Looking for a bigger car to complement my MG Comet EV; Need suggestions

I bought a Comet EV sometime last year, and it's been a great experience. It's been my only car since then due to reasons, but it was always bought as a second car - to complement something else, to be purchased at a future date. Hence the title!

BHPian MindFreak9874 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Requirements:

• Upto 20L ex-showroom, although slightly over is ok.
• Fun to drive.
• Good for tall people, say 6' - 6'2".
• Seat 4 adults comfortably. I'd have said 5 but that doesn't leave many options.
• Decent boot space.
• Automatic (DCT or TC), Petrol.
• No EVs please, because one EV is enough for me for now, and with the pace the market is moving I'd rather wait. There's also not too many options in my budget, a lot of temptation to increase it for the various new launches. But I'll wait.
• No Diesel either - not enough running to justify that.
• Good Safety rating, quite important. Crash tests are the way, so GNCAP/BNCAP rating. 5 stars, ideally.

The Comet will still be used regularly, especially for city or solo travel. The new car would serve as a weekend car, family car (4 adults fit fine in the Comet but the ingress and egress for the rear sucks, sadly.), road-trip car, amongst other things.

I've been test driving a bunch of options, but not from dealerships - rather, by renting various potential cars I want to buy through various self-drive places, to be able to spend a good amount of time with the car, live with it, get a true feel for it. I've also used that to try out various form factors: Sedan, 4.3m SUV, 4.7m SUV, Coupe. Diesel, Petrol. Manual, various automatics: CVT, DCT. It's given me a good sense of what I like and don't, to come up with the below lists.

Cars in consideration, in order:

1. Hyundai Verna SX (O) DCT: ADAS, and other features gives this the edge.
2. Volkswagen Virtus 1.5 DSG: Missing some features, but that's livable. Maybe.
3. Skoda Slavia 1.5 DSG: I prefer VW's looks, but this might be cheaper, and still looks great!
4. Mahindra XUV7OO AX7: Petrol engine gives you a big smile. Big car and thus very comfortable inside. Don't need the 7 seats, but that's ok. AX7 mainly due to airbags, otherwise AX5 / AX5 Select may have been ok too. Potential facelift coming as well.
5. Volkswagen Taigun 1.5 DSG: Boot is a bit small. Potential facelift coming, too.
6. Skoda Kushaq 1.5 DSG: Same as above.
7. Citroen Basalt: Wildcard. Lacks features but price reflects that. Looks and Ride quality are what draw me to this car. Their monthly sales draw me away.

I've also been looking at used cars at various places, mostly online (The Classifieds, the new age companies / aggregators), and finding some good deals / tempting options (e.g. Not so old Octys), but I think I will prefer going the new route for this one.

Previously considered, sorted by price:

• Skoda Kylaq: space for 4 adults, boot space.
• Mahindra XUV3XO: same as above.
• Tata Nexon: See Curvv below.
• Kia Syros: I was really excited for this, really liked the rear seat / boot space combination. Priced quite high (I liked top model for ADAS and features), 3-pot engine and no safety rating yet draws me to other options instead.
• Honda Elevate: No safety rating, yet. Also see City below.
• Honda City: Really tempting, but CVT draws me away.
• Tata Curvv: I simply don't fit in this car nicely. Barely any headroom at the front, and at the rear I touch the headliner. Just not for me. Also didn't like the touch-based AC controls one bit - they look very nice, but hard to operate on the move.
• Hyundai Creta N Line: No safety rating, yet. And perhaps boot space as well, leaves you wanting more. Maybe that's just me?
• Honda City Hybrid: Boot space, no safety rating, yet. Added only due to hybrid's unique factor!
• Tata Harrier: Diesel only, and out of budget.

Timeline:

Not in a rush. Hoping to get something this calendar year, which gives me more than enough time to get any of the above, but also means thoughts about facelifts and future launches muddy the waters.

I'd appreciate any and all insights from everyone!

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