Oct 10, 2011 08:57 PM
11008 Views
(Updated Oct 10, 2011 09:00 PM)
Let me start off, by profusely thanking all those of you who have contributed immensely to mouthshut, and have therefore contributed to my knowledge about cars. It would be only fair to say that about a month and a half back, my knowledge about cars very limited.
Coming to the point. I had a predilection for Swift, and based on my friend's recommendation had zeroed on this car. I was prepared to wait for 3-4 months at max. But when I learnt about the strike in Manesar and the crazy wait of about a year for Swift, I decided that it was time to explore other options. With that started my research on cars.
If one has a budget of about 6.5 lakhs, then in my opinion, apart from Swift, i20 and Jazz are pretty good options. Both are pretty spacious cars. I was particularly impressed with Jazz. Honda has cut down the price on Jazz by 1.5 lakhs and the kind of features which one gets in Jazz is incomparable. No wonder, Jazz bookings have shot up after the price cut. In Pune, there already was a wait of about 5-6 months, when I had gone to inquire about the car. After reading lot of reviews, I decided that I should have my criteria for selecting a car.
Though I initially started with a slightly higher budget, I later reduced it to 5L. My thinking was, being my first car, I better make mistakes on this and then buy a bigger car sometime later. One can argue that in that case, I should have gone with a second hand car. But I intend to drive the car for about 4 years, in which case a 2nd hand car would have added on the maintenance cost. Secondly, in a city like Pune, traffic and roads suit smaller cars. Thirdly, my job may require me to move outside the country at a very short notice. A smaller car, would be easier to dispose and would perhaps get me a better resale. So after some thinking, I listed down my criteria. Here they are, more of less listed in order of significance.
- Budget of about 5L - Reason explained above.
2. More space - All my family members are tall. Besides all of us like to travel. So, I wanted a car, in which 4-5 tall people could drive for 3-4 hours without straining their bodies.
Good safety features - Read ABS and airbags.
Less running cost - Some thing with a decent mileage and low maintenance cost.
Good features - Power windows, decent music system, rear wiper, defogger etc.
Driving experience - It should be decent. I am not someone who is going to test the odometers.
Interior and Exterior design - It should be decent. With the above criteria, the cars in contention were
Hyundai i10, Cheve Beat, Honda Brio, Maruti Ritz and Maruti Wagon R. I learnt driving on Swift. When I test drove i10, it felt really light. The car seems to have absolutely no power in 2nd gear. 3rd gear is good. Also, it is pretty small and has less space. Safety features are there in Sportz Option and Asta, which are priced at 5.25L or more. The ride for rear passengers was very bumpy. On the positive side, it has a good engine, and has some good features in Sportz and Asta variants. Besides Maruti, Hyundai has a pretty decent dealer network, though the spares are perhaps slightly expensive. Fuel economy is also pretty good.
My driving class instructor bought a Cheve Beat and wasnt impressed with it. I didnt test drive Cheve Beat. I primarily ruled it out because of less space - both for the rear passenger as well as in the boot. On the positive side, the exterior design is good and perhaps GM is giving a 3 years free maintainence, which is also a big plus.
Honda Brio is just getting launched. Though it carries a Honda tag name, the safety features come only in the higher models. Also, in the intermediate model, the car lagged some basic features, which for me are important - Rear window wiper, washer and defogger, rear power windows, DVD player. In a bid to survive in the small car segment, Honda has introduced Brio. The catch is, all the good features are there in the top end model, which is a bit pricy.
Between Ritz and Wagon R, it was about which car is giving me more value for money and Wagon R won hands down. I was told that Ritz is as close as one can get to Swift. But then, after I reduced my budget, Wagon R seemed the best best. Besides no one in my family liked Ritz exterior. I booked a Wagon R LXi with ABS and airbags(for both driver and co driver) on 1st Oct with Mycar Pune. I am getting it at 4.66 L. I have taken an extended warranty of 4 years and I am hoping to get it by Diwali. It is meeting all my criteria - decent space, good safety features, less running cost and some good additional features. In addition, you can find a Maruti service center anywhere in India. That is really helpful for people like me, who love to travel. Also, at an additional cost of 20-30k, there is an option to upgrade the car to CNG / LPG in future. But once you do that, the company warranty becomes invalid. For people who are interested in statistics, Aug 2011 sales of Wagon R were next only to Alto. Wagon R was followed by i10. Only time will tell, whether my choice has been correct or not. For now, based on whatever I found, I will take the benefit of doubt.
I had owned a Nissan Maxima in the US for > 2 years. I know some of you may ask that how come my knowledge is still so limited. Trust me, I just knew to drive, nothing else:). Besides Indian car market is different. Priorities and requirements here are different. Irrespective of what car I buy, I wont get the same drive experience here on Pune city roads. I strongly believe that it was very important to know what you are looking for in your car. Once you know that, its easier to make choices.
I have learnt a lot from this forum and I hope to continue doing so in future. I wanted to give back in my own small way. Hope you all like it and please feel free to correct me.
