinations and have done about 2K km thus far. These were largely in rented cars (revv) - Swift & i10. In driving school, also had access to an Ignis. Among the three I loved the Ignis - Swift and i10 paled in comparison.

From a driving skill point of view - I found the drive to Manadargiri via Tumkur road was clearly out of my league, esp the ingress and egress through B'lore at peak traffic. Found it very stressful (though the forest section en route Namada Chilume was very peaceful and enjoyable) - and Google maps routed me via a narrow gully/congested street (to save a couple of mins!) on the way back home at 4 pm. OTOH, I found drives to Kurudmalle (NH-75) and Gudibande Fort (NH-44) enjoyable. A rather sedate driver - In the highways, I found myself mostly cruising at 80 to 100km. Never higher than that.

Preferences (Priority sorted - highest first)

• Safety is paramount - would like a sturdy car.
• Rear seat comfort & elder-friendly - Have a special requirement here. My mother is 70+ and has Parkinson's. She should be able to get in and get out without too much effort. The rear seat should be comfy and ride smooth with adequate thigh and back support. (We are all 5'6 or less and medium build). This will largely be in rides to TN from B'lore - often to our hometown - Villages near Puddukkotai area. Since the Parkinson's we've been to these places mostly in an Etios. That level of comfort should be good enough. She struggles a bit to get in and out though.
• Motion Sickness/Claustrophobia free - This is peculiar to us too. Multiple of us are prone to motion sickness. Happens only in certain cars while totally ok in others - Often in office provided transport service for pick up and drops in B'lore traffic - I used to feel very sick with the old Tata Sumo, Safari, etc. Innova was better. Hatchbacks/Sedans were generally ok. Strangely Honda City - also used to give me some discomfort (not as much as the others mentioned here) - mostly blocked ears and a stuffy feeling. I will of course be test driving the vehicles I choose but would like to get views of others in this forum as well. (Just in case my sickness doesn't show up in the short test drive - I'd still want to be cautious).
• Will be doing a lot of village roads as indicated in #2. Drive comfort matters. We may also stay in Villages for some time. Service Network matters. Car should be reliable - Imagine yourself being stranded in the night with elders in the car on a small road with barely any traffic. (Often routes to village temples are like these - two cars likely won't be able to pass each other - one will have to reverse to yield way to the other).
• Don't want a large car - being a beginner, I'd be less nervous in a smaller car with easy drive-ability. Esp less width. But the back seat needs to be able to accommodate 3 medium build adults comfortably - I'll put up with the width required for that.
• Not likely to do a lot of miles - Will likely do 1 or 2 trips a year on the highway and may drive in the city daily for a couple of months. Should be able to tolerate being parked in the garage for 3 to 6 months without issues - when I am abroad. I suppose this means I'm restricted to Petrol. Is this an issue for turbo engines too?
• The budget is around 10L.
• I'm likely to stick to the same car for a long time (7+ yrs), if I can manage it. (Intend to get the extended warranty and P2P if go ahead with Tata cars mentioned below).

Following the various threads in the forum, I've sort of zeroed in on these three as my top choices (However, feel free to suggest any other as well that I should be considering).

• Tata Punch
• Tata Altroz
• Honda Jazz

The Punch and Altroz - mainly because of all the reviews I've been reading and I absolutely love the looks. A little worried about Altroz on village roads and the drive comfort on the Punch. Unfortunately, was not able to get any of these in the rental drives I am doing to actually experience them. I'm really hoping the test drive with Altroz/Punch goes well - love the looks of both. Don't like the looks of the Jazz - but a lot of threads seem to be suggesting it for comfort, so decided to do a TD on it as well.

I'm a bit undecided on the NA vs turbo discussion - given my sedate driving (80 to 100kmph). The team-bhp review of the Altroz turbo - seemed to state they almost felt sorry for NA purchasers. Just wondering, if I decide on the Punch - must I wait for the turbo. I'm ok with the extra cost of the turbo.

I'm likely to get a manual rather than automatic (mainly as a learner, I hope to get used to smooth shifts before going to automatic).

Here's what GTO had to say about the matter:

I think the Altroz is perfect for you. You / your family will have none of the motion sickness on long drives because it drives like a proper "big car" on the highway with excellent stability & high-speed ride comfort. No other hatchback matches its high-speed manners, other than discontinued ones like the Punto, 1st-gen Figo etc.

Even if you are a sedate driver, still you must choose the turbo-petrol variant. Reason = that additional power will always come in handy while overtaking etc. Plus, it'll be a lot more fun in the 20 - 100 kmph range. Forget high speeds, a more powerful engine is more fun even at low to midrange speeds.

In the longer-term, the turbo-petrol might end up being cheaper to own as you'll never get bored of it (related thread - How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)). Never, ever compromise on the engine if you want to own a car long-term.

Here's what BHPian Axe77 had to say about the matter:

That’s a really well crafted and thought through "what car" query.

I’ll break this down into two parts:

Automatic vs Manual

Personally, I’d only buy an automatic anymore. It's just a convenience I cannot live without and while it's a strictly personal choice I’d say think about it carefully from a long term perspective.

One counterpoint to your “competence” point above - buying an automatic will take two variables (clutch and gearshift coordination) out of the equation and will enable you to be a better “automatic car” driver quicker. If you must learn the skill of driving a manual just for the sake of the skill (an understandable thought), perhaps that could be acquired by logging driving hours with a driving school and their vehicle - only for that limited purpose - and without dunking depreciating capital into a manual car, only to want to switch to an AT a few years down the line.

Automatic Altroz

If you DO decide to go the automatic route, I’d think beyond the Altroz to other CVT or TC options - basically non-AMT options.

Reason: Tata + DCT + 1.0 avatar.

Tata is not exactly the cornerstone of QC and reliability (they’re not bad either) and DCTs have consistently been problematic in India across manufacturers - from Skoda to Ford to even Hyundai.

If it was one or two of the above three, that might be fine. But all these three aspects combined together would make me wary of going for this option. I would instead shift my focus instead to some other option if it must be an automatic. I’m not sure off the bat what the closest comparable options are but if you’re open to this route I’m sure the forum could help revisit options accordingly.

Here's what BHPian lamborghini had to say about the matter:

As a new learner, I'd look at friendly vehicles that offer good visibility, friendly and linear engines, light controls - especially since you're preferring to stick with manuals - though there is no harm in picking up an automatic IMO as it would result in a smoother drive and be a boon in the city - you already have some experience on a manual should you ever need to drive one in an emergency. Biggest advantage of the auto is that as a learner, you're focusing on the drive: situational awareness, rules, etc. rather than worrying about being in the right gear.

Once this is satisfied, the next item is width. I found the Jazz to be easier to manage - but the Honda Amaze was that much easier due to its better visibility. The Swift, Altroz do become a little wider so they could be a little painful in the city initially.

I wouldn't be too worried about length unless you have parking constraints - most cars have enough aids to make parking that much easier.

With that in mind, I would suggest looking at the CVT Jazz, the Amaze & even the City 4th Gen too (subject to ingress & egress - though the Jazz would potentially be the best), especially in light of the recent NCAP ratings of the Jazz & City.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.