Buying a new car? Discuss here!

[abhi.r 95]

I've owned Maruti Swift Diesel and now i have Fiat Punto..

Quality: Punto is 10 times better than Swift..

Example: If you hit any pole or wall or tree etc.. even at very low speed.

On Swift.. first thing will happen is that Bumber will dislocated and the pins will break.

Punto.. My friend was driving my car and hit a calf who suddenly ran to cross the street while braking from 80 to 0 kmph. The accident was not a major one, the calf stood up immediately and walked away to the other side of the road.

Damage on car or front bumber... NOTHING.

I was amazed.. if it would have been Maruti Swift.. I would have to visit workshop for that kind of impact to fix the front bumper.

[dkaile 1,051]

Most Europeans and Americans will frown at the thought of owning a jap or Korean car. Though Toyota is quite popular there, it is mostly because it is the most affordable brand there. It's all relative.

I never found the Europeans to be ultra reliable. Not even Mercedes. European cars are prone with the highest numbers of parts failure though they score high on luxury (case in point is Skoda). Americans are normally rated as lowest on efficiency front, though they are big and stocky. However in India, the Americans (read GM) are mostly chugging Korean (read, the now defunct Daewoo) and Chinese products for us Indians. Only Ford is giving some reasonable products but then only its Figo has made any impact. Even the new Fiesta sells less than our humble Ambassador.

Tata, sadly lacks imagination and valour (case in point is the New Safari Storme) that somehow Mahindra has (case in point the XUV), amongst the Indians. But even Mahindra banks upon antiquated ladder frame chassis for most of its volume vehicles that sell and are ideal for our rural roads.

So, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Suzuki are left as safe bets for us urban Indians amongst the Japanese and Hyundai in the Koreans.

Edited March 5, 2012 by dkaile

[tanveer 59]

Agree. I don't know whether most people know or not but the same famous fiat multijet diesel engine is being used in at least 6-7 cars. If people want to praise maruti they say, swift is a winner. If they want to criticized tata, they say what's so great with vista or manza, it's the fiat engine that scores. That's how people perceive things.

@kshah in India, people always prefer white skin and nobody can doubt about it. the most people buying cars below 5L are just fed up of maruti. Even I own many maruti cars and many times recommend them to friends. but people saw" naah.. maruti, no we want something else". what else, they dont know but no maruti. Tata is good for pick up and HMVs even though their cars value for money.

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[tanveer 59]

That comment would not match with the increasing number of Audis and BMW s that you see on road. The only reason jap cars are popular outside Asia is because they are cheap and fuel efficient. Incidentally they are luxury for us Indians. All relative you see. Hyundai has never made a mark in US.

Most Europeans and Americans will frown at the thought of owning a jap or Korean car. Though Toyota is quite popular there, it is mostly because it is the most affordable brand there. It's all relative.

I never found the Europeans to be ultra reliable. Not even Mercedes. European cars are prone with the highest numbers of parts failure though they score high on luxury (case in point is Skoda). Americans are normally rated as lowest on efficiency front, though they are big and stocky. However in India, the Americans (read GM) are mostly chugging Korean (read, the now defunct Daewoo) and Chinese products for us Indians. Only Ford is giving some reasonable products but then only its Figo has made any impact. Even the new Fiesta sells less than our humble Ambassador.

Tata, sadly lacks imagination and valour (case in point is the New Safari Storme) that somehow Mahindra has (case in point the XUV), amongst the Indians. But even Mahindra banks upon antiquated ladder frame chassis for most of its volume vehicles that sell and are ideal for our rural roads.

So, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Suzuki are left as safe bets for us urban Indians amongst the Japanese and Hyundai in the Koreans.

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk

[dkaile 1,051]

That comment would not match with the increasing number of Audis and BMW s that you see on road. The only reason jap cars are popular outside Asia is because they are cheap and fuel efficient. Incidentally they are luxury for us Indians. All relative you see. Hyundai has never made a mark in US.

The Audis and BMWs dont even constitute 0.1% of our car market. US market is dominated by mostly petrol/diesel guzzling big SUVs and six/eight cylinder Pick Up trucks which are totally NON feasable for Indian roads. The Americans in general may not be too bothered about the dwindling fuel reserves in the world (as they can always bully any Iran into supplying them oil) but we Indians have efficiency and reliability paramount in our minds.

All that's good for the (cash rich) economies of Europe and America is not necessarily ideal for our environment.

Edited March 5, 2012 by dkaile

[tanveer 59]

I was referring to your point about reliability, comfort and luxury of European cars. People who own them will swear by them.

I am sure none of us think about environment before buying a car. If that were the case, most of the SUV s would be needless purchases. We see upfront cost, running cost snob value and reliability in that order. The case in point is Mahindra Xuv with increasing number of people buying it just because they can afford it though they may not need it and their needs may be better served by a sedan.

That comment would not match with the increasing number of Audis and BMW s that you see on road. The only reason jap cars are popular outside Asia is because they are cheap and fuel efficient. Incidentally they are luxury for us Indians. All relative you see. Hyundai has never made a mark in US.

The Audis and BMWs dont even constitute 0.1% of our car market. US market is dominated by mostly petrol/diesel guzzling big SUVs and six/eight cylinder Pick Up trucks which are totally NON feasable for Indian roads. The Americans in general may not be too bothered about the dwindling fuel reserves in the world (as they can always bully any Iran into supplying them oil) but we Indians have efficiency and reliability paramount in our minds.

All that's good for the (cash rich) economies of Europe and America is not necessarily ideal for our environment.

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Edited March 5, 2012 by tanveer

[dkaile 1,051]

I am sure none of us think about environment before buying a car. If that were the case, most of the SUV s would be needless purchases.

Indian SUV's are quite different from the American and European models. They are higher on efficiency and are more suited for our broken roads. They are not advisable for the metros, however. But for semi urban cities, they are ideal modes of transport. The XUV is highly fuel efficient and Japanese one's like the Fortuner give fuel efficiency figures from 11 to 16 kmph, which is even better and also cheaper to maintain than many smallers hatchbacks.

Edited March 6, 2012 by dkaile

[Dushie 30]

Agree. I don't know whether most people know or not but the same famous fiat multijet diesel engine is being used in at least 6-7 cars. If people want to praise maruti they say, swift is a winner. If they want to criticized tata, they say what's so great with vista or manza, it's the fiat engine that scores. That's how people perceive things.

@kshah in India, people always prefer white skin and nobody can doubt about it. the most people buying cars below 5L are just fed up of maruti. Even I own many maruti cars and many times recommend them to friends. but people saw" naah.. maruti, no we want something else". what else, they dont know but no maruti. Tata is good for pick up and HMVs even though their cars value for money.

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk

I agree on the same, lot of people i met or spoke to are going crazy to book the swift diesel and some are waiting for more than 3 months now to get their delivery. For me i test drove the Vista Quadrajet and found it to be on par if not better than the Swift. It has the same engine, along with more space, comfort and features at a lower price.

[Saurav 22]

I am planning to buy Diesel Car 6-7 Lacs. I have shortlisted following:

1. I20 Magna (O)

2. Dzire VDI

3. Swift ZDI

Please suggest my most of the driving is on Highways. Drive daily around 200 KM.

Mileage and maintainance cost are main priority.

[tanveer 59]

Wow 200km/ day. Do you need a sedan or hatch suffice you?

[me_saket 73]

@saurav

i would suggest u I20

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[dkaile 1,051]

I am planning to buy Diesel Car 6-7 Lacs. I have shortlisted following:

1. I20 Magna (O)

2. Dzire VDI

3. Swift ZDI

Please suggest my most of the driving is on Highways. Drive daily around 200 KM.

Mileage and maintainance cost are main priority.

All 3 are good cars with low maintenance and great mileage. Test drive each and choose one that suits your driving style and the shape which you like best. You can't go wrong with either.

[tanveer 59]

If it going to be a highway drive and you dont need a sedan, go for Swift ZDI for ABS and airbags. Availability may be an issue though.

Edited April 15, 2012 by tanveer

[Saurav 22]

With Maruti 6 Month waiting.

Price of all three is almost same so tough decission.

[ani_meher 42]

I would suggest Dezire. It looks good in current avatar, gives you an option of a good boot. Previous i20 (as well as i10) was famous for steering problem, which I faced first hand. I was travelling in an i10 no more than 5k kms old, and while parking its steering simply stopped responding. We had to call the engineer and fix the problem, which was apparently something simple. That i10 owner faced the same problem afterwards, but he had seen how to solve it and so did it himself.

Just check whether the problem exists on new i20 as well. Hyundai had never acknowledged the problem on i10 or i20, so you won't get answer from them. Search for reviews and complaints, if at all you are bent on i20.

[dkaile 1,051]

Previous i20 (as well as i10) was famous for steering problem, which I faced first hand.

I own a i10 since last 2 years. Never faced any such issue till date. Such problems are much over-hyped on forums like Tbhp. He can go for a i20 with closed eyes. Its a much superior product to the Maruti range.

[SUDYEcaZ 67]

I am planning to buy Diesel Car 6-7 Lacs. I have shortlisted following:

1. I20 Magna (O)

2. Dzire VDI

3. Swift ZDI

Please suggest my most of the driving is on Highways. Drive daily around 200 KM.

Mileage and maintainance cost are main priority.

You shoud consider i20, Swift, Dezire in the order mentioned,

Dezire looks good, but a very small Boot when compared to sedan, better to go for Swift and put a carrier for occasional long trips.

i20 is better than swift when compared to the space it offers, even the boot is bigger in i20

Also i20 CRDI engine is better/at par with Fiat MJD(used in swift)

Average for all the 3 cars are almost identical,

i20 does not have turbo-lag and a better car to drive in traffic and engine gives power till 4.5k RPM, where as MJD dies after 3.5K RPM

[shreesh 406]

@ Saurav

Skoda Fabia really fabulous available in many variants petrol as well as diesel may be also available in your budget

Also look for Ford Figo or honda brio

[dkaile 1,051]

^

One of my friends just bought the base diesel Fabia and he is all praises for it. Its a notch above these cars. Only thing is that there should be a reliable A S S in your city.

[Saurav 22]

Took a test drive of I20 and Dzire.

Interiors of I20 are much superior to Dzire.

Cost of I20 Magna Optional is equivalent to Dzire VDI

I20 sports with about 50K more has got many gadgets Rain sensing wipers, rear camera, alloys, ABS, Fog Lamps, etc

[joshm 818]

dont wanna spoil it for you

but as far as i have seen , ( havnt driven one i20 till date ) the performance and mileage arent good .

yes it looks sporty , andf is different .

as far as i can suggest with experience : buy a dzire vdi with eyes closed , it has been lauded by critics as the better version of the best budget sedan ever.

there are over 150 improvements in it and believe me maruti actually does solid work when they try and better something,

yes people may argue about the B grade interiors and lesser addons , but dzire is a killer ace. and then it ll be a sedan , i20 will always look like a small car .

i may not have driven i20 ever but i have experienced Hyudnai after sales and maruti's aftersales first hand .

maruti is like 100x better in all departments , be it quality of work or cost of spares.

Hyundai ( my first utterance there was , gosh ye to * CHOR hain * , every free service of y friends i10 was actually 4 times that of my ritz )

[kshah 452]

Got delivery of Ertiga VDi, Silver color on Monday.

There is very little discussed on Rimweb about ertiga so posting a bit.

Size : Its reasonable 5 seaters. Certainly not comfortable 5 seater in long run. But for city it is pretty comfortable. and occasional 7 seater as well.

Suspension : Feels like car. Stiffer than new age sedan.

Fuel efficiency : in quick 200 kms estimates it seems to be giving 16-18 KMPL

Engine : Adequate for city driving. Have not been to highway yet. Not for adrenaline lovers. Noise, Vibration and Harshness is surprisingly low. It is as good as VENTO.

Air Conditioning : I find it inadequete in Ahmedabad's 45 Deg C heat. First I suspected that it is very poor but when I measured grill temperature, even at 43 Deg C it was about 9 Deg C, means AC is efficient, it is may not feeling effective may be because of large glass area and IT SEEMS MARUTI HAS NOT PROVIDED TINTED GLASS. SO AC is not effective. I will get glasses tinted (SO CALLED RTO APPROVED) and will check. Second ROW A/C cools cabin faster. However when both AC are operating at full speed cabin become noisy a bit.

Seats : Not good, do not provide good lumbar support and cushions are softer than required. Even contour of seat do not feel ergonomic.

Controls : Typical Maruti and are good.

Leg Room : There is lot of debate about leg room, Maruti have managed internal space superbly, because of smaller engine engine compartment cabin get additional space. Also they have sacrificed boot space - only about 150 litre. So average sized 7 adult can easily travel for couple of hours. Check attached image for leg room. Certainly shoulder room is a much as most sedan in its class.

Head Room : Enough

Edited May 23, 2012 by kshah

[amtrag 20]

Congrats kshah!

Good and practical choice.

[dkaile 1,051]

Got delivery of Ertiga VDi, Silver color on Monday.

I will get glasses tinted (SO CALLED RTO APPROVED) and will check.

Congrats kshah. Ertiga is indeed a very rational choice. However as of the recent Supreme Court ruling, there is NO RTO approved glass films of any make allowed now. Only "factory fitted" original tinted glasses are allowed as per their specifications. So in effect, any off-market glass film is now BANNED in India and you can be stopped by RTO people because of that.

[amitnsonu 72]

so can we change our transparent glass of existing car to tinted glass through manufacturer/dealer or only new cars with tinted glass are allowed?

Edited May 23, 2012 by amitnsonu