New city car to replace a 2007 Maruti 800: Maruti Ignis or Tata Punch?

We have shortlisted either the Tata Punch or the Maruti Suzuki Ignis as a replacement.

BHPian Ajay_Sensei recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello BHPians!

Sorry for the long post. It was not my intent, but got carried away!

This is probably the first thread I have initiated here since being a member.

The Team-BHP community has been a treasure trove of automotive knowledge for me. In fact, I never considered myself to be a car enthusiast before I started browsing through Team-BHP forums looking for car reviews. Since then, I have been addicted and have learnt so much over the years from members here.

Background

We have two cars in our stable:

1. 2007 Maruti 800 This was my wife's car which she used while working in Delhi before we got married. She bought it used and we used it a lot when we moved to Mumbai.
2. 2015 Honda City, 4th gen i-Vtec This became our primary car after our daughter was born. Before buying this car, we never considered buying a car since I would walk to work and my wife would use the omnipresent local trains.

Up until early 2020, my wife was using the nifty 800 for short commutes close to home. However, over the last two years, since the pandemic struck, the poor 800 were badly neglected. I had wild ideas of converting it into an EV, but these were shot down by both my wife and my dad. I estimated the cost of retrofitting with an EV kit to be between 3 -5 lakhs. With a few more, we could buy a small car!

Current Dilemma

With all of us returning to pre-pandemic routines, we now feel the need for a second set of wheels. My wife would like to have her own car for commuting to her work (no local trains to her new job). She has been using cabs. And also for taking my daughter to all her extra-curricular classes. Over the years, I have tried to get her to drive the City but she is not comfortable with the car. She can drive it quite well, but she doesn't want to have a "large" car to lug around.

Hence, our search for a second, small car...

My wife has a soft corner for all the small car offerings from Maruti Suzuki. Alto, Celerio, S-Presso - you name it, she likes them, finds them cute and great. I don't want her to drive a car with an unstable body shell!

That's why I found Tata Punch to be a perfect car for our requirements. She was excited by the idea of Tata Punch until she saw the car on road. It gave her the appearance of a bigger car, in comparison to the MS options she had in mind.

The two contenders:

Finally, after much discussion, I narrowed it down to two options.

1. Tata Punch: This would be the car I would pick without any thought. It checks all the boxes; design, safety, size, space and comfort. I know the engine is somewhat of a letdown, but we aren't going to drag race with this car! Safety is a big concern for me and the Punch is a winner in this category.
2. Maruti Suzuki Ignis: My wife wasn't aware of this car until I showed her pictures on the internet. We also saw a few on the roads (it is still a rare sight). As expected, given her liking for Maruti cars, she fell in love with Ignis. Now, don't get me wrong. The Ignis is a great car. I like its design and would have definitely bought it a couple of years ago. But, at the time Tata Punch wasn't in the market. I looked up NCAP results for Ignis. I think it scored 3 stars with an unstable body shell.

What car and budget?

This brings me here looking for advice. According to my wife, the dilemma is only in my mind. She has made up her mind on the Ignis and is already swooning over every Ignis that we sight on the road.

Whatever car we buy, we will go for the base model. I think the Ignis Sigma variant will cost ~6 L OTR in Mumbai. The Punch Pure will be dearer by about a lakh and cost ~ 7L OTR in Mumbai. There may be discounts on the Ignis.

My question: Which car should I buy? Please help me in arriving at an informed decision.

Thank you!

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

Considering the 5-star safety rating from Global NCAP, size and boot space advantage on offer, the Tata Punch would be the better choice. The Maruti Suzuki Ignis would have been a better choice a few years back, but it is due to a generation change or facelift. The Punch on the other hand is just a year old and is a best seller.

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

Let me throw in the Citroen C3 to the mix. Please take a look at the specs. The car certainly looks very good. I know looks are subjective.

It’s a small car. It’s surely worth considering.

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

I'd suggest you buy the Ignis if she likes it and is comfortable with it. If you didn't have a problem with her driving the 800 all these years, why worry about the Ignis? Don't think too much about safety if the car is driven within the city at moderate speeds as a safety rating alone doesn't guarantee safety. The Ignis should be easier to drive and easier to park than the Punch with better mileage. Even maintenance & service will be better than Tata. The best part is she won't blame you.

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

Well, how about the 4-star Tiago then? It stands in the middle between the compact Maruti's and the Punch. It is a bit more compact than the Punch and feels better built than the Ignis. I have booked it recently for the same "city compact beater car" needs.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.