Hello Friends, I am trying to decide on a hatchback to buy right now and to be honest is confused because of the vast options available. My budget is between 5 to 6 lakh (on road) and I am really looking for a premium hatch My height is 5' 6" and would be on back seat for almost 80% of the times. My daily travel is about 40 km, half city, half highway. So I have decided for a petrol hatch My priorities are - good ride quality, space for family of 5 adults, safety and reliability, descent fuel economy (may not be the best in class, but should not be a gas guzzler), low maintenance / servicing cost, descent resale value With this I started off looking at following options: Maruti - Swift and Ritz. Swift is put at second number because its 4 years old design now. Ritz for some reason don't seem to have generated enough noise in the market, which is my personal opinion. Also the legroom seems a little less for rear seats. Hyundai - i10, i20, Getz. i20 is pretty much out of the budget. Getz, an outdated product. i10 seems small to me and I don't seem to like its shape. Again I know i10 would be great on fuel economy and features too. Honda - Jazz. Way out of budget Skoda - Fabia. Pretty much out of budget Tata - Indica. A strict no-no, never liked an Indica. Fiat - Punto and Palio. Palio is too old. Punto 1.4 is a strong contender. I liked its shape, its interiors (dash pretty much the same like Linea) and ride quality. I checked the Emotion variant, which comes loaded with features like height adjustment for driver seat, rear wiper, integrated music system. It has a spacious cabin and gives a sense of safety by the well-built body (that's my guess anyway). The things that are holding me back are - I am worried about fuel economy, because of the reputation of Fiat cars being gas guzzlers (old Palio had a bad reputation here). Also I don't know how expensive the spares would be compared to a Maruti. Also the after sales service? Upcoming small cars in India Ford Fiesta Hatchback Expected Launch Date: November 2009 Estimated Price : Rs 6 Lacs Hyundai i30 Expected Launch Date: November 2009 Estimated Price Tag : Rs 8 Lacs Volkswagen Polo Expected Launch : January 2010 Estimated Price : Rs 5 - 7 lacs Looking at all these what would you suggest?
A brief chat with an honest local mechanic would tell you that INDICA (all types) and PALIO are no good from maintenance point of view. Even Santro would start giving you a trouble from 3rd year onwards (depends on usage). I'm a li'l biased towards Japanese cars, coz the history has proven that they are the most trouble-free cars. So, Maruti, Honda and Toyota are your options. You shuld be able to find a good, used Honda city or Toyota Corolla for 4 lakhs. But, if it has to be a new car, I think, Swift would be my recommendation. GETZ too, is a great car for city driving. It's well known for its smooth ride and stress-free driving experience. You can virtually drive around the entire city in 3rd gear (10-80 kmph). No comments on the new Zen Estello And... if it's your first car, please take proper training from a driving school or practice a lot on an old car, because you don't want to screw the clutch plate/gear box by learning to drive on a new car.
Skoda Fabia Petrol is well within your reach with Ambiente model..decent drive with 70PS power & ride is amazing with good features not even in top of the line cars... i20 Asta its well near to 6.0L also good on ride plus features and maintenance of Hyundai is no new for anyone its gonna be the best buy... Fiat Punto on third because of still not sure , that is the only valid reason for it or else go for it. you can have LOGAN, DEZIRE, IKON and various basic C segment cars but all the above cars i mentioned are feature rich and you just need to buy it and take it back home fully loaded car they don't even require basic accessories...
Nikhil, if your budget is till six lakh increase it by just another Rs 50 thousand if you can and go for Skoda fabia petrol 1.2 go for ambiente model, its one heck of an hatch in India, its got top class ride quality, excellent driving position, the interiors are superb, in short its got all those features which an high end car should have ... and now skoda's after sales is improving. I own two skoda car's the new superb petrol and fabia 1.2 ambientte petrol.
Go for the Fiat Punto which is a very good choice.... it is very good in ride and handling and look at the awesome Italian design of the car!!! It is value for money... you will get the mileage of 10.2/14.6 L with the petrol variant...
Hyundai i10 is the best small car. swift and santro are ok but don't go For Tata indica. its quite noisy.
In my opinion, nothing beats Maruti for Indian consumers.... Your choice for a feat car is good, but do take feedback fo its performance in the long run because according to me fiat cars fail to run too much.... Also Chevrolet has Good options as Aveo Uva- I feel it looks gud and has a good milege. The company has recently dropped its prices.....
For me it is skoda.. I love this luxurious car I even love to have one maruti sentro.. It is small but very comfortable.. but if you ask me I would like to buy all the cars in teh world
Jazz, fabia, inca, honda city, Sentro, and many more cars are there which can easily be available in 6 to 7 lakhs.. You can do your part of inquiry when you go out to purchase one for you..
i like palio as it has very good shape and features too. it does not compromise much on mileage too. palio is a great ride for person needing a cosy room. the design has been my all time favorite and if i had to choose it would be the best one for me.
There are many small cars that will come within your budget. Hyundai i10 is a good one and I have personally used it. It offers great service and its very comfortable. Moreover, it does not require much maintenance like other cars. It will come in your budget. I would not ask you to go for i20 because it has some minor issues.
