Need a Terrano replacement: Volkswagen Taigun vs Kia Seltos

Clean lines of the Taigun will leave lasting impressions. It is like the Polo GT of hatchbacks. Seltos is more like the Swift.

BHPian CkmGowda recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Background: My Nissan Terrano will be completing 8 years in a few weeks. I am considering to buy a new SUV using the company lease option.

Budget: Upper limit of my company lease plan is 22 lakhs on road (Bangalore). This will include Ex showroom price + registration charges + insurance + TCS.

Usage: My usage will be around 2000 km per month. Around 600 km in Bangalore city and 1400 Km on highway (Bangalore to Chikmagalur). Occasionally to Mangalore.

Requirements:

• Great to drive.
• Automatic transmission.
• Useful modern-day features.
• Safe Car.
• Good looks.
• Good mileage.
• Good ground clearance (hilly area drives).
• Good resale value (I am planning to see in 3 or 4 years after the lease plan ends).
• Good boot space (Terrano spoilt us).
• No nonsense service and maintenance.

I have finalized two cars which will closely meet my requirements – Taigun GT plus and Seltos GTX Plus.

Drive: Both are good at ride and handling, but Taigun feels little better. It also feels quick for overtaking. NVH is also better in Taigun (because of the petrol engine). Seltos has better seating position (sitting high).

Transmission: Both automatic transmissions are good, but Taigun is little better in Sport mode.

Features: Seltos wins hands down. In addition to everything that the Taigun offers, the Seltos has:

• 360-degree camera.
• Blind View Monitor.
• Bose audio system with 8 speakers.
• Ventilated and powered seats.
• Heads Up Display (HUD).
• LED fog lamps.
• Auto headlamps.
• Driver One Touch Auto up/ down with Anti Pinch function.
• Rear door sunshade curtain.
• Rain sensing wipers.
• All 4-disc brakes.
• All black sport interiors.

Safe Car: Although the Taigun is not NCAP rated, I am assuming it to be better than the Seltos given its history of making solid (safe?) cars.

Looks: Looks are subjective, but the Taigun GT wins hands down (personal preference). There is simply no car which matches the class and elegance of the Taigun under 25 lakhs (considering average price of the Jeep Compass is above 25 lakh). Not saying that the Seltos is less of a looker, but it falls into the mass category. Clean lines of the Taigun will leave lasting impressions. It is like the Polo GT of hatchbacks. Seltos is more like the  Swift.

Mileage and running costs: Here the Seltos come out as the winner. Yearly saving of 50k on fuel expenses alone.

Ground Clearance: No significant difference here (190 mm of Seltos vs 188 mm of Taigun).

Resale: I have a feeling the Seltos will be better here.

Good boot space: The Seltos has better boot space on paper, but I felt the Taigun will hold more luggage in real. Taigun boot space is deep.

Service and maintenance: Although the Hyundai group has better track record, I am willing to believe VW’s commitment on improving service and maintenance experience for Indian customers.

Wildcard: If the Work from Home continues, I am willing to wait till Q2 2022 for the all new Scorpio.

What do you all think?

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

Picking a car today has one major factor - delivery times. I don't know which one of these is available for delivery as per your requirements.

Second is price. And then servicing availability in your area.

My take regarding the features:

• 360-degree camera - not a must. But helpful.
• Blind View Monitor - Helpful.
• Bose audio system with 8 speakers - Good.
• Ventilated and powered seats - Good.
• Heads Up Display (HUD) - Good to have.
• LED fog lamps - not an advantage, exp if these are cool white..
• Auto headlamps - Good to have.
• Driver One Touch Auto up/ down with Anti Pinch function. Good to have.
• Rear Door Sun-Shade Curtain - Good to have.
• Rain sensing wipers - Good to have
• All 4-disc brakes - Not necessary. I have 4-disc brakes on my vehicle. But rear drum is sufficient.
• All black sport interiors - Personal choice.

Running costs: What you have mentioned is indicative. Actual numbers will be known after you start using it.

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

I just bought a Seltos DCT last month and so far I am satisfied as the whole package does add to the ownership experience, but I am not sure how many of those features I will use on a regular basis.

If you are looking at the Seltos, you may want to also consider 2 aspects (other than the safety which you already mentioned), which I also considered but still ended up buying it:

• It is a very common car. There is no exclusivity. While it is nice to buy a tried and tested product, but I would have preferred slightly more exclusivity.
• Facelift is long overdue. Since the car is selling so well, Kia is holding back on launching an update. They did one last year, but that was fairly limited. Consider the Creta as a comparison, they are going launch the 3rd variant (from the time Kia originally launched the Seltos) in India.

Looks are subjective. Honestly, I prefer the Seltos' SUV type body structure more (its not a true SUV, hence, play with the words) and it offers more in cabin space as well. With VW, I am just not sure what is the thought process they have in terms of launching and maintaining their product portfolio. They are quite abrupt in terms of discontinuing products (case in point, T-Roc, Karoq, Kodiaq, Taigun, which I can remember) or continuing with older gen products (Polo, Rapid, Vento selling forever).

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

No point considering the Seltos because of the crash test rating. All those feel good features aren’t saving anyone in a crash. 20 lakhs is a lot of money to compromise on safety, especially when there are other options available. I would say wait. You don’t need a new car asap so wait. Even if you got one home tomorrow ,with the rapid rise in cases you probably aren’t going to risk a long drive anywhere. By then there might be a better idea if the Taigun’s safety. Plus the new Scorpio and the 5 door Gurkha will be out. They might just give you the best of both the Taigun and Scorpio.

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

I don’t see the point of spending 20L on a Seltos, a vehicle which barely managed a 3 star GNCAP rating with an unstable chassis. No amount of features can compensate for that, especially when you plan on doing plenty of highway running. Secondly, you are overestimating the 1.4 turbo petrol’s mileage. The engine is extremely sensitive to throttle inputs and FE figures tank very easily. The VW is at least as efficient, if not more, in real world conditions. It’s ride and handling is also better. The Seltos boot may be bigger on paper, but it’s shape doesn’t make it very useful. Neither car can accommodate anywhere near as much luggage as your Terrano.

I see the Tiguan and Kushaq as the best overall 4.3m SUVs in the market today, as long you seat only 2 people at the back. Mighty fine cars, these. If you are inclined to wait, I’d rather you wait for the Skoda Slavia. Mainly for the much bigger boot. Don’t see how the new Scorpio will work for you. It will be much less efficient and more cumbersome to drive than the smaller and lighter monocoque crossovers.

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